Foz & Annies Big Walk

Today we walked down the Soca Valley but only occasionally right alongside the river and so, to be honest, compared to what we have seen, most of it was a bit mundane. Maybe we have been a bit spoilt. However, those sections that were on the river were lovely and there was a lot of activity. Rafting, kayaking, fishing and even some swimming. It is starting to warm up. Today reached 24degrees and it was very humid but we escaped the forecast rain. The first photo is a memorial to the Partisans from the local area killed during WW2. A very bland, concrete structure. The third photo is of Slovenia's highest waterfall. It flows out from a cave in the cliff to fall 106m.

Well, the European summer  holidays have started. Up until today there have been very few other visitors where we have been, with the exception of Velden. But Bovec is busy today. The main summer activities/attractions are white water rafting, kayaking, fishing, cycling, walking and motorbike riding. There is also a high school band camp in town and they have set up a large stage in the town square providing the coffee and beer drinkers with live full orchestral music. Pretty good too. Those of you who know us best will find this hard to believe, but after walking 414.8km, most of it very steep hills and mountains, both Annie and I appear to be developing calf muscles. I know, I know, it's hard to believe (and there are no photographic images available) but we can certainly feel them, particularly on the first hill climb each day.

We woke to light rain this morning but it cleared quickly as we followed the Soca River downstream to Bovec. Although there were no noteable steep sections, a lot of the track surface was rocky and hard on the feet, and so when we arrived in Bovec at about 5.30 we were tired and looking forward to our rest day here tomorrow. But, and it is a very big but, the Soca River is stunning and it was another brilliant day. I took more photos today than any day so far. The river water is a beautiful aqua marine colour which contrasts with the white rock and bright green moss and vegetation. The trail followed the river closely and we lost count of the number of suspension bridges we crossed. There were 2 sections where it formed gorges only a metre or so wide and up to 50m deep. We saw quite a few large trout in the crystal clear water and several blokes fishing. A bit later we saw another bloke dropping 20 - 30 into the river! We guessed he was either stocking his section of the river so h...

Today started wet but improved slowly as we climbed up out of Kranjska Gora towards the Vrsic Pass, a road built by Russian POWs during the first world war and now a very popular alpine road. We are now right into the Julian Alps and they are as rugged and spectacular as anything we have seen to date. The first stop was a Russian chapel built during the first world war to commerate the lives of hundreds of Russian POWs and dozens of Austrian soldiers killed when an avalanche struck during construction. It was very cold and blowing a gale when we reached the pass at 1611m, the highest road in Slovenia. This is an iconic European alpine road and it was very busy with cars and lots of bikes. It was then downhill to the Soca River which we followed from it's source to Trenta, where we stayed the night.  The Soca is a beautiful river, fast flowing, crystal clear water over white boulders and gravel, surrounded by green alpine forest and spectacular mountains. Quiz: What makes th...