The Black Lake
Photo Credit: ID 217951587 ©Alexander Uhrin|Dreamstime.com
In a hidden corner of the enchanted Valley of the Seven Lakes lies the Black Lake, a once-lustrous jewel now shrouded in a thick, ominous haze. Once a source of wonder and beauty, it has become a dreary reflection of dark magic, the work of a wicked witch who has cast a sinister spell over its waters. This cursed lake is the lifeblood of the Lake at the End of the World; the two lakes are connected by a stream that flows from a secret waterfall. But with the Black Lake now under the witch's curse, the Lake at the End of the World has also dried up, plunging the entire Kingdom into a deep sorrow.
Črno Jezero, or Black Lake, is the lowest of the seven lakes in the Dolina Sedmerih jezer (Valley of the Seven Lakes).¹ It was once known for its dark hue, as noted by the renowned Slovene alpinist Julius Kugy. The lake was surrounded by a dense primaeval forest, which shielded it from both sunlight and human intrusion. Eventually, with the arrival of logging, the forest was diminished, and the lake's once prominent black hue is now only a memory. The Savica, the largest stream flowing into Lake Bohinj, is fed by Črno Jezero.
It is also known as Dolina Triglavskih jezer (Valley of the Triglav Lakes).
Julius Kugy, Julijske Alpe V Podobi (Maribor: Obzorja, 1971), 54. The translation is attributable to Daniel Goulding.
“It was really quite black when I came to it a quarter of a century ago. It was surrounded by a dense primaeval forest. Back then, there was no mountain trail through the valley of the Triglav Lakes, it was not easy to find its surface in the darkness of the forest. But the axe found its way here too. Many mighty trunks were lying around and were lowered on steel wires into the deep Ukanc. I even met the first of them on their last journey to the sawmills in Bohinj, and I watched them with sadness. Nevertheless, the lake looks gloomy and gives you an uneasy feeling if, coming from Komarča, you suddenly stand in front of it after a few hundred metres. The seriously mythical feeling of the landscape of the Triglav Lakes and all its strange charm floats over its dark waters and invades the stricken heart of the waking traveller.²”
Photo credit: Daniel Goulding