Čemernica / Tschemernitzen - Mittagskogel/Kepa

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive to Austria, we leave the highway at exit Kot / Winkl. When we reach the main road through Rož / Rosental, we continue right, and then before the underpass below the highway viaduct we continue left in the direction towards the settlement Svatne / Schlatten, Hodnina / Kanin and Čemernica / Tschemernitzen. Next follow two hairpin turns, and then we continue parallel with the highway. Further through the underpass we pass on the eastern side of the highway, from the nearby crossroad we go right in the direction towards Hodnina. After the crossroad, we go once again through the underpass, and then we get to Hodnina, and on the road we drive to the next settlement Čemernica, where by the yellow mountain signposts there is the beginning of the described path. We park a little earlier on an appropriate place by the road.

Path description:
From the starting point, we go on the path in the direction of the mountain pasture Bleščeča planina / Rossalm, Koča Berta / Bertahütte and Kepa / Mittagskogel. The path at first leads on quite a gently sloping macadam road which soon brings us into the forest, and at the crossroads, we follow it in the direction of the blazes. Higher, we go from the road slightly left on a cart track, and from the cart track soon once again left on a forest path, which becomes quite steep. Next follows an ascent on a steep slope below the cliffs of Arihova peč / Arichwand, when on a smaller saddle slope turns on a less steep side, the path splits.
We continue right (left viewpoint on the top of Arihova peč - 3 minutes) and we are lightly ascending through the forest. The path soon turns left and it brings us out of the forest on the edge of the mountain pasture Bleščeča planina, where only a little further we step on a macadam road. On the macadam road, where from the right joins also the path from the settlement Kopanje / Kopein, we walk only few 10 strides and we already get to hut Koča nad Arihovo pečjo.
From the hut, we walk on the road also to the nearby marked crossing, and then we go right in the direction of hut Koča Berta (straight Lepi studenec / Schönbrunnen and Podrožca / Rosenbach). The path ahead quickly leads into a lane of a forest, and behind it, it for some time return on the road which we follow to the right, but blazes quickly point us to the left on a footpath which starts ascending through a small valley, where we once again cross the road. Higher from a small valley we get to a gentle slope, and at the hunting observatory we reach the road which we short time follow to the right, and then we go left in the direction of Koča Berta. Next follows a quite steep ascent, and the path flattens, when we reach the ridge east from Kamnica / Ferlacher Spitze.
Here we continue straight on the other side of the ridge, on the path which on the left side bypasses Kamnica (right harder path, which on the west side bypasses Kamnica). Next follows traversing of steep scree, where because of the cliffs above us there is also increased possibility of falling stones. We cross the scree with nice views, and then we descend to a forest road which we follow towards the west. After few minutes of walking on the road, we get to a marked crossing, where we go sharply right (slightly left Kepa, Podrožca...) and in a minute of additional walking, we get to hut Koča Berta.
From the hut on the road we return to the last crossing, and we descend to the nearby saddle Borovščica / Ferlacher Sattel, and from there we continue slightly left on a marked path in the direction of Kepa (left Podrožca / Rosenbach, slightly right Kepa on northeastern ridge, right downwards our starting point). The path ahead is at first quite gentle and mostly crosses slopes towards the left. When the path starts ascending, we quickly get to a crumbly gully, where after the rain the path can be damaged, and for this purpose in front of the gully there are tools to repair the path. In the second part of the crossing of the gully, we get help from some more fixed safety gear, and then for some time we steeply ascend. Further, we are ascending on a nicely made path, which crosses few more gullies, but the passage through them is easier. The increasingly panoramic path is getting closer to the walls of Dovška Mala Kepa, but it doesn't run right below the wall, because between the path and the wall there is a bigger torrent, so that the path isn't too exposed to falling stones. Higher, the path turns to the right, where we cross two more gullies, and then follows a quite steady ascent towards the national border. On last part of the ascent to the national border the slope becomes steeper, and when we reach the border ridge, from the left joins also a marked path from Erjavčev rovt.
We continue right, where we at first walk on the ridge and then the path passes on the Austrian side, where to the main peak, which we reach after few minutes of additional walking, we are ascending diagonally.
Čemernica - Bleščeča planina 1:30, Bleščeča planina - Koča Berta 1:30, Koča Berta - Kepa 2:05.
Description and pictures refer to a condition in the year 2018 (August).

On the way: Koča nad Arihovo pečjo / Rossalmhütte (1080m), Koča Berta / Bertahütte (1527m), Sedlo Borovščica / Ferlacher Sattel (1500m)

Trip can be extended to: Huhnerkogel/Gubno , Dovška Mala Kepa