Stol is the highest peak in the Karawanks mountain range in Slovenia. It is known as Hochstuhl in German (meaning ‘High Chair’) or Veliki Stol (which is Slovenian for ‘Great Chair’) and has an elevation of 2,236 m. It’s not as high as the peaks in Julian Alps, but the altitude of the starting point is very low so the total elevation you make while ascending (over 1700 height meters or around 5000 feet) makes the Stol mountain a bit of a challenge.
I wanted to shoot the sunset and nightscape from the cottage just below the top of the mountain. So finally one day the weather forecast was perfect, so me and my brother decided it’s time to see that sunset.
About half the way to the top there is a view point, Priznica, which offers great views of the valley below. On the left side is lake Bled and on the far right is my hometown Jesenice.
Almost at the top.
As we were having dinner at the cottage I noticed a lot of hikers were already at the top of Stol, waiting for the sunset.
Just before the sunset, there was a moonrise which was quite a sight to see.
Panoramic view from Stol is spectacular as one can see the Julian Alps mountain range along with Slovenian’s highest mountain Triglav standing out.
Even the sheep stopped for a moment to check out the views. Triglav is the big massif on the right side of the mountain range.
My brother posing just before the sun said goodbye. Triglav is once again standing out on the far right of the image.
I was playing with double exposure, combining two images together to create this “double view”.
And finally, goodbye for a few hours.
Moments after the sunset, with soft orange and purple shades on the horizon, are for me just as beautiful and mesmerizing as the sunset.
Beautiful silhouette of the Triglav mountain range.
The last photograph is my favorite of the series. It was taken about one hour after the sunset. The horizon is still bright from the sunlight and is glowing in soft purple and orange shades. The sky is already dark enough for the stars to be visible. In the valley below you can see Jesenice.
