The 3rd of July was our final full day. We packed up and left the Soča valley to drive over the border into Italy to the Lago del Predil. Had a lazy picnic on the beach and a nice swim before intending to walk up into the mountains and bivvi out under the stars for our last night.
This was almost thwarted by a 3 hour thunderstorm forcing us to shelter in the van. Eventually it stopped (according to me, Sally didn’t totally agree) and we walked up in the dark with head torches fading (at about the same speed as our sense of humour). There was absolutely nowhere flat that you could have slept that we could see, and everywhere was soaking. But then out came the fireflies.
Magical. It felt like they were leading us on, until we saw the silhouette of what appeared to be a refuge full of lights (the Re di Sassonia). It was actually empty and locked, just more fireflies making a welcome party for us. There was lots of space to sit around, make a brew and heat up food, and plenty of flat space to sleep. Romantic night under the stars back on.
Sally: Those fireflies really were magical. They were completely uplifting just as I was starting to lose my mojo as we started taking wrong turnings in the increasing darkness. I swear they led us straight up to that mountain hut where we were able to bivvy really comfortably. This was also my first ever bivvying experience. I slept like a log.
The next morning we had a cup of tea, packed up, and climbed up to the Col delle Cenge.
More Via Ferrata – we recklessly hadn’t brought harnesses this time (Sally took it in her stride).
We brewed up again on the col for a nice cup of tea and a breakfast of overnight oats, while enjoying the spectacular views.
Sally: Bobby has got this tea making and food prep stuff down to a T. It was so nice to find a great spot for breakfast and just enjoy the views before climbing back down and heading home.
An hour or so of descending took us back to the van. By 11am we were driving back home to the UK feeling like we had snatched final day of adventure on our last morning.
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