Vitanje - Chapel Marijina roka (Stenica) (via valley of the stream Jez)

Access to the starting point:
From Vojnik, Mislinja or Slovenske Konjice, drive to Vitanje, where you can park in the parking lot in the centre of the village in the marked parking lot at Hudinja (the parish church of St Peter and St Paul is at the starting point). It is also possible to park elsewhere in the village.

Path description:
From the parking lot, walk to the bridge over Hudinja, where you turn left at the crossroads towards Slovenske Konjice and the path to Stenica. After the nearby chapel at the pedestrian crossing, cross the main road carefully and continue along the pavement towards Slovenske Konjice for a few more 10 steps, then the signs lead you slightly right onto a steeper narrower road, which quickly ascends to the nearby hill where the Church of the Assumption is located.
Before the church, turn left and follow the asphalt path back to the main road, where you continue along the pavement for a few steps before the signs for Stenica point you to the right. Just a little further on, cross the Hočno stream over a bridge, and a narrower asphalt path with a slight to moderate incline past a trough leads to a crossroads, where you go left in the direction of Stenica. At the next crossroads, bear slightly right, then follow the asphalt road up to a left turn, where you leave the road and continue along the wider cart track.
After a few steps to the left, the marked path cart track branches off towards Stenica, and we continue along the folded cart track, which after a short crossing leads us to the Jez stream valley.
We continue along the valley for a short time, and then cart track splits. Take the slightly left-hand cart track, which goes slightly left uphill from the stream, and when you reach the stream again, go right from the fork, where you are also directed by the local trail signs. The cart track gets worse and worse as you leave the valley and move onto the slope, and the ascent continues on the beaten track, which climbs steeply. Higher up, the path lays down and leads to a forest road, along which we continue our ascent. Around the left-hand bend on the left we see a hunting observation post, and the local trail markers continue to the right, while we continue along the road, which we follow until it joins the marked trail.
Here, bear right off the road towards Stenica and St Mary's Chapel (left down Vitanje on the waymarked path), then climb the steep cart track, and higher up pass the signs for the viewpoint (the path to which the signpost points is completely overgrown), and when the path levels out, you reach the next crossroads.
In a straight direction the path continues towards the top of Stenica, which is about 10 minutes climb away, and we continue to the right in the direction of Mary's Hand. There is a short moderate climb and after a minute of further walking you reach the Chapel of the Hand of Mary.
Starting point - Church of Our Lady of the Assumption 0:05, Church of Our Lady of the Assumption - Hand of Mary 1:35.
Description and pictures refer to the situation in July 2022.

On the way: Church of the Assumption of Mary (Vitanje) (472m)

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