Primož Jakopin, photo diary
Skednena jama, Gradišnica and Planinska jama
Merry December
December 9 to 30, 2025, 56 pictures
Most images are approximately 768 x 1024 pixels in size.
Numbers in front of picture descriptions are serial numbers of the original photo
files. The excursion to Skednena jama took place during the celebration of Veterans' New Year, and
Marjan Juvan - Manč is mentioned in the last photo. Mikhail Tertychnyy - Miha, Peter Mašič - Pero,
Mila Poljak - Sheena, Bor Grošelj Simić and Jure Bevc helped with the photos at Gradišnica,
and Vladimir Levašov, Dejan Novak - Srke and Tadej Vehar participated a great dela during the excursion
to Planinska jama. The names of cave parts are sometimes the author's.
The main purpose of the excursions to all three caves was photography.
Page, text and photos copyright (c) Primož Jakopin - Klok 2025, except for the photos
VL80, VL81, VL82, VL83, VL84, VL85 and VL86, which were made by Vladimir Levašov and are published
with his permission.
Kamnik pod Krimom, December 9
56331. Evening view from the top of the hill towards the Kamnik Alps
Bled, December 11
56332. View from the slope above the Castle bathing area across the lake towards the south
56333. A semi-sphere of the New Year's pavilion at the Castle bathing area made of transparent regular hexagons
56334. Kočna (2.540 meters) and Storžič mountains (2.132 meters)
56335. View of the island in the mist from the park on the east side of the lake...
56337. ... and to Bled Castle
Veterans New Year, Lanski vrh, December 18
56339. The day was cloudy, but the sun popped up from time to time.
Skednena jama
56340. View from the viewpoint above Pod stenami cliff towards the south, with Cerje, Planina and Planinska gora on the horizon
56341. South entrance from the outside, after the dusk
56342. Mold on a piece of nutrient along the path, height approximately 4 cm
56343. Limestone strata in the eastern wall of Glavni rov (Main Tunnel)
56344. View towards the bend in front of the North Entrance from the Main Tunnel; the author is sitting by the path, on its right side, in the middle of the photo.
56346. Broken ceiling strata in the Hall at the North Entrance
56348. Dripping water under the chimney
56349. Image of a veiled face in the wall of the larger chimney in the Main Tunnel, south of the Hall before the bend
Članska vas
56350. Manč while photographing veterans from the hunting tower
Plečnik's arcades at the Triple Bridge in Ljubljana, December 19
56351. Vladimir Posipaj: Romantic image of Bled Island with a young woman on a white horse and with water lilies, oil on canvas, 48 x 87 cm, 2025
Šmarješke toplice, December 20
56353. New Year's decorations of the entrance bridge, in the evening
56352. Intertwining circles of the outer pool
Gradišnica cave entrance, December 21
56355. Pero, Sheena, Bor, Jure and Miha from Ljubljana Cave Exploration Society descended into the cave.
56358. Pero before the descent, on the edge of the abyss
56354. Miha ...
56356. ... on the shelf in the wall of the abyss ...
56357. ... and Bor ...
56359. ... along the wall, close to the end of the first long section.
56360. View along the forest road that winds past the cave to the north, towards Logatac.
December 24
56362. Vladimir Posipaj: Still Life with Persimmons, oil on wood, 22.5 x 40 cm, before 2015
56369. View from the riverbed in front of the bridge over the Unica towards the Entrance Hall
VL80. The author taking pictures of the arriving participants of the excursion in front of the tunnel to Sotočje. Unfortunately, his photo was not good enough for the publication.
56371. There were 16 of us, including the guides from the Planina Cave Society, and we walked as far as we could along the path built by the Italian army in the Pivka Branch between the two wars, then descended into the Pivka riverbed and continued along the bank to the first concrete pillar, where we boarded four boats. The boat in the picture, which was waiting for the others a little further from the boarding area, had 6 passengers, two boats had four, and one had two.
56370. A wider view of the scene with another waiting boat
VL81. Vladimir's self-portrait, which reminds one, not only in terms of lightingm of portraits of the Dutch Golden Age, for example Rembrandt's. On the left is the author's head, sitting in front of Vladimir, on the right behind are Anže and Jakob in another boat, on the left behind is the boat with the six from the previous shot, and in the middle behind is the boat with the guide Dejan, who boarded last and rushed to the head of the convoy.
56394. The journey was short, after just a hundred meters we had to disembark at the rapids in the shot and carry the boats on land past them, a few dozen meters away.
56393. The shore along the rapids was very eroded with several potholes, like the one in the shot, about 40 cm long along the longer axis.
VL82. It was followed by about an hour-long sailing upstream to the place, where the Pivka Branch ends with an inflow siphon. We rowed past the remains of the aforementioned path, built over the riverbed between the two wars, in some places on the left bank, in some places on the right bank, whichever provided better space. Most of the bridges have been destroyed by time, the one in the photo is the best preserved.
56376. Shortly before the end of the voyage, the riverbed was too shallow for boats and they had to be pulled a short distance across the shallows. In the picture: a corroded rock ...
56375. ... where we boarded for the rest of the waterway.
56374. An olm in the aforementioned shallows
56392. We headed down the steep slope on the northern, right bank into the most beautiful part of the cave, the approximately 400-meter-long Paradiž (Paradise) tunnel.
56378. At the edge of the conglomerate wall above the pier was this piece of telephone wiring, almost certainly from the time of the construction of the path.
56377. Dejan ...
56381. ... and Tadej
VL83. The other participants of the excursion rushed forward to the end of Paradiž, but the author stayed a little further from the beginning to take some photos that cannot be taken hand-held and require time to choose a motif, set up a tripod and arrange the lighting. In the photo: the path, marked with white stripes, was in places more gentle ...
VL84. ... and steeper in some places.
VL85. Rimstone polls in Paradiž
VL86. End of Paradise - digging site with a muddy passage
56384. As already mentioned, the author stayed behind and managed to take two more large view photos in about an hour (thank you Dejan for not rushing during the walk through Paradise), as well as a few close-ups, which take much less work. The first one is a view back from the first large hall, to the passage ...
56385. ... with curtain-like stalactites.
56386. This photo shows them up close.
56382. View from a standpoint not far from the previous one into the interior of the tunnel.
56389. In the lower middle part of the previous photo is a curtain (with a "seahorse" in the background), lit from the front, ...
56388. ... and from behind.
56391. Group photo of excursion participants above the Pier. Click on the photo, followed by another one, shows it in full resolution.
56395. The return voyage was downstream, with the current, and it took about half the time of the upstream sailing. In the end, the boats had to be pulled 4 meters above the riverbed, to the old trail, so that they would not be swept away by the high water. In the picture: Anže, Domen and Tadej before the lifting of two boats.
56368. Another view from the riverbed in front of the bridge over the Unica towards the Entrance Hall, with added front lighting
Plečnik's arcades at the Triple Bridge in Ljubljana, December 30
56397. Vladimir Posipaj: A standard Bled motif with the island, the castle on the rock and mountains in the background, oil on canvas, 48 x 87 cm, 2025
Related pages:
Rakov Škocjan and Obrov, December 7
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 December 30, 2025; date of the last change: December 31, 2025.
URL: https://www.jakopin.net/primoz/slike/2025/PJ20251209_en.php
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