I had scheduled sinus surgery at the end of March, so I wanted to fit in a mini-expedition before then. As with most of my adventures these days, I love to start and finish from home, so the entire expedition is human-powered. Plus, there is so much to still explore from home that why would I need to go further afield?
I used the excellent MTB Project site to search for an interesting off-road route. This time, I found the Ten Mile Creek route that looked perfect. Somewhere new. Singletrack but not too hard (remember, I’m a middle-aged dad riding a loaded rigid bike. So, yeah, nothing too hard).
Conveniently, it was also close to Sugarloaf mountain, so naturally I included that ascent in my route and the superb gravel road off the backside of the mountain. To get there, I could utilize the canal and stay in one of the hiker biker campsites.
Perfect! Route done. Next was braving the chaos of the garage to dig out all my camping gear, since it had been a year since I last camped. With that done, I was ready.
Below, I share some photos from the 2-day trip. And even though the whole trip was less than 24 hours door-to-door, it packed in everything. Easy miles along the canal, a beautiful campsite, swoopy new singletrack, mountain hairpins, lovely views from the lookout, and, what I’m always searching for, the opportunity to push myself physically whilst exploring the great outdoors.
Day 2 was one of the best days I’ve had on a bike. Mega!
Day 1: Home to Turtle Run hiker biker campsite
27.5 miles / 154 ft ascent
Surly Grappler in bikepacking mode, with the front panniers mounted higher to avoid catching anything when riding singletrack.Day 1 was along the C&O canalLove this trail!View from the cockpitCamp at Turtle Run hiker biker campsite along the C&O canalBeautiful evening light at camp.Camp routine: dinner, mug of hot tea, and recording the day’s events in my journal.
Day 2: Turtle Run campsite to home, via Little Seneca Lake and Sugarloaf mountain
61.5 miles / 4,341 ft ascent
The lock house at lock 25, where I turned off the canal towpath to head into Maryland.On to the quiet backroads of Maryland.Because the water pumps were not operational along the C&O canal yet, I had to stop in Poolesville to refill my water bottles.On to the singletrack around Little Seneca Lake!More swoopy singletrack.At the end of 10 miles singletrack. Harder and slower than the road! But more fun! 🙂Approaching Sugarloaf mountain.One of the hairpins on the ascent of Sugarloaf mountain.View from the top of Sugarloaf.Enjoying the gravel road on the backside of Sugarloaf, on my way home.
Dramatic skies over Lake Bled, Slovenia, on the eve of our trek
Ten years ago, for our honeymoon, Lexi and I enjoyed an amazing week of hiking, relaxing, and great seafood in La Gomera. We still talk about that trip and how much we enjoyed it. And we’ve been looking forward to doing another trip like it ever since.
This year the stars aligned for a child-free week so we headed off to explore the Julian Alps in Slovenia. Once again we booked with Macs Adventure to make the trip as easy as possible logistically. They booked all the mountain huts and hotels, and organized transport and luggage transfers for us.
We had a night in Lake Bled before the hitting the trails. It’s a gorgeous, albeit busy, place. Slovenia was under a heat warning the whole week we were there and it was intense (around 90F in Bled).
The trip began with a delicious dinner overlooking Lake Bled
Bled Castle sits on top of the cliffs overlooking Lake Bled
The market in Bled where we stocked up on food for our trek
Day 1: The Pokljuka Plateau
Suitably replete after a delicious rice pudding breakfast, we left Bled behind and headed up into the mountains.
The taxi dropped us and another family from Canada (who became our trail friends for the trip!) at the trailhead.
Time to go hiking! To say we were giddy with excitement was an understatement. This moment encapsulated 10 years of dreaming 🙂
All smiles at the start of our Julian Alps trek
We hiked through beautiful tall pines to the alpine pastures of Javornik, still used by the local shepherds. We bought some of the locally made “pasture cheese” at one of the shepherds huts for later. Happy to report that it was excellent.
Views out towards the foothills, from the Lipanca hut
We stopped for lunch at the Lipanca hut and sat outside looking out over waves of rolling blue ridgelines, the foothills of the Julian Alps. Lunch was a simple, hearty sausage and bean stew, perfect mountain food.
The Lipanca hut, where we stopped for lunch on day 1
Perhaps the most memorable thing about this hut though, were the funny signs in the bathrooms:
Gents, you have been told
Indeed
We climbed up through more pine forests after lunch, enjoying the carpets of magnificent wildflowers. I counted 23 different species (identified using the PictureThis app), probably about 50% of what was there.
Near the day’s high point, the high mountains were revealed in spectacular fashion through a gap in ridge. We paused here to savor the view and contemplate our fate… we were looking at the mountains that we would be climbing tomorrow and the next day.
Views from a saddle towards the Triglav massif
Crossing the karst (limestone) landscape of the Pokljuka plateau
The wildflowers were outstanding and provided a dash of color wherever one looked
Meadows above Pokljuka, where we rested to munch on the “pasture cheese” we bought earlier in the day from the local shepherds
We stopped for the night in Pokljuka, at the hotel / biathlon center. It was a simple, clean lodging with great food and a terrace overlooking the biathlon training ground.
It was still baking hot though, so we slept with our windows wide open, which worked well. Until it didn’t.
Our room was the top red arrow. Unfortunately we were directly over the entrance and smoking area (other red arrows), and people started coming and going from 3am onwards. Needless to say, we were a little tired the following morning.
The hotel in Pokljuka, also a biathlon training center
Day 2: Into the High Mountains
We got away by 8am, powered by a breakfast of coffee, fruit, and nutella-smothered croissants.
Today was up, up, and up. All day long we climbed into the high mountains. For the first couple of hours we enjoyed the shade of the forest, before emerging into the other-worldly karst (limestone rocks) landscape.
Heading towards Triglav
In my happy place: the mountains
The trail was remarkable in the way it snaked through the steep mountains
The Vodnikov hut, where we had lunch. The Planika hut (our destination) can just be seen on top of the snowfield.
Yours truly, burning off the lunch calories as we climbed to the Planika hut
One of the short Via Ferrata sections, where metal cables and pins aided our passage
Which way? Dom (hut) Planika our destination
The Planika dom (hut) at the base of Triglav, our home for the night. We stayed in the lower building at the back.
Dinners were simple, hearty servings, just what one needs after a day of mountain walking.
Evening light on the lower mountains, from the Planika hut at the base of Triglav.
Day 3: Crossing the High Alps
Sixteen snoring roommates do not a rested night make. We set off rather bleary eyed again, but buoyed by the beautiful early morning light. The scenery and the mountains were spectacular.
Early morning light
Not a bad view out of the bedroom window!
View west from the Planika hut
The one exposed section of down climbing. Lexi was a trooper and stormed through
Looking towards the Hribarice pass we had to cross later that day
On top of the world: Lexi on the ridgeline
Via Ferrata cables to assist on the more exposed ledges and climbs
Our main objective for the day was to cross the Hribarice pass and gain access to the next valley system. We watched a group of six hikers inching their way up the path towards the pass. They looked like tiny ants from this distance.
Looking across to the Hribarice Pass that we had to cross
One of the many small snowfields we had to cross
How I felt heading up to the Hribarice Pass, starting to feel ill
The pull up to the pass was hard work so it was a relief to reach the top. I was starting to come down with a sickness, so wasn’t feeling as chipper as day one. We made it though. Our reward was entry to this otherworldly lunar landscape that made for a fascinating hiking experience.
Consulting the map as we crossed the lunar landscape on the other side of the pass
The trusty red and white circles of the Slovenian Mountain Trail, that we followed for most of our trek too
Lunch with a view at the Prehodavich hut
Lower down, as we left the high mountains behind, we entered the valley of seven lakes. It was beautiful walking and easier going than the high mountains of earlier.
The first lake in the valley of 7 lakes
These alpine lakes were true jewels in this landscape. Turquoise gems amongst the grey, rocky landscape.
Lake Sedmero Triglavsko jezero
We reached the wonderful Koča pri Triglavskih Jezerih hut around 4pm, our home for the night. I had sauerkraut and sausages for dinner. Nom, nom, nom!
Beautiful wildflowers at the Koča pri Triglavskih Jezerih hut
Our room at the Koča pri Triglavskih Jezerih hut
Day 4: Leaving the mountains and descending to Lake Bohinj
Sadly, I was feeling pretty wrecked by now after another poor night of sleeping. My cough was pretty rough. Unfortunately, Lexi was also under the weather so we were a rather sorry pair as we set off that morning.
Despite that, we still enjoyed a final ten mile hike through gorgeous mountain scenery to end our hike.
Stunning wildflowers as we descended out of the high mountains
Lexi on the final descent to Lake Bohinj, on the old military road
We opted against staying in the final mountain hut, preferring instead to push on to reach the hotel at Lake Bohinj, where we could rest properly.
And that’s exactly what we did.
It definitely felt sad to spend two days sleeping and coughing in a hotel room rather than hiking, but what can one do? We can’t control getting sick. After 24 hours of rest, we at least felt well enough to go for a swim in Lake Bonhinj, which was a real treat to finish the trip with. No point being miserable for long!
Convalescing on days 5 and 6 with horrible head colds. Urgh! At least the view was nice.
Smiling. Just. Through the worst of it by the end of day 6.
See this little montage I put together on Instagram too.
All in all, another incredible week together, with memories to last a lifetime.
It was a shame we got sick for the final two days but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
If I could change anything I would have booked dates to avoid hitting the Triglav area over the weekend. The hut was so crowded that it was a bit much. I think arriving midweek would have alleviated the crowding issue. Oh well, hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Onwards. Looking forward to our next adventure my love ❤️
Ben Collins Outdoors 