Day 62 – 65

Km 2137 to km 2311, Bitoraj Shelter (Croatia) to Postojna (Slovenia).

Day 62

24/06/2022 – 49km

Today was fine, but not much more than that.

For a lot of the way the trail was very overgrown. In some places there was no trail remaining and I just had to bushwhack through forest, trying to follow the gps. At times there were large patches of stinging nettles, and I was very glad to have my leggings.

There are also these tiny white flies that live on leaves, and whenever their tree/plant/bush is disturbed it dislodges whole clouds of them and they get everywhere. They haven’t only been around today, but the more overgrown a trail, the worse they are.

The trail got much better once I entered Risnjak national park, and since then I’ve been on roads.

Day 63

25/06/2022 – 44km

The day started following the waters of a beautiful spring (Izvor Kupe). Otherwise I was mostly just in picturesque hilly countryside. Still some overgrown sections, but not as bad as yesterday.

In the afternoon I crossed into Slovenia. On the town just over the border some locals invited me for a drink and we chatted for a bit before I headed off to the woods to find somewhere to camp.

Day 64

26/06/2022 – 49km

After a steep climb up Sneznik, the rest of the day was pretty much a gradual descent on forest roads (hence not too many photos). This however made for great audiobook and podcast terrain.

Day 65

27/06/2022 – 8km (of the trail)

A short stroll into the town of Postojna for a morning tour of the caves and they were incredible. I was amazed just how big they were. You ride on an electric train for 10 minutes through already stunning cave passages before getting off for a one hour gentle ramble through some of the most beautiful chambers. I love caves, and so I’m very glad the trail passes right by these. Also, my phone camera can’t do justice to these light conditions.

I would have stayed in Postojna, but the only reasonably priced accommodation is the youth hostel, and it was already fully booked when I inquired (enquired?) a few days ago. So for better or worse, I went to check out Ljubljana.

It’s a nice city, and it definitely feels more like Austria/Switzerland than Croatia/Bosnia. I shopped around for some new shoes, and there wasn’t as good a selection as I was hoping. Perhaps I should have tried some larger stores on the outskirts of the city, but I didn’t have the energy to figure out getting there (in 36° heat).

I ended up with some Hoka Challengers. I had my eye on some Saucony Peregrines, but they didn’t have my size. Apologies for this shoe talk, but I’m sure at least one or two of you are trail shoe nerds. The Hokas aren’t exactly my first choice of colours, but I’ve been curious to try this “maximalist” style of shoe. I did also find some Injinji socks 🎉.