Korcula Island - Peljesac

Korcula - Peljesac (10/18)

Today was a move along day.

Another island transfer, this time to Korcula. I had plenty of time for breakfast and to get packed, although I forgot my delicious Croatian prsut (prosciutto) in the room fridge. I was so looking forward to having some with my lunch today.

Ah, the transfer to Korcula was only the first. Upon arrival I was picked up by a taxi and taken to my hotel where I dropped off my big pack, finished preparing my day-pack, and was transported to my second ferry. This one took me to Orebic which is actually on the Croatian mainland.

From the ferry I almost immediately headed uphill for a hike up Peljesac whose summit is at about 980m elevation. My start time was probably around 9AM.

This was far and away the most challenging hike yet on this trip. It was steep both up and down in many spots and with sections of rough rock and slippery gravel. Starting out it was hot and muggy and I was soon drenched in sweat. Almost immediately I felt a sense of being alone as I trudged up and up and up...

At one point I came to a memorial plaque for someone who had been killed here (I assume) and must have been distracted because I lost the trail at that point. It was not a good place to lose the trail as the terrain was quite steep for a LONG way down and it was treacherous scree. I wandered about a bit looking for the trail markers but didn't see them. As I moved carefully toward easier terrain I spotted the foot worn track below me and gradually worked my way over to it.

That was a relief as I kept hearing a clock ticking away in my head with the 6PM time to catch my ferry back to Korcula occupying too much of my attention.

After exiting the steep section I traversed a beautiful high meadow to a small chapel built way up on the mountain. From here it was about .75km of open alpine terrain, mostly sharp limestone rock and heather. Right at the summit was a small cross and 2 horses, one of whom came right over to me.

Now you have to realize I'm not much of a horse person. I don't trust them and I'm afraid of them. This one was so aggressive it must be getting fed by people walking up there. The other horse pretty much ignored me. I'd walked around horse #1 to get to the summit and as I was taking pictures it turned and walked right up to me. I petted its soft horse nose to show it I had no food, turned back downhill, and walked back to the chapel where I found a nice bench and ate some food.

Then it was downhill for 8km or so and 980m of elevation loss.

By the time I was halfway down I realized that I was getting very tired from both the walking and from needing to pay attention to my footing all the time. I was very glad when the trail came out onto the road and I could collapse my trekking poles and just walk along. Oh, joy! I got back to Orebic with time to visit a bakery and Studenac (supermarket) to get some snacks for tomorrow. And, I still had time to sit on a bench at the ferry terminal and have 500mL of chocolate milk and a banana before riding back to Korcula.

I really felt like I was out in the mountains today; it took my breath away at times. And the views of the Adriatic and the Southern Dalmatian Islands was pretty terrific too.

Tomorrow, Mljet Island and a national park.

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