Gornji Grad - Cave Jespa (via Semprimožnik)

Access to starting point:
From Savinjska Valley or from Kamnik over the Črnivec Pass, we drive to Gornji Grad, where we park on the arranged parking lot next to the main bus station.

Route description:
From the parking lot, we continue along the main road towards Savinjska Valley. After a few tens of meters we come to a smaller crossroads, where signs for Dom na Menini planini direct us right onto the street Prod. Immediately after the first house we come to a marked junction, where the path over Borovnica branches off to the right, and we continue straight in the direction of Menina planina past Semprimožnik. The path continues along the road for some time, then we come to a larger chapel, behind which we continue right onto the forest road. The road quickly brings us to a smaller stream, after which it turns into a steep cart track. We continue the ascent on the marked cart track, which higher turns left and a little further brings us to a marked junction.
We continue right on the steep path (or straight on the gentle path), which past the plague monument from the 17th century after approximately 20 minutes of further walking brings us to an indistinct saddle, where the path to St. Florjan branches off to the left (1 minute), and we continue right, where after a few steps of further walking a gentle path joins us. We continue straight on the marked path, which over steep and increasingly panoramic grassy slopes brings us to a forest road leading to Menina planina. We only cross the mentioned road, as the signs lead us onto a hay meadow, across which in a few steps we arrive at Semprimožnik. Just a few meters above the farm we step onto the road again, where signs for Menina planina direct us onto a well-marked path. Further we moderately ascend on the cart track, which turns slightly to the right and from the forest edge leads us into denser forest. The path soon exceeds 1000 m of elevation and a little further brings us to parking lot No. 2 (parking lot No. 1 is located near the Semprimožnik farm).
Here we cross the road again and continue the ascent on a pleasant path, which quickly brings us to "Usranega klanca". Here the path ascends more steeply for a short time, then in a moderate ascent through the forest brings us to a junction, where the path over Borovnica joins from the right.
We continue the moderate ascent through the forest and the path quickly brings us to Prag 1170 m, from which a barely noticeable descent to "kopalnica" follows. The path, which starts ascending again, quickly brings us to the next marked junction, where the path forks.
We continue right in the direction of the path to Jespa Cave (left the path over Ovčji stan) and moderately ascend through occasionally sparser forest. Higher we cross a forest road once more; when we return to dense forest we join the path past Strmčnik.
We continue left in the direction of Dom na Menini planini past Jespa, but we ascend through the forest to the pasture fence, where we leave the forest. Here on the left we notice a hunting hut, but we continue straight uphill, where we follow the blazes and a fainter trail. Here during the ascent a nice view opens up looking back, and the path higher enters a belt of forest, where we continue to carefully follow the blazes. When we leave the forest again the path levels out, and we then easily descend to the macadam road leading towards Dom na Menini planini, which we only cross and ascend on the marked path. Walking follows across the Menina planina plateau, where we continue following the blazes, and the fairly level path brings us to the branch-off of the path to Jespa Cave.
Here with the aid of fixed protection we descend into the karst sinkhole from which the entrance to the ice cave Jespa leads.

Along the route: Sveti Florjan above Gornji Grad (743m), Semprimožnik (812m), Prag (1170m)

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