| The Slovene Mountain Path - Slovenska planinska pot |
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When talking about walkways in Slovenia, there is no way of leaving the Slovene Mountain Path out. There are more than fifty different mountaineering paths in Slovenia, leading all over the country. The hiking tours can be as short as few hours or they can last for weeks. The most remarkable among them is certainly the Slovene Mountain Path stretching from Maribor to Ankaran, having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003. A jubilee was also celebrated by the Slovene Mountaineering Organisation, being among the most active European ones after their 110 years of existence. Both jubilees give proof of the fact that Slovenes are keen mountaineers, hikers and alpine climbers. »One single marked path« The Slovene Mountain Path has had its present name since 1991. The senior of Maribor mountaineers, publicist, lecturer and many years' leader of the trail blazing team of the Alpine Association Maribor-Matica, professor Ivan Šumljak (1899-1984) suggested the Slovene Mountaineering Association to establish a national mountain path as early as in 1950. While blazing the trails, he got an idea: »What about connecting all these places with one single blazed path leading across all of Slovenia and returning to Maribor?« On his behalf Slovenia was the first European country to have a unique national mountain path. In 1953 the path across the Slovene mountains was opened, the path which not only shows the beauty of the mountains but leads the hiker all the way from the Pannonian plains across the plateaus and hills to the Slovene coast. There is something for everybody on this trail. The Extended Slovene Mountain Path - Razširjena Slovenska planinska pot (RSPP) In 1966 the idea of professor Šumljak was partly complemented. With the desire to present the whole of Slovenia to the hikers, specific peaks and other important points all over the country were defined. The new and extended path (RSPP) supplements the Slovene Mountain Path from Maribor to Ankaran. The check points are strewn all over Slovenia and each of them can be taken as an individual destination. Having hiked along the Slovene Mountain Path and/or its extended version, you will be familiar with all the diversities of the Slovene regions from Prekmurje to the Adriatic, from the Gorjanci to the highest Alpine peaks and from the border-region Kozjak to the Karst plateau. The rich extension of the Slovene Mountain Path Jože Dobnik summed up the descriptions of the path in ten chapters. Their titles are: From Maribor over the Pohorje to Slovenj Gradec; The mountains between the Mislinja and the Savinja rivers; In the Kamnik Alps; In the Karavanke range; From Mojstrana to the Triglav and the Vršič; From the Vršič to the Jalovec and in the valley Trenta; In the Julian Alps between the Soča and the Bača rivers; In the Cerkno and Idrija hills; Through the forest Trnovski gozd and over the Nanos to Razdrto; From Razdrto over the Karst to the sea. The titles themselves give us a picturesque description of the route –not only leading onto rocky peaks but also presenting the hiker the history of Slovenia, expressed and present in so to say everything. You will climb up the highest mountains, stop at numerous mountain huts, enjoy magnificent views, discover mountain lakes and rare species of mountain flowers. The starting point, destinations and difficulty of the Path: The Slovene Mountain Path can be started or finished in Maribor, Ankaran or anywhere along the route. The timing is not set. The Knafelc blazes (white point inside a red circle and the Arabic number 1) will lead your way. The Path consists of stages divided into three difficulty levels: easy, difficult and very difficult ones. The routes of the extended version of the Slovene Mountain Path are popular mountain paths with Knafelc blazing with no special or extra markings. Similarly, the path can be started and finished anywhere along the route. Hiking with mountaineering guidebooks Both versions of the Slovene Mountain Path will be more pleasant to hike if accompanied by the guidebooks written by Jože Dobnik and published by Planinska zveza Slovenije (Mountaineering Association of Slovenija). They were published in 1998 (Slovenska planinska pot – Slovene Mountain Path) and in 1993 (Razširjena slovenska planinska pot – the extended version of the path). The first offers you a description of the path between Maribor to Ankaran, the mountain ranges, the peaks, the places, mountain huts and other huts where control stamps are held. The sights, views and the most appropriate ways to reach the huts and peaks are described. Worth mentioning are also the useful maps with the drawn-in routes and the map with the stops along the extended version of the Path. Following the first guidebook, the second is very similar. By all means it is highly recommended to take the special mountain maps along, where beside the Slovene Mountain Path other paths leading to mountain huts and to peaks where stamps are kept are marked. While hiking the Path, you should not forget to bring along your own »Diary of the Slovene Mountain Path« booklet where you can collect control stamps of the Path checkpoints. |