Phot-o' the Day: Looking Down Into Upper Plitvice Lakes; Pletvica Selo, Croatia

I was talking about Plitvice Lakes, Croatia, just the other day, so I thought it was time to post a picture. You can see the wooden walkways just above the water's surface, which you walk on to see the sights. And you can see a cave in the cliffside.

Plitvice Lakes is a series of lakes separated by waterfalls in Central Croatia. If you see Croatia on a map, it looks like a horseshoe with the open prongs facing east and southeast. Plitvice Lakes is at the near end of the southeast prong of the horseshoe. Or you could look it up on Google maps.

I've been twice. Two totally different experiences. In 2014, the park was completely flooded after a summer of incessant rain. And the rain was coming down hard during the visit. The good news is that the waterfalls were full of water and looked amazingly impressive. In 2019, the sun was out, the temperatures were mild, and the weather was perfect. I'm not complaining, but the waterfalls were smaller and weaker because, of course there is going to be more water when you're in the middle of a flood.

The sun is out in the above picture, which means it is from the October 2019 trip.

Sunny Day in Plitvice Lakes National Park

Take the E-Trail. To Plitvice.

Today was the day to hike the trails around the waterfalls and lakes of Croatia's Plitvice Lakes National Park. It was much much more enjoyable than my prior visit to Plitvice five years ago, Today is was beautiful and sunny, although a bit nippy in the early morning. This was a major improvement from 2014, when the park was flooded out and it was raining, pouring buckets at the very end of the trek.

We got up early because we had to cross the bridge (the one that was out the day before) by 8:00 a.m. The bridge was to be closed at that hour, not to re-open until 6:00 p.m. So good-bye, Doviđenja, to the wonderful, awesome, beyond-the-call-of-duty awesome House By The River guest house.

We got to the bridge at 7:56 a.m., just as they were about to close the bridge for the day.

They actually put down the wooden plank bridge back down for us to get across before closing down the river crossing for another day.  This concludes our adventure getting into, and out of, Plitvica Selo, or Plitvice Village. I'd stay there again if I pass through Plitvice a third time.

Soon we were at the entrance to Plitvice Lakes National Park, ready to hike Trail E.

Hiked down to the first of many lakes that make up the Plitvice Lakes complex of lakes:

The water is amazing. Just look at the reflection of these trees in the water.

We had to take a ferry across this particular lake in order to get to the Trail E trailhead. We were afraid that we were taking a boat cruise.

Smoke on the water:

Well, at least early morning fog. The view from the boat:

A better shot at the ferry:

Continuing with the hike on Trail E, the two to three hour hiking trail.

Which we figured would be the appropriate amount.

It got warmer quickly when the sun came out.

I would assume from this next pic that the periodic flooding the lakes experience is the root cause of this root exposure.

More waterfalls.

The place is lousy with waterfalls.

In the good way.

Everyone is taking lot of pictures.

But there is so much to see and photograph. In that order.

The selfie sticks were out, but some of us prefer to selfie the low-tech way.

Holding the camera at arm's length.

More waterfalls:

The dog in the picture below, her name is Rain, was amazing. I have never before in my life seen a dog pose so still, for so long, to have his or her picture taken.

Rain the Dog was a natural.

Anyway, more lakes with more reflected tree life:

Sun on the lake:

Falls color and the lake:

Lake, reflection, fall colors:

Steep downhill channel. Not quite a waterfall.

I recognized this point from five years ago. We were here. But we walked here from the trail on the left that was closed now. This also is the spot where the deluge of rain (the wet kind, not the aforementioned dog) really began in earnest last time.

 I definitely remembered this river under the staircase walkway:

I also remember that there was significantly more water flowing over this waterfall five years ago:

Of course there would be more water flowing over the waterfalls when (a) it is raining cats and dogs both and (b) the whole park is flooded out. More water = more water flow, apparently. Who knew?

Fast-flowing steep downhill channel:

And we reach the end of the Plitvice Lakes two and one-half hour hike on Trail E.

Time for lunch:

We ate a restaurant in Slunj, Croatia. I had the pumpkin cream soup and a meat-and-cheese platter.

I've been eating lots of meats and cheeses this trip. Because it's available.

Laku noć. And doviđenja to and from Lukovdol. My third visit was not nearly as hostile as visits one and two. But that's another story for another time. Off to Slovenia for the next three nights.

The Bridge Was Out, So We Got to the Hotel By Walking Across the River over Two Wooden Planks

The Big Waterfall, or Veliki Slap in Croatian, the tallest waterfall in Plitvice Lakes National Park.

True story. The bridge into the town of Plitvica Selo was closed. So how did we get to the hotel? By crossing the river over a wooden bridge that consisted of two long planks. It did have handrails. And the water wasn't far down. And the water was very shallow. We could have walked through the river and only gotten wet up to mid-calf.

None of us fell into the drink.

I awoke to find a warning from the guest house where we would be staying that the bridge was out. We had options, including a long, out of the way drive through a forest. We thought we were taking that route according to Google Maps. We weren't. We were on the main route. The one where the bridge was out, as evidenced by the above picture.

So the proprietor of the guest house told us to drive to a house beyond a restaurant and he would meet us in about ten minutes. How? Hot air balloon? Walking across the water? Telepathy? We weren't sure.

It turns out another alternative bridge was available for a pedestrian-only crossing. See pic immediately below.

Yes, the bridge was indeed two planks. With guardrails! You thought I might have been exaggerating in that opening paragraph. Well, feast your eyes on this bridge:

We left the suitcases in the car. They were eventually retrieved, although I packed an overnight's worth of supplies into my backpack just in case they weren't. As you can see below, we did indeed cross the two-plank bridge:

Again, you thought I was kidding. Duson, the proprietor of the House By The River guest house, went over and above all reasonable norms to get us across the river. Where we soon were greeted by the house dog:

And, as you can see, the House By The River is indeed a house. By the river. The Potok Plitvice, or the Plitvice River.

Time to check out the parts of Plitvice Lakes we can reach sans car. But first:

This is the view of the bridge from the other side, which we could not reach by car.

And immediately after crossing past the point where the bridge was out, we were met by this sight:

Veliki Slap. The Big Waterfall. Yes, "slap" is the Croatian word for "waterfall." Look it up.

The waters of the first of the lakes of Plitvice Lakes (plural) National Park were an amazing shade of aquamarine.

You can see the pedestrian walkway over the lakes visible down below:

The aquamarine color is even more visible in this one:

You can see some caves in the cliffside, plus some more walkways, in the center of this picture:

Fall colors!

Lakes and fall colors, all in one artsy shot:

Continued walking was forbidden:

So it was time to eat. We ate at the Restaurant Ethno Houses. I had the octopus goulash:

The octopus was perfect, although I believe that the octopus did not come from the freshwater Plitvice Lakes. 

We were quite entertained throughout the meal by the vocal stylings of Mango The Parrot.

Laku noć from Plitvica Selo on the outskirts of Plitvice Lakes National Park.