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After spending the night at the Kamnik Saddle hut we crossed the Brana slope, climbed over Kotlici to Turska gora, and then enjoyed the steep rock faces of Skuta and the ridge of Dolgi hrbet. In late afternoon we stood on top of Grintovec, the highest peak in the Kamnik Alps (2558 m). The long hike ended at the Kokra Saddle hut. |
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Pre-dawn purple light at the Kamnik Saddle.
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Planjava and the Kamnik hut.
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Brana in pink.
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First sun rays on Turska gora and Rinke.
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Fiery Rinke.
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Layers of light to the east.
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Light coming from behind Ojstrica.
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The Logarska valley with Mrzla gora.
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More layers.
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There was a bit of climbing around the Kotliči col.
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As we climbed Turska gora, the sun greeted us from behind Planjava.
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Brana and Kotliči.
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Red and green carpet.
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"Sod brez dna" or "The Bottomless Barrel".
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From the top of Turska gora the views to the west opened up: Kalški greben, Grintovec, Skuta.
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Skuta and the three Rinke.
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By then the Kamnik Saddle was out of the shade, too.
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We slowly made our way up and down towards our next goal, Skuta.
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Up in the scree we saw a herd of ibex.
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Karst phenomenon and Sandi.
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Karst landscape.
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On the scree below Skuta.
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Skuta.
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We had to cross one more scree before entering the rock face.
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Then the fun began: more climbing, yay! :)
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On the ridge connecting Skuta and Rinka, there were two climbers.
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They didn't follow a marked trail, obviously. ;)
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The Streža ridge is quite airy with precipices on both sides. The fog, however, prevented us from seeing the abyss to the left.
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Some more climbing before reaching the top.
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Exhilarating!
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At the top of Skuta, looking back towards Rinke.
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Sandi and I at the top of Skuta (2532m).
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Our next goal, Dolgi hrbet, was enveloped in fog.
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Dolgi hrbet is a precipitous ridge, a heaven for climbers.
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Looking back at Skuta.
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Štruca to the left, Grintovec and Dolgi hrbet to the right and Veliki podi in between.
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One delicate, overhanging spot in the ridge provided us with some adrenalin rush.
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Sandi and Štruca.
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At the top of Dolgi hrbet, Grintovec in the background.
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Skuta.
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We started our descent to the Mlinar Saddle.
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Jezersko valley to the right.
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Crossing an almost vertical wall.
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The views from the Mlinar Saddle were fantastic. On the spur of the moment we decided to climb Grintovec as well, even though that wasn't in our original plan.
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Soon, we stood at the top of Grintovec (2558m).
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Fantastic!
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Kočna.
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We had come a long way.
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After an hour of being alone at the top we slowly headed down to the Kokra Saddle.
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The Streha slope.
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Can you see the hut all the way down there?
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Kotliči col looked dramatic.
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Skuta.
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The Kočna bivouac in backlight.
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Our knees were quite sore by then.
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Kalška gora and Kalški greben, our destinations for the following day.
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Mists coming in from the west.
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We couldn't stop taking photos of the wonderfully lit mountains.
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Signs on a rock.
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Sandi and Kalški greben.
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The Cojz hut at the Kokra Saddle.
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The light was becoming sweeter by the minute.
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Sunset.
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At the hut we were greeted by the hutkeeper's golden retriever.
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