Primož Jakopin, photo diary

Velika Karlovica
Along the north bank of the river

December 5, 2024, 14 pictures

          Most images are approximately 768 x 1024 pixels in size, numbers in front of the picture descriptions are serial numbers of the original photo files. Jože Stražišar, of the Karlovica Caving Society (Jamarsko društvo Karlovica) contributed to this excursion.

          Page, texts and photos copyright (c) Primož Jakopin - Klok 2024.
 

 
54586. View from the Cvinger viewpoint towards the east, across the lake

 
54588. Entrance to the cave from the inside, it was a cold but sunny winter day. The author was warm enough to take off his scarf and woolen under helmet cap after an hour and a half of taking photos in the cave.

 
54606. View of the cave entrance from the outside, the water was right up to the edge of the round pipe in the dam.

 
54607. Whirlpool above the start of the pipe

 
54590. View towards the entrance of the tunnel from behind the first bend

 
54591. A wider view, where the water flow through the round tube in the entrance dam is also visible. This photo was the main purpose of the visit to the cave that day. The author decided to abandon the palnned continuation of the excursion, passage from Velika Karlovica to Mala Skednenca and taking photos of this cave, after seeing the beginning of the connection tunnel. Crawling through the low muddy passage would be required, for which the cotton caving suit was unsuitable, and the cold and being wet did not go together well. Instead, the author set off along the northern bank further along the tunnel, as far as the water level would allow. Velika Karlovica is a rich cave and it turned out that there is plenty of interesting motifs along this route, enough for an additional visit.

 
54597. The end of the passable part of the Bukovec tunnel, about 150 meters from the entrance. Here the tunnel narrows and the ceiling lowers. The white lines in the middle of the stream are from the foam carried by the water, the exposure time was long, a few seconds.

 
54599. View back towards the entrance

 
54600. Bubble-shaped stalactites and the beginnings of flowstone curtains on the ceiling

 
54601. About halfway towards the entrance, the bank descends to the water and on a rocky promontory above the water, the hands find just enough grip to allow safe passage around the bend over the rocks about 10 cm below the water surface. A little further into the cave from this point, there are several curtains of tiny stalactites resembling teeth on the ceiling. They are approximately 1 cm long (including the "tooth in the gum" part).

 
54603. Side niche with vivid, black and white ceiling

 
54605. Half a meter high recess in the wall above the muddy passage between the bank in the tunnel and the dam at the entrance of the cave

 
54608. View to the east from the bank of the stream that flows past the cave to the north, towards the cave Rakovski Mostek.

 
54609. The author warmed himself so much in the cave that even the cold in the forest did not prevent him from proceeding above the shore to look for the entrance to the cave Mala Skednenca. It is about 100 meters further north from Velika Karlovica. He followed the foot of the wall above the lake shore and quickly found the cave, in a beautiful, high amphitheater, of walls covered with ivy. But there was no time for photography, it was left for another time. He went back along the edge of the lake, it was a much faster route. He returned using the via ferrata above the entrance to Velika Karlovica. From there, through the branches, this view of the meanders of the river opened up. It flows past Mala Karlovica towards Velika Karlovica and further north.