arnika - Recent messages

Our friend, mountaineer-herder Peter, measured 20 cm of snow today in front of the hut in the Velika Planina herder settlement!

Has anyone maybe been to Slemenova Špica in the last few days. What's the path like. Please for information.

Please for info if road to Ušivec drivable (snow-free). Thanks!

Maybe someone knows if the path to Slemenova špica is dry, i.e. without snow?

Does anyone have info when they bring the livestock to Velika Planina this year?

Yes, bureaucrats are at the shepherds on Velika Planina again. We were present at the moment when two women in mountaineering gear arrived and regardless that the shepherd was outside, WITHOUT ASKING AND PERMISSION entered the hut. When the shepherd saw that he followed them into the hut where they started inquiring about dairy products. And the litanies began. They identified themselves only outside. They were very arrogant and full of themselves, not a bit down-to-earth. Regardless that the shepherd had very nice cheese which they themselves praised, he had to destroy it (because he didn't send milk and cheese samples for analysis). He could keep three for himself. How did they know those three were good? Now they've tasked the shepherds to keep daily records of how much milk they milk, how much cheese, sour milk they make from it, send for analysis... And that squeezes you somewhere! And all this circus and costs for three months, as long as the shepherds are on the pasture. And finally we wonder how many people got poisoned by cheese or sour milk bought from shepherds. But in schools and kindergartens already! There let them rampage, not with shepherds who still persist in our mountains and earn some euro with dairy sales!

Please info if the road to Ušivec is already drivable? Thanks!

Yes, our planina is really beautiful and special. The tough and persistent shepherds and their livestock give it a special mark. Despite the troubles they get from the municipal authorities, they still drive their livestock to pasture every year. The mayor is bothered by a few meters of concrete on the steep path, which every rain turns into a ditch. But the crumbling shack of the ski lift at the top of Pleč does not bother him. The wooden remains of it lie scattered across the pasture far around. Obviously, the newly growing wooden shack just before Planina Konjščica does not bother him either. Let him deal with those problems, but the shepherds, of whom there are fewer every year, let him finally leave them alone. The planina comes alive with their arrival and if there are no more, the planina will lose its charm!

Our friend, alpine shepherd Peter, today in shepherd settlement Velika Planina, measured 20 cm of snow in front of the hut!...

We must praise the friendliness and hospitality of the new caretaker Mr. Janez in the hut on Uskovnica, enjoyed by every visitor. These are the right people for our mountain huts. We will gladly return (also because of him) and recommend the visit to friends and acquaintances. Posavci will surely come again. P.S.
Caretakers in Tamar should go learn from him how to welcome guests!

All praise to the team in the hut on Menina Pasture for the invitation and thanks for visiting their hut. Also regarding food they think very positively and don't just look at profit. Because of such people we head to certain pastures again and again and recommend them to others too. Definitely they can be an example to many providers!

Please provide info, what's the current path to Slemenova Špica from Vršič like? Maybe under snow?

Please fix the webcam on Krvavec so that it really shows the panorama of the plateau and thus the actual weather conditions! From what the camera shows now, you really can't figure out the weather conditions.

Yesterday we made good use of the last nice autumn days and headed to Slemenova Špica. Because of the colorful beauty that larches offer these days, which were still full of droplets from the morning fog and sparkling in the sun, your heart jumps and breath stops. You have to see this live. To all this view, the mighty Jalovec with its reflection in the water and surrounding peaks contributed. Real balm for the eyes and soul. Beautiful is our Slovenia.

But after the unforgettable day we were disappointed in Erjavčeva hut, where despite the pleasant afternoon sun they didn't serve visitors outside saying it was too cold. You can't believe it! Such hut keepers really don't belong in mountain huts. Who hires them, we wonder? Thank God they are in the minority, but still annoying.

Velika Planina is truly a real natural treasure of our small homeland. This is confirmed by the ever more numerous visitors. Particular enthusiasm for the sight offered by the unique shepherd settlement of Velika Planina was heard from foreigners. Great interest was aroused by those small, for them "fairy-tale" shepherd huts and everything connected with life and work on the pasture. When the shepherd appeared in shepherd attire and the shepherd's horn was heard across the pasture, the enthusiasm was complete. But during the numerous photographing of hikers with the shepherd, the shepherdess shouted very loudly from the neighboring hut: "It's not possible, clowns are already walking around!" What a low and base act towards the shepherd, who is the only one showing how shepherds used to dress, and thus spreads the fame and image around the world; very humiliating. This remark from the shepherdess and her folks met with indignation from the present tourists and they couldn't believe what they heard. It's sad that some local shepherds don't know how to appreciate our cultural and natural heritage. Yet they want tourism so much! In this way? But we will recommend visiting the pasture to others and thus give recognition to those shepherds who strive to depict the old times.