Primož Jakopin, photo diary
Velika Karlovica
Labyrinth
October 17 to 19, 25 pictures
The images are mostly 768
by 1024 pixels in size, numbers in front of the picture descriptions are serial numbers of the original
photo files. The names of cave parts are sometimes the author's.
The purpose of the excursion on October 19 was to search for continuation in the Labyrinth.
Page, text and photos copyright (c) Primož Jakopin - Klok 2025, except for photos VL67 to VL72,
which were taken by Vladimir Levašov and are published with his permission.
Žalostna gora (Sad Mountain), October 17
56158. Leaves on a linden branch, the lowest on the main trunk, with shades from tired green to pinkish sand
Primorje, October 18
56164. The setting sun merged with the water surface.
Velika Karlovica, October 19
56165. View of the stream in front of the Rakovski mostek entrance. The flow was again about 20 liters per second, the water level too high to access the cave with boots only.
56166. There were many hymenopteras, this one was missing almost its entire left front wing, but it could still fly.
56167. Two "easy riders" in a boat, on their way into the cave, whatever happens.
56170. The labyrinth is very varied and picturesque, in the picture there is a junction of two tunnels in the shape of the letter "T", with a rock pillar in the middle.
56171. Flowstone growths on a level surface, resembling parts of a skeleton.
56172. The rather spacious tunnels of the southern part of the Labyrinth are in some places connected by passages formed from large fissures.
VL67. The clay heap, well-hardened and dried, was slowly covered with a layer of flowstone, and a few stalagmites grew on it under a large stalactite. But a renewed strong flow of water from the ceiling, in just the right places, created this fountain.
VL68. Someone had planted an upside-down night pot on a clay slope, perhaps as a signpost.
VL69. A stalactite-stalagmite pair grew on the clay base, about a meter high from bottom to top, but later water stream washed away a sizeable part of the foundation and the stalagmite ended up on the balcony.
VL70. One of the passages in the Labyrinth, closed by trapped water.
VL71. There are two water tunnels on the eastern side of the Labyrinth, and Vladimir and I have already visited the western one, which ends with a siphon, but without a boat. We couldn't get very far. Today we had a boat and the tunnel opened up quite a bit after the initial shallows. The author is facing back towards the starting point.
VL72. The boat is small, and even with just some luggage and one passenger, there isn't much room.
56173. In the not very high, but rather deep water tunnel there are ...
56174. ... also stacks, which are better to avoid.
56175. A rock flake about one and a half meters high, only a few centimeters thick, with an "eye" on the side, hangs from the ceiling, reaching almost to the water surface.
56176. Soon we reached the siphon. On the way back, we also looked into the side channel, the entrance to which was just wide enough for our boat to pass through. At the end, we saw a spacious dry tunnel, which we could not reach because the passage past the sharp stack, on which there is a lamp with a red frame, was a little too narrow. The author was more inclined to retreat, but Vladimir did not give in and decided to climb up the slope to the left of the photo to the dry tunnel. He managed to climb to the top quite quickly and then continue to the tunnel. He disappeared into the darkness, while the author was thinking about how problematic the descent back to the boat would be. But courage prevailed and he soon realized that the boat without Vladimir had a smaller draft and that it was possible to get past the stack to the entrance of the dry tunnel. About 15 minutes passed and he heard Vladimir's voice, not from the dry tunnel, but from behind, from the water tunnel where we had started sailing. He found a bypass through the tunnel and the author rowed back to him. The dangerous descent to the boat was not necessary.
56179. Vladimir on a rock in the shallows, which he reached on foot.
56180. Stalagmite in the shape of Prince's Stone, it grew to the ceiling.
56181. An upside-down stalactite "Triglav" or "cow's udder", depending on who you ask. There is about 40 cm between the base and the end of the middle stalactite.
56183. One of the larger solitary rocks that fell from the ceiling.
56184. Another broken stalagmite on the floor, in the shape of a "false snail".
56185. Vladimir with his already washed boat and backpack. All's well that ends well, and the author was happy, as he only had oars and four lighting rods to carry.
56186. View from the Cvinger viewpoint over the meadows and lake, towards the evening.
Related pages:
Velika Karlovica, October 1 to 12, 2025
Križna jama, November 4 to 9, 2025
This page, text and photos by Primož Jakopin,
member of the Ljubljana Cave Exploration Society (DZRJL), except where stated otherwise.
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Page was initiated on October 30, 2025; date of the last change: November 14, 2025.
URL: https://www.jakopin.net/primoz/slike/2025/PJ20251017_en.php
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