Walking in Slovenia: The Karavanke. Justi Carey
much of the year along with mild winters; a Continental climate in eastern Slovenia, with hot summers and cold winters; and an Alpine climate in the north-west with warm summers, cold winters and abundant precipitation. The Karavanke fall into the Alpine climate area.
Tortoiseshell butterfly
Trends over the past 20 years or so suggest that the effects of global warming are beginning to be felt. Temperatures are rising, resulting in less snow in winter, and summers are hotter. Wind patterns are also changing, and long periods of drought have been followed by extensive flooding, which can be devastating in an area of steep-sided valleys and mountains.
The Wildenstein waterfall (Walk 20)
In any mountain area weather is notoriously difficult to forecast. Snow can occur at any time of year and can render a summer walking trip a disaster if you are not adequately prepared. In summer the snow does not tend to lie for long, but in some years the peaks and high-altitude paths can be snowbound from October to May. April and November are times of maximum rainfall. Thunderstorms are common in July and August, and can obviously be particularly dangerous on ridges and high-altitude routes; they can spring up out of clear air within half an hour, perhaps not leaving enough time to get to safer ground. Thunderstorms are most common in the afternoon and evening, so it is often advisable to make an early start so you have a chance of achieving your objective before a storm occurs. The mountains around the Ljubelj Pass (Walks 13–19) are particularly prone to afternoon thunderstorms.
Weather forecasts can be obtained from the local people where you are staying. There are forecasts on television (Slovenia 1) daily at 6.55pm, which cover the whole country and give a long-range forecast for about four days ahead (although it is of course in Slovene, the map symbols are universal). The tourist information office will also have a forecast. The internet site www.arso.gov.si is in Slovene only, but click on the words vremenska napoved (weather forecast) to find vremenska napoved v sliki (weather forecast in pictures); this gives a two-day forecast with symbols. Other general weather websites will give you an idea of the outlook but are unlikely to offer any detail for mountain areas. A notable exception is www.windguru.cz, which supplies a detailed forecast for parapenters (and surfers) – choose Slovenia and Julijske Alpe from the drop-down menus.
Limestone is usually white and can be extremely bright when the sun shines on it. Sunglasses are therefore a recommended piece of kit, even on a day that appears cloudy.
Environment
Fortunately both Slovenia and Austria understand how precious the Karavanke are; a joint project between Slovenia and Austria aims to make sure that development is made in keeping with the natural environment and the long heritage of the people that live there. The website www.karavanke.eu is a great resource, especially if you use a translate program on the Slovene part, as not all of it has been translated into English yet.
As a visitor to the area, it is your responsibility to make sure that this area remains unspoilt – be especially careful to keep your environmental impact to the minimum by keeping to the footpaths and taking all your litter away with you. Remember also that this is a working landscape: leave gates as you found them, keep dogs on a lead, and avoid disturbing livestock.
Wildlife and flowers
This brief section mentions just some of the key species that can be observed – it cannot do anything approaching justice to the wealth of wildlife to be found in Slovenia.
No discussion of the flowers of the Karavanke would be complete without mentioning the narcissi (Narcissi poeticus subsp. radiiflorus) that flower in such profusion in late spring. They are something of a national institution, and one of the symbols of the town of Jesenice. In Slovene they are called ključavnica, meaning lock – in one legend explaining the name, it is said that God warned the bees not to suck nectar on Sundays, and when they ignored the decree, God locked the nectar into the flowers. In the past the flowers were even more abundant, when the grass was mown in August. Changes in agricultural practices mean that in many places the meadows are no longer cut for hay, and woodland is taking over the flowers’ habitat. At their best they are really something to see – although Golica (Walk 6) is the most well-known area, their range extends along the ridge to Dovška Baba (Walk 4).
As might be expected in such an unspoilt landscape, the alpine flowers are a highlight of all the walks in this book, from the familiar deep blue of gentians to less well-known species such as the indigenous Zois’ bellflower (Campanula zoysii), related to the harebell. The wonderful lush growth of Alpine hay meadows needs no introduction here; the regular cut of the plants, two or three times a year, means that the hardier species do not get the chance to dominate the more delicate ones and the variety of colours is reflected in the many species of butterflies.
Zois’ bellflower (left) and gentians (right, above) are abundant on the high Karavanke slopes, while hellebores (right, below) burst from the forest floor in springtime
Given that around 53% of Slovenia is covered with forest, almost all the walks pass through sections of beautiful woodland. Spruce, beech, pine and larch are interspersed with other species in true mixed forest, which gradually changes its nature with height. The highest of all is the dwarf pine, encountered before the trees give out altogether and leave only the short grass studded with flowers among the rocks.
Many parts of the Karavanke are still worked and are used as pasture for livestock in the summer, even up to the ridges. This means there are fewer areas for the typical high-altitude mammals such as chamois, although they can be seen in some places. Slovenia supports a healthy population of predatory mammals, including wolves and European brown bears, and although no bears live in the Karavanke they have been known to pass through in isolated circumstances.
Alpine choughs, ring ouzels and ravens can all be seen in the high mountains; choughs in particular are more than happy to eat your sandwiches on the summits! In the forests listen out for the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), a large game bird whose call when disturbed is reminiscent of the gobbling sound a turkey makes – you are more likely to hear them than to see them. The Slovenes call them mountain roosters. A common amphibian which can often be seen in the beech forests, especially on damp days, is the strange black and yellow fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra). The rarer black Alpine salamander (Salamandra atra) can sometimes be seen even on the ridges in rainy weather; interestingly, they do not spawn into water but give birth to two live young.
Black alpine salamander
The walks
The walks are arranged in order from west to east. All of them are approached from the southern, Slovene side except for Walk 12, which describes Stol from the north (from the village of Feistritz in Austria), and Walk 20, which gives an ascent of Hochobir from the Austrian village of Wildenstein, south-east of Klagenfurt.
Based in the Upper Sava valley, our journey starts with Peč (Walk 1), a symbolic mountain in many ways – not only is it the first of the Karavanke range, it is also the peak on which the three countries of Slovenia, Austria and Italy, and the three great cultural traditions and languages of Europe, Germanic, Romantic and Slavic, all meet. Walk 2 explores two little-known summits, Trupejevo poldne and Vošca, and the unbroken ridge between them, while Walks 3 and 4 visit the peaks of Kepa and Dovška Baba high above the pretty villages of Mojstrana and Dovje.
If you are able to visit this area in late May, you will be treated to an amazing sight – the slopes covered with white narcissi in unbelievable profusion. Golica (Walk 6) is the best known, and has a festival to celebrate the flowers, but they