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Slovenia: Sledding from Valvasorjev dom pod Stolom

On a sunny Saturday Nada and me decided to find a couple of GeoCaches, discover the Radovna Valley and for the end we went sledding.

The Valley of the Radovna River is definitely one of the most beautiful Slovenian alpine valleys. The area is a part of Triglav National Park, which is partially limiting the development of mass tourism, but due to its beauty it is visited mostly by »the conquerors of the useless world«, longing for peace and fresh air.

View over Sava Dolinka to Jesenice and cloudy Stol massif

 

Remains of the Iron Forges in radovna Valley, that were first mentioned in 1571. The technological process practised in the Radovna forges was called »pudlanje«, which is the expression local people used to describe iron smelting with coke.

  

Walking around Radovna valley

The Radovna village was burned down by German forces on 20 September 1944 in revenge of the kidnapping of two German soldiers. 24 villagers burned in the fire, youngest only 7 months old. The ruins of the Smolej farmhouse and a monument, uncovered in 1961, still stand here in memory of the tragedy.

We visited another WW2 monument in Koroška bela memorial park, designed in the former local cemetery. In 1976, the monument was erected at the cemetery of five hostages – the locals, which the Germans brought in 1941 from prison in Begunje, and then shoot them at the cemetery wall.

 

Time for Sledding. Guys did a brilliant job preparing the track.

Playing the game Catch me if you can.

There is always time for a selfie

Goodbye sun

Track from Valvasorjev dom pod Stolom mountain hut was brilliant and almost without people

For many years, sledding from Valvasorjev dom pod Stolom was impossible due to poor snow conditions.

GeoCaches found:
- Preseren I, GC37N4M
- Psnak Mill, GC16AD5
- Koroška Bela - Spominski park / Memorial park, GC70XQ3