Primož Jakopin, photo diary

Velika and Mala Karlovica
Ice surprise

February 20, 2025, 29 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. Names of cave parts were often given by the author.
          The purpose of the excursion was to check both Karlovica caves for the presence of ice stalactites and stalagmites, on the coldest day of the of the 2024/2025 winter.

          Page, texts and photos copyright (c) Primož Jakopin - Klok 2025.


 

Getting there


 


 
54940. View from the Cvinger viewpoint towards the east, across the slightly less snowy and less filled, but also frozen lake


 

 


 
54941. View towards the south along the road around Lake Cerknica, close to he point where the path towards Velika Karlovica forks off, with the mighty Javorniki ridge on the horizon, its top covered with snow.


 
 

Velika Karlovica


 


 
54949. Snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis, along the path to cave


 

 


 
54955. View of the round opening in the concrete dam at the entrance, from the outside. The water level has dropped by about 40 cm in the five days since the last visit. If there is no more rainfall in a week, the stream will no longer flow into the cave and rarely seen little lakes will remain in the riverbed of the Bukovec Tunnel.


 

 


 
54943. Three intertwined icicles, as in the dance figure Pas de trois


 

 


 
54944. South side of the ceiling with icicles, bottom right is the edge of the flow tube frame in the dam.


 

 


 
54948. View from the dam towards the east, with wooden rakes in the riverbed and ceiling icicles. There was no wind, the sun was pleasantly warm, and it was quite cozy in the dry grass on the bank.


 

 


 
54952. Ice curtains up close


 

 


 
54954. Despite morning temperatures around -10⁰ C, it was still too warm for ice stalagmites to form, also because of the water under the dam. Only small foundations were created.


 

 


 
54956. Dry reeds on the surface of the stream near the cave entrance


 

 


 
54957. Meander of a partially frozen stream with the Javorniki ridge in the background, view to the southeast


 

 


 
54958. Snail house in the reed debris


 

 

Mala Karlovica


 


 
54959. View to the south, the thin line below the top of the meadow is the riverbed leading to Mala Karlovica.


 

 


 
54960. A low barrier of stones and soil about 100 meters in front of the entrance held back the water of the stream, and the path to the cave across the dry reeds was dry and passable, despite being half a meter below the stream level.


 
 


 
54989. View of the entrance from the outside


 

 


 
54962. View from the entrance to the outside ...


 

 


 
54963. ... here the last photo is much underexposed so that Mount Slivnica and the sky show up.


 

 


 
54970. Another view from the entrance towards the outside, this time without direct daylight ...


 

 


 
54980. ... and a view towards the entrance, where the scene is also lit from the inside.


 

 


 
54965. View of the south side of the entrance hall. In contrast to Velika Karlovica, the morning cold, because there was no water to warm the air, also managed to create quite a few, albeit not very large, ice stalagmites.


 
 


 
54967. "Family". "Dad" is about 20 cm tall.


 

 


 
54972. Stepped ice stalactites


 

 


 
54974. Ice curtain


 

 


 
54975. Stepped ice stalagmites on the frozen reed debris






 
54979. "The tightrope walker". The height of the ice figure was about 35 cm. On the lower right, a "bird in a monk's robe with a transparent cap" looks at him. The lighting was with narrow-beam flashlights so that the background was not too visible, and the placement of the phone camera was even more difficult. The tripod was way too high, and instead of it, both hands were used, with their elbows resting on the frozen reeds, to hold still during the three second exposure.


 

 


 
54983. Ice tile in the shape of a chicken, about 20 cm high.


 

 


 
54984. Ice ribs


 

 


 
54986. "Lollipop". The diameter of the ice ball is about 4 cm.


 

 


 
54988. The ice reached almost a hundred meters inside the cave. View of the first lake, in the direction of the entrance hall. Here and there were patches of thin ice on the surface.


 

 

Related pages:


 


 

  Velika Karlovica, February 15, 2025     From Planinska jama to the magical Rašica, February 27, 2025  
 


 

This page, text and photos by Primož Jakopin, member of the Ljubljana Cave Exploration Society (DZRJL). Send inquiries and comments to primoz jakopin guest arnes si (insert dots and at sign as appropriate). Page was initiated on February 22, 2025; date of the last change: March 1, 2025.

URL: https://www.jakopin.net/primoz/slike/2025/PJ20250220_en.php     299