Jane and Ken's 2014 Adventure: Day 181: Monday 15 September – Croatia: Paklenica National Park, by Ken

Early Morning In Sibuljina

Mabel and Smarty at Sibuljina

It was time we had some more exercise and today a tramp in the Paklenica National Park was on the agenda. The park is one of the most accessible hiking areas in Croatia with two massive limestone gorges – Velika Paklenica and Mala Paklenika (Big and Small Paklenika). Velika is the busier of the two while Mala is undeveloped and much quieter. We chose to visit Velika as we knew there were well marked trails.

We set off in Smarty just after 9:30 and drove the short distance back to the town of Starigrad-Paklenica. There we turned off the main road and drove about 2km inland to the entrance to the Velika-Paklenica gorge where we paid our entrance fee, then drove a further 2km alongside a river and parked Smarty.

Wearing our tramping boots, and equipped with our hiking poles, we set off to see how far we could walk up the gorge. The path was wide and well surfaced. Shortly after setting off we reached a series of doors set in the base of the sheer rock face. These were the entrances to a series of bunkers built by the former Yugoslav Army as a high security bomb shelter for state officials. They were in the process of being renovated to display the flora and fauna of the park.

One Of The Bunker Entrances

Next we reached an area where climbers were ascending the face of the gorge. Some were receiving instruction from guides at the base of the cliff holding the ropes to which the climbers were attached. One woman appeared to be stuck about 20 metres up, two instructors below were calmly giving her suggestions in German. It was quite a while before she was moving again. A little further along a man was abseiling down the face arms outstretched in celebratory fashion as if he had just conquered Everest. These climbers must have absolute faith in their equipment - both the ropes and the anchorages to the rock face.

Stuck Climber

Instructors Encourage Her From Below

But Still Stuck 5 Minutes Later

'Look No Hands' Coming Down

We soon left the climbers and the majority of the other visitors behind us as the path became rougher and steeper. We passed display boards showing dozens of possible ascents of the rock face to Anića Kuk, a peak lying high above us. We preferred to stick with the track.

Near The Start Of Our Walk

Intrepid Tramper

While steep, the track wasn’t particularly hard going but we were grateful for breaks every now and again at picturesque waterfalls alongside the path. On either side the cliffs towered 400 metres above us. Other trampers seemed not to need breaks and strode confidently past, some carrying quite a load on their backs.

One Of The Many Waterfalls Along The Way

Some People Made It Look Very Easy

After a while the track leveled off and the going was easy for a kilometre or so. By now, there were very few people walking. After about two hours we reached a restored forester’s cottage that had been converted to a café. We stopped and drank a bottle of coke each sitting outside in the sun. We were the only people there and then an elderly couple we had passed a couple of times on the track arrived. For some reason they chose to share our table. It wasn’t for conversation, they sat there in silence eating food they had brought with them.

Easy Going For A While

Refreshed, we continued walking. The track became very steep and was surfaced with rough large boulders that made for slow going. Half an hour later we came to a lodge in a clearing.

Slow Going On The Rough Surface Of This Track

Lodge

A sign nearby indicated there was another lodge serving food five minutes ahead. It was probably five minutes by helicopter, climbing the very rough and steep track took us a lot longer than that.

Final Ascent To Lunch Stop

We met a couple coming down who through a mix of German and sign language told us it was well worth going on as the food at the top was very good. We persevered and finally reached a lodge with benches and tables set out under a verandah and beneath trees. A sign on the lodge told us it was Ivančev Dom Paklenika and it was at 570 metres.

Our Lunchtime Stop

At 570 metres

The lodge owner didn’t speak English, but I could understand his German. The food choice was goulash cooked bights wife or goulash cooked by his wife. A shirtless man seated at the next table (it wasn’t that hot) confirmed the goulash was good. We ordered goulash that was served with a tubular pasta.

Our goulash arrived and the man said something to us in German. Jane looked at me and said inquiringly “Salt and pepper?” I said “No, he’s asking if you would like a complimentary glass of brandy with your meal”. Jane thought that much more preferable to seasoning.

The goulash was extremely good and the brandy very welcome. We took our time over the meal and afterwards sat in the sun for a while. Rejuvenated we thanked the man and his wife, who was busy in the kitchen, for our meal and set off back the way we had come.

Goulash and Brandy

Back at the first lodge we had passed were two donkeys which must be the only means short of a helicopter for getting supplies up there. The track back down was much busier with trampers than when we had come up. At the bottom there were also a lot more climbers clinging to the rock face encouraged by instructors holding the ropes that would stop the climbers coming back down the quick way. By the time we reached Smarty we had been walking for 4½ hours. We were a little tired and our legs were a little stiff.