Koča pri Savici - Krn (via Prehodci)

Access to starting point:
From the Ljubljana–Jesenice motorway, take the Lesce exit and follow the road towards Bled and further towards Bohinjska Bistrica. Continue driving towards Lake Bohinj (Ribčev Laz), where you reach a crossroads and continue straight along the left (southern) side of the lake in the direction of Ukanc and the Savica waterfall. Follow this increasingly narrow road to the large parking lot at Koča pri Savici. The parking lot is paid.

Route description:
From the parking lot, head onto the wide footpath in the direction of the Savica waterfall and Dom na Komni (to the right, the path over Komarča). Already after a short gentle ascent, the path reaches a marked junction, where the tourist path to the Savica waterfall branches off to the right, and we continue slightly left or straight on the wide footpath towards Komna. The path ahead ascends for a short time along the Savica, then reaches the first of the marked 48 switchbacks. After an hour and a half of moderate ascent through the forest, the path reaches the mentioned 48th switchback, from which a nice view opens onto Lake Bohinj. Here the path turns slightly right and enters the valley called Pekel, where it ascends gently for a while, then turns right and ascends a bit steeper again. After a few dozen steps, the path turns left again and continues ascending parallel to the valley. The gentle to moderately steep path ahead gradually enters sparser forest, from which we soon see Dom na Komni. The path leads past a small interesting cave, higher up it reaches a junction where the path to Črno jezero branches off to the right, and we continue left on the wide path. Some transverse ascent follows; at the natural abyss (fenced for safety) the path turns right, then ascends to the next junction where the path from Črno jezero joins.
A little further the path splits again; we choose the left path towards Dom na Komni, or we can take the slightly shorter path that continues straight and bypasses Dom na Komni (right Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih).
The ascent continues past the bajta Pri Hubertu and in a few minutes we reach Dom na Komni.
From Dom na Komni we pass a small chapel and follow signs for Koča pod Bogatinom (left Vogel, Tolminski Kuk and Planina Govnjač); we soon join the previously mentioned slightly shorter path.
We continue slightly left towards Koča pod Bogatinom and quickly reach Planina na Kraju along the wide and scenic path, passing the pyramid (ossuary at Koča pod Bogatinom – mountain memorial) to reach Koča pod Bogatinom in the middle of the pasture.
We bypass the hut on the right and quickly reach the marked junction where the path over Lepa Komna branches right (leading further to Lanževica or Oslova škrbina); we continue straight on the wider gentle path towards Bogatinsko sedlo. On the western part of Planina na Kraju another path branches left to Planina Govnjač; we continue for a few minutes in easy ascent on the southern side of Kozlov rob. The path ahead flattens completely for a while and reaches the edge of the Gracija valley, where we begin transverse ascent, first on the slopes of Srednji vrh, later on the slopes of the pre-peak Vrh nad Gracijo. Further on the path becomes slightly steeper and, with nice views, reaches the point where it splits.
We can continue on the mule track that makes a longer switchback or on the slightly shorter steep path that ascends directly to Bogatinsko sedlo, where the two paths join.
From the junction at Bogatinsko sedlo, from where a nice view opens to Krn and the surrounding mountains, we head straight downhill towards Lepena, Prehodci, Krn, Krnsko jezero and Dom pri Krnskih jezerih (left Mahavšček and Bogatin, right Lanževica) on the path that gradually begins to descend.
The path leads along an old military mule track that soon reaches slopes covered with dwarf pine; a bit lower the path flattens.
We continue past some old structures that are part of the former Rapallo border.
Here in a small valley an old trail leads to Velika Montura; we continue on the marked path that barely descends to the central part of the valley Za Lepočami, where several old Italian buildings are still relatively well preserved.
Here from the marked junction we go left towards Prehodci (straight down to Krnsko jezero and Dom pri Krnskih jezerih), passing more structures built by the Italians between the wars for guarding the Rapallo border. We continue on the scenic path that at Smrečje joins the path from Planina Razor to Krn.
We follow that path right towards Prehodci and Krn, first with easy ascent, then a short descent to the junction at Prehodci.
We continue straight towards Krn (left down to Izvir Tolminke and Planina Polog); a little further the path from Dom pri Krnskih jezerih joins from the right.
We continue following signs for Krn; the path leaves the plateau terrain for steep mostly southeastern slopes with a nice view towards the Tolmin side (this section is called Na Tminskem). Later the path turns slightly right and gradually leads into a small alpine valley where it begins to ascend steeper. We continue past Črna njiva, then ascend to the large monument to those fallen in World War I, Spomenik Peski.
We continue right on the marked path (here an unmarked path branches left downhill to Rdeči rob or down to the valley/Planina Polog); it ascends transversely under Greben malih Peskov, passing remnants from World War I, then reaches the saddle between Mali Pesek (left) and the lesser-known peak Piramida (right; Piramida is a fore-peak of Vrhovi nad Peski).
Next is the traverse of the screes of Piramida and Vrh nad Peski; near the highest point of the traverse a small trail branches right to Vrh nad Peski (branch marked, continuation not); we continue on the marked path, to which the path past Jezero v Lužnici joins from the left at the end of the screes, and we reach the junction at Prag.
At Prag the path bypassing the summit of Batognica branches slightly right; right downhill we can descend to Krnsko jezero; we continue straight/west and begin ascending the eastern ridge of Batognica. We follow this increasingly scenic path (which on ridge sections moves slightly left to steep slopes) to the summit of Batognica, reached in about 20 minutes from Prag.
From Batognica we continue on the initially less visible path along the left (southern) side of the summit. The path, descending gently at first, soon enters steeper terrain where the descent becomes steeper. After a short descent we reach relatively steep steps down which we descend steeply; here there is high risk of slipping due to loose gravel. The path gradually flattens and soon reaches Krnska škrbina with a marked junction (we can also reach the saddle by taking the so-called Northern path at Prag that bypasses Batognica summit; it is slightly shorter but far less scenic).
From the saddle we continue straight towards Krn (left Planina Kuhinja, right Krnsko jezero) on the path that ascends the grassy slope of Krn. The steep path flattens a bit higher up and splits.
We take the right path towards the summit of Krn (slightly left lower path leads to Gomiščkovo zavetišče on Krn) and gradually reach the ridge. We follow this increasingly scenic ridge path all the way to the summit of Krn, which offers views in all directions.
From the summit we can continue to the shelter a few minutes away and return to Krnska škrbina.
Starting point – branch to Črno jezero 2:15, branch to Črno jezero – Memorial plaque to Matej Koblar 0:10, Memorial plaque to Matej Koblar – Dom na Komni 0:05, Dom na Komni – Koča pod Bogatinom 0:15, Koča pod Bogatinom – Bogatinsko sedlo 1:15, Bogatinsko sedlo – branch to Velika Montura 0:20, branch to Velika Montura – Za Lepočami 0:15, Za Lepočami – Smrečje 0:15, Smrečje – Prehodci 0:15, Prehodci – Spomenik Peski 1:10, Spomenik Peski – branch to Vrh nad Peski 0:25, branch to Vrh nad Peski – Prag 0:10, Prag – Batognica 0:20, Batognica – Krnska škrbina 0:15, Krnska škrbina – Krn 0:30.

Along the route: Jama ob poti na Komno (1303m), Odcep k Črnemu jezeru (1411m), Brezno pod lovsko kočo na Komni (1430m), Spominska plošča Mateju Koblarju (1481m), Pri Hubertu (1492m), Dom na Komni (1520m), Piramida (1520m), Koča pod Bogatinom (1513m), Bogatinsko sedlo (1803m), Odcep za Veliko Monturo (1712m), Za Lepočami (1617m), Smrečje (1642m), Prehodci (1635m), Spomenik Peski (1975m), Odcep za Vrh nad Peski (2059m), Prag (2058m), Kavernenhof (2131m), Krnska škrbina (2058m)

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