We made it back on the trail this morning and I felt much better. The landscape has changed in the last few days. It actually reminds me of Virginia on the Appalachian Trail. Fewer Pine and Spruce trees and more deciduous leafy trees.
I changed up our normal lunch of cheese and sausage and cleaned my empty Skippy peanut butter jar and added a jar of eggplant pesto with a jar of roasted bell peppers. We smeared the concoction on a slice of bread with some soft cheese and crushed potato chips. Yum! So good, I don't even miss having hot sauce.
We saw a couple signs today pointing down the road saying Slovenia. I can't believe we are so close to the border. The trail touches the border then follows it South to Goriza. There's a side trail from there we could take and start our next hike, the Via Dinarica. The Via Alpina however continues to Trieste which is where we plan to go. We are too close not to finish this trail, plus we'd like to get some fresh seafood and take a few days off.
Storms rolled on and off through most of the afternoon. Thunder would echo down the valley. Just before our highest point of the day, a storm caught us. The temperature was warm so we decided to just cover our packs and use our cheap umbrellas we picked up at a local grocery. That decision was soon overturned when the lighting and thunder got too close. It rained hard for 40 minutes as we raced down the hill as fast as we could. This warm day and heavy rain brought back some wet memories of the AT.
We passed lots of small WWI bunkers hidden in the hills. Concrete and round with a small hole in the front. I had read that a major battle was fought here, but was not expecting to see so much evidence. Even once we hit the road, bunkers laced both sides.
Our guidebook showed a place to stay at the road crossing, but it was closed. The map showed a flat area near a creek close by. Sure enough, next to the dried creek bed was a fenced off area that looks to be WWI base. Old structures and odd mounds of dirt line the area. We found a nice spot just outside the fence. We heard a waterfall in the distance and was surprised the creek was dry. I told Shadow that maybe the water went underground and started dipping from a puddle of rain water. He walked toward the sound of the waterfall looking for running water and yells at me, "I found water. It's heading your way." Sure enough, we beat the water to camp. Slowly the creek revived itself as we sat and watched the rocks change colors and the leaves float by. By the time we needed to wash our dinner bowl the creek was dry again.
The Original Shadow's birthday was today. He is 82 years young. We thought him today. For those of you that know him, know that he is as spry as a bantam rooster and sharp as a tack. Shadow Junior hopes some of that rubbed off onto him.
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