Podnar / Bodenbauer - Prešernova koča na Stolu

Access to the starting point:
We drive to the Ljubelj border crossing and on to the Austrian side. Shortly after, when you see a small church on the left side of the road, the road to the village of Žabnica / Bodental branches off to the left. At the crossroads after Slovenji Plajberk / Windisch Bleiberg turn left towards Žabnica / Bodental. In Žabnica / Bodental you will reach the mountain signs for Celovška koča / Klagenfurter Hütte to the left and right. Turn left and follow the road to the end of the asphalt, where you will park in the parking lot near the pasture fences.

Path description:
From the parking lot, take the forest road closed to traffic and marked "Marchenwiese". The forest road leads you through the forest on a slight incline to a pleasant meadow, where you will have a nice view of the northern walls of Vertatscha and Palec. Continue across the meadow where the path is more difficult to follow and on the other side look for cart track which goes slightly upwards into the forest. After walking for a few minutes along cart track, the signs direct us to the right onto a footpath which soon crosses a torrent along which it then climbs. The path then follows the torrent slightly to the right and leads us to a small clearing where the waymarked path directs us slightly further to the right. The path continues to climb steeply and after a good 30 minutes' walk leads us to a crossroads where we continue to the left (right Ogrisalm 5 minutes).
The steepness eases here and the path passes out of the forest between dwarf pines. Cross a scree slope and then descend gently downhill with the help of a rope ladder. From here on the path is exposed to falling rocks. Further on, the well-protected path starts to climb up a steep rocky slope. At the top of this easier climbing section, you will come to a sign-in box where you can sign in. The difficulty of the route disappears after this and in a cross-climb you reach the Vrata saddle. The way forward starts to descend and in a few minutes leads us to a crossroads where we continue straight on (right Ovčji vrh) and in a few minutes of gentle descent we reach the Celovška hut.
From the hut, turn left in the direction of Hochstuhla / Hochstuhl, Bielschitza / Bielschitz and Prešeren's hut and continue along the folded cart track, which changes into a mountain trail at a slightly lower level, and this trail takes us through the lane of dwarf pines to the scree below Bielschitza. The way forward climbs crosswise over the first scree, then leads us to a short steep part, where we are helped by a small rope when crossing. This short and not particularly technically demanding part of the route ends quickly and the route continues over scree, over which a wide and well-maintained path leads. With a view of the surrounding walls, we then climb without much difficulty to the Belščica saddle, where there is a marked crossroads. From the Belščica saddle, from where the path to Bielschitza branches off to the left, continue straight ahead and continue in the direction of Vertatscha, Prešernova hut and Zelenice. Cross the grassy slopes for a few minutes and then reach a point where the path to Vertatscha branches off to the left and we continue straight down. The path ahead descends steeply down a ravine at first, then turns to the right, where it passes onto vast scree fields, over which it climbs steeply. Higher up, we leave the scree and descend gently to a nearby crossroads, where we join the upper and lower paths and the path from Završnice.
Here we continue straight on, and the path gradually moves from the valley between Srednja peč 1920 m (Srednja peč is the lesser-known peak on the left) and the Orlice ridge (Orlice is the more difficult to reach ridge between the Belščica saddle and Hochstuhl) to a larger scree slope, over which we cross-climb to the right, and then the path gradually changes to a steeper valley between Mali Stol on the left and Hochstuhl on the right. Continue left here (right Hochstuhl for 10 minutes) and after a few minutes of moderate ascent, reach the top of Mali Stol, from which you are only a few steps away from a descent of 10 steps to Prešernova hut.
Starting point - Klagenfurter Hutte 2:15, Klagenfurter Hutte - Koča na Stolu 2:10.

On the way: Vrata (1714m), Klagenfurter Hutte/Celovška koča (1664m), Sedlo Belščica (1840m), Mali Stol (2198m)

We can extend the trip to the following destinations: Stol

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