Gozd - Storžič (through southwest groove)

Access to starting point:
a) From the Ljubljana–Jesenice motorway, take the Kranj–west exit and continue following the road towards Golnik. Just a little after Golnik (more precisely after the settlement of Senično), a steep road branches off to the right uphill towards Zgornji Vetrni and Gozd. After the village of Zgornje Vetrno, the road mostly continues through the forest, and we follow it to the marked parking lot located in the immediate vicinity of Zavetišče v Gozdu.
b) From the Jesenice–Ljubljana motorway, take the Podbrezje exit, then continue driving towards Ljubelj and Tržič. Before the Petrol filling station in Bistrica pri Tržiču, turn right and then drive into Tržič. When the road descends into the valley, continue sharply right towards Pristava and Križ, then drive along the main road leading towards Zgornji and Spodnji Duplje, leave the mentioned main road at the settlement of Retnje, where we continue left towards the settlements of Križe and Golnik. Continue towards Golnik, and shortly after the settlement of Križe, we arrive at a small junction where a steep road branches off to the left towards Zgornji Vetrni and Gozd. After the village of Zgornje Vetrno, the road mostly continues through the forest, and we follow it to the marked parking lot located in the immediate vicinity of Zavetišče v Gozdu.

Route description:
From Zavetišče v Gozdu, walk to the nearby church of sv. Miklavž, then reach a marked junction where the path from Golnik joins from the right. Continue left uphill along the increasingly poor road, which brings us to a junction in a few minutes.
Continue along the right track towards Storžič, Tolsti vrh, and Mala and Velika Poljana (left Koča na Kriški gori). The track, which ascends transversely to the east, has some junctions in the lower part, but they are well marked so there are no major orientation problems. Higher up, the track turns into a gradually steeper footpath, which leads us from the forest to scenic grassy slopes. After a while, the path levels out and brings us to a pleasant viewpoint with a bench, next to which we notice a memorial plaque.
Further on, the path crosses a steep grassy slope (danger of slipping and in winter also avalanche), then enters dense forest where we reach the next marked junction. Continue straight towards Velika Poljana (left Tolsti vrh), crossing wooded slopes for a short time, then the forest gradually thins and turns into steeper slopes of Štajnarica, where it continues with some short ascents and descents, and on the more difficult sections, a few wire ropes assist us. In the last part of the crossing over Štajnarica, we cross another steep grassy slope, from where we get the first close-up view of Storžič. After the bench, the path enters the forest and then begins to descend transversely towards Mala Poljana, which we reach after a few minutes. When we step out of the forest, we also step onto the track, along which we descend to the Lovska koča na Mali Poljani.
From Mala Poljana, where the path from Tolsti vrh, Dom pod Storžičem, and Zalog joins us, continue along the left side of the hunting hut on the path towards Velika Poljana. The path, which further follows the track, quickly enters the forest where it then ascends transversely. After a few minutes of walking, we reach a scenic slope from which we have a nice view of the surrounding mountains. A little further, the track turns right and after a short ascent brings us to the upper edge of Velika Poljana, where there is a marked junction.
Continue straight into the forest on the path towards Storžič over Psica (right Koča na Veliki Poljani 1 minute). The path ahead begins to ascend quite steeply, then turns slightly right and the steepness eases a bit. Such a path soon brings us out of the forest to the junction of paths under Psica.
At the mentioned junction, a very demanding path continues left along the ridge of Psica, but we continue right towards the easier path to Storžič. From the junction onwards, the path descends and ascends transversely several times, leading us along the slopes of Psica, from which we occasionally get some views, otherwise the first part of the crossing mostly runs through the forest. After another 30 minutes of walking, we arrive at a junction where the crossing ends, and we join the path leading to Storžič through the southwest groove.
We follow the mentioned path left uphill (right downhill planina Javornik, Povlje, we can also reach the hamlet Laško and the village Bašelj) and begin to ascend steeply along the path leading through the southwest groove of Storžič. Along the mentioned groove, from which we have increasingly beautiful views towards Gorenjska, we ascend for another good hour, then the path turns slightly right and brings us to the southwest ridge of Storžič, where an unmarked path joins from the right along the mentioned ridge.
Continue along the ridge, the marked path then turns slightly right and soon other paths from Dom pod Storžičem and Kališče join us. From here to the summit, which we can already see ahead, only a short ascent follows with wonderful views.

Starting point - sv. Miklavž 0:05, sv. Miklavž - junction above Gozd 0:10, junction above Gozd - junction Stajnar 1:10, junction Stajnar - Mala Poljana 0:40, Mala Poljana - Velika Poljana 0:15, Velika Poljana - junction under Psica 0:35, junction under Psica - junction in southwest groove 0:40, junction in southwest groove - ridge of Storžič 1:05, ridge of Storžič - Storžič 0:15.

Along the route: Mala Poljana (890m), Velika Poljana (890m), Razpotje nad Gozdom (950m), Saškina klopca (1395m), Razpotje Stajnar (1402m), Stajnar (1388m), Mala Poljana (1325m), Sedlo nad Veliko Poljano (1406m), Razpotje pod Psico (1595m), Razpotje v jugozahodnem žlebu (1622m), Razpotje na grebenu Storžiča (2048m), Razpotje pod vrhom Storžiča (2114m)

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