| jerque18. 11. 2023 22:17:56 |
If I add today's situation (Sat., 18.11) and at the end some pics for "showing off". Since there are no marked thematic paths, I had to prepare a quite complicated logistical plan; without the help of an app that works over OpenTopoMap maps, I would have gotten seriously lost several times.
First a short route description. Since it was my first time there, of course I had to include both largest lakes (Petelinjsko and Palško), which I combined with Kleniško or what's left of it. Start in Slovenska vas. There you can already see that they will soon (probably by the end of the month) open the Ecomuseum, likely also as an info point and local (judging by the tables); hope at least they won't start charging for parking (one right after the village sign if coming from Petelinje/Pivka direction, second by the museum, some drive further on the forest road to a junction in several directions, from where driving is no longer allowed for normal mortals). At first I didn't go on the marked hiking path (to Sv. Trojica), but through the village center, at a sign about Poček polygon (wow, do they shoot here sometimes?) to the right; the path later joins the official hiking path leading somewhat south of Petelinjsko Lake. Here is the first official branch to the lake, i.e., a gravel road that already leads into the lake after about 100m. If you continue on the marked path, you somehow sense the lake on our left; at some places partially trodden paths branch off leading to the southern lake shore, where you also find benches and swings. When the marked path enters the pasture (we get there through a passage with "rotating" gates that aren't really rotating  ), you can continue straight on gravel and soon the road "drowns" in the SE corner of the lake (when there is no lake, it connects with the road from the very first mentioned junction). But all these close-up views are, excuse the expression, one ordinary sh*t. Namely due to the forest around the lake, which generously obstructs the views. But hey, east above the lake rises the hill Mali Okroglek, with, as if on purpose, a bare western slope. And exactly to it the marked path to Sv. Trojica leads through that pasture passage. So we dash into a not too steep slope; now in autumn, when grass no longer grows, we can veer a bit to the left (north) and admire Petelinjsko Lake in all its grandeur.
From Sv. Trojica you should be able to nicely see at least Palško Lake by feel, but days are already short and it's hard to afford "lost" ca. 3h. So I descended from Mali Okroglek south and then right onto the wide forest road toward Trnje. One of the left branches should lead to one and then to the second northern "corner" of Palško Lake (when it is really full), but I skip it and continue almost to Trnje, when I already see another church of Sv. Trojica, namely the one above Trnje; OTM shows a quite decent shortcut to the road that north of Krištanci leads from Klenik to the western shore of Palško Lake. A bit further from the sign prohibiting driving to the "uninitiated", there is a junction where the road to Palčje branches right. A bit out of spite I continue straight until the lake floods the new junction, where a track branches left to the more westerly northern "corner". Nothing, back to the previous junction and south toward Palčje. Oops, this road too soon "sinks" into the lake. Ugh, what now? OTM recommends back almost to Klenik and then on the more southern parallel road to Palčje. I decide to first try my luck, dash nicely into the forest on some terribly poorly trodden "pathless paths" through brush and thorns (obviously I had to go through the one with a bit first), midway also bypass the electric shepherd; suddenly I find myself on the road again soon after it emerges from the lake. A bit more complicated than it sounds, but the main thing is that we're back on the right path along the western shore. Soon another junction of several paths follows. Right the previously mentioned potential "bypass" to Klenik, straight toward Palčje there are even two paths; the left (more easterly) would undoubtedly offer better views of the lake than the right one, but it's private and fenced with an electric shepherd. But before that we turn left and walk until the track ends in the lake. Here instead of forests it flooded pastures and therefore the best views are directly from the shore.
We return to the junction and left toward Palčje. Before reaching the village proper, again left toward sv. Marjeta. Unfortunately at first everything between the road and the lake is fenced with electric shepherds. There is of course a risk that at extreme water level it floods the lowest part of the path and this time it's very hard to imagine possible detours. Luckily the words of the local woman are confirmed, that the path is normally passable, but from the mud and otherwise you can see that it must have been flooded there not long ago. Even if someone isn't interested in the church ruins, left (north) of the path there are grassy slopes (I think Hrbec) and since in late autumn we can tramp on the grass, we use that and view Palško Lake from them in full size; as it looks, it didn't have northern "corners". At sv. Marjeta the sign hints that it's still approx. 5 minutes to the spring. Again a somewhat steeper ascent follows, the last part between vertical rocks is probably the only part where we really need proper hiking footwear; then we really reach the spring, next to it another viewpoint on the lake, unfortunately due to the trees not as good as those below sv. Marjeta. From here the already poorly trodden path is lost; I judge there's no point "blindly" pushing higher up the wooded slope, so I return, view the village center of Palčje, then, since I'm not a fan of walking on asphalt and moreover busy roads, I return to the junction north of Palčje and then to the track west, which south of Krštanci leads to Klenik. I could have taken a shortcut to Trnje, but there should be another lake in Klenik. Well, at the beginning of the village the road gets asphalt; a bit further from some "parking" on the right, where someone piles up all kinds of junk, a view opens down to the lake "basin", which reveals that there is no lake (anymore); some "puddles" hint that it might have been there recently. Well a bit further, right before the house guarded by some emphatically German dog, a track branches right that leads us to the lake when it exists.
Klenik actually already adjoins Trnje; at the beginning of the village I first turn right to the quite impressive village church sv. Trojica; from there some path descends straight to the village center and from that path I spot perhaps the "18th lake" (since there are officially 17), past the junction with the stone cross to the village basketball court. Here it turns out that I saw the flooding Trnske springs (Pivka tributary). Apparently they are fed directly from Palško Lake, so locals can precisely know its water level without having to go there. And although the lake wasn't completely full, there was still enough of it that this stream flooded also the shortcut from the basketball court to the path toward Slovenska vas. Luckily some local woman from the other side noticed the problem and directed me back; at the junction with the stone cross right, then she also confirmed the direction to Sl. vas. At the end of the village asphalt turns to gravel, the path rises a bit more; over shepherded pastures on the left a similar view of the Pivka valley opens as from the viewpoint platform, then I reach first the "in forest" parking and soon "finish" the tour at the Ecomuseum. Total approx. 6h of walking and if I believe the smartwatch step count, a whole 26 km?!? In more suitable conditions (it seems smaller lakes are already running out of steam) perhaps an attempt on the more southern ones too....
For those interested in the status, at the bottom of this page there are links to real-time cameras of Petelinjsko and Palško Lake (at night it shows a snapshot just before dusk) and a few days old satellite images (which otherwise say that Kleniško Lake still exists to its full extent)
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