The Šum waterfall in Blejski Vintgar can not boast of a high drop in water, but its strong flow is worthy of admiration. The Krmarica and Kotarica streams and some lateral springs feed the Radovna River, which always has enough water. Krmarica and Kotarica rivers already long before the very "official" spring of the Radovna "Pod Jutrovo skalo", they penetrate deep into the depths. A strong flow of Radovna occurs in the Vintgar gorge (*vintgar is special shaped gorge). More than 1.5 km long gorge - vintgar is hidden between the high walls of the Boršt hills (931 m ) and Hom (834 m) without any wooden bridges and galleries. In spite of the immediate vicinity of Bled (only 4 km away), Vintgar was not opened until 1891. The then mayor of Gorje Jakob Žumer and photographer Benedikt Lergerporter took advantage of the unusually low the water level of the Radovna river and entered its research path. The beauty of the gorge with waterfalls and rapids was so exciting that they soon arranged a well-arranged tourist route through Vintgar. It was officially opened in August 1893. Tourists from all over the world were then taken the glory of Vintgar and its highest 13 m high waterfall at the outflow of Radovna River from the Vintgar. Radovna River could not escape stagnation during the start of the exploitation of electricity. Above 5 m high around the shelf, just above the Šum Waterfall, a dam was built and led most of the water along the iron pipe to the valley plant. Waterfall Šum is with full flow today only with a raised barrier or after raining, when the tube can not swallow all the water to the power plant.
ACCESS: The vintgar (gorge) is accessible from both sides:
a) from Jesenice along the road to the Bled Dobrava with the continuation along the cemetery along the macadam road to the wooden bridge (in a very bad condition) and through to the power plant under the Šum waterfall;
b) from Bled on the road to Vintgar village, where there is a large parking lot. From here we take the picturesque tourist trail through the gorge, until after 1.6 km we reach the Sum Waterfall.
*Note: The Blejski vintgar was named after other similar gorges in Slovenia (Iški vintgar, Ribniški vintgar above Sredna vas in Bohinj and Bistriški vintgar near Slovenske Konjice). The geomorphological term vintgar means a river valley that develops when the depth erosion that the water stream is so strong that the slope processes are negligible is small - the result is a valley with vertical walls.
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virtual excursion