Triglav adventure

I climbed the highest mountain of Slovenia. I think it is nothing short of totally cool to climb the highest mountain of any country.  Needless to say I could never climb the Kanchenjunga with its impressive 8586 meters, so Indians have it tough but our highest mountain is Triglav and it rises up to 2864 meters making  it well in my reach. Yes, even if I am no longer in the best of shape because I still dare.

Triglav is not only our highest mountain which seems just  high enough to fit beautifully into our small country with a population that would not been able to even fill the shoes of Hyderabad. It is also an important symbol of Slovenia. To us, Triglav is at least as high as Kanchenjunga. You know, in our hearts.

Twelve years has passed since I last visited this beautiful summit. I clearly remember that I was practically running up back then. There was even a group of people that I was catching up fast with and they placed a bet on how old I am to be able to keep such a fast pace. I was fit as a fiddle and felt like a mountain goat on a mission. Almost everything was competition to me back then. Twelve years is a long time so this time around I had my doubts that I can even make it in one day. Most of the people do it as a two day trip breaking the climb in half thus making it quite comfortable. Some of the competitive spirit is still alive and kicking inside of me though so I didn’t want to settle for the average. I wanted to climb up and down in a day.

To be able to do so I had to rise early to make sure I have a long day ahead of me and no pressure about the pace. When the morning alarm rang at 3 am I couldn’t believe I was doing it. I jumped out of the bed already dressed for the climb. I swung my loaded backpack over my shoulder, grabbed the helmet, poles and the small head light and headed towards the lobby where my climbing shoes were awaiting for their first major hike. I stepped outside and there was nothing but stars above me. Enclosed by light gray-shaded mountains and a grand dark blue sky with millions of stars smack in the middle of it all.

 I turned on my head light and started walking. The head light limits what you see to nothing much, leaving a lot of room for imagination. I was terribly grateful for the fact that there are no predatory animals in these parts. No tigers here! I thought of India for a second. How happy I am to get a break from it. How unhappy that it offers so little in terms of a normal daily outdoor life. Most of the time is spent indoors and I am a total outdoorsy person. My focus gets back to the climb. I can’t see how steep the trail has become but I can feel it in my legs and my breathing. My body clearly revolting a bit as to say: “Who, for the love of god, is making me work so hard when I was supposed to rest and sleep?” Oh, well, dear body you better not let me down right now. I am counting on you to deliver. So quit complaining and just do your job. Yes, lots of internal dialogues were going on the first two hours as the climb was steep and night was dark and body not too happy with the situation. After two hours we reached our first check point of a kind. The trail split in 3 options and when I looked up at ours I saw this vertical wall and I became quite worried how on earth I am going to proceed. Mountains are funny sometimes. They tease you and test you. They don’t reveal the paths until you are right there and you can see it for yourself that it is doable and nothing to worry about.

So, not knowing and not seeing the path I was seriously worried. The clock showed 5 a.m. and the sunrise  painted the sky orangey red. Darkness was gone. My head lamp vent into my backpack and it was time for breakfasts except I couldn’t make myself even eat a morsel of anything. My stomach gave clear signs that it is not going to keep anything in and it dared me to try. “I’ll eat later,” I said to myself hoping I will feel better later on.

I hit the most technical part of the climb and gained a new perspective. All iz well (whistle, whistle, whistle). As if all my experience from long back kicked in I started to really enjoy the climb. It was all of a sudden no big deal. Even my stomach settled so I presumed I was just nervous before. Next two hours really went by extremely fast as I was very focused on climbing and grabbing good, solid grips – shaking every rock a bit to see that it won’t give in. My nerves back to calm self made my stomach rumble. I was hungry. Yay! I had a power bar and a plain yogurt. Somehow the sandwiches still didn’t appeal to my senses. Four hours passed and somehow the routine set in. We were half way to the top with no new surprises ahead of us. We have done the toughest part now we just have to endure more of it. Next 3 hours dragged. I was running out of water and got very excited when I saw first snow patches and heard water trickle silently somewhere beneath the snow. I found the source of the water sound and refilled my empty bottles. Ahhhh! Felt better instantly refreshed by the cold water tasting exactly like snow.

I knew we were nearing the summit and my spirits were high. Meeting other climbers and greeting them cheerfully. Everyone always asks: “Which direction did you come from?” Our answer impressed! Our direction is considered the most beautiful but also technically difficult.

I got a spring back to my legs and arms – since I was using all four most of the time – and I knew that only one more hour is left for me to reach the top. Admittedly, I had a thousands of  “Are we there yet?” questions that I kept suppressing but then I saw it. The gray Aljaz tower came to my sight. At last! After 8 hours of decent hiking and climbing we have reached the top! It was beautiful. Sunny. Peaceful. Vast. Impressive. I was not on the top of the world, but I was on the top of Slovenia that means a world to me.

On top of Triglav. Grey Aljaz tower stands there since 1895.