18th hairpin turn of road on Strma Reber - Loška stena

Access to the starting point:
a) First drive to Ribnica, then continue to Kočevje. After Dolenjja vasja, turn right towards Grčarice, Gotenica and Kočevska Reka. In Kočevska Reka, turn right towards Borovec at Kočevska Reka, Strma Reber Pass and Osilnica. In Borovec, continue to the right once again, and then pass the hamlet of Ravne and within a few kilometres reach the Strma Reber Pass, located at an altitude of 993 m. After the pass, the road begins to descend, and we follow it to the 18th marked serpentine, where we park at a suitable place along the serpentine.
b) From Kočevje, drive towards Border crossing Petrina, then at the end of Štalcerji, turn right towards Kočevska Reka. In Kočevska Reka turn left towards Borovec at Kočevska Reka, Strma Reber Pass and Osilnica. In Borovec, continue right, then pass the hamlet of Ravne and within a few kilometres you will reach the Strma Reber Pass, located at an altitude of 993 m. After the pass, the road begins to descend and we follow it to the 18th marked serpentine, where we park at a suitable place along the serpentine.
c) From Osilnica or Sel at Osilnica, continue in the direction of Žurge, Padova at Osilnica, Zgornji Čačič and the Strma Reber Pass. Continue along the initially slightly winding, but higher up serpentine road, which is followed to the 2nd or 18th marked serpentine. Park at a suitable place along the serpentine.

Path description:
From the starting point, continue into the forest, on the path in the direction of Kočevje and Šajbnik. After a few steps, we join the marked trail from Osilnica, and we follow it to the right, where we start to climb steeply. Higher up, we reach a steep valley in a cross-climb, after which we continue our ascent. Further on, the markings from the open valley lead us to the left, to a path that passes along the edge of a sometimes precipitous ridge. The ascent continues along an occasionally slightly more overgrown path, which retreats slightly to the right, occasionally opening up some views of the surrounding hills. A few minutes higher we reach the broad cart track, which we follow to the left, and we follow it to where it splits into two parts.
We continue on the slightly left cart track (the right cart track bypasses Bezgarska planina and leads to the Strma Reber Pass), which quickly takes us out of the forest to the lower part of the Bezgarska mountain pasture. When you reach mountain pasture, you will walk across a meadow to a large hunting observation point in a minute or two.
From the hunting observation post, at which there is a marked crossroads, continue right in the direction of Cerka and Firstov rep (straight ahead Taborska stena, Dragarji. . . ), following the path which descends to a small garden in the middle of mountain pasture. When the path enters the forest, continue straight on at the fork in the tracks (here a track joins from the right, which turns straight on from the marked path shortly before mountain pasture and is about a minute shorter than the marked path). There is a climb through the forest for a few minutes, and then you reach the main road Osilnica - Kočevska Reka, which you cross with care.
On the other side of the road, continue in the direction of Cerka and Firstov rep and follow the forest road. The way forward is along the forest road, from which after a few minutes a marked path branches off to the right.
Continue on the marked path (it is also possible to continue on the unmarked path, as the marked path returns to the above-mentioned road after a while, and the path along the road is also slightly shorter), which passes into a dense forest. Through the forest, start climbing moderately, following the markings carefully, as the otherwise traceable path is relatively poorly trodden. When the path is slightly higher, you will pass the unmarked peak of Luknja (1079 m) on your left, which can be reached in a few minutes by following the easier trackless ascent, otherwise continue along the marked trail, which, as written above, passes the peak on your left. There are a few short ascents and descents, followed by a slightly longer descent, which ends when you reach the macadam road. When you reach the road, continue to the right (on the left marked trail to Cerk and the road that will take you back to the starting point) in the direction of Firstovega tail. Follow the road as it climbs gently to moderately, and walk along it to its end or turning point.
On the left-hand side of the turning-point you will see signs for Firstov rep and, for the first time, for Loška stena, which direct you to a track which gradually starts to descend. When the track ends after a few minutes, we see a game salt house on the left, and we continue straight down the marked footpath, which takes us in a few steps to the registration box at the tail of Firstov.
From the registration box, continue descending along the marked path in the direction of Loška stena. The rather picturesque path, which offers beautiful views of the nearby walls, columns and hills, leads us along the edge of the cliffs, to which the path retreats to the right side, so there is no significant risk of slipping, unless of course you go to the edge for a nice view. A little lower down, the path enters the forest and then flattens out. There is a short climb and then an easy descent to the precipitous edge of the Loška stena peak, from where a really nice view of the Upper Kolpa valley and the surrounding hills opens up.
Starting point - Bezgarska planina 45 minutes, Bezgarska planina - Firstov rep 1:15, Firstov rep - Loška stena 25 minutes.
Description and pictures refer to the situation in 2015 (August).

On the way: Bezgarska planina (895m), Firstov rep (1002m)

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