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Croatia: Summer Vacation, Day 7: Hike Across The Velebit - Stage 5 - From Baške Oštarije to Tatekova Koliba

Velebit is the largest mountain range in Croatia, stretching for about 145 kilometers along the Adriatic coast, separating the coastal region from the interior of the country and Nada, Bronco and me decided to hike from its start at Vratnik pass to an end, peak Crnopac, above Zrmanja river, where it transitions into the Dalmatian hinterland.

After the yesterday's heavy night, I wasn't in a mood for breakfast so I simply said goodbye to Nada and Bronco and I simply started hiking. Since I was alone, my goal was to do two planned stages in one day and to arrive to Stap, to a cabin Tatekova koliba.

Previous days of our Summer Vacation 2024: Day 6 - 16211, Day 5 - 16210,  Day 4 - 16209, Day 3 - 16208, Day 2 - 16207 and Day 1 - 16206.

4 days of hiking exhausted Nada and Bronco, so I continued the Velebit hiking by myself.

Meadow Sladovača.

In the forest of Jurkova dolina.

Both paths lead to one of my points and I chose the left one over Ramino Korito.

 

Where is everyone?

Near Šugarska Duliba shelter I smelled the Adriatic again.

Few minutes away from my breakfast, lunch and a little longer break at Šugarska Duliba below Veliki Stolac, 1406 m.

Brand new shelter. If Nada and Bronco would be with me, this would be our end point.

My first detour today was to Veliki Stolac, that opened amazing views to the Adriatic.

Panorama from the ridge.

Velebit is really long.

In Baške Oštarije I change my bare foot shoes for more comfortable ones. But they were in really bad shape, so I had some silver tape with me, if they needed some "medical" attention.

My direction.

 

One of the Velebit caves along the way. The Velebit mountains of Croatia have several deep caves with some of the world's largest subterranean vertical drops, for example "Lukina jama" cave is 1431 m deep.

 

Through the forest I reached the military area on Panos. Well, ex-military.

The JNA (Jugoslavenska narodna armija) was the Yugoslav People's Army from 1945 to 1992. When Yugoslavia collapsed, the army was disbanded. During the JNA era, especially from the 1960s onwards, many secret and official facilities were built. Panos was a restricted area until the early 1990s. After that, the relay station was abandoned and left to decay.

 

Today the building has been looted and is not in such good condition. At an altitude of 1248 metres, however, you have a wonderful view of the island of Pag, the Adriatic Sea and the hinterland of the coast.

Underground tunnel station.

 

Obviously bears were here a while ago, still I continued towards an area called Stap, small karst field, one of most romantic on whole Velebit.

Detour to Čučavac, 1012 m.

Čučavac is a very interesting and unusual rock located on Stap. Because of its very low support, it seems like the stone could easily roll down into the valley. As you approach the stone, you can notice different faces on it, each corner reveals a new one.

Finally I arrived to Tatekova koliba. Stap has become inseparable from name of Slavko Tomerlin Tatek who dedicated his life to explore Velebit and especially Stap area. He is one of the most deserving Velebit enthusiasts in last 50 years. After he fell in love with Stap he decided to erect a refuge near the source, in eastern corner of the field, and he did it almost single handedly. Refuge was opened in 1982 and is since called Tatekova Koliba (Tatek's cabin), after his nick name.

 

I found a nearby water source and then it was time for dinner. Later on I also found cell-phone signal nearby, so I told Nada, that I safely arrived to my destination. While reading a book in the evening, one more "lost" guy arrived and then we chatted for a while before the night took us.

My fifth day on Velebit.

Geocaches found:

- Čučavac (1012m), GC73KM5, that received a visit by trackable items "MissJenn’s 5 Cents", TB9K7R9 and "Second Angel of peace", TBA8B55

#hiking #CatahoulaLeopardDog #SummerVacation #Velebit #geocaching