Ljubelj - Hajnžev Praprotnik / Zeller Prapotnik (via Koča na Ljubelju)

Access to starting point:
We leave the Gorenjska motorway at the Podtabor junction, then continue driving towards Tržič and Celovec. When we arrive at Ljubelj, before the tunnel we turn right onto a large asphalted parking lot, where we park.

Route description:
From the starting point, we head on the path in the direction of the Koča na Ljubelju mountain hut. After a short ascent, we reach the macadam road, along which we continue the ascent. This is followed by an ascent along a fairly steep road that leads us across a few gullies and past a chapel and a pleasant spring with a bench. Higher up, the road makes a few more hairpin turns; at the last left hairpin a nice view opens up on Košutica and Veliki vrh, then we arrive at the Koča na Ljubelju mountain hut.
From the hut, we walk along the road to the state border, cross it, then on the Austrian side descend to a marked junction a few minutes away. From the junction, we continue right in the direction of the marked path to Košutica / Loibler Baba and continue along a poor road. The marked path soon turns right uphill from the road and initially ascends steeply. The path soon levels out and turns left. This is followed by a traversing ascent to the left along a path that is usually quite slippery. After a few minutes of traversing ascent, the path brings us to the border ridge, where it first ascends gently to moderately, higher up quite steeply for some time. During the steep ascent, looking back a nice view opens towards Stol, Vrtača, Palec..., and the steep path leads us to a metal ladder, where with the aid of fixed protections we ascend steeply. Above the ladder a few more steel cables follow, then the path levels out and the demanding section across Rjave peči is behind us. A little further we cross another grazing fence, then the path leads us across the grassy slopes of Grunt. With nice views of Lokovnikov Grintovec, Košutica (Ljubeljska Baba), Veliki vrh in the Košuta ridge and other surrounding mountains, we soon arrive at a marked junction, where we continue slightly left in the direction of Hajnžev graben and Koča pod Košuto (straight to Košutica, right to mountain pasture Korošica).
From the junction, the path first descends slightly, then turns right and traverses the slopes of Košutica to the left. Initially we still descend a bit more, then for an interesting cliff the path begins to ascend transversely. After a few minutes of traversing ascent, with nice views of the surrounding mountains, we quickly reach Dovjakovo sedlo, where we cross the grazing fence once again.
At the grazing fence, the path to Lokovnikov Grintovec branches off to the left; we slightly left seek the continuation of the marked path, which descends transversely to the other side of Lokovnikov Grintovec. After a few minutes of transverse descent, the path brings us to an indistinct ridge, along which we continue the descent to an indistinct saddle between Lokovnikov Grintovec and Hajnžev Praprotnik.
On the mentioned saddle, an indistinct marked path turns right downward toward Hajnžev graben; we continue left across the grazing fence, then descend easily toward the northeast. On this section the trail completely disappears, and we continue across easy terrain to a cairn, behind which a faint path appears on the slope (if we continue left downward here we arrive at Lokovnikova planina, if we keep right along the ridge the passage is blocked by dwarf pines).
Further on, it is very good to stick to the faint path, as it leads us through the steep section without major difficulties. Above the steep slope the path enters the dwarf pines, occasionally still ascending steeply. Higher we reach the ridge of Hajnžev Praprotnik, and the path continues for some time through occasionally quite overgrown dwarf pines. Despite occasional heavier overgrowth, the path through the dwarf pines can be followed quite easily.
On the ridge the path levels out, and a few shorter ascents and descents separate us from the main summit. Before the ascent to the summit the dwarf pines end, and we first ascend steeply to the ridge, along which in a dozen steps we reach the panoramic summit.
Ljubelj - Koča na Ljubelju 45 minutes, Koča na Ljubelju - Dovjakovo sedlo 1:40, Dovjakovo sedlo - Hajnžev Praprotnik 55 minutes.
The description refers to the situation in October 2017, and the pictures are from December 2016, May 2017 and October 2017.

Along the route: Koča na Ljubelju (1370m), Dovjakovo sedlo / Dovjaksattel (1728m)

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