Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Batognica, 2164 m

My hikes in the mountains this summer were few and far between. I could blame this on weather or other people but eventually it was my own decision that it was so. Too many times I stayed at home because weather forecast was not perfect, and many days were spent somewhere else because I was asked or promised so; after all I could have decided otherwise. Without any doubt it is a weird year for me.
"My mountain" in clouds; it took me more than 3 hours to the top. There was sooo much to see on the way up.
I did my last hike on Friday although I wasn’t completely healthy after more than a week long cold. I have a list of mountains I still want to climb to but all hikes are long, for some I would even need two or three days. This time I chose to see Batognica, an interesting mountain which was covered with blood of solders in the I. WW. It is a beautiful but yet such a sad place when you think of what happened there. Empty cans of food lie around, together with twisted wires and metal plates, numerous tunnels are still spread over the whole mountain; there’s also one bone on display which I think is a disgrace of those people who died there. No matter on which side they were, most soldiers were men who had no idea why they were fighting for. I wouldn’t dare to take one stone from there back home although there were many colorful ones; maybe one day they had been covered with blood.
Sheep on my path.
Closed hut, no warm tea.
The Slovenian highest mountain and lake Krn below.
Human stupitity knows no limits. The stairs carved into a rock during I. WW.
Krn and Batognica, sea of clouds below 2000 m.
The remains of the war.
Tunels everywhere.
Lake in Lužnica. It looked very solitary in foggy weather and I had no time to stop there.
Cheese, curd, butter... just some steps away.
I was late coming back from the mountain and a battery of my mobile phone was empty. It was a long ride back home and Ž panicked; he called rescuers. I was ashamed of that but at least I know today that there are at least three people in this world who care for me.

3 comments:

Kačja pastirica said...

Oh kar nostalgijo čutim, ker že toliko časa nisem bila v gorah. Tam se zares spočiješ - v duši.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the photos.

Thanks also for the comments about war - I agree. There was a local soldier from here killed in Afganistan and he came home yesterday. The people here lined the streets to stand and watch his hearse go by. He was a sniper, and honestly, to me, to stand in the street somehow makes war OK, so I didn't go stand by the street to watch it go by. There has to be a better way to get along with other countries. Even what Israel said yesterday at the UN makes me worry. I mean really, what does he want the US to do?
I hope you are having a nice weekend. Safe hiking.

Pina said...

Ooo, Kačja pastirica, ti me razumeš... Prav zaradi tega razloga hodim najrajši sama v hribe, a največ ljudi prav to čudi. Kako naj si spočijem dušo, če ljudje okoli mene kričijo ali pa le mrko zrejo pred sabo?

Thank you, Anonymous (or do I know your name?). I read an amazing book some years ago - Three day road by Joseph Boyden, about two snipers in war. Shocking reading but I liked it a lot. It makes you think.