Brzika - Boč (senčna pot)

Access to starting point:
A) We drive to Rogaška Slatina, and then we continue driving towards Rogatec. In Rogatec at the roundabout we go to the exit "left" in the direction of Ptuj, and then we drive on the main road to mountain pass Brzika, where we notice red hiking signposts, by which we park on an appropriate place.
B) We drive to Majšperk, and then we follow the signs for Stoperce on Rogatec. After Stoperce the road starts ascending steeper, and we follow it to mountain pass Brzika, where we notice red hiking signposts, by which we park on an appropriate place.

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue a few dozen strides on the asphalt road towards Stoperce, then turn left onto a side road marked with signs for Ložno. Next follows a short ascent through the forest, then the road flattens and leads through the yard of a homestead. Behind the homestead, we descend along a marked cart track, which lower down transitions into the forest. At the forest entrance, we leave the track and continue slightly left onto a footpath, ascending again. Next follows a short descent, where we cross the route of a high-pressure gas line, then ascend more steeply for a few minutes. Higher up, we bypass an unnamed 499-meter-high peak on the left, as shown on maps, followed by a moderate descent, then an ascent to the next unnamed peak. From there, we descend slightly, and lower down we reach a cart track, which we follow to the tourist farm Ložno, where we continue right towards Boč (left to church of Our Lady of Loreto in Ložno, 5 minutes).
Next follows a few minutes of moderate ascent, then the path enters the forest, where it crosses the slopes to the left along a cart track. A little further, we approach a few houses, and by a fence, we reach a road, descending in a few minutes to an asphalt road, which we follow to the right. Next follows some walking on the asphalt road, passing under a high-voltage power line, after which a path from Okrepčevalnica Zelena dolina joins from the right.
Next follows an ascent on the asphalt road, from which a nice view of the surrounding hills occasionally opens up, and higher up, the road flattens and leads us past a chapel to the hamlet Ravnocerje.
Here, we go behind the homestead on the right, turning right onto a marked cart track, which we follow to ascend to a marked junction, where we join the path from Cerovec pod Bočem.
The path ahead ascends diagonally along a cart track and quickly brings us to the ridge west of Ravnocerje. Here, the path turns slightly to the left (sharply right to the peak Ravnocerje, 3 minutes) and leads us past a stream, which we see below the path. For a short time, we continue along the forested ridge, then the path turns right and moves onto a slope, where at several junctions we follow the blazes. Higher up, we leave the cart track to the left onto a marked footpath (the cart track soon joins a forest road), and along the path, we notice a sign indicating the Boč forest reserve. The path continues on the left, sunny side, bypassing the highest point of Plešivec, located on an indistinct summit, and then we gradually begin to descend. Lower down, we reach a marked junction where we join the path from Cerovec pod Bočem, and we continue to a nearby road.
When we reach the road, we go left, and we go left also at the nearby crossroad (right - Makole). Next follows some descent on a macadam road, and when we leave the forest, past a religious symbol we get to a crossroad, at which we go straight (to the left leads the road into a valley in the direction of Rogaška Slatina) and on the left side we bypass homestead Gavez, and on the right the nearby hunting lodge Rogaška Slatina.
Behind the lodge we descend to another road and we follow it to the right. When the road starts ascending, the marked path branches off to the right, which leads towards Formila and Makole, and we continue on the asphalt road which starts ascending. After a short ascent the road splits, and we continue on a slightly left road which starts descending (slightly right road leads to a private house). Next follows a descent on the macadam road which a little lower brings us to a crossroad, where we go right downwards in the direction of Boč. Further we are still descending, and at the next crossroad, where we join the path from Makole we go left. And only a little ahead we go right. From the last crossroad we walk on the road only a short time, and then we go left on a marked path, which on a cart track ascends to the spot, where used to be a forestry cottage, and now there is a new cottage (condition May 2022).
Here we again step on the road which we follow to the left (across the road leads an unmarked path on Boč, or we can join also the road which leads towards Boč). Further, we walk on the road which crosses slopes of Boč towards the left, and there we are at first still gently ascending, and later we also descend a little.
Few 10 strides before we reach the asphalt road, we go from the road right on a marked path Senčna pot which leads towards Boč (if we continue on the road or parallel mountain path we would in 5 minutes get to Dom na Boču).
The path ahead leads us on a cart track, or on some parts parallel with it, and higher we leave the cart track and we continue the ascent on increasingly steep mountain path. For some time we are ascending on a well-beaten marked path, and higher the marked path turns right and avoids the footpath which is used by majority of mountaineers and we diagonally ascend towards the right, where after few minutes we reach the southeastern ridge of Boč, where from the right joins a worse unmarked footpath which leads on the mentioned ridge (the beginning of the mentioned path is at the before mentioned forestry cottage).
Here the marked path turns left, and we continue on a forested ridge. A little further from the left joins also the already mentioned better beaten path, and we continue straight and we quickly get to a lookout tower on Boč.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in May 2022, January 2023 and March 2024.