Gornje Retje - Stene svete Ane (via Grmada)

Access to starting point:
From Ljubljana, we drive towards Kočevje or vice versa. Only about a kilometer after (from the direction of Kočevje before) Velike Lašče we will get to a crossroad, where we turn left towards the village Gornje Retje (from the direction of Kočevje right). The road then through a narrow overpass above the railway track brings us to a crossroad, where we continue right. The road after a short ascent quickly brings us to Gornje Retje, where a trail marker points us left upwards on a steep road. We follow the steep asphalt road approximately 100 meters to the spot, where we notice a yellow mountain signpost with the caption Grmada, which points us on a bad macadam road, by which we then park (we can also park below the village near the recycling containers, but in a way that we don't hinder a possible garbage pickup).

Route description:
From the starting point, we continue in the direction of Grmada along an increasingly poor road, which higher up turns into a cart track. The cart track higher up emerges from the forest onto extensive meadows, through which the path continues without major changes in elevation. The path then enters a short stretch of forest, where it gently descends, crosses a macadam road, and ascends on the other side toward a smaller hamlet. Somewhat before the hamlet, the path turns right and continues with a gentle ascent along the upper edge of the next meadow. The pleasant path soon crosses another short stretch of forest, after which it emerges onto unvegetated slopes from which a view opens toward Grmada. In a gentle ascent, we walk across the grassy slope, then the path again enters the forest, where in a slight descent we cross the next forest road. The path then emerges from the forest again and continues along a wide, partly stony cart track, which at the hunting observatory turns sharply right. The markers then direct us left onto a somewhat steeper grassy slope, up which we ascend to the edge of the forest, where the path from Kamen vrh joins from the left.
We continue along the marked path, which heads a bit further left into the forest, following it at moderate steepness to the summit of Grmada, or to the Dom na Grmadi a few steps away.
At the hut, we notice signs for sv. Ana, which direct us onto a macadam road that begins descending toward the small village of Vrh pri Poljanah. Before we reach the houses in the village, the road becomes asphalt, then behind the houses we arrive at a small crossroads by a larger masonry chapel.
We continue straight on the asphalt road (via the left road, or the lower mountain path, we can reach Podgora or Podpeč), from which a marked footpath soon branches right toward Ortnek, but we continue straight on the descending road, which also leads toward the village Ortnek. Amid views of the surrounding hills, and with good visibility also toward Snežnik, we soon reach a right bend, where we continue straight onto the marked cart track toward sv. Ana. The cart track, or slightly further the footpath, gradually enters the forest and crosses the slopes of Vrbovec. After a few minutes, we reach another cart track, along which we continue toward sv. Ana, but only briefly, as the marked path soon turns slightly right from it (this section is not well marked). A few more minutes of walking through the forest follow, then we descend via yet another cart track to a macadam road, which we follow left (right to Velike Poljane and Ortnek).
From the point where we join the road, we continue for some time with a traversing ascent through the forest, then reach a somewhat larger crossroads, where we go straight toward Sv. Ana (sharply left on the road to Kompolje or Rapljevo). A few minutes of gentle to moderate ascent follow, then after an indistinct saddle between the peaks Tisovec (931 m) and Špičnik (926 m), the path begins to descend. A few minutes of descent follow, then signs for Sv. Ana direct us left onto a somewhat poorer road that begins to ascend more steeply (the wider road we leave leads toward Ribnica). We walk a few minutes along the ascending road, then the markers lead us somewhat further right onto a marked footpath that continues through the forest. When the path levels out completely after a few minutes, we reach a cart track and follow it left, walking along the edge of a small valley where wild garlic grows in springtime.
Somewhere in the middle of the valley, the relatively well-marked path turns right and goes onto the slopes of the peak Stene sv. Ane. For a few minutes we ascend relatively steeply to the right, then signs for Sv. Ana direct us sharply left from the cart track onto an even steeper footpath. A relatively steep ascent follows, then after a few minutes the path levels out and brings us in a few more steps to the spot where a short path branches left to a nearby viewpoint.
From the viewpoint, we return to the mentioned junction, from there continuing toward Sv. Ana. A short traverse follows, then the path from the settlement Struge joins from the left, and a few steps further a path branches right to the summit of Stene sv. Ane (straight to Koča pri sv. Ani on Mali gori).
From the junction, one more minute of walking brings us to the summit, on which there is a geodetic tower.
Gornje Retje - Grmada 1:40, Grmada - Stene sv. Ane 2:20

Along the route: Grmada na Mali gori (887m)

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