Gozd - Tolsti vrh (steep path over Kriška gora)

Access to starting point:
A) From the Ljubljana-Jesenice motorway, take the Kranj-West exit and follow the road ahead towards Golnik. Just a little after Golnik (more precisely after the settlement Senično), a steep road branches off to the right uphill, leading towards Zgornje Vetrno and Gozd. Soon after the village Zgornje Vetrno, we come to the parking lot, which is located on the left side of the road. At the end of the parking lot, the road turns right, and at the beginning of the bend there are also hiking signposts.
B) From the Jesenice-Ljubljana motorway, take the Podbrezje exit, then continue driving towards Ljubelj and Tržič. Before the Petrol petrol station in Bistrica pri Tržiču, turn right and then drive into Tržič. When the road descends into the valley, continue sharply right towards Pristava and Križe, and further drive on the main road which leads towards Zgornje and Spodnje Duplje; leave the mentioned main road at the settlement Retnje, where continue left towards the settlements Križe and Golnik. Further, drive towards Golnik, and after the settlement Križe soon arrive at a smaller junction, where to the left branches off a steep road which leads towards Zgornje Vetrno and Gozd. Soon after the village Zgornje Vetrno, we come to the parking lot, which is located on the left side of the road. At the end of the parking lot, the road turns right, and at the beginning of the bend there are also hiking signposts.

Route description:
From the parking lot, we continue in the direction of the steep path to Kriška gora. For a short time, we walk on a fairly easy path, then it becomes increasingly steep. There follows a steep ascent on a more or less forested path, then we arrive at an indistinct ridge, where the path becomes even steeper. There follows a few minutes of walking through the forest, then the forest quickly ends and we continue the ascent on the increasingly panoramic grassy slope. With nice views of the Julian Alps, a large part of Gorenjska, part of the Ljubljana Basin and the Notranjska, Polhograjsko and Škofjeloško hribovje, we arrive at a bench on the upper part of the grassy slope. Above the bench, the path returns to the forest, and from the left the path from Tržič via Mala and Velika Mizica joins us.
Here we continue right, then in a moderate ascent, first still through the forest, in the last part on the grassy slope, in approximately 15 minutes we reach the Koča na Kriški gori hut.
From the Koča na Kriški gori hut, we continue on the marked path towards Tolsti vrh. The path, just a few metres behind the hut, turns slightly left (slightly right to Gozd) and begins to ascend gently across the grassy slope. After three minutes of walking, the path to Grahovše branches off almost imperceptibly to the left, while we continue on the well-trodden hiking path, which runs along the main ridge of Kriška gora. Further on, the path moves away from the ridge several times to the right side, while the panoramic path mostly leads us across grassy slopes. A little further, the path returns to the ridge, which we reach right at a distinct notch, where a pathless path branches off left downwards to Grahovše.
The path ahead leads us across a pasture fence, then bypasses Vrata (1591 m) on the right side. Higher up, the path returns to or along the ridge and ascends gently for some time. After a few minutes of traversing, we arrive at the point where the path begins to ascend steeply towards the forepeak of Tolsti vrh. From the forepeak, a nice view opens up on all sides, and the path ahead leads us along a narrower ridge for a short time. There follows some descent through the forest, then the path starts ascending again. Higher up, the forest thins out, and the increasingly panoramic path brings us to Tolsti vrh.
Gozd - Koča na Kriški gori 1:30, Koča na Kriški gori - Tolsti vrh 1:00

Along the route: Koča na Kriški gori mountain hut (1471m)

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