2025-05-14 Crikvenica ===================== Today was a no-car day and we went for a hike. First we walked along the coast to the neighbouring village of Dramalji, then up the hill and over a pass to Tribalj, then back along the Dubračina back to Crikvenica. Thanks to OsmAnd for the navigation and Flora Incognita for identifying the plants late at night. Pictures by Claudia and me. We started along the coast, on that one-way street. a street with a one-way sign Across the sea you can see the island of Krk. We did not have the time to visit. Alex and Claudia grinning at the camera, both wearing hats and sunglasses When there are no sandy beaches, concrete slabs dot the coast for roasting tourists in summer. empty concrete platforms by the sea I like the rocks without the construction work but I guess it’s harder to get into the water. The rocky coast without construction works Then we started the ascent. stairs going up We always stop for new flowers along the way! This one grew out of a stone wall. Garten-Löwenmaul Antirrhinum majus purple flowers Further up, more flowers grew along the way. Strahlen-Breitsame Orlaya grandiflora white flowers Even further up, we entered a landscape of salvia. This was simply the first one, growing next to the trail. Echter Salbei Salvia officinalis violet flowers Up and up, leaving the town behind. Sometimes, stonewalls line the trail. dry stone walls to the left and right of the trail Then the walls disappear and the sun bakes us. the trail is overgrown with white and yellow flowers Megascolia maculata looks like a hornet but it is a wasp The trail is made up of broken white rocks. Claudia looking back at me Looking back towards the sea and the island of Krk. It's still steep going. rough gravel trail and the ocean in the distance Crepis neglecta yellow flowers The trail keeps climbing. We started at sea level and the pass is at about 300 and something meters above the sea. Pine trees, gravel trail, no shade I don't remember seeing a purple variant. Gewöhnlicher Wundklee Anthyllis vulneraria purple flowers Rapunzel-Glockenblume Campanula rapunculus violet flowers This is what it looks like when I’m taking pictures. Alex squatting on the ground, pointing the phone at a tiny flower Flora Incognita seems to be very unsure about this one, but we saw it a lot. Milchstern or Ornithogalum seems good to me, but which one? Ornithogalum baeticum White flower iSeek says: Frühlingsmistkäfer Trypocopris vernalis Black beetles more of these strange beetles Look at the caterpillar I saw when I looked at the beetles! Glucken Lasiocampidae Caterpillar Not too long after that I nearly ran into this fellow, lowering itself from a branch by a silk strand. Eulenfalter Acronicta Another caterpillar in mid air iSeek says: Schwarzer Bär Arctia villica a black butterfly with yellow dots We reached a different biome! brushes, grass, stones We call it tick country. 😰 Claudia walking along a narrow trail through higher grass and brushes Endless sage meadows, up here. a metallic green beetle on violet flowers Claudia taking pictures sage meadow Far behind us, the sea is still visible. We keep on walking. Brushes, stones small trees, narrow trail Alex taking pictures of flowers more sage with carpenter bee We take too many pictures. Alex taking pictures of flowers Gewöhnlicher Perückenstrauch Cotinus coggygria yellow-green flowers We finally reached the other side. a lake at the bottom of the valley The biome changed again. The forest is cooler and the ground is no longer dry. Pfirsichblättrige Glockenblume Campanula persicifolia violet flowers The trail is pretty steep! Claudia on the trail Luckily, there is a lot of shade. A forest with slender trees and green canopy Markings are good. We lost our way once, at the top of the pass, ending up at a plaque commemorating the fight against fascism in 1945 and 1956, I guess. I couldn’t actually read anything except the years. We turned back and soon found our way. Is this the partisan trail? dry stone wall with a hiking trail marker Rapunzel-Glockenblume Campanula rapunculus And more violet flowers We finally reached the little river that will take us back! a river, three or four meters wide the river doesn't carry much water, the trees grow bigger Claudia spotted two snakes! At this point the river only runs beneath the rocks. For long stretches it disappears completely. here is Claudia trying to take a picture of the snake a long black snake with its head in the grass Every now and then we see a bunch of yellow irises like the ones we have on our balcony, which we got from Claudia's parents' garden pond. Gelbe Schwertlilie Iris pseudacorus Giant yellow flowers And we keep on walking! Alex walking along the river And we’re on the end stretch! 😅 a bridge over the dry river Content warning: ticks! Remember how we joked about being on the tick trail? When we came back, we ate ice-cream, we went for a swim in the ocean, we went to the sauna, to the whirlpool, back to the sauna, back the hotel room, and a tick fell of my stuff as I stepped on the balcony! 😱 And then we examined each other and I found a tick on my wife! 😱 😱 Both ticks were still "empty" but that really feeds our paranoia. Now we're examining all our clothes from all sides before putting them on and I hate that feeling. #Croatia #Pictures