Vitovlje - Čaven (via Vitovlje Lake)

Access to starting point:
A) From the highway Vipava - Nova Gorica, take the exit Selo, then continue driving on the regional road towards Nova Gorica and Šempas. After a few kilometers of driving, we arrive at the village Vitovlje, where we turn right in the direction of the farm Maloščevo. A little further, the road splits into two parts (Vitovska circular path), and we continue right, and in the next crossroads, we stick to the left directions. The relatively steep road leads us higher through the hamlet Vožice, where it turns a little more to the left. From the hamlet we drive for a short time, and then we arrive at a large event venue and sports field in Vitovlje, where we park.
B) From Nova Gorica, we drive to Šempas, and from there we continue driving on the old road towards Ajdovščina. When we arrive at the village Vitovlje, we turn left in the direction of the farm Maloščevo. A little further, the road splits into two parts (Vitovska circular path), and we continue right, and in the next crossroads, we stick to the left directions. The relatively steep road leads us higher through the hamlet Vožice, where it turns a little more to the left. From the hamlet we drive for a short time, and then we arrive at a large event venue and sports field in Vitovlje, where we park.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we first walk to an asphalt road and continue left along it. After a minute or two we arrive at a marked junction, where we continue right in the direction of the Vitovska church and Vitovsko Lake.
From the junction, we continue on a poorer macadam road, which quickly enters the forest, through which it ascends gently to moderately. It does not take long and we already arrive at the next well-marked junction, where we continue straight in the direction of Vitovsko Lake (left western path to Vitovski hrib (on signs marks for Vitovska church)). Further on, the road gradually turns into a cart track, which first leads us across a panoramic hayfield. A little further, the cart track turns left, from which two paths branch off to the right to the nearby Vitovsko Lake, which is only 2 minutes' walk away (worth seeing, as the Vitovsko lake is the only natural lake in the Vipava Valley or above it). Further, the path leads us past a few more well-marked junctions, and at all of them we continue left in the direction of the Vitovska church. A little below the summit, we join a cart track, along which we quickly reach the panoramic summit.
From the summit, we descend back to the junction, then continue the ascent in the direction of Čaven and Sekulak along the old Napoleon path. Soon we reach the next junction, where the path to Skozno branches off to the left, and we continue right towards Čaven. The still gentle Napoleon path soon brings us to the steep rocky cliffs of Visoki zid. A wide path then leads us across an artificially carved panoramic ledge (danger of falling rocks), after which the path returns to the forest and brings us to the place where the path to Kopitnik branches off to the left.
We continue slightly right in the direction of Čaven and Sekulak on a somewhat narrower path, which first through some smaller clearings brings us to a steeper section. The path ahead ascends more steeply and only a little higher brings us to the next junction, where we continue right in the direction of the vantage point (left Kopitnik). We continue the ascent on a gentle path, which in 5 minutes of further walking brings us to the vantage point Sekulak, from which a view opens up over a larger part of the Vipava Valley.
The path left continues towards Kopitnik, and we continue right, where after a few meters we notice signs for Veliki Rob. We continue the ascent towards Veliki Rob on an initially somewhat less visible trail. The path higher becomes clearer and after some time brings us to the vantage point, from which a view opens up on the Vipava Valley, Trstelj, Gulf of Trieste and Dolomites.
We continue on the marked path, which starts to ascend more steeply, and it brings us to the steeper part below the summit of Čaven (1185 m). When the path flattens, we leave it and after a few steps of pathless terrain ascend to the summit of Čaven.
Vitovlje - Vitovski hrib 40 minutes, Vitovski hrib - Sekulak 1:00, Sekulak - Čaven 1:00.

On the way: Vitovsko jezero (445m), Vitovski hrib (604m), Sekulak (888m)