Hiking near Ljubljana - Šmarna Gora and Viševnik
Šmarna Gora - the quest for real Slovenian food continues
Overlooking the periphery of the city is Šmarna Gora and it’s twin peak Grmada. Yes, гора is mountain (albeit a small one), much like яма is cave.
There are a myriad trails going up these mountains (total climb about a thousand feet), but the trail markings are good, with maps in several places, markers at most intersections, and even tree color bands and marks on major trails. Be warned though that there are way more trails and short cuts than show up on google maps, so paying attention pays off. I picked one with easiest approach from the bus stop on the west of Tacen.
It turned out later this trail is called “over the roots” and they ain’t kidding!
It wasn’t until I hiked this gora that I really appreciated the east coast-like mugginess of Ljubjana. Although it was only high 70s, the trails are entirely in the shade, and the climb - while steep - isn’t long or that brutal, I was sweating bullets by the time I got to the top.
After about an hour of hiking, you are suddenly rewarded with some amazing views when you crest the peak
But when I first climbed up on my own, I didn’t yet know the true value of what I had found, and so limited myself to a celebratory beer.
On the way down, I discovered there is more to the mountain than just hiking and restaurants!
The second time on the mountain, guided by my friend Jaka, we took a very different path. The “Pogačnik trail” turned out to be rated “very demanding.” Pretty soon we encountered these via ferratas —
After going about half way up, I decided I prefer solid ground under my feet rather than staples, and we switched to a regular (just ‘demanding’) trail to the top of Grmada.
And this time, finding out that the restaurant at the top has great versions of many Slovenian dishes hard to find elsewhere in the capital, I pulled out all the stops
Pumpkin soup, traditional barley soup and slivovi cmoki
Viševnik
The dominant mountain range in Slovenia is the Julian Alps, which is largely limestone, and if you squint, looks quite a bit like the granite of Yosemite, so of course I had to hike up one of these beauties. The trail to the top of Triglav, the most famous peak, which even appears on the Slovenian flag, is on par with Halfdome, even a bit longer. So Jaka and I opted for a slightly shorter peak called Viševnik, about 4km from Triglav itself. At a 700m+ elevation gain, it’s a “medium” trail, rated 2 hours, which was spot on for us.
Viševnik has several trails leading to the top; we took the one that starts at Rudno Polje, where you can find ample parking. Thankfully, unlike the tourist-inundated Vintgar Gorge near Bled, this hike is entirely free, as nature intended. There is a detailed map at the parking lot, and while there are many cross trails, they seem to all lead to the same place.
The trail initially leads next to some military training (?) installations, with ominous signs against trespassing and locked bathrooms, but pretty quickly that’s left behind. This flat path is just to lull you into complacency.
Most of the trail goes through woods, and for about half of it, you walk along sloping meadows with ski lifts.
About half way up the forest starts thinning out and you can start seeing the peaks
And once you’re above the tree line, the views get increasingly breathtaking
Unfortunately, this peak has no mountain hut serving Slovenian delicacies, so we made do with a packed lunch.
From the peak you would normally get an up close view of Triglav, but when we got there at noon it was already swallowed by the swarming clouds😞
Apparently, even when surrounding areas have sunny weather, clouds tend to form around the peaks in the afternoon. This can actually be quite dangerous, as the weather can go from clear to thunder and lightening in the span of an hour. And of course the peak of a mountain far from any trees is not where you want to be in a thunderstorm. Luckily, our clouds stayed white and fluffy.
Bonus pic. See if you can spot the helicopter that was flying back and forth our entire hike
