Ljubelj - Vertatscha/Vrtača

Access to the starting point:
From the Ljubljana - Jesenice motorway, take the Ljubelj exit and follow the road to the border crossing. Just a few metres before the border crossing, the signs for Zelenica direct us to the left and after a few 10 metres of further driving, the road leads to a parking lot under the Zelenica ski centre.

Path description:
From the parking lot, follow the footpath towards Zelenica, Vertatscha and Stol. The dirt track, which runs along the left-hand side of the ski slope, leads us after about 15 minutes of moderate ascent through the forest to the aforementioned slope along which we then climb. The path, which offers beautiful views of the extensive scree Begunjščica on the left and the ridge Ljubeljščica on the right, then leads us in a gentle ascent to the hut at Vrtača. From the hut, continue straight along the marked path, which slowly turns slightly to the left and, after a short cross-climb, leads us to lane of dwarf pines. The path then climbs steeply for a short time and then leads to cart track (transport-rescue road), which is then followed in a moderate ascent to the mountain home at Zelenica.
From the hut on Zelenica, continue right towards Stol and Vertatscha (left Begunjščica) along the path which turns left immediately after the home and climbs by the children's ski lift. Somewhere halfway up the lift, you reach a less obvious crossroads, where you continue right and cross the ski slope (straight ahead to the hut at the source of the Završnice River). Next, cross a short lane of forest and the path leads to the next lift which you cross in a slight downhill. On the other side of the ski slope, you will see a larger rock with a marker on it, which will direct you into the forest. The way forward first descends gently and then ascends crosswise over a scree slope. The path soon lays down and turns slightly to the left, where it reaches a small unmarked crossroads. Continue straight on the gently sloping and marked mountain path, which leads us only slightly further to a place where an unmarked path branches off to the right into the valley of Suhega dwarf pines (mozic).
The trail then ascends transversely along the southern slopes of Vertatscha. The path, which runs partly through the forest and partly over extensive scree, leads higher up to a marked crossroads, where it continues to the right in the direction of Vertatscha (straight Stol). The way ahead begins to climb more steeply, first through the lane of dwarf pines, and higher up over extensive grassy slopes. On these grassy slopes, the unmarked path from the Šija saddle almost imperceptibly joins us from the left, and we continue along the marked path, which climbs steeply towards the side ridge of Vrtača. Higher up the path turns slightly to the left, crosses steep partly rocky slopes and after a few minutes of further walking leads us to the aforementioned ridge, where the path turns sharply to the right. The path continues to climb steeply up very steep and slip-prone slopes. Higher up, the path leads to the main ridge Karawanks, where it lays down. This is followed by about 20 minutes of walking on and along the ridge, which is slightly exposed in places and dangerous for slipping throughout. Follow this scenic route all the way to the top of Vrtača.
Ljubelj - Zelenica 1:20, Zelenica - Vertatscha 2:10.

On the way: Koča Vrtača mountain hut (1288m), Dom na Zelenici mountain hut (1536m)

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