I1 – Kapinovo – Skocivir 166.1km

General details:

• Length: 166.1 km
• Best time to hike: March – June and September – November
• Mountain Huts on trail: 1 . Plan for wild camping
• Waymarked: No. You must use the provided GPS track
• Trail type: Mostly mountain paths and a lot of open views, some dirt roads, less than 1% of paved and gravel road
• Surrounding on the trail: Mixed type of deciduous and very little evergreen forest, plenty of open views, plenty of meadows, history and culture
• Elevation profile:

GPS trace:

Section I1 is complete with all tracks, markers, photos of points of interest, and added digital elevation.

Download the complete GPS track (KML format) for this section HERE ( Macedonian version – English coming soon )

An explanation of the meaning of the markers, types of paths and colors used can be read  HERE

Google MAP: ( How to use it? ) ( Macedonian – English coming soon )

Notable peaks on the trail or accessible via side trails:

– Peak Svirchaec
– Peak Bisa
– Peak Kadiica
– Peak Ljuta
– Peak Zlatovrv
– Peak Kozjak
– Peak Studenica
– Peak Chule
– Peak Ustrelec (Alternative via Ustrelec, Momata, Mamacinsko Cheshmure)
– Peak Dve Steni

Description/Status:

Kapinovo-Sv Spas, Mokreni:

 This section starts from the clearing in front of the church in abandoned village of Kapinovo. You follow a wide forest road until you reach the ridge above Kapinovo, from where you switch to a narrower path that soon turns again into a wide forest road that leads to Bogomila. At the entrance of the village, the path briefly turns onto an asphalt road and passes over the old bridge in Bogomila.
After a short trek through the outskirts of Bogomila, you come out into the fields of Bogomila, along which you also move along a wide road that later turns into a narrower mountain path when it turns towards Ninja Kula (920 masl). Following a beautiful forest path, you reach the pass east of Ninja Kula and slowly descend towards Mokreni. A few kilometers before Mokreni, you gradually turn again to a wide forest road, which you leave shortly before the entrance to the village of Mokreni and continue towards the monastery of St. Spas. located above the village of Mokreni.

Status : The trail in this section is solid and nice to use. There is marking only in a small part between the village of Mokreni and St. Spas, but with the help of a GPS signal the path is easy to follow. On the part before and after the pass at Ninja Kula there are remnants of yellow tape marking, but not enough to be able to move safely without a GPS signal.

St. Spas – Garvan peak:

From St. Spas, you soon separate from the wide road and follow a mountain path that passes through a beautiful dense high forest until you reach the peak of Sokolec, where shortly afterwards the path turns in the direction of Belutino, crosses into a wider, beautiful forest road, which after a few kilometers crosses again in a narrow path that goes generally along the ridge of Babuna , passes through the area of Tri Buki and climbs to Gavran peak.
The part before and after the Garvan peak is one of the most beautiful parts of the entire section, with beautiful panoramic views of almost all of Macedonia, and if you hit a good time, it will surely remain in your memory.

Status : The part from St. Spas to the turning off of the path on the ridge of Sokolec towards the peak of Bisa is marked. The section that goes along the ridge of Babuna towards Garvan is overgrown in some places and the path is hardly visible and for a short time there is no visible path at all, but with the help of GPS you should have no problem following the map.

peak of Garvan-Dupjachani:

From Garvan peak, you descend along the ridge towards Chaltanova cave along a wide tractor road. After the saddle, you cross a goat path which, after a small ascent, descends again towards the old mines in the Manastirishte area, and then over Zapolozhik hill it moves towards the village of Drenovci. Before the village The Drenovci trail exits on a country road and moves between cultivated areas until the Dupjachani-Nebregovo asphalt road.

Status : In this segment, there is no marked path anywhere, but with the occasional help of the GPS signal, it can be passed without problems, and the path has been freshly cleaned and inspected.

Dupjachani- Pletvar:

The path turns into a narrow path quickly after passing the asphalt road, passes over Orlov kamen, under Surun hill, bypasses Gorno selo and climbs to below the Treskavec monastery, from where it begins to descend towards Dabnica, and then through the Sveta Petka pass leads to Prilep lake. Before and after the lake, the path passes through a beautiful evergreen forest and immediately after that it starts to climb again through Lekovo and Zmijarnik to the ridge of Babuna and continues to climb to the peak of Kozjak (1747m) from where it then descends relatively quickly to Pletvar (998m) ). This segment abounds with wide views of the surroundings and passes through numerous interesting stone formations and several historical and archaeological sites (church landmarks, sanctuaries, ancient tombs…)

Status : The path is marked (although in places overgrown and without visible marking) from above Gorno Selo then to below Treskavec and then almost to Dabnica, as well as from below Kozjak peak to Pletvar, which part is well marked. The rest of the path is not marked, but with a few exceptions it is visible and with the help of the provided GPS record/map it is easy to follow.

Pletvar- Prilepec

Through a beautiful forest and a beautiful path, you climb first to the Trajanovo Česmice fountain, and from there to the crest of Selecka mountain. Then you follow the ridge along a beautiful well-trodden path, pass under the Chule peak and continue to the pass towards Prilepec from where you descend under the rocks on the Ostra side along the Skrka hill to Prilepec, i.e. to the wide road that leads you to the monastery of St. Nicholas in Prilepec
This segment also abounds with beautiful panoramic views towards Mariovo and Pelagonia and abounds with interesting smaller and larger stone formations, high rocks and the like.

Status : The section to Trajanovo Česmice is not marked, but it is a nice clear path. There is another trail to the east that is marked, but this one is much more beautiful and interesting, so you should pay attention to the GPS record at the beginning. From Trajanovo Česmice to the ridge of Selechka and further to Chule, the path is marked. Then follows an unmarked path to the pass towards Prilepec, from where, going down to Prilepec, the path is sometimes not clear and it is necessary to watch the GPS signal at times.

Prilepec – Rasimbegov bridge

From the monastery of St. Nicholas above Prilepec, you climb again along a mountain path to the peak of Dve Steni, which is accessible by a short side path. From here, the path slowly descends until the exit of the asphalt road at the crossroads for the village of Bonche. From here it climbs again to the peak of Visoka (1471 m above sea level). After passing the peak, the path slowly descends along the ridge and after a while turns towards the valley of Kruševica, where it crosses a wide mountain road, cuts the asphalt road towards the village of Caniste and enters the canyon of Crna Reka until Rasimbegov bridge, where it exits on asphalt in front of the bridge.

Status : The path from Prilepec to below the Dve Steni peak is solid, but in several places unclear and overgrown. From the parting towards the village of Bonche all the way to the top of Visoka, there is an older marking that is often invisible or unclear, and the path in several places is also unclear or not there at all. From Visoka to the end of the entire section I1, there are no more marked parts of the trail.

Rasimbegov Bridge – Rapeshki Bridge

Shortly after the bridge, the path deviates from the asphalt, climbs and along a mostly wide road, it climbs about 150m and then, without major changes in elevation, it continues along a wide road, first towards the village of Manastir, and then the wide road continues towards the village of Zovic, and somewhere halfway to cross into a beautiful mountain path that leads to the village of Zovic. It enters the village through the famous “film bridge” and after a short journey through the village it leaves the village again and follows mountain paths to the Chebren Monastery. A little before the monastery, the path turns and descends along Crna Reka and moves along the right bank of the river to Rapeški most and then crosses the bridge from the left side of the river. This segment has several historical landmarks.

Status : From Rasimbegov Most to a few kilometers after Manastir, you go along beautiful wide roads, and then the path turns into a narrower path until the end of this section. In the section from Zović to Rapeški monastery, the path is unclear in several places, but with the GPS record you will have no problem crossing it. Then to Rapeški most, it is overgrown in several places, but it can be passed without major problems.

Rapeshki bridge – Skochivir village

This segment continues through the gorge of Crna Reka which allows for often beautiful scenery from the gorge, and the section along the river itself and the small sandy beaches are a completely different experience. The path goes right next to the river and after a few kilometers it starts to climb high above the canyon and then without major changes in elevation it continues to the village of Skochivir.

Status : From Rapeški Most to Kosata Karpa, the path is beautiful, but in several places it passes right next to the river and can be flooded after heavy rains when the water level of Crna Reka near R. Most is over 70cm. The section near Kosata Karpa, although short, is still dangerous to pass. It follows a part through one of the remotest parts of Mariovo, so the path is rather overgrown or poorly visible, which gradually gets better as you get closer to Skochivir.