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WALK 2

Trupejevo poldne and Vošca

Start/finish	Tourist information office, Kranjska Gora
Distance	From Kranjska Gora 21km; from Srednji Vrh 12km
Total ascent/descent	1315m
Grade	2
Time	7–8hr
Maps	Kranjska Gora 1:30,000

These two hills give an exhilarating walk along a quieter section of the Western Karavanke, less frequented than the more popular summits of Stol, Vajnež and Golica above Jesenice. If you have a car, an hour or so can be saved at the start and finish of the walk by driving up to the hamlet of Srednji Vrh. If starting from Kranjska Gora the two hills combined give a long trek, so make sure your fitness is not in question. Either hill can be done as a separate walk by simply retracing the route from the summit should you consider it too long a day.

From Kranjska Gora tourist information office turn right along the pedestrian road past the church until you reach the Hotel Kotnik where you turn left. Pass the Sports Hall and Culture Centre and at the next T-junction turn right. Continue for another 200m, passing a bus stop to reach a crossroads. Walk straight ahead past the shopping centre for another 100m, then bear left to cross the main Sava valley road at a zebra crossing and enter the small residential area of Čičare.

Continue straight ahead for 100m, then take a left fork past the Suite Hotel Klass. Within another 100m reach a small bridge over the Sava. Cross it, and turn immediately right along a path with the river to your right and a grassy meadow to your left. The path soon bears left to follow the length of the narrow meadow, passing a hayrack along the way. A freestanding rack with horizontal wooden beams for drying hay, these hayracks are a typical Slovene landmark. At the end of the meadow enter woodland and follow the bank of the river, taking care here as the path is narrow and badly eroded in places. Soon arrive at another small meadow just below a wooden pasture building. Continue along the path with the river occasionally visible, but always within earshot, to your right, and after 10min pass another small wooden structure used for storing hay for animal feed. A few more metres brings you onto a broad gravel track, where a bridge can be seen crossing the river to the right. Continue straight ahead on the level track until, within another 10min, the track begins to ascend as it passes a small hydroelectric power station where the lively Jurežev stream meets the valley floor and feeds into the Sava river. Just beyond this pass a pretty weekend cottage with a working waterwheel. Continue to ascend the path through the trees for another 15min to emerge from the wood onto an open meadow at the bend of a broad stony track. Continue up the track across the attractive planina carpeted with flowers, and on through a gate, before passing an ornate painted shrine. Just beyond this pass a farmstead (note this is also the return route) and reach the tarmac lane that runs through Srednji Vrh.

Hayracks are a common sight

Turn right – the Pri Hlebnjat farmstead lies about 150m along the road, but about 25m before the buildings take the track signed to the left, ‘Trupejevo poldne 2hr’. The Pri Hlebnjat farm sells delicious homemade cheeses, kislo mleko (sour milk, a Slovene speciality), yoghurt, skuta (a type of cottage cheese) and honey.

Alternative start

Walk or drive up the Srednji Vrh road from Gozd Martuljek, 4km east of Kranjska Gora, to reach the small parking area just below a large building hidden in the trees. Continue on foot a few metres up the road – almost immediately it forks with a track heading right, but go straight on signed route 2. A sign on a tree near the fork says ‘Trupejevo poldne 2hr’. The road bends round to the left and passes between the attractive farm buildings and houses of Srednji Vrh. About 25m past Pri Hlebnjat farmhouse, take the track on the right, again signed ‘Trupejevo poldne 2hr’.

Almost immediately the track forks – the right fork makes its way up the small field and can be seen to make a short cut, but to avoid erosion of the delicate planina habitat take the left fork, a gravel cart track that enters the trees within 100m. Look back across the valley just before you enter the wood to get a good view of the very fine conical shaped mountain, Špik. The track soon bears right and climbs gently, with gaps through the trees continuing to offer splendid views over the little farmstead roofs of Srednji vrh towards the Martuljek cirque across the valley.

View from the path to the incredible cirque of peaks above Gozd Martuljek

In about 5min the track forks again; ignore the left fork, which just leads to an attractive old wooden hay barn, and continue on along the now level track where the small river Jerman (more of a fast-flowing stream) can be heard to your right. About 25m beyond the fork, pass an amazing old beech tree with an incredible girth – a remnant of the time when the beech were hewn for charcoal to fuel the iron furnaces in the valley. Continue straight on and ignore a right fork that leads down towards the stream.

The path begins to ascend more steadily as it climbs through a fine mix of pine and beech, crossing numerous tributary streams and springs feeding into the Jerman. After walking up the track for about 50min from Srednji Vrh, you encounter a short section of path that is prone to winter avalanche damage; you may see where trees have been knocked down by the force of the snow.