Ruski križ - Velika Martuljška Ponca

Access to starting point:
First we drive to Kranjska Gora, then we continue driving towards the Vršič pass. Just a little before the 3rd serpentine of the Russian or Vršič road, we will notice the Ruski križ on the right side, and a smaller parking lot on the left, where we park. Because the parking lot is relatively small and fills up quickly, we can also park a bit higher at the larger parking lot a little above the 4th serpentine (in this case we must descend a bit to our starting point at the Ruski križ).
We can also reach the starting point from the Primorska side, namely via the Vršič pass.

Route description:
A little before the 3rd serpentine of the Russian road, along the road we will notice the mountain signs for the Koča v Krnici, which direct us slightly left onto a wide cart track that immediately begins to descend moderately. After a few minutes of descent through the forest, the path levels out and brings us to the bed of Suha Pišnica. Shortly after crossing the mentioned stream, the path turns slightly to the left and leads us out of the forest onto the vast grassy slopes of Planina v Klinu, where on the right we notice an isolated hut, and on the left a smaller memorial park Mali Tamar. The path ahead completely levels out, then joins the forest road coming from the former Hotel Erika or the bridge over Velika Pišnica. Here we continue right and follow the relatively steep forest road all the way to the Koča v Krnici, which we reach after about 20 minutes of further walking.
From the hut we set off towards Špik to the left. Already after a few minutes we reach a torrent gully along which we then ascend. The marked path to Špik, after a good hour's walk from the Koča v Krnici, crosses the mentioned gully and then ascends on the left side of it. When the marked path leading to Špik moves away from the gully, we will notice a less trodden path that ascends along the foot of the scree, moderately upwards along the gully. The path ascending along the gully is full of gravel and due to frequent storms full of unstable rocks. The path, which is partially less visible, leads us further through a somewhat narrower gully that higher up splits into two parts. We continue along and beside the right gully, which a bit higher brings us onto the extensive scree under the north wall of Škrlatica. At first the still quite visible path crosses the mentioned scree slightly to the left and mostly at their foot (traversing ascent towards the north). Further on, soon on a small rise under an indistinct peak we notice the bivouac in Velika Dnina. If it is foggy and if we don't know the path we will have difficulty finding it. Further we can climb to the bivouac, which is slightly off the path but an ideal place for a short or longer rest. If we decide to bypass the bivouac we continue along the barely visible path that ascends through an increasingly narrow scree field upwards. The scree then ends and we continue the ascent along and beside a distinct gully ever steeper upwards. The torrent gully is relatively difficult to pass due to storms that often change its appearance. The climbing taking place in crumbling terrain occasionally exceeds 2nd degree. In the upper part of the torrent gully we turn somewhat to the right and on a quite steep slope with some smaller technical and orientation difficulties we climb under the summit slopes of Velika Martuljška Ponca. In the last part the steepness decreases and the increasingly panoramic "path" brings us to the spacious summit of Velika Martuljška Ponca.

Due to technical difficulties approaching the 3rd difficulty level I recommend the company of a mountain guide. Orientation is very difficult and in fog almost impossible without the help of a compass or GPS.

Starting point - Planina v Klinu 0:20, Planina v Klinu - Koča v Krnici 0:25, Koča v Krnici - branch from the marked path 0:50, branch from the marked path - bivouac 2:10, bivouac - Velika Martuljška Ponca 2:15.

Along the route: Mali Tamar (996m), Planina v Klinu (980m), Koča v Krnici (1113m), Odcep z markirane poti (1425m), Bivak v Veliki Dnini (2180m)

The trip can be extended to the following destinations: Veliki Oltar

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