From highs to lows

 Day 22: Vrsic Pass to Jelincic Farm

Hours walked: 7:45 to 5:00

Kilometres walked: 23

Jesuses seen: 2

Quote of the day: “You want cheese? You’ll take the goat cheese, it’s the best one.” - Trenta marketkeeper 

We woke up and wolfed down some corn cakes with jam, with the intention of having an early start. The weather was surprisingly cool to the point where, once we stopped going uphill, most of us we wearing all our layers.  We had about an hour of walking to make it up to Vrsic Pass, just enough time for Jakob to retell how events unfolded during World Wars 1 and 2.

Past hikers have mentioned that the AAT gets slightly sketchier beyond Austria. We have found this to be true, and have had to rely much more on the app and our sense of direction. The path is up, the river is down. We did a number of hairpin turns and were afforded amazing views of the mountains and valley below. As we made our way down from the pass, the trail abruptly vanished and we had to bushwhack our way down a hillside forest coated in yellow leaves (quite nice, actually); soon after, our trail cut away from the forest road we were following without any sign, leading us to clamber down a steep hill and backtrack to rejoin the AAT; so no major dramas, but this is definitely a good section to keep one eye on the map. 

We went downhill for hours, but we’re rewarded as our trail leveled with a meadow full of wild strawberries. Jakob took the opportunity to stretch out and rest while simultaneously picking and eating berries. He looked liked a Slovenian god, whatever they look like. 

There was a detour in our trail to go visit the source of the Soca but we decided we didn’t want to walk the extra distance. And so we walked along the Soca river which would define our next few days. 

We detoured into the small town of Trenta to buy lunch at the grocery store. The woman’s generous interpretation of cake slices meant that we all left town clutching our bellies. She also informed Tamar that she would be buying the goat cheese (which was delicious) and the rest of the apple strudel (less so.) We spent the next few hours walking alongside the river on a lovely single-track that wound up and down, staying interesting without being too arduous for little legs. Zadie fell numerous times throughout the day, skinning her knee and wailing pitifully. 

Eventually we reached Jelincic farm, a bustling hiker and backpacker inn. Our room, despite being tucked into the roof’s nook, felt like a submarine, with beds lining the low walls. We had a traditional Slovenian dinner which included items such as boiled potato with ricotta cheese, river trout with garlic, zucchini pie and sauerkraut bean soup. 

This last item may have been the cause of some midnight spewage by our littlest adventurer - the two emergency cleanups were made no easier by the fact that we shared a single bathroom, which was down a flight of stairs, with a half dozen other people. As we scrubbed the floor and tried not to breathe through noses, trying unsuccessfully to stop a semiconscious Zadie from stepping in the slimy puddle that shimmered yellowish-green in the light of our headlamp, we wondered what tomorrow would bring.