Into the Hills : Plitvice Lakes National Park

We both have seen enough coastline and salt water or a while. There is a national park inland with the highest waterfall in Hrvatska! (That is the actual name of Croatia, that is why their license plates ha HR on them).   

The road through the mountains has some winding parts and hairpins but at times it literally goes through the mountains, one tunnel was 5.8 kms long and another was 2.6. The lesser ones are only a few hundred meters long, .75 to 1.5 kms. Once in the interior there is no way you can see the coast, the mountain ridge is virtually solid.   

We are not sure what to expect, there are 16 lakes and numerous falls in the park. We have arranged a place with a pool, it’s only a few kms from the park entrances (there are two). The B&B is really nice, tucked off the main road. The dog is big and looks and acts tough, plenty of bark but he is really a pussy cat, just pet him and see!

Jane has done some research and they have several trails connected by a boat on the large lake and a tram/train from distant points. The longest trail that takes you pretty much everywhere takes 6 to 8 hours, that ain’t us. We’ll take two days and do two shorter trails that cover what we want, 3 or so hours each, after all it’s hot here.

This is Plitvice Lakes National Park. We walked and took tons of pictures. Not like anything we have seen before. There are hundreds of cascades, albeit some only a few feet, but they are everywhere and it is so green and lush. As well, this is tufa territory, the water is full of calcium carbonate. Surprisingly the water is exceptionally clear even though it runs through soil and plants continuously on its way down the string of ponds and lakes.

Our room is quite nice, the house even has a pool. The dog barks but is friendly, just pat his head and he is OK. We are just a few clicks from the park and the owner told us of another village about 20 km away that had a dozen mills in it at one time, that should be interesting.