Zgornje Poljčane - Galke (via Baba)

Access to starting point:
a) We leave the Ljubljana - Maribor highway at the exit for Slovenske Konjice, then follow the signs for Žiče, Loče, Zbelovo, and Poljčane. In Poljčane, we turn right and drive to Zgornje Poljčane, where we follow the main road until the junction of a side road to the left towards Boč and the mountain hut Planinski dom na Boču. We park above the settlement on a macadam parking lot, near mountain signposts.
b) We leave the Maribor - Ljubljana highway at the Slovenska Bistrica south exit, then follow the road towards Poljčane and Podčetrtek. In Zgornje Poljčane, we follow the main road until the junction of a side road to the left towards Boč and the mountain hut Planinski dom na Boču. We park above the settlement on a macadam parking lot, near mountain signposts.
c) From the Šentjur - Rogaška Slatina road at the settlement Podplat, we turn left (or right from the direction of Rogaška Slatina) towards Slovenska Bistrica and Poljčane. A short ascent follows, and after the Pečica pass, we begin descending. At the start of the settlement Zgornje Poljčane, we turn right towards Boč and the mountain hut Planinski dom na Boču. We park above the settlement on a macadam parking lot, near mountain signposts.

Path description:
From the starting point, we head along the right path, marked with signs for the path over Baba (straight to Boč via Balunjača and Dom na Boču along path Detičkova pot) and begin ascending through the forest. After a few minutes, we cross an asphalt road leading to Dom na Boču, and we start climbing more steeply. Next follows an ascent along the forested northern ridge of Baba; at an altitude of 535 meters, we reach the Baba rock, located by the marked path, from where a beautiful view opens toward the valley and Pohorje.
Just a little further, the marked path veers slightly to the right (straight along a poorer, unmarked footpath to the peak of Baba at 594 meters), and shortly after, it levels out and splits.
We continue slightly to the right (slightly to the left is an unmarked passage to path Detičkova pot) and keep following the trail markers. Next follows a few minutes of moderate ascent and we reach the cart track, which we follow to the right (also here, if we continue left, we quickly join the path Detičkova pot).
We continue on the cart track even when, a little ahead, the marked path turns left, but we keep walking on the cart track, which gradually starts to descend gently and a little lower reaches the asphalt road that leads towards hut Dom na Boču. We follow the road to the left, and at the nearby crossroad, we go right onto the macadam road, which leads us through a gentle meadow. On the other side of the meadow, we reach the site of the greater pasque flower, where we go right in the direction of Pečica or Lovnik (straight to the cottage Velikonočnica), and then behind the holiday cottage, the path splits.
We continue on the slightly right unmarked cart track, which splits once again in the forest. To the right leads a steep cart track to the panoramic eastern secondary peak Galk, but we continue straight and diagonally ascend to the saddle between the two peaks. Here we leave the cart track and go left onto a poor footpath, along which we continue to the nearby peak.
The description and pictures refer to the condition in December 2024.