The devilish legend and the creepy numbers
Date: 30.9.2019
Starting point: Mače 585m
The hut in the Devils woods: 1328m
Altitude difference: 743m
There is a patch of trees, stranded alone in the middle of the grassy slopes high up above the church of Saint Jakob. It can be seen from afar and is an unmistakable part of the view towards Mt. Cjanovca. It was fueling Sunny kids’ imagination since I told her the legend about it. Last week it was her turn to decide where to go for a hike. And she suggested the Devils woods.
The LEGEND
According to the legend, there were two brothers living in Potoče near Preddvor in Slovenia, who were always fighting, to whom a forest above the village belongs. They also quarreled and sued in court.
The older brother was very angry one day and said, “If the forest is not mine, may the devil take it.” That night a storm of lightning and thunder enraged. The storm was so severe that trees fell and straw roofs were blown away. During the storm, a devil came took the forest on his shoulders and ran away with it.
When the storm subsided in the morning and the bell in the Saint Jacobs church rang, the devil lost his powers and dropped the forest from his hands right into the middle of the grassy slope of Mt. Cjanovca, where it still is today.
In the morning, the younger brother went to look at the forest and noticed that it was gone. He told this news to an elder. He wanted to continue arguing because he did not believe his brother, but soon found himself convinced that he was telling the truth. In the place where the forest used to be, there was a desert clearing. For a long time, no one dared to approach the weird forest on the mountain, but over time the hunters realized that it was the forest that went missing down below.
This forest is still something special because it contains many old and thick trees, many flowers,… in short, there is no such forest in our vicinity.
Here are a few pics from our hike:
The really creepy part of the day were the numbers though. While we were sitting in front of the hut in the Devils woods, I had my meters count journal with me. I added the last two hikes and the number that turned out was 33.666 m. Hmmmm…
The Devil himself might have joined the 46000 alt. m challenge. 🙂