Brzika - Donačka gora (eastern peak) (harder path)

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

Path description:
From the starting point, we head onto the macadam road that branches off towards the east from the starting point and beside which there are signs for Rudijev dom and Donačka gora. We walk for a short time on the macadam road, before the road gently descends to the nearby house we go slightly left onto a cart track that ascends transversely along the edge of the hay meadow. A little further, we continue on the lower cart track, beside which there are signs for Rudijev dom, then along the pasture fence we ascend to a smaller saddle connecting Gaj (454 m) and Ženčaj (582 m).
On the saddle, we go right and walk to a wider macadam road, which we follow left. The path ahead leads us along the macadam road, which mostly ascends gently to moderately, only on a shorter section temporarily descends a little. Higher up, the road turns right and brings us to a junction, where we go sharply left following the signs for Rudijev dom. There follow a few minutes of transverse ascent through the forest; when we leave the forest, we go right and ascend along a poorly trodden path that leads us across the meadow to the hunting observatory, which is located on the saddle connecting Donačka gora with Ženčaj.
Here the path turns slightly left and ascends transversely; at the nearby house, the path widens into a forest road, along which we continue to the Rudijev dom a few minutes away.
From Rudijev dom we continue left in the direction of the summit of Donačka gora (right Sv. Jurij, Rogatec and spring of Sotla) and initially walk along the macadam road. From the road, an easier path to Donačka gora first branches off to the right; we continue along the road to the left serpentine, where we leave the road and continue straight ahead with the path, then walking along a cart track that crosses the northern slopes of Donačka gora. A shorter transverse ascent follows and we climb to an indistinct saddle by Joški vrh, where we continue straight (left Joški vrh), then a few shorter descents and ascents follow along the northern slope of Donačka gora. Before the cart track descends to the nearby turning area of the forest road, we go slightly right in the direction of the more difficult path to Donačka gora.
A somewhat steeper ascent follows and we arrive at the next junction, where we go right in the direction of Donačka gora (left Kupčinji Vrh, straight prelaz Vrhe and Žetale), at the next junction we go right again.
We continue again in the direction of Donačka gora, and the path gradually transitions onto steep slopes that are especially slippery when wet, across which we mostly ascend transversely. Further on, we reach a shorter technically demanding section, where a steel cable assists us on the steep ascent along the rocky slope. When the steep demanding ascent ends, we reach the main ridge of Donačka gora, where the path forks.
We continue left (right main summit) and quickly arrive at the precipitous eastern summit of Donačka gora.
Brzika - Rudijev dom 1:00, Rudijev dom - eastern peak of Donačka gora 1:15.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in April 2022.

On the way: Rudijev dom na Donački gori (590m)