Croatian National Parks Pt 3 - Paklenica
The final park we visited was Paklenica NP, which occupies of the southern-most section of the Velebit mountain range. There are two steep walled canyons that form the primary access to the park: Velika and Mala (big and small) Paklenica.
I was doubly excited about this park because in addition to the obvious natural beauty, there are several mountain huts that you can stay in along the ridge line. In fact, our rafting guide told me about a recently completed long hike trail that covers the entire Velebit range north to south with huts for every night. While we didn’t have time for that, I’ve never actually stayed in a mountain hut before (they are uncommon on the US west coast) so was looking forward to the experience. I had originally planned a loop with two hut nights and a long walk along one of the highest ridges in Croatia, but sadly, weather forced us down to one night (and in the end, there was lightning along the ridge, so it was a true no-go). So, I planned an out and back to Ivine vodice, which is 6-ish miles from the Velika trailhead but an 1100m climb and covers a wide range of the parks available terrain (including the rumored UNESCO world heritage beech forest).
After a bit of unsuccessful web digging for info about the Ivine vodice rules, reservation system, water location, etc., I found the cell phone number of someone in the group that maintains the hut and sent him/her a text. I was a little amazed when they replied right away, but dismayed when they said the hut would be completely full - on Saturday night - because they were “preparing the woods for winter”. I replied that we’d be there Sunday night, was it possible to stay? “You will have the hut to yourself”, was the answer, “and the cistern is full”.
Sweetness.
On the day of, we actually met the mountain club members on the trail coming down and by “preparing the woods” they meant cleaning up the hut and fully stocking it with firewood! Their work made for a hut stay that was excellent: a warm fire, rain on the roof and a dry, clean, flat sleeping area. Plush camping.
Fun fact: while reading the web threads about this hut, many people mentioned something called a puh, which will get into the hut and eat your food. I assumed it was a mouse, but when we got to the hut, the info signs said to keep the door and the windows (including upstairs!) closed to keep out the “{some Croatian word} puh”, translated into English on the sign as “doormouse”. “Pbffft”, I said, mice won’t come in the windows; that’s not their style, they’re sneaky. Why are these Croatians so afraid of a mouse ambush. Fine, fine, we stored all our food in the rodent proof barrel that night, so were not, in the end, raided by window puh. However, when we got back to town, we asked our Airbnb host what, exactly, is a puh? She pulled out her phone and showed us a picture that’s something of a cross between squirrel and a mouse; the English is actually dormouse, and they are evidently delicious - and will jump through windows.
Mala Paklenica
The next day we had a bit of extra time, so we took a morning hike up the smaller canyon. This was substantially less developed, with a trail that went through the creek much of the way. This routing allowed us to observe a dramatic example of the rapid drainage from the surface to the water table in the area. When we started it had been raining overnight and we had to detour around a large pool of water (~3’ deep) being fed by a waterfall. On our return, we walked over dry gravel. I wish I had a time-lapse of the change, but I am not so prescient. Instead, you get to see the huge limestone cliffs that we explored looking for (and finding) small caves.
