Kristen
The road is long.
We wake at 5 am, and are walking before 6.
Each kilometre ticks past, treacherous as a slow clock, the arrythmic brute. Tick… tick… … … (tick?).
Day 26: Roadside near Prevjes to Knin
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Category Archives: Via Dinarica
Day 25: Gračac to roadside near Prevjes
Callum
You can always spot an abandoned house by its roof. It’s the first thing to go, or at least the first thing your can see from a distance. The terracotta tiles collapse inwards, leaving a gaping hole that grows until only the rough stone walls are left.
Day 24: Crnopac sklonište to Gračac
Kristen
As forecast, it’s been a wet night up at Crnopac sklonište. In the morning, the rain finally peters out, leaving the forest floor shiny with wet leaves and the limestone a brilliant, glistening white. I’ve slept badly (again), so I rise slowly while Callum puts on tea. We read some more Howard’s End. Mmm.
Day 23: Dušiće sklonište to Crnopac sklonište
Callum
It’s 5:15 pm. You’ve walked twenty-eight kilometres, and you feel every bit of it. There’s a dull, weary pain emanating upwards from the soles of your feet, and, alas, you’ve already eaten your chocolate for the day.
Even though you’d like nothing more than to lie down on the nearest patch of ground – and all ground is comfortable at this point – you’re at an intersection and you have a decision to make. To your right is a five kilometre ascent to a mountain shelter of unknown quality. From there you could summit the mountain of Crnopac tomorrow, before heading back down to the town of Gračac. This is the plan, but there’s thunderstorms forecast (it’s already raining) and Crnopac is too dangerous to climb in bad weather. So instead you could turn left for a five kilometre descent straight into Gračac and the bed that’s waiting for you there.
What do you do?
Day 22: Struge sklonište to Dušiće sklonište
Kristen
It’s morning again. We shared quarters last night with two pairs of hikers, each with big days planned for today. They pack and leave efficiently while the sun is still cool.
Day 21: Starigrad-Paklenica to Struge sklonište
Callum
We’re three weeks in to the Via Dinarica, and in many ways it’s just getting easier. My boots have softened, my skin has tanned, and, with all these mountains, I’m the fittest I’ve ever been.
But if the physical challenge has lessened, it’s only so that a mental challenge can take its place.
Day 20: Stap sklonište to Starigrad-Paklenica
Kristen
Stap is my favourite shelter so far. It’s beautiful and has great character, it’s loved and tidy, and I never want to leave. But today is an auspicious day, so walk on we must! Auspicious because it’s our twentieth day of walking, which is the longest either of us has ever hiked continuously.
Day 19: Ždrilo sklonište to Stap sklonište
Callum
As in Slovenia, Croatia’s wild camping regulations are somewhat restrictive: if I were to boil them down to a single word it would be “don’t”. And no matter much sense it makes in a country whose economy is based in large part on people paying for their accommodation, and which, besides anything else, is still sprinkled with landmines, it does make me a little sad that we never get to sleep out in the wild.
Day 18: Skorpovac sklonište to Ždrilo sklonište
Kristen
The beds at Skorpovac sklonište are amazingly comfortable. They even have pillows here! It’s blissful. And somehow, nobody snores!! This is very rare for a mountain hut. I wake up in a good mood and roll about contentedly for a while.
Day 17: Alan kuća to Skorpovac sklonište
Callum
Kris jerks to a stop. I’m walking just half a pace behind, and barely manage not to step on her heel.
“Look!” she hisses urgently.
I cautiously peer over her shoulder, dreading the sight of an upset bear or rearing snake.
bushnuts 