A group of 5 brave members of the planning team set off to explore the section of the Riverwalk trail that leads above the Ucja River.  The exploratory group called themselves the Emerald team (www.savethesoca.com/en/news/46-big-jump-challenge-soca) and set off hiking on a hot summer afternoon last weekend.

They started walking just beyond the Italian- Slovenian border, a couple of hundred meters from the village Uccea. The first part of the path was great! They could see the Ucja River and its canyon and even the spot that could one day be submerged under water if a proposed hydroelectric plant would be built. They crossed the Ucja over a hanging bridge made out of steel (not recommended for those who are afraid of heights :), and followed a small path that started to ascend. From there, they could see the Ucja far below, but was partially hidden in a remote canyon, only visible now and then, through the green leaves. A very shy lady, indeed 🙂

After a while, the sounds of thunder and flashes of lightning filled the sky, and it started raining pretty hard. The path got narrower and narrower, and sometimes it completely disappeared so we had to divide into groups and search for it. After the first thunderstorm and a short pause, another one came. By now we were completely wet, so we really didn’t care about the rain. However, we seemed to be lost and the path we were on was getting more and more dangerous, especially with the slippery terrain. So eventually, we had to admit that we were defeated by the elusive Ucja canyon and turned around and walked back to the main road.

Bummer. But we might just try again next time 🙂

(Thanks to the adventurous Emerald team for their brave endeavor!)