Brzika - Donačka gora (eastern peak) (on ridge)

Access to starting point:
A) We drive to Rogaška Slatina, then continue driving towards Rogatec. In Rogatec, at the roundabout, we turn "left" towards Ptuj, then drive on the main road to the Brzika pass, where we notice red hiking signposts, next to which we park in a suitable 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 pass, where we notice red hiking signposts, next to which we park in a suitable place.

Path description:
From the starting point, we head onto a macadam road which branches off from the starting point towards the east and by which there are signs for Rudijev dom and Donačka gora. We walk for a short time on the macadam road, before the road lightly descends to the nearby house we go slightly left onto a cart track which ascends transversely along the edge of the hay meadow. A little further, we continue on the lower cart track, by which there are signs for Rudijev dom, then along the pasture fence we ascend to a smaller saddle which connects Gaj (454 m) and Ženčaj (582 m).
On the saddle, we go right and walk to a wider macadam road, which we follow to the left. The path ahead leads us along a macadam road which mostly ascends gently to moderately, only on a shorter section it 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, and when we leave the forest we go right and ascend along a less trodden path which leads us across the meadow to the hunting observatory, which is located on a saddle connecting Donačka gora and Ženčaj.
Here the path turns slightly to the 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 towards the summit of Donačka gora (right: Sv. Jurij, Rogatec and source of Sotla) and initially walk along a macadam road, from which we soon go right towards the easier path to Donačka gora (straight: demanding path to Donačka gora and Žetale).
The path ahead initially ascends moderately through the forest, after a few minutes it moves onto steep slopes and becomes steeper too. We continue ascending along a well-maintained hiking path which climbs in numerous switchbacks. Higher up, we pass a memorial plaque in memory of Ernst Froelich, who in 1853 blazed the path to Donačka gora, the first marked path in Slovenia. After the memorial plaque there follow a few minutes of ascent along the northwestern slope of Donačka gora, then we reach the ridge, where we go left. There follows an ascent along and beside the forested ridge, and in a few minutes we reach the higher western summit of Donačka gora.
From the western summit we continue along the marked ridge path towards Žetale. After a short descent, the path withdraws slightly from the ridge to the right side, then continues with some shorter ascents and descents; occasionally the path runs along a fairly steep slope, where especially when wet there is a greater risk of slipping. After approximately 20 minutes of walking along and beside the ridge we arrive at a marked junction, where a demanding path branches left towards Žetale and Kupčinji Vrh; we continue straight, and after a further few dozen steps we arrive at the precipitous eastern summit of Donačka gora.
Brzika - Rudijev dom 1:00, Rudijev dom - western peak of Donačka gora 0:45, western peak of Donačka gora - eastern peak of Donačka gora 0:20.
Description and pictures refer to the state in April 2022.

On the way: Rudijev dom na Donački gori (590m), Donačka gora (884m)