Koča pri izviru Soče - Slemenova špica

Access to starting point:
From Kranjska Gora, we drive over the Vršič pass towards Bovec or vice versa, and follow the road to the 49th hairpin turn of the Ruska cesta or Vršiška cesta. Here we turn onto a side road, on which after approximately 1 km of additional driving, we arrive at the parking lot at the Koča pri izviru Soče.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we return along the road about 50 m back, then continue in the direction of the footpath to Vršič. The path starts beside a smaller stone fence, then leads us past a smaller cottage into the forest. Through the forest we ascend gently for a short time, then the blazes lead us to the other side of the Limarica stream. Further on we gradually start to ascend more steeply along the left bank of Limarica, and from the path that runs below the steep walls of Maklenova peč, nice views open up on Bavški Grintavec and the Pelci ridge. Higher the path enters the forest, through which we then ascend for quite some time. Through the forest we ascend along an old mule track, which we leave higher up as the sign for Vršič directs us left onto a leaf-covered footpath, which soon joins the old macadam road.
We follow the road to the right, then after a few minutes of ascent leave it, as somewhat poorly visible blazes direct us left. Higher we rejoin the road, which brings us out of the forest onto increasingly panoramic slopes. With views of the surrounding peaks, we walk to the memorial plaque, and just a few meters behind the plaque we leave the road and continue left across the torrent ditch. We follow this path, which further ascends diagonally across occasionally somewhat steeper slopes, all the way to the asphalt road.
When we reach Ruska cesta, we ascend along it in about 10 minutes to the Vršič pass.
A few 10 steps before the pass, a road closed to public traffic branches off to the right towards Tičarev dom and Poštarski dom, while we continue to the red alpine signposts located directly at the pass.
From the pass we continue in the direction of Slemenova špica, Mala Mojstrovka via a very demanding path and Tamar valley (left Mala Mojstrovka - usual path) along the path that starts to ascend diagonally to the right. During the ascent along the slopes of Šitna glava we cross a few smaller screes and torrents, then the path from Erjavčeva koča na Vršiču joins from the right.
Here we continue straight and past a viewpoint a few meters away ascend in a few minutes to the Vratca saddle (1799 m), where the next marked junction is.
Left the secured climbing path to Mala Mojstrovka and an unmarked path towards Sleme continue, to the right an unmarked but well-trodden path towards Prednje Robičje branches off, straight ahead the usual path towards Sleme and Slemenova špica continues.
A short section of path follows where we cross the slopes below Prednje Robičje, then the path gradually starts descending towards the slopes above the Mala Pišnica valley. When we reach these slopes the path turns left, then continues with a few shorter ascents and descents. In dry conditions the easy path brings us a bit further to a junction, where the marked path from Tamar through Grlo and an unmarked path through Mala Pišnica join from the right.
We continue in the direction of Slemenova špica, along the path that continues crossing the slopes high above Mala Pišnica. With nice views reaching to nearby Italy and Austria we soon arrive at the slopes of Slemenova špica, where the slope but not the path flattens. A short ascent follows, then we arrive at a poorly marked junction, where we continue slightly right (straight leads the path towards Tamar - path past Črne vode (even if we continue straight it is still possible to reach Slemenova špica)). After a few minutes of further ascent the path levels out completely, and ahead of us we spot smaller pondlets and the well-known view towards Jalovec. We bypass the pondlets on the right side, or wherever we like, then past the summit register box ascend in a few minutes to the panoramic and precipitous summit of Slemenova špica.

On the way: Prelaz Vršič (1611m), Vratca (1799m)