Adventure in the Mountains of Croatia, Part 2
by Kelli Hedding, Copyright May 8, 2008, all rights reserved. 106 views
 |
| From Misc Images |
Unexpected meal
The view was gorgeous! Here we were; three young ladies far from our home countries ready to embark on an adventure in the mountains of Croatia.
Far below us was the little town we had stopped at to buy water before ascending the mountain. Beyond that was the Adriatic Sea. We could still see vaguely the island of Ciovo (Che-o-vo) where our ship was moored way off to our right directly across from old town Trogir (Tro-gEER). Way off to our left and barely visible was our goal; after hiking along the mountain ridges we planned to descend into Split where we would take a bus back to Trogir.
On the backside of the ridge the mountains were covered with trees and bushes blanketing the slopes down to the valley far below. Beyond the valley were mountains as far as we could see.
The path we would take was stony and lined with boulders. As dusk was settling in the trailhead was deserted except for the three of us and five middle aged men who were finishing up a picnic dinner. After we were dropped off by our friend Hansi we were anxious to get going. We were strapping on our packs when we were stopped.
The men at the picnic table began beckoning to us in heavily accented English. The three of us looked at each other doubtfully. We were all three pretty strong girls but we were still young ladies; this was not an ideal situation for three young ladies who are about to spend the night in the mountains. Our first instinct was to say no and get as far away as we could. I think we all must have been praying because all at once the three of us changed our minds and decided it was ok to go and talk to the men.
“Eat, eat,” they said eagerly when came over to them, “eat!”
We looked at each other bewildered but the men kept urging us to eat. It was typical fare of the Dalmatian region were we were living. The strangers were very eager to share it with us. Judit was much more at ease with the situation than Maggie and me - she quickly dug in and enjoyed herself. Soon she was chatting and joking with the men. Maggie and I looked on, too dumbfounded to eat much.
The men, however, would not let us go until they thought we had eaten enough of their good food. I was so amazed by these men and their generosity. They simply wanted to share their food with us even though we were total strangers. I personally think they were sent by God to bless us.
When we had satisfied the men by eating enough we finally escaped down the trail, but the blessing of our Croatian meal was not lost on us.
Living on the edge
“Girls, I have a feeling that God is going to bless us like crazy on this trip,” I said happily. “We won’t have to worry about a thing”.
Judit and Maggie agreed.
After hiking for only a few minutes the sun disappeared over the horizon and all that could be seen of the town below was a sprinkling of lights winking up at us. The three of us got out our flashlights and continued hiking in the dark for a while. The night was a gorgeous night for walking and we pretended to be hobbits.
When it came time to find a place to bed down for the night we were a little uncertain what we would find. Most of the mountain top was covered with large boulders and there was hardly a flat spot to be found. We had heard that there were World War II bunkers out on the mountain and we were hoping to find one to sleep in yet we could not find a single one.
After exploring for a while with our flashlights we found a soft, grassy clearing just big enough for three sleeping mats. It was perfect…except it was full of horse and/or donkey dung. I was a bit annoyed when Judit and Maggie, both experienced horsewomen, began discussing the consistency of quadruped dung.
We explored a bit further but still found nothing. I was pretty tired after a full day of work followed by the stresses of trying to get away. Most places we found to bed down would have been perfect if they had not been too rocky or full of animal dung. And there was no sign of anything covered to protect us in case of rain. However, we were pretty sure that God would provide us with the perfect spot whatever the weather.
At one point we split up. Someone disappeared around a narrow ledge with a rocky outcropping. She came back having found the perfect place. I will never forget edging along that narrow ledge in the dark trying to avoid looking down into the blackness below. All evening I had been struggling to keep from falling over – I was not used to carrying a heavy backpack - and I had been unsuccessful a few times. It wouldn’t be too pleasant to be unsuccessful now.
The narrow spot lasted only a few yards and then opened up to a wide grassy ledge about 9 ft. wide. The cliff above us rose about 12 ft. straight up. The cliff below dropped straight down for hundreds of feet. The view was incredible. The ocean below was black, lined with the twinkling lights of towns. Above us we were covered by a huge canopy of stars.
It was perfect.
Comments
No comments yet.