Srednji Dolič (gostišče Repolusk) - Source of river Paka (Themed trail from Huda luknja to source of river Paka)

Access to starting point:
A) From the direction Arja Vas - Velenje: From the road Velenje - Slovenj Gradec, in the settlement Gornji Dolič we turn right (if we come from Slovenj Gradec left) towards Vitanje. After 2 km we get to the settlement Srednji Dolič, on the right there is guesthouse Repolusk. On the parking space at the inn we leave the car. By the parking lot there is a sign with a map of the path and description of attractions by the path.
B) From the direction Slovenske Konjice - Vitanje: From Slovenske Konjice we drive in the direction towards Celje and in the settlement Stranice, at the roundabout, we turn right towards Vitanje. We follow the road to Vitanje and in the center of the settlement, we turn right towards Dolič. After 10 km we get to Srednji Dolič and the mentioned guesthouse, where we leave the car.

Path description:
Signpost points us across the main road on a village asphalt road which we follow to the end of the settlement. There the signs point us on a footpath by the forest, which brings us to the farm Češovnik. Past the business building we step on a macadam road which is lightly ascending and runs past the hunting lodge and two homesteads. At the second farm, signs point us straight on a cart track through the forest to a meadow below the farm Krpač. We follow the footpath by the edge of the forest to a smaller saddle, from where we see the first Pohorje farms of dispersed settlement Paka. We cross the stream, we choose the right path through a meadow and after few minutes of walking, we get to a renovated, more than 300 years old house, Pri Trmodu. From here we continue on the road past two chapels to the asphalt road and farm Pri Ošlaku. We are at an altitude 940 meters. Behind us a nice view opens up on hills all the way from Boč on the southeast and Uršlja gora on the west, at the back there is rising the mountain range Kamnik Savinja Alps. To here we needed one hour. We continue on the road and after few minutes of walking, we get to the turn-off to the left towards the last farm Zlodej, which we bypass on the right side and on a cart track we pass into the forest to a stream (later river Paka). We continue by the water on forest logging trails and footpaths all the way to the source. The path is diverse, now steep, in parts gentle. The flow of the water is also like that. On steep parts it is lively, jumps over rocks and calms down in the pools below them. When crossing the stream we notice diversity of Pohorje rocks (gneiss, tonalite, schist). In the forest clearings, once pastures, there is typical matgrass. On meadows we find sites of orchids and other protected plants - arnica, brown gentian, valerian. We are ascending in the heart of Pohorje forests, where we can meet deer or chamois, and in the morning silence even wood grouse or black grouse. After a good hour of walking, we get to a forest road, we cross it and we follow the signs to the footpath which is by swampy area, vegetated with various grass, in zig-zags ascending uphill. The steepness doesn't decrease all the way to the source at an altitude 1422 meters. For the entire path to the source in snowless conditions we need two hours and a half, in the winter some more, depending on the amount of snow. Visiting in the winter is a special experience.
We can return on the same path or we choose easier. From the source we follow the cart track towards the west, on which we descend to a forest road. On the other side of the road, we look for a footpath which is descending through the forest to a larger meadow, by which we walk on the upper edge to the cart track, on which we descend to the farm, past which we come on an asphalt road, on which we were ascending before. We continue on the path of the approach all the way to the starting point.
Time of walking: ascent 3 hours; descent 2 hours.

On the way: Gostišče Repolusk (559m), Stara kmetija Trmod (900m), Zadnja kmetija Zlodej (990m)