Bučan - Vrh Ljubeljščice (Triangel)

Access to starting point:
From the Ljubljana–Jesenice motorway, we take the Ljubelj (Tržič) exit, then continue driving in the direction of Celovec / Klagenfurt. After the Ljubelj tunnel, the road starts descending, and on the Austrian side we follow it to the first left turn, where the old Ljubelj road branches off to the right. We park at an appropriate place by the crossroads, or we can also park higher on the Austrian side of the former border crossing Ljubelj.

Path description:
From the starting point, we head onto the old Ljubelj road, which is closed to public traffic by a traffic sign. The road first moderately ascends over two hairpin turns, then continues along the stream to the ruins of the former church of St. Lenart, by which stands a somewhat larger sign. Here the road turns left and gradually distances itself from the valley. From the road, beautiful views then start opening onto Palec and other surrounding peaks. The road ahead leads past a smaller junction, where we continue sharply right on the "main" road, then in a moderate ascent cross steep slopes (danger of falling rocks, or in winter time snow avalanche and slipping). Higher, the road makes a few more hairpin turns, then brings us to a marked junction, where a marked footpath to Košutica / Loibler Baba branches off to the left. We continue on the wider road and in 10 minutes of further walking arrive at the old border crossing, behind which stands Koča na Ljubelju.
From the hut, we continue right in the direction of Zelenica and Povna peč (Polna peč). The path ahead goes past the hut and immediately behind it starts to ascend. The steepness soon eases and the path brings us onto a mostly vegetated ridge from which we occasionally get some views. After a further few minutes, we already see the summit of Polna peč ahead of us, which the path bypasses on its northern side over steep slopes. The path, which almost encircles the summit, brings us just a few steps below the summit to a junction, where we continue right in the direction of Ljubeljščica (left Polna peč 1 minute, summit with a view on the central Karawanks).
The path, which runs along the border ridge, then starts descending and after 50 metres of descent brings us into the dwarf pines. Further on, the path moves slightly to the right of the ridge and crosses a slightly exposed crumbly gully. This is followed by an easy ascent to one of the many peaks in the Ljubeljščica ridge. Here on a wooden board we notice a faded inscription that the safe path ends (less experienced hikers can end the trip here and return to the starting point along the same path).
Immediately after the board, the ridge narrows and changes from vegetated to crumbly and somewhat exposed (danger of slipping). After a few steps of descent along the crumbly ridge, the path returns to the safe embrace of the dwarf pines, but the difficulties are not over yet. The path, which ascends and descends again, crosses a few more similar gullies, where greater caution is needed. The unmarked path then brings us to an inscription on the rock. The inscription marked Zelenica directs us to the Slovenian side, where we then bypass steep rocky towers on the left side. The path then returns to the ridge and brings us to probably the most difficult part of the path. With the help of a steel cable, we descend steeply down the narrow, steep and precipitous ridge (for the less experienced, I recommend a self-belay kit). After a short descent, the ridge widens and the path starts ascending again. After a further few minutes of moderate ascent, we reach the next board, where the sign for Zelenica directs us left downwards. This is followed by crossing scree, then a steep side ridge stops us. With the help of fixed safety gear, we ascend one level higher, then still within the embrace of the fixed safety gear descend to the other side of the mentioned ridge. Gradually somewhat less visible trail then turns slightly right and on a quite overgrown slope ascends again to the border ridge. Here the path turns slightly left and on the overgrown slope ascends to the saddle Čez Pod (saddle between Vrh Ljubeljščice and the ridge Na Možeh). Here we turn sharply left and after a further few dozen steps ascend to Vrh Ljubeljščice.

On the way: Koča na Ljubelju mountain hut (1370m), Polna peč (1503m), Ljubeljščica (1492m), Čez Pod (1686m)

Trip can be extended to: Dom na Zelenici