Koča na Šumiku - Sveti Trije kralji

Access to the starting point:
a) From the motorway Ljubljana - Maribor take the exit Slovenska Bistrica - south, then follow the signs for Šmartno na Pohorju, and from there drive to the settlement of Smrečno. Continue along forest roads to Pohorje, where you drive along the Bistrica River. Higher up, we merge with the road leading past the Ruška hut on Pohorje. Here go left towards Osankarica, and at the next crossroads turn slightly right towards the Šumik estate (slightly left Osankarica). When you get to the estate, park in the gravel parking lot in front of the estate.
b) Leave the Štajerska motorway at the exit for Slivnica and Rogoza, then follow the signs for Pohorje and Areh. The road continues through Spodnje and Zgornje Hoče, Slivnica Pohorje, and after the settlements follow the signs for Areh. From Areh, follow the signs for Cojzerica and Šumik and Osankarica. After a few kilometres go slightly right towards the Šumik estate (slightly left Osankarica). When you reach the estate, park on the gravel parking lot in front of the estate.
c) Drive to Ruše, then follow the road towards Fala. After crossing Lobnica, go left in the direction of Smolnik and Šumik, then follow the signs for Šumik estate, where you park in the parking lot in front of the Forestry Cottage at Šumik.

Path description:
From the starting point, follow the marked path towards Osankarica and Koča na Klopnem vrhu (a slightly shorter unmarked path leads along the road), where you will climb back up to the road through the lane of a forest. When you reach the road, continue straight on (right Ruše), and at the nearby fork in the road, take the road slightly left (slightly right Klopni vrh), which will quickly take you to a marked crossroads.
From the crossroads, continue left downhill (straight Koča na Pesku and Tiho jezero, right Klopni vrh) and follow the moderately steep path back down to the road, where you will join a slightly shorter path that leads along the road. Cross the road, and a little lower still, cross Lobnica, after which return to the road. Continue along the road to the left and pass the turn-off for the path to Rušy - the Holcarska trail at Lobnica, which leads past the two Šumik waterfalls, and follow the road to the next marked crossroads nearby, where you turn right in the direction of the Black Lake, St. Three Kings and Osankarica (straight ahead to Ruška koča na Arehu), where you climb through the forest. Then cross a stream, and a little higher, cross the Areh - Osankarica road. Continue climbing through the forest, following the signs at the crossroads. Higher up, the path becomes flatter and for a short time we continue through sections of sparse forest, and then we climb moderately through the forest again.
After the nondescript Trije studenci peak, the path descends gently to a marked crossroads where the path splits.
Continue straight in the direction of St. Three Kings (to the right Osankarica and the Black Lake), where the path leads us in a slight ascent past Urška's Cross, and as we approach Velikem vrh, the path turns slightly to the left and crosses the slopes of the aforementioned peak. There are two ski runs and two ski lifts, and we follow the signs and markers for St. Three Kings. There is some downhill along the ski slope and partly through the lane of a forest, and then a slight downhill through a rather grassy part to reach the Church of the Three Kings, below which is the Hotel Jakec.
Description and pictures refer to June 2022.

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