Walk 2 Pec (Tromeja) in Cicerone’s The Julian Alps of Slovenia
The hike starts in the town of Ratece a few miles up the road from Kranjska Gora. The book talks about walking or taking the bus. We drove but weren’t sure where to park.
There was very little activity in town on a rainy Tuesday morning, but the 4 public parking spots at the bus stop were taken. Don asked at the market next door where to park and she let us park in front of the store.
This is another pretty walk through green forest. The track interchanges between more developed roads and forest paths, frequently running alongside the creek. Lots of wild flowers.
The book description has you follow a paved road for a good 2k, but there is an alternative route, marked trail 18, that continues alongside the stream. We missed one turnoff heading up, here, but the road along the stream is a much gentler ascent.
Once you reach the meadow head left, west, back around a building. On the far edge of the adjacent field, again left or west, you’ll see the sign for trail 18, which leads up this second field to the road. There is a hut at the top of field with a short set of stairs that lead to the road. The rest of the way we followed the instructions in the book.
Nearing the end of the switchbacks to the summit you’ll find benches to rest at with increasingly spectacular views.
Bourns on the side of the trail mark the border with Italy.
At the summit you’ve reach the intersection of the borders of Slovenia, Italy and Austria. Several monuments mark this fact. Valley views into Austria on this stormy day were not so clear but still impressive.
The trail is well marked although there are a number of options you can take that will get you to the same place.
June 14, 2016
For links to all the posts in this series see the Croatia/Slovenia page.