Rafting the Soca River in the Slovenian Julian Alps.
Our rafting trip to Slovinia was the third organised by UR Nomade. It was great to meet up with Txus again. Three years had passed since we had said goodbye at his company's base on Ebro River, high in the Basque country of Northern Spain. He was his irrepressibly cheerful self, completely undaunted by having broken his ankle, canyoning, only a few months before. He arrived at our Hotel in Ljubljana with Gartzen, one of three more Basques who were to be our guides.
Txus and Gartzen
They had brought two minibuses to drive the 17 of us to the headwater valley of the the Soca River in the heart of the Julian Alps.
We had to cross a pass the shoulder of Mount Triglav over a hairy mountain pass involving 50 switchback hairpin bends to reach Bovec, a town given over almost completely to adventure holidays, at the head of the Soca Valley. Txus brought us first to the visitors centre for a special slide presentation on the attractions of the area and so he could explain his plans for our progress down the Soca river using a model of its valley and surrounding mountains.
Our campsite was situated just below Bovec. UR Nomade had its own private level conveniently situated near the river. Here we met up with our other two guides, Iñigo and Beñat. Again we were meeting an old friend; Beñat had been with us on two of our previous trips; we had seen him only last year in Morocco. After a meal and settling into our tents, we were issued with wetsuits, jackets, safety helmets and rubber shoes.
With all this kit on we sweltered in the mid-day heat, but were grateful for its insulation once we immersed ourselves in the icy waters of the river to practice safety procedures.
These were techniques such as those used to ford fast flowing rivers, the position to adopt when being swept down river (essentially on your back - bums up and feet pointing down-river to take the impact of rocks) and when being rescued using thrown ropes.
We felt fully prepared when we were ready to launch some kilometres above the campsite the next day. This first stretch had been chosen as a relatively gentle introduction involving only class 2 rapids. UR-Nomade had brought two rafts over all the way from Spain.
However, since the rafts would only take 6 people and a guide, at least 5 of us would need to use inflatable canoes which they had hired locally - two two-person and one one-person canoe-rafts.
These were great fun, but difficult to control and much more likely to turn over in the rapids than the rafts.
This could be alarming, but there was little risk. The rafts would position themselves ahead of the canoeists so as to be able to throw rescue ropes and in any case there would be two rescue kayakers in the water with us at all times. At first, only the more experienced people were prepared to try the canoe-rafts. However by the end of the day, with growing confidence, quite a few people had had a go. Those in the rafts meanwhile were learning paddling commands and techniques required to position the raft in the rapids so as to avoid the rocks. It seemed a shame to finish at the campsite when we reached it - everything was going well - so we carried on for another 8 km to Serpenica where we pulled the rafts out carried them out of the gorge and headed back by minibus.
Next day we returned carrying our rafts down into the gorge and carried on.
By now the rapids were increasing in seriousness and were moving up to class 3. Those in the canoe-rafts were turning over with almost inevitable regularity meaning that rescue ropes were being thrown out all the time. However, it was fun; a few people collected a few bruises, but nothing more than that.
The next stage in the river was only about 6 km, so we had time to lark about - jumping off the rocks before we started.
But the rapids were getting really serious now, going up to Class 4+. So, even this short distance took us several hours: negotiating each rapid separately and positioning guides with rescue ropes on the banks in advance.
Bottoms up descent of the rapids
Only the more experienced people were allowed to use the canoe-rafts and even these seemed to spend more time in the water than in the rafts, There were some daunting water falls to negotiate, but Txus and Garten managed to get their rafts expertly over them, losing only a few of their crew along the way.
Finally we reached a stretch of Class 5 rapids. These were too dangerous to run, even in the rafts, so we pulled out for the day. Now we had shifted our campsite further down river.
The new campsite was more up-market - even music in the toilets. It had its own restaurant where we were treated to a meal washed down by a good deal of beer and wine.
The afternoon, we had spent in the nearby town of Kobarid which in addition to some useful bars had a museum given over to wartime memorabelia. Once again we were treated to a slide show - This now peaceful valley, it seemed, had the backdrop to the First World War battles described in Hemingway's book "Farewell to Arms". It was difficult now to believe that the surrounding, seemingly unscalable, ridges could have been the scene of such desperate fighting between Italian and the German forces to control these strategically important heights. .
The next day was to be our last on the river. We descended to the river starting with a few class 3 rapids by which time we reached the impressive Napoleon's Bridge where we had been watching people tomb-stoning into the river some 50ft below.
From here the river was easy and people started larking about and trying out the kayaks and canoe rafts. Finally we all abandonned the rafts altogether and floated down to the bridge that was to be our final ending point.
Returning to the campsite, that evening we had a farewell party with Beñat and Iñigo who were to leave us the next day.
Beñat and Iñigo
Next morning we packed away our tents for the last time; that night we were to stay in a mountain hut in Triglav National Park. An afternoon walk of a few hours brought us to the Jerezih Trilawski Refuge by a lake surrounded by mountains.
After a meal and a few beers most peope were tired enough to be in their communal beds by 11pm.
Next morning, the mountaintops being in cloud, we opted for a walk up to a high level lake, seeing chamois and hearing the eerie high-pitched piping of the marmots along the way.
Then we split into two parties, enthusiastic hillwalkers climbing over a mountain ridge, the rest opting for a more sedate saunter down the valley. We rejoined for a meal at a lower mountain hut- together with a self-invited guest - the owners St Bernard.
Reluctantly, we returned to our minibuses. By the early evening we were back in Ljubljana, drinking an appreciative farewell toast to Txus and Gartzen.
Txus and Gartzen
Most of us stayed on for a few more days relaxing in Ljubjana.- it was pleasant enough sitting in its riverside cafes and sun-bathing on the naturist beaches along the river only a short cycle-ride out of town.
