Two day hike to Mt Guarda/Skuta, sleeping in a mountain shelter, Italy/Slovenia

Hi dear Hive community!

For today we have a special post about amazing two-day trip we took in Autumn 2024. The mountain that we choose for our destination was Skuta (in Slovene)/ Mt Guarda (in Italian). It is the hill at the beginning of Canin mountain massif (2587 metres). Why we are giving two names? Because the mountain range is the one dividing this two countries. We always love to visit places like that - one land, yet two completly different worlds, languages, etc.

On Friday morning we packed our backpacks, which were surprisingly light despite all the food and big sleeping bags. Before starting the hike, we needed to drive for nearly one and a half hours, maybe even two. The road was very narrow, badly maintained but to our luck empty. It would be a challenge to meet and make space for another car to pass. There is literally none. There is a path from Slovenian side, but since we are curious to see more, we decided to go the long way by road.

The valley that we were going to is called Dolina Rezije/Val Resia. It's a very unique place. Not many people live there, but their culture is still much alive. They continue to speak a special dialect, known as the Resian.

"It's one of the most picturesque of all the Alpine valleys. It is located in the province of Udine and is crossed by the Torrente Resia, which rises at the foot of Monte Canin, separating the Alps from the Julian Prealps, up to the border with Slovenia."
[source: https://www.italia.it/en/friuli-venezia-giulia/val-resia]

Carefully reaching the parking spot, we got ready to see the landscape and forests. On the way up we met only few people, one can count on the fingers of one hand. We were happy, as this meant it's not much chances that we will share the mountain shelter. It can take up to 15 people, but might not be ideal due to bad air. There is no windows and small hole on the sides would definitely not be enough. To spoil you the idea of a 5 star mountain hut - the beds were more like hamock out of metal with a very thin matress. In the middle of the night, we took them off and just put them on the floor. It was too much for our backs.

The small red dot on the below picture is seen the metal, round shelter. Due to it's red colour you can see it alredy from far way.

We reached the bivac fast, maybe we walked around 2 hours. We got ourselves comfortable and cooked a nice dinner. We left all in the bivac and went on a nearby miuntain peak. It was only half an hour away (without backpacks). We reached there perfect for sunset. It was worth it for sure! On the way back we got cought by night and we only had phone lamp, as we did not took our headlaps. We hurried up as it was time of the stags and deers mating and everywhere you could hear some loud mating calls.

After changing the position and moving to the ground, the night was peacful and pleasant. Before we observed the stary sky and the moon, but quite fast went inside and to sleep (it was freezing cold). Next day we woke up before dawn and packed all the things. It was time to go to the same pick again to see the sunrise. And once again, it was worth it.

We enjoyed the stunning view of the sun which was slowly waking up, the surrounding mountains, valleys, trees and forests. We could hear the nature waking up, birds started to singing. The air was fresh and smelled to our freshly brewed coffee.

As always thank you for reading.
Wish you a nice day!

!worldmappin 46.322334 lat 13.438854 long d3scr