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FROM NORTH SEA TO ADRIATIC
Slovenia
TENTH SECTION 8 to 24 SEPTEMBER 2009 Eibiswald (Styria) to Vuhred (Slovenia) by E6 - 17Km.
We crossed the border at the Radelj (or Radlpass) at 674m and took the road downhill into thick mixed woods along white roads, muddy lanes, grassy tracks and tiny paths through fields and woods. We slowly made out way down contouring south-east on a well-marked E6 to Radle ob Dravi and across the hot river plain to cross the famous River Drava,flowing from Italy east to the Danube, to Vuhred on its southern bank. This ended the section and we took the train which followed the river into beautiful Maribor for the night.
ELEVENTH SECTION 24 AUGUST TO 8 SEPTEMBER 2010 Vuhred to Koper (Slovenia) by E6 - 335Km.
We picked up the E6 at Vuhred and went steeply up to Velika Kopa in the Pohorje Mountains through meadows, woods and farms. The top is a ski area with the usual damage. Then straight down the other side southwards into the valley and up the next mountain. We climbed in the rain through woods, mostly along minor roads and forest tracks. The Andreyev mountain hut at Sleme looked after us well.
The following day broke clear with clouds of mist swirling up from the valleys which dispersed as the day hotted up to 30C and we descended through woods and meadows and around a narrow hill path to the deeply eroded valley of the past Belih Vod river and past the Mornova zijalka natural cave. The waymarking is poor but eventually we reached the valley at Mozirje and crossed the River Savinja to Nazarje and followed the River Dreta before climbing to Lipa and around the peak of Smolnik (1002m) and Medvedov hrib to Motnik and Trojane. The Maribor to Ljubljana motorway passes under the village there.
The next day was very wet so we followed the road to Zgornji before climbing steeply to Golcai and the stylish renovated pilgrim chapel of Sv Neza. From there the trail went through forests across Planjava (685m) to the road which took us into Moravce and Drtija and then a steep descent to Jevnica on the River Sava - one of Europe's major rivers linking Ljubljana, Zagreb and Belgrade and flowing into the Danube.
The next day to Grosuple was exceptionally enjoyable. A long climb to Jance (792m) was rewarded with cake and coffee at Planinski Dom, a lovely mountain hut where cyclists were arriving exhausted and a local produucts fayre was setting up. We stayed at the same height with views to Austria, the Alps & Triglav. Beautiful flowers and butterflies. Granite was changing to limestone with beeches, plums and apples growing along the way. We continued westwards now south of Ljubljana through water meadows and then thick woods past caves, fortified towers and lots of shrines. We dropped to the Ljubljana polje at Zelimje before climbing through the forest to the meadows above and to Visoko in pouring rain. The hills all around were crowned with churches.
Many butterflies came out in the sun and in the following days we saw: common blues, fritillaries, silverwork,, greens, duke of burgundies, commas, red admirals, jersey tiger moths, yellows, deep creams, meadow brooms, whites and white admirals. We stayed at 600-800m now on small roads, woods and meadows with some steep valleys where we crossed steams on little wooden bridges to arrive on the Bloke Plateau which has a specially isolated feel and is the place where skis were first used in mid-16th century. This is a limestone or karst plateau at around 700-1000m with many brown bears in the seemingly endless forests stretching into Croatia. From here we could see Mt Sneznik (1795m). We climbed up to the mountain from the plateau past Sneznik castle through a little-walked forest of beech and fir with, we were reliably told, brown bears all around. Then we saw one! It saw us too and ran away - thankfully, but great to see one. For very good description of the area around Sneznik click here - a special area worth a visit any time of the year - wild and beautiful with lots of animal and bird noises - screeching, barking, coughing(?). Lots of cyclamen, thistle, thyme, mint, oregano, bees, wasps, humming bird moths. The climb to the top was 4 hours long and steep in places but not difficult. From the top, to our amazement and excitement, we could see Rijeka and the Croatian islands - our first view of the sea since leaving the North sea four years previously.
From Sneznik the E6 diverts westwards from its original course south to Rijecka in Croatia and we dropped out of the forests to reach extensive limestone ridges and meadows with spectacular views to the Croatian coast and the valley to Ilirska Bistrica with a brand new large wood processing plant replacing the worn-out one on the other side of the road and surrounded with massive piles of logs.
Now we were in the area which was part of Italy 1918-1945 and many people speak Italian. Wild fruits were ripe and profuse; raspberries, apples, blackberries, plums and, most delicious, several varieties of figs. Every village had a church - locked - and most had a memorial too the slain of WWII and 'the fight against fascism'. There were views to the Alps, Sneznik, Croatia and the next mountain to climb, Slavnik (1028m). Our track went largely across rough karstic meadows full of roses, juniper, berry bushes, euphoorbia, thistles, daisies, meadow sweet and eringian. The climb onto Slavnik took three hours but the view from the top was breathtaking - to Koper (our destination), Trieste and across the Adriatic to venice. From here the way was even more badly marked than earlier - this was an enduring problem, as the maps were not very detailed - but eventually we found our way through woods to a fantastic limestone escarpment at Podpec where the way took over a steep descent to the village and across the railway line from Koper to Ljubljana. With considerable difficulty we made our way through vineyards and between fig trees to Hrastovlje. See this Slovene blog for a good description of the route with lovely pictures - Google will translate it for you.
Finally we made our way on small roads along the ridges and across the deep valleys with views along the way of the Adriatic to the last hill above the ancient port of Koper which is now also the key container terminal for Slovenia. The descent was short and easy into the old town and the port - 2861 Km from Scheveningen in Holland - where the sea was warm and we paddled.
DISTANCE IN SLOVENIA – 352Km = 220 miles
DISTANCE FROM NORTH SEA – 2861Km = 1788 miles
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