The struggle of towns and resupply is big on this trip. We don’t know what any town will really have and sometimes we have to just really hope they have a market as we’re out of food. Because Lic didn’t have anything we could resupply with we walked a couple extra miles on the road to Fuzine to resupply and grab some food to eat. Croatia is still just so bazar to me. No restaurants, very very limited markets, and the choices at the markets are even more limited. As a tourist in the moment it sucks, but as a way of life it’s totally what I want some day. These people live off of their own gardens and the land around them and what it provides. It’s so beautiful and amazing, but sucks as a hiker. Leaving town we met 3 men who were doing a Pilgrimage in Croatia. The Priest was with them and they were all super kind and we took a picture together. It was a small moment that meant a lot. Just to be with others who were doing something similar after feeling so alone out here was nice. We got to summit Bitoraja from the town of Vrata. Another mountain with some amazing sea views. I can’t believe how close we are to it! On our way down to Celimbasa, where we planned and hope to find camp, we saw multiple bear prints and some poop. The road was quite muddy, and looked exactly like Nutella, so the prints were very noticeable. Knowing they were near we knew we shouldn’t be quiet so we don’t frighten them, and nature just helped us with that automatically. All the sudden the decent mud turned into thick quick sand mud. With each step all the sudden we could no longer see our feet and the mud was creating a suction which made it hard to get our feet out. It was so hysterical. We were laughing so hard knowing there wasn’t anything we could do so we just kept going. The mud was all in my shoes and all over my legs. That night we slept in more tall grass, but had a beautiful sunset. The next morning helped me clean up as we got to walk through what I call natures car wash. Tall plants overgrown on the trail that were wet from the rain clean you up real quick. This morning was really foggy and we got to walk on a beautiful forest road through a meadow. I felt for a moment like I was on vacation. Just taking a morning stroll, which I guess is technically what I’m doing. The mellowness of the meadow and road lasted a couple of hours before the most adventure I ever had on dry trail began. We summoned Samarski Stijena, Stijena means rocks, first. These mountains are covered near the top with large white karst rocks that shoot up towards the sky.  Beautiful for sure. Comments from other hikers let us know it would be challenging but rewarding, I guess we just didn’t really get what that meant. Soon we were doing a lot of rock scrambling which is super fun. That soon because more of a rock climbing journey. Then trying to pass through super small cracks with packs on. Getting stuck. Then having to toss our packs down rocks and climb down. It doesn’t help that the pack is in the way but it also throws your balance off a bit, you may start falling forward when you really don’t want to be. I don’t like heights. They terrify me. So today I had to face those fears quite a bit. We’d follow the trail markers and I’d walk up and just see a straight drop down with the only path being to find little places in the rocks to grip with your fingers and place your feet as you slowly descend. There were ladders in a couple places. One hovering above the ground only being held up by some twisted wire. There was at times also stakes to climb up the rock with leading onto the next rock mountain of, Bijela Stijene. As well as wires to hold onto as you just walked along the side of ridges. Here is a quote from the VD Alliance about what we went through “The site of Bijele stijene is also a genuine gallery of karst forms: everywhere around, there are numerous, vertical, white, approximately fifty meters high pointed rocks in the terrain, with deep impassable sinkholes and swallow holes hidden in between”. So it was a fun, stressful time. Even though I was scared during parts it was my favorite day so far. And the views were pretty epic. Meg and I laughed when we checked the trail registry and saw what other hikers had written about the trail. “Dear God, someone hold me” and “whoever created this trail deserves either an award or a jail sentence.”  Those 2 were my favorite. It made me more interested in rock climbing though, just preferably prepared for it and without a pack on. 

The next day just started with me falling more. I ended up just walking barefoot. My shoes keep no traction on the mud and wet rocks, which is all the trail seems to be since it rains every night. Luckily my pack braces my fall for me a bit. The biggest deal with this day was just continuously getting off trail. The gps would show us on trail then a bit later we’d check and we’d be way off. Missing some random bit of overgrown trail we were supposed to get onto. I feel more attached to my phone now than I ever have. We always have to be staring at our GPS to try to not backtrack over and over again. It won’t have main roads on the maps, but super old roads nobody has used in years. I get anxiety whenever one of us is checking the maps not knowing if we just walked up the big hill for no reason or not, most typically it was for no reason. Just confusing. I have come to the conclusion that Croatia and I have an unhealthy relationship. You know, those relationships where 85% of it is total shit and you don’t like it, but there’s that small 15% of hope that keeps you hanging on. That’s it. I see great views and forget about all the shit it took to get there and all the shit that will come after it. I definitely don’t want to quit, my ego is too big for that. But I don’t really like this “trail” so far. But I think we’re going to continue learning and getting the hang of things and will be able to make it special to us. We got to have lunch at a sweet hut built into some cliffs, before more bad trail. But then we took a fire road instead of trail into Krvi Put which was so perfect. We were walking along the lower part of green pastures along the mountains with windmills and the sea just down the hill beside us. Idk why the trail wouldn’t just take this amazing route. 

The nights on trail have also been interesting. Not just the consistent thunder storms, but all of the wild boars. It seems anytime we’re in the forest we hear them walking around the whole night. Luckily they never bother us, and I think I’m used to them now. Once I realize it’s not a bear I just go back to sleep. But what seems to frighten me most is how many gun shots we hear. Assuming it’s hunters hunting the boars. But it’s kind of sketch as we don’t want to be camping in the “fire zone.” We will be fine though, it’s just funny how your mind can freak you out so much. 

Currently we’re in Senj on the coast. Spending a couple days relaxing in the water and watching Croatia play in the World Cup finals. We don’t want to miss the opportunity to be here in a town if they win! And it’s nice to be off the trail actually feeling like we’re in Croatia on vacation. 

Right away Croatia hit us with its tricky tactics. Having us shoot up the side on a mountain to go to the top, which had no views. And ironically the name of the mountain means “good views”. They’re full of shit over here. The dynamic is different now, just me and Meg. And I really enjoy it. Not that I didn’t enjoy the time with the guys, because it was the greatest! But things are just easier with 2 people and we get to connect more. The section before Cabar was interesting. Lots of bushwacking, always lots of stinging nettles, thorns, downed trees, and logs everywhere. The trail would make us go up just to go right back down again. I can never guess what this trail will have us do, every time I think I figured it out it shows me I know nothing. Cabar was great, after getting some food from the market, because restaurants literally don’t exist in any of these towns, we went to the bar to charge our phones, eat, and hang. Ended up meeting a man who claims to be the Mayor of the town. He was super kind and telling us all these places we should go and see, and about his adventures. When he was 20 he walked from Croatia to Egypt! That is so insane! And then he bought us a beer and we learned how to say Cheers, but idk how to spell it. Before the town of Trsce we set up camp in some super tall grass that almost covered our tents making us incognito to the locals. I slept so amazing though, like better than I have in months. And it was nice to know we just had a couple mile walk into town and that was it for the day. When we got to Trsce nothing was open except for the bar where people just sit and smoke endless amounts of cigarettes and were already drinking at 8am. While there and after no breakfast and some espresso we were randomly asked if these people could take our blood pressure and blood sugar numbers. We did and laughed when our blood pressure was way higher than usual due to the caffeine and no food, but just how random? Got a place to stay for $12 at Apartment David. The woman who greeted us, David’s mom, was so sweet and kind and offered to do laundry for us. It was a cute place and we were stoked to be in town for the Croatia game as we really want to watch it with some locals. What started out as such a nice experience quickly became a bit weird. After some weird interaction with the woman across the street for food David insisted we walk to the market and get food for his mom to make us pizza. I swear I will hate pizza by the time this is over. It’s all anyone eats. David decided to come with us to watch the game and we went into the bar with the most people because we guessed it’d be more fun. But when Croatia scored their goal someone threw a beer bottle at our table which hit and shattered our beer bottles and our glasses. Glass hit my mouth, face, cut my knee, got stuck in my feet and we got beer all over us. But nobody said or did anything, ever. No apologies no are you ok, just nothing like it never happened. I was pissed, sad by humans who can just not care at all, and over it. Shortly after David started hitting on Megan and just wouldn’t let it go. It was so annoying. And when we got back to the apartment he kept trying to stick around even though we told him bye numerous times. Then when I was outside talking on the phone he kept coming and just standing by the door wanting to show Megan a pillow he made. It was just super super creepy. And we both had the same nightmares of him being right outside of our window while we were sleeping. Definitely never going back to Trsce again. It’s pronounced like Tursa so we now call is Tursa Cursa. Never going back!! 

We happily and in a hurry left Trsce to head back out onto trail. Now it seems easier to laugh about what a weird experience we had in that town. Croatia just keeps us on our toes that’s for sure. We got to visit a nice church called Sveta Gora, which had a beautiful view, before road walking down towards Hrib. It’s hard to explain this trail, or lack there of. It’s obvious that the alliance who created it had never actually hiked it and just used maps with old trails to create where they’re sending us because a majority of the time it’s just a massive overgrown tree-downed area. Luckily, other hikers who have previously attempted these spots have let us know what to avoid so we are doing more road walking to avoid getting more cut and bruised up. Our poor legs are covered with cuts, scrapes, bumps, and bruises. Although we try to avoid as much bushwhacking and crazy unnecessary trail walking it doesn’t always happen. And we had a pretty good bushwhack into Hrib. Where I actually fell from a rock sliding out from under me. Nothing hurt but it’s always scary to fall steep ground because you don’t know how long you will fall for, luckily I didn’t fall for long before stopping. This stage got amazing by entering us into the National Park where we got to see Izvaka Kupa Lake and River. I have never seen a lake so blue. It was like a fairyland. I loved it. I didn’t jump in which I’m still sad about but it was cold outside so I worried I wouldn’t be able to warm up, little did I know we had a big uphill which would have done the trick. It was magical entering the NP, greeted by a man named Josip who hosts visitors and seemed super sweet. The luxury of trail and beautiful views soon left us as we had to walk 8.5 miles on the road. It starts to wear us down mentally for sure. It gets so boring and all you’re left with are your thoughts, which is rarely a good time. By the time we hit Crni Lug we were done, and thankfully the universe helped us out a bit. Meg walked into a bar as I looked at a map, to see if anyone knew of where we could stay for the night. And right away a man started calling around, found us a spot and before we knew it we were freshly showered and laying in warm comfy beds. The day we got to spend within the NP was great! To be able to hike on a well maintained trail was absolutely marvelous. I miss it! The uphill was pretty big and for some reason this morning I can’t seem to escape my thoughts at all. It’s multiple hours to the top of the peak and my brain just never slows down. It drove me insane. There is definitely no escaping yourself out here. I can’t listen to music or a podcast because my phone will die too quickly since we have to use the GPS so much. Just no distractions, just you with you. And sometimes it sucks, like today did. I did my best to not get frustrated and just be at peace with the thoughts. I just realize I try to control way to much and it’s making me exhausted. So I’m going to just do my best to let go of that need for control and just go with the flow. The view from the top was the best so far. We could see the sea not far away from us, then an ocean of endless mountains on the other side. The best part of this day was before we left the hut, and a fox came and hung around. I’ve always wanted to see one and it was so perfect. I desperately wanted to pet it and it took everything I had to not do so. The day became more magical as we went. We got our first dose of trail magic from a stranger on the road. He gave Meg part of his sandwich and me a really spicy pepper! Yay! Summiting Tubobic with more views of the sea around us, and leaving on a prairie filled of flowers before descending on an overgrown old forest road. We got another amazing act of kindness today when we asked a man for water as we were out and there was no place to get any, he and his wife spoke 0 English, but brought us out some fresh homemade cherry juice they made. They make their own cherry syrup. It was delicious and so so kind of them. It’s so much of what I miss on the PCT, people just doing nice things for no reason at all. I am so happy we finally got to experience it here. 

The last few days have gone from exciting with nice views to horribly long road walks that are completely unnecessary.  But the trail took it easier on us these two days. Some small uphills and downhills, but nothing like we have been experiencing. We saw an old bunker and walked through it for awhile laughing at how freaked out we all were just walking underground in the dark. You know nothings going to happen, but that fear is always there. The bunker was built between the two world wars as an Italian border control. It used to span 15km, but now only 1.5km isn’t cemented so you can walk through that bit. It was really cool. There was also another really awesome cave today. There was water flowing heavily through it with lots of moss and greenery surrounding just outside the cave with a nice bridge. We saw another castle, Haasberg Castle. Which apparently means Bunny Mountain Castle I think it was. Not near as cool as the Predjama Castle. The hiking lately changes consistently. The other day was a lot of forests, nice gravel roads and trail sighting more wildflowers, animals, and passing through many towns. In Cerknica where we stopped to resupply and grab lunch, I totally embarrassed myself. I went to the wrong bathroom, I went to the kitchens bathroom. And the guy says “I think you have lost your way, that’s the wrong bathroom.” It was funny, but what then made it worse is I went to plug in our phones to charge and it cut out the electricity. I felt horrible but luckily the guy was super kind and just laughed and helped me out. We hiked to the top of Slivnica where we camped at a local hut that is currently closed…but in the middle of the night we were awakened by a not so happy Slovenian woman who was wanting to know what we were doing there. She was irritated and we kept apologizing and offered to leave but luckily she let us stay. Camping is rough because not only are there no campsites, it’s apparently illegal to camp in general. So we need to try and be more stealthy to not get ourselves into trouble. The next day was just endless road walking. It was the worst. My body hurt more on this day than 35+ mile days on the PCT. My feet are super sore and my joints achy. And it’s just boring. And there were road walks both days that were completely unnecessary. It took us to no special sights or anything just way around right where we were going to end up. So instead of heading just a few miles straight into a town we’d loop around sometimes adding 6+ miles to the walk. We made sure to find a town with a restaurant to watch the Sweden v Switzerland World Cup game since Stats is Swiss and Simon Swedish we had a real battle on our hands! We followed a boot trail and Jesus trail markers to a beautiful lake where we got to swim and do some laundry before somehow getting lucky enough to actually find a restaurant with food, tv, and WiFi. It was a total win! So far I don’t understand this trail and it’s purpose all the time. But I’m definitely enjoying it. Thanks to the people and all of the flowers, and most importantly adorable amazing animals we get to see so much of. We even had a dog come along with us for a short bit. I tried to keep him, but it didn’t work out. Stats left us the following day after we took a tour of Sneznik Castle. It was said to say goodbye. The climate here is very tropical like,m. Extremely humid causing us to just always be sweaty, even at night which is uncomfortable. I’m cold yet hot and sweaty and it’s just making us smell horrible. And it’s been storming on us a majority of the nights. So no star gazing. The other night the storm was super crazy the thunder super loud and the lightning was so consistent I have never seen the sky light up that much. It was cool to lay in my tent and watch the show! The last day of stage 1 we stopped and ate some eggs at a Sviscaki mountain lodge before heading up to summit Mt. Sneznik which is the tallest Slovenia mountain outside of the Alps. We met a cool couple there who was saw later on the mountain, the woman used to live in San Fran and we talked about how beautiful of a place NorCal is. It wasn’t a hard summit. The sign at the bottom said 2 hours and I always like to race those, so I did it in an hour and 20 min. The view from the top was outstanding. Slovenia on one side and Croatia on the other. It was the perfect place to sit and have lunch with friends before the steep downhill. More beauty followed the peak as we raced, or shall I say slugged, down the steep peak on rocks that soon turned into an alternating pattern of beautiful forests and green pastures. And pine bushes that liked to throw me and my pack around like I’m inside a pinball machine. Every break we have to stop and do tick checks, and they seem to definitely love on Simon. I’ve had no issues but we’re going through so much talk brush you never know. The last bit of the stage was nothing great. More boring road walking mainly on logging roads, which I hate saying because I’m in Europe doing something so special but the monotony of the road walks just get to me. Time ticks by so slowly. The only interesting part was getting to maneuver around a lot of downed trees. Always interesting with a pack on. Climbing up and over, going under somehow, walking around, walking along tree to tree to get across. It slows you down, but makes the trail a fun obstacle course. The following morning we hiked the few KM to Babno Polje where we said goodbye to Slovenia and soon Simon as we walked across the border to our next country, Croatia. 

Day 2: 7/1

It was freezing last night. Actually below freezing I’m sure and it rained on us most of the night with high winds. The cold makes packing up and getting going even harder so we were pretty slow this morning. Luckily the morning began as a nice long descent into where we were meeting Stats, at the Predjama Castle. It took us just under 3 hours to get down there with a couple of breaks happening. We stopped and snacked at a nice big field covered in wild flowers watching the suns rays beat down onto the earth. I have never seen so many wild flowers, and so many different species of them in my life. It’s mesmerizing. I can’t stop talking about how beautiful it is here. Every view we get is so special. Slovenia is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, if not the most. The homes are so intricate and all of them have flowers all over. The greenery and fresh berries all around is just heavenly. I got to snack on a lot of raspberries and the best wild strawberries ever today! The strawberries tasted like candy I couldn’t stop picking them. And apparently, around here and other parts of Europe hazelnuts grow all over. We found some but they aren’t ready to go yet. It would be so cool to have a point where I don’t have to really carry food and can just eat from the trail! At 10:30am on the dot, as planned, we arrived at Predjama Castle. It is over 700 years old and perched on a 123 meter cliff. It is worth seeing I promise you that! We didn’t even go inside and it didn’t matter. It was so cool! We found Stats right away his hair is a little longer, but he looks just the same! It’s the greatest to be back with my trail family. It feels like we were never actually apart. After lunch and some nice salads we headed out, knowing we had some good climbing ahead of us. And it didn’t disappoint as per usual on this trail. The PCT spoiled us with its 15% grades, and now we’re on a trail that just wants to shoot us right up and straight down the mountains. It’s sweaty, hard, and super fun. I realized how much I like this kind of hiking. Work hard then get rewarded by amazing views and hang for a bit before doing it over and over again. So far another thing I love about this trail is that it isn’t all perfectly set out for us. I enjoy hiking in the tall grass and through the wild flowers feeling like I’m just as much a part of this land as they are. It’s freeing. At the top of the first big peak there was a trail registry I was super stoked to sign. It’s been too long since I’ve gotten to sign one, and since I have seen these other beautiful peoples names alongside mine. After hanging for a bit and eating snacks, as the hiker hunger is kicking in, we headed down the mountain a bit just to go right back up another one. And then another one. But luckily that was the last one. Then the trail mellows out for a nice downhill that led us past a fancy hut, a church, and down to another church, Sveta Marija, where we are set camping for the evening. I realized today how much a trail and these people feel like home to me. It just feels normal and like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. I love being able to chat with them over dinner talking about any and all things and hanging in our tents talking even more. It doesn’t take much to entertain you on these trails, and it’s that simplicity of life I appreciate so much about it.

6/29 Wow. What a first day. Not much has ever rocked me that hard before. Even my time in the Sierras. But as usual the trail provides always giving you what you need at the exact moments you desperately need it. But for the easy part first, the day started great. Nice solid breakfast before walking just over a mile from our Airbnb to the ferry station. We got to walk through the best parts of Italy I’ve seen yet. Just real and filled with the cutest houses. Although we get scowled at consistently we just smile say Cia and keep walking. The ferry was also legit. Taking us about 20 min on the Adriatic Sea before dropping us off in Muggio an even cuter town than Trieste, where the Via Alpina begins. Directly in the middle of town which is random. The beginning, actually this entire trail, was confusing. There were multiple trail markers which were just painted colors on bricks, curbs, trees, but no idea which meant which. We were seeing a lot of blue first which we thought could be it, but then we saw red and white and knew that made much more sense since we are hiking the Red Trail. The blue turned out to be the Via Adria and the red and white ended up meaning multiple different things. We went uphill immediately and through part of it we saw another hiker coming our way. We stopped to chat and that’s when the world became so small again! She had hiked from Austria, she asked where I was from and I said CA and she lit up and said she was there last year. HIKING THE PCT!!! She was only a couple days behind us the whole time. Her name is D-Hiker, from Germany, and she actually knows part of my trail fam, Sante and Javaloo. It was so unreal amazing and so special to get that connection. We chatted for quite awhile before splitting up, her on her last day of trail, and us on our first. We saw many beautiful homes, animals, greenery, fruits, olive trees, etc on our hike. Some apple trees, grape trees, dig trees, berries, can’t wait until they’re more ripe and we can forage!!! We soon accidentally went on a wrong trail which led straight up. After a bit, and still seeing white and red markers, we learned it wasn’t our trail. Going uphill for no reason sucks! And now we are more confused with the painted markers. The trail soon became a bike path staying near the roads before making us climb again. This time it was literally step ups every step. Which is honestly my favorite! And the views weren’t too shabby. We went on another path which after a bit I felt was wrong and checked…and it was. So for the 3rd time today we had walked a bit extra. We could have stayed on this trail and met back up with ours later, but it looked longer so we decided to turn back. And man we shouldn’t have! Shortly after getting on our trail past the junction the trail went missing. We just kept walking through the brush thinking it’ll pop up again soon. But it didn’t and looking at the map we were about 100ft above the trail. But we decided to just follow the mountain down until we connect to it. But we kept lowering and lowering and nothing. Soon after some slightly sketchy and hard descents we looked a little closer so we kept going. But then it turned into lots of rock fields. Slippery ones. The worst. We carefully, and very slowly made our way through them knowing a slip could cost us a lot…..we would have been screwed. That’s where the snow is better at least you can self arrest. But on these rocks you can’t even trust the larger ones to not slide out on you. We used the trees and any branches to hang on to for extra support. Meg and I stopped at a little spot that was nice to sit. It’s hot and she’s been out of water for quite awhile, and I don’t have much left. We have been sweating non-stop and none of us have used the bathroom all day because we just can’t drink enough water. I started getting really nervous. It was too late to go back up, and we didn’t think we had the energy. Laughing now at the fact we said that at least our insurance covers helicopter rescues. Just as we were losing hope on the trail and ourselves Simon yelled “TRAIL” best news ever! It was still pretty sketchy getting down there. And at one point I dropped my pack to go help Meg and after a few min the rocks gave and my bag went sliding down so Simon had to step in to stop it. But my water bottle also fell out so he went right to stop my bag and a big left to get my bottle which landed him in a super awkward position with my pack attacking his leg. In the end we all were fine, we had made it less than a mile in well over an hour. And after some quick switchbacks on more pointy rocks, our poor feet, we came across a lovely man made waterfall. Immediately I jumped in drinking water from my filter as I stood under it. Heaven! It’s so funny how you could just be so miserable and the second you’re good and in a cool place it doesn’t even matter anymore. We ate dinner there before heading out to hike further out to a stream we saw on the map to camp at. This evening walk was unreal. The sunset on the big rocks covering the mountain was just amazing. And the best part we saw like 12 mountain goats! I was SO HAPPY! And we wouldn’t have seen these things if we had come off that mountain any sooner! It was pure magic. We camped right near the village of Buzzavia at a nice stream. I didn’t sleep good at all this night. Every sound freaked me out, I’m terrified of these wild boars. I hear they don’t play games! It is also apparently illegal to camp here so we have to be stealthy, we were near homes so I was nervous. So I maybe slept a few hours. I was happy when it was morning. Gotta just get used to this again. 

6/30 leaving about 7:15am after very quickly just bring back into the normal routine of everything. It was like I never left the trail. Immediately we took the wrong trail. So back tracked and found the trail sneaking back in between some houses. Who the hell came up with this? I got frustrated but know I can’t let myself get annoyed. This hike will be so different than the PCT and I have to get used to getting lost at some point each day. This whole trail only seems to ever be going uphill. ALWAYS! Luckily, it always rewards us with some beautiful views as well. There were so many farms and gardens as we mainly walked in some forest/gravel roads. We took a short cut because we need to make up time to make sure we get to Stats by the 1st. And I realized, we only accounted for the 37 miles on the Alpina to get to him not the additional 11ish to get to the castle where we are actually meeting him. Knowing we couldn’t do a massive day at this point we decided to take some other trails to the nearby town of Divaca to catch a bus to take us to Razdrto where the Dinarica begins. The walk was ok except the last few miles on the road after Preloze. But there are so many butterflies and these beautiful black moth things with yellow dots on the wings. They’re everywhere and just perfect! We got to town and went to a delicious little restaurant to recharge our minds, bodies, and our phones. We sat for hours which felt so nice. I had an amazing dish of filled squash, eggplant, and peppers with their fresh made bread!!!! So so good. We headed to the bus station where I took a nap. It’s nice to not be stressing about skipping trail which was a huge No-no on the PCT. But this first part was just for fun and adventure which is most certainly has been. The bus was perfect and easy. Although squeezing through the isles with our packs wasn’t too easy, but entertaining for sure! And before I knew it we were on the Via Dinarica. Ready to go up this huge mountain that’s glooming over and taunting us. It looks so massive and slightly intimidating. Luckily this trail is perfectly marked making it super easy to just grind and go. The uphill was quite intense. Again making us do many step ups onto huge tall rocks again, and again, and again. We kept taking breaks as the views only got better the higher we got up. I have seriously never seen so much greenery. It is so outrageously beautiful. We blasted through the uphill pretty quickly reaching the top just in time for one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen. Every hard time is made better by these kinds of rewards. It’s why I truly love backpacking. We’re now stealth camping back in the forest listening to the rain hit our tents as we try and recover for another day. Tomorrow is going to be even more special. 

Here we are, spending the night in Trieste, Italy before we begin our trek tomorrow morning to the Via Alpina Red Trail which we will be hiking on until July 1 when we reach the Via Dinarica White Trail, and Stats. It’s been an interesting and stressful journey so far. Delayed red eye flights and sadness from leaving home made the first part a bit rough. I found myself consistently gazing out of the plane window into the moon and stars, my heart filling a little empty. I felt similar when beginning the PCT. It probably took me a good week on the trail for it to even kick in what I was actually doing. I think this is the same. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism. I’m not too sure. But our first flight dropped us at Keflavik airport in Iceland briefly before getting back on our flight to London. After standing in the slowest passport check line ever we finally escaped and went to grab our bags. I grabbed my pack happy to see it there, but after a moment realized my tent poles were missing. Then the freak out kind of began. Plus we were in a rush to catch a bus, so I felt a bit unorganized. I went to the baggage inquiries place and they just told me to go to a website and make a claim, but beforehand to check another belt which contains odd objects. I had high hopes the Universe would be looking out for me and I’d find them there. But it was a no go. We headed out to catch the bus, my attitude was shit, and I was feeling so stressed I couldn’t quite function on what to do. Because there was nothing that I could do. I hate being negative, sad, stressed, and I do all that I can to not live my life that way, so when I was feeling all of those things I got nervous. I’m with another person and I don’t want to impact her experience with my grumpiness. Our host Ralph picked us up from the bus station in a rad old ass jeep and brought us to our home for the next 2 nights. Jilly, our host, was there to greet us with hugs and a smile. They are all so kind. Actually everyone in England is so far, nothing but great experiences. Wiped after basically no sleep we had a super quick dinner before heading off to bed. My stomach felt weird, my heart felt weird, with an urge to cry I just went to sleep. The next morning didn’t start off any better than the night before. I tried to make multiple calls to the airline, the airports, and anyone who may be able to assist me. I couldn’t find documents I needed and the frustration continued to the point I asked if I should just go home because then I wouldn’t have to deal with it. Not that I actually want to, but I knew things would just go back to being easy if I did. I looked online, as well as Meg did, to try and find tents. But there were a couple of problems 1) the cost. The tent I had or any replacement I’d buy would be over $400. 2) I don’t know where to ship it if I did buy it. So after many moments of just saying fuck it I’ll sleep on the ground and just deal with the rain as it comes, followed by incessant research on the internet, emailing and calling companies, only to go back to saying fuck it again. But then Meg found a Sweet deal on a tent nearby. But it couldn’t be delivered until tomorrow, the day after we leave. So I was left short again. But I called the company and asked if they had anything near what I was looking for and luckily they did. So we biked into town following a map by Alphie, Ralph’s 17 year old son, which left us getting stung by a large amount of stinging nettles. All on our hands, legs, and feet. We crossed through green grass, under big trees, on dirt roads leading to beautiful properties, and along hedges and busy roads. And I saw many many feathers along the way, which always let me know I’m on my right path. We arrived to town and hopped on a bus to Harlow, about 1hr 15min, to get my tent. A tent that I’ve never seen, and only know it’s heavier than any tent I’d ever buy, but it’s not horrible and it’s on sale so it’ll do. It’s super beautiful here and even this stress couldn’t take it away. Vast green fields, clear blue skies, old homes and buildings, and cute little cars. It somehow seems different and at the same time like I’m in a similar place as usual. We find ourselves in Harlow and quickly retrieve my tent, definitely quite a bit heavier than I’m used to, and head right back. Dinner was prepared foods from the market, as the Pub lost electricity and wasn’t serving food, and shortly after back to bed. Not much of an exploration day, more like a you have to get shit done day, I guess we will leave the wild and actually fun not stressful explorations for another time. This night ended as I needed. I sat out in the middle of the field with all my crystals under the full moon and got to meditate. Which helped clear my head and heart quite a bit allowing me to get the few hours of sleep possible before waking up at 3:50am to head to the airport. I have legit slept better and this house than I ever have. Jilly was kind enough to wake up super early and take us to the airport. We grabbed our things and headed out, a block out I realized I forgot my water bottle and we had to go back. Which was no issue because the airport was insanely quick. And strange because at first we had to walk through an entire mall just to get to the gate. Where we then had to shuttle to the plane and we got to walk on the lot up the plane stairs. It definitely made me feel like a celebrity, it’s the little things. We had a super easy good flight and got through customs blazing fast with all of our gear accounted for. We then hopped on a bus to Venice where we were meeting Simon. It took just over an hour and when we got there we couldn’t find Simon. After searching for a bit and with no way to contact him, we headed to the train station to find some WiFi to be able to call him. We did and soon we were reunited with our Swedish friend! Venice is not my favorite place. I guess I just don’t get the romanticism of it. I enjoyed walking around the vortex and maze of the city and seeing The buildings which  were beautiful. And it was neat to walk down the narrow pathways and see everything. We went and had some pizza, and I can say I enjoy Tostinos pizza even more than what we got. I hope we just went to a bad place otherwise I’m definitely not impressed. I also realized at this point that I left my favorite crystal necklace in London. I wore it everyday on the PCT.  So apparently I’m just a head case and can’t keep anything organized at the moment. Ugh. 

After a few hours we decided to leave and get on the train for our 2 hour train ride to Trieste where we have an Airbnb to crash at for the night. The train was fun, I fell asleep mid conversation then woke up and couldn’t sit any longer. We have talked endlessly about our PCT memories and it’s been so nice to be around others who get it, who were there, and who don’t get annoyed by continuously talking about it. The Airbnb in Trieste is nice, now that we got toilet paper and the WiFi to work. We just went to the market to supply for the trek. I’m going weird this time and just bought bread, peanut butter, jelly, and chips. And I will be eating that and my Mammoth Bars and that’s it. BASIC! The fam decided to make some pasta, salad, and eggplant for dinner. Now we will probably pack and repack 20 times before leaving the house tomorrow to make sure we have all we need and reduce as much weight as possible. 

I am so ready to be on a trail. I think I’ve been doing so much Spiritual work lately I just don’t see things as I used to. I feel odd. Just nothing’s clicking and everything feels similar to home and not anything special. Hopefully that perspective changes soon, as I get into the Wild I feel it will. But for now…Gelato!

Ever since my feet left my home of the PCT they, and my heart, have been wanting everyday to just be back on the trail.  And now, in one week, I set out to plant my feet into a new adventure, but this time I am going international! After a week of barely eating and losing weight, which is far from ideal before a thru-hike. I woke up this morning really excited for what is about to come. So much is unknown, but I am blessed to be heading out onto a brand new trail called the Via Dinarica, with L-Train, aka Megan. I fly out on June 25 where we will land in London for a little over a day before heading to Venice on the 28 to meet up with Simon, also from the PCT, who lives in Sweden. From there us 3 companions will bus to Trieste, Italy and then hike on the Via Alpina Red Trail to the beginning of the Via Dinarica White Trail, where we will be meeting up with Stats, who is coming from nearby Switzerland! The guys will only be joining us a few days on this journey, but I am so grateful for it, and super excited to be reunited with part of my PCT Trail fam!

The Via Dinarica is a special trail. Well I am not even sure if I can call it a trail from what I have read. It is brand new. According to the Via Dinarica Association only 6 people have hiked the trail, and none have been Americans. So, Meg and I, will be the first Americans to attempt this hike! It is almost 800 miles long, traversing through the highest parts of the Dinarica Alps, and in the largest karst field on earth!!!! It crosses through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Albania. The only actual completed portion of the trail is Bosnia, every where else we are going to have to use some good navigating and patience to get through it.  Apparently, there is pretty much no trail at all for a majority of Croatia…..so we will see how that goes!

Preparing for this trip has been short and intense. Going to not just one, but multiple other countries, a lot of research has to be done on border crossing, currency, phone service, language, and culture. It all came about so quickly, but I think the preparation has been completed. You can only realistically prepare for so much in these circumstances. I know things will change and I am ready to be flexible and allow the experience to just be what it is and not force anything out of it. From coast lines to limestone to forests, it’s sure to be one hell of a hike.

After the Via Dinarica the plan is to head to France and begin the Camino de Santiago, a spiritual pilgrimage I have always wanted to do. This will take us through Spain to the coast, where we may extend our trip and do another Camino route down into Portugal.

But one at a time! This journey feels unreal, and like a total blessing. I am going to soak in every single step and feel the ground beneath me, and I hope you follow along! I will be updating on this blog with pictures and some stories of our days on the trail along the way. I can’t wait to see what this adventure will teach me about myself, my soul, and the endless beauty of the world and the people in it.

https://trail.viadinarica.com/en/tour/long-distance-hiking/via-dinarica-white-trail/17291189/