Today was a long day which ended back at the Danube at Donji Milanovac.
I left town on a road leading to a lake and caves. The caves were closed but no doubt will be open to tourists later in the year. Just before them was another example of a river coming out of a cave. I followed footprints up a path which climbed a dry, limestone valley. It was not to stay dry, the next curiosity was a brook, swollen by meltwater disappearing into a cave. As I progressed the rocks changed from limestone, through which water can create caves to flow underground, to a metamorphic rock, impermeable to water. The net result was that the valley became very wet and muddy.
I continued following my route which at a certain point changed heading from north to east. At this point my difficulties began. The route I picked from Google Earth seemed to follow a track overgrown with beech sapplings or no track at all. In addition it was necessary to cross what would normally be a little stream but the melting snow had made it a deep and wide channel. Inevitably I gained wet feet. I pushed on through the beech trees, upright and fallen, eventually reaching a better used track which led to a road which marked my half way point. If you are heading this way then you may want to research an alternative route from the caves to the road.
From this road the "Rambling through Serbia" booklet has a diversion to Lepenski vir, where there is a famous Neolithic site and museum, however at 15.5 kilometres to get there and 15.5 kilometres to come back on the same road, it was not a short diversion and I gave it a miss.
Instead I turned off the road onto a ridge path going east, periodically blocked by fallen trees and made difficult by snow left in sunken parts of the trail. Passing the summit of Liskovac I diverted to reach the top, but it was not worth the effort as trees blocked any views. The final summit of the ridge path (Bukova Glava) was more rewarding. It was marked by a rock with a star on top and distant snow topped mountains lined the horizon to the east and south.
I decided to try and reach Donji Milanovac that evening so stepped up the pace for the last 10 kilometres or so. Mud, waterlogged tracks and the remains of old snow drifts held me up, but I managed to reach Hotel Lepinski Var before 7:00 pm. The hotel looked closed but there was a man behind reception in the darkened lobby who gave me a room with a view of the Danube.
I am now in the town having enjoyed grilled trout. Makes a change from pork.
I left town on a road leading to a lake and caves. The caves were closed but no doubt will be open to tourists later in the year. Just before them was another example of a river coming out of a cave. I followed footprints up a path which climbed a dry, limestone valley. It was not to stay dry, the next curiosity was a brook, swollen by meltwater disappearing into a cave. As I progressed the rocks changed from limestone, through which water can create caves to flow underground, to a metamorphic rock, impermeable to water. The net result was that the valley became very wet and muddy.
I continued following my route which at a certain point changed heading from north to east. At this point my difficulties began. The route I picked from Google Earth seemed to follow a track overgrown with beech sapplings or no track at all. In addition it was necessary to cross what would normally be a little stream but the melting snow had made it a deep and wide channel. Inevitably I gained wet feet. I pushed on through the beech trees, upright and fallen, eventually reaching a better used track which led to a road which marked my half way point. If you are heading this way then you may want to research an alternative route from the caves to the road.
From this road the "Rambling through Serbia" booklet has a diversion to Lepenski vir, where there is a famous Neolithic site and museum, however at 15.5 kilometres to get there and 15.5 kilometres to come back on the same road, it was not a short diversion and I gave it a miss.
Instead I turned off the road onto a ridge path going east, periodically blocked by fallen trees and made difficult by snow left in sunken parts of the trail. Passing the summit of Liskovac I diverted to reach the top, but it was not worth the effort as trees blocked any views. The final summit of the ridge path (Bukova Glava) was more rewarding. It was marked by a rock with a star on top and distant snow topped mountains lined the horizon to the east and south.
I decided to try and reach Donji Milanovac that evening so stepped up the pace for the last 10 kilometres or so. Mud, waterlogged tracks and the remains of old snow drifts held me up, but I managed to reach Hotel Lepinski Var before 7:00 pm. The hotel looked closed but there was a man behind reception in the darkened lobby who gave me a room with a view of the Danube.
I am now in the town having enjoyed grilled trout. Makes a change from pork.
35.1 kilometres walked today, with over a 1000 metres of ascent. A gpx file of my route can be found on Wikiloc.com, and WanderMap.net. The route can also be downloaded from Viewranger.com as johnpon0027.
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| River disappearing into a cave |
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| Traditional haystack |
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| Summit of Bukova Glava |
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