Slake (Church of the Virgin Mary on Pesek) - Plešivec (Rudnica)

Access to starting point:
We drive to Podčetrtek, and then we follow the signs for Olimje. In the settlement Slake, we turn right onto a narrower road with red hiking signposts, and along this road, we drive to the church of the Virgin Mary on Pesek, where we park in the parking lot above the church.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the asphalt road, which leads into the forest, and at a smaller crossroad, we turn slightly right and continue ascending. Higher up, we leave the dense forest, and at a few crossroads, we follow local signs. After some time, we reach a macadam road, which quickly leads us to a marked crossing where Knafelc blazes and standard red hiking signposts appear along the path.
We continue right (left Olimje) and for some time, without significant changes in altitude, we proceed with a traverse to the right. When we reach a marked crossroad, we turn sharply left toward the tower of health and joy (straight Podčetrtek (Sveti Lovrenc) and Terme Olimia).
The path ahead begins to ascend on the macadam road, and at a right turn, we leave the road and continue left on a marked footpath, which soon rejoins the road. On a poorer road, we continue to a marked crossroad of multiple roads, from where we proceed on the left road toward the harder path leading to the tower of health and joy.
The road soon turns right, then quickly leads us to a spot where a harder path branches off to the right toward the tower of health and joy on Silavec, but we continue on the road, which a few minutes later brings us to a saddle west of Silavec, where we join the path from the settlement Spodnje Tinsko.
From the crossing, we continue straight (right Spodnje Tinsko) and for a few minutes continue gently ascending on the macadam road. When the road becomes asphalt, we begin to moderately descend. At the start of the descent, a beautiful view opens towards Žusem, where the tower Stolp Ljubezni stands, and we continue along the asphalt road. The road then flattens and loses its asphalt surface, and we arrive at a small crossroad, from which we continue straight onto a footpath (left Koča pri Čarovnici).
We continue along a gently sloping path through the forest, and a little further, the path from Koča pri Čarovnici joins from the left.
Here we go right, and a few steps further, turn left following the signs for Plešivec.
The path ahead leads us along a macadam road, which splits a few minutes further.
We choose the slightly right path (slightly left the lake on Olimska gora) and continue on the road to a smaller saddle, where we go left (right a short unmarked path to Lendrše).
The path ahead leads us for a short time along a cart track, then starts ascending steeply through a slightly overgrown clearing, from which a beautiful view opens up. When we return to the forest higher up, the path flattens, and we quickly reach a crossing, where we join the path from Olimje.
Here we go right and in two minutes of further walking, we reach Plešivec, the highest peak of Rudnica.
Description and pictures refer to conditions in April 2024.