Gozdec - Visoki Kanin (via Dom Petra skalarja na Kaninu)

Access to starting point:
We drive into the center of Bovec, where from the intersection at the main square we continue along the ascending road, which past the post office begins to climb towards the nearby church. We bypass the mentioned church on the left side, then arrive in Kaninska vas. Bovec then ends, and the road leads us westwards for some time longer. At a small junction we leave the main asphalt road leading to the village of Plužna and continue driving along the slightly right road (after the intersection there are signs for the Gozdec road). Behind the nearby homestead the road forks once more, and this time we choose the slightly left road (slightly right to Zavrzelno and the starting point of the path to Rombon). We then ascend along the gravel road, which higher up brings us to the B station of the Kanin cable car. At the B station the road turns sharply left, then after a transverse ascent and approximately 1 km of further driving it brings us to the next intersection. From this intersection we continue left or straight ahead (sharply right to planina Krnica), following the road from the intersection only for a short time. Soon by the road we notice signs for Kanin, and we park about 20 meters further on, at a small parking lot beside the road.

From Trg Golobarskih žrtev to the starting point it is approximately 9 km.

Path description:
From the starting point we go back a few steps, then head onto the marked path in the direction of Visoki Kanin and Vrh Laške planje. The path immediately starts to ascend steeply, mostly leading us through dense forest, with occasional glimpses of the surroundings. During the ascent the path takes us below the cliffs of Turn v Skednju (1555 m). When the cliffs end we arrive at an unmarked junction, where we continue slightly right on the marked path (slightly left unmarked path leading to Veliki Babanski Skedenj 2121 m); this soon steeply climbs over a short steep slope, where especially when wet there is a greater risk of slipping. The steepness soon eases and we arrive at the abandoned Planina Gozdec, which we bypass on the right side.

Continuing we ascend through increasingly sparse forest, so that from the path we get some views towards the Bovec Basin and the Krn Mountains. A fairly even ascent follows, and while looking at the walls of Veliki Skedenj we arrive at a small spring located to the right of the path. Even further on, the easy-to-follow path is covered with grass that can be quite wet after rain, in the morning and forenoon. After a while the path turns more towards the west and gradually becomes less steep. A few more minutes of scenic ascent follow and we reach the ruins of the old Koča Petra Skalarja, which burned down in 1972.

We bypass the hut on the left side, then for some time ascend gently to moderately through more grassy terrain. The path then turns more southwards, giving the feeling that we are going in the wrong direction. Some steeper ascent follows, and the path slowly turns right, so that further on we mostly walk westwards. A few more minutes of easy walking follow and we arrive at a marked junction, where we continue right downwards in the direction of Dom Petra Skalarja na Kaninu (straight to Visoki Kanin and Vrh Laške planje).

After a short descent the path levels out, then crosses the pod world. An ascent follows through the high mountain landscape of Kaninskih podov, where there is mostly no path, but the markers are fairly frequent, so orientation in good weather is no problem, though of course completely different in fog. The path further leads over scree and among sinkholes, pits and cracks, so caution is advised, and in wet conditions the smooth slabs can be quite slippery. Continuing we ascend transversely for some time along the slopes of Velika Gnila glava (2114 m), and the path brings us to the next marked junction on this section.

We continue slightly right (left returns to the path towards Vrh Laške planje) and further carefully follow the faint trail and markers. We follow this path, which offers really beautiful views of the Kanin massif, all the way to Dom Petra Skalarja na Kaninu, from where a nice view opens to the east.

We bypass the hut on the right side, and behind it at the junction we choose the left path in the direction of Visoki Kanin (slightly right D station of the Kanin cable car). We quickly ascend to the nearby bivouac, which we bypass on the left side, then continue roughly northwestwards, following the markers. The path, which here and there also descends slightly, mostly leads along an indistinct ridge, and soon along it we reach the false summit of Vrh Osojnic (2348 m). Here the ridge narrows somewhat, and we continue following the marked path. When we reach the next somewhat more prominent summit with a cairn we are at Vrh Osojnic (2371 m).
From the panoramic summit we continue northwards, slowly descending along the ridge. We continue along the ridge for a few more minutes, then arrive at the slopes of Hudi Vršič, where we join the path from the D station.
We continue left in the direction of Visoki Kanin (right to Prestreljeniško okno and D station), where the path leads over the scree of Hudi Vršič, later also over the scree of Peč and Srednji Vršič, where it starts to ascend more steeply. A quite steep ascent over rocky terrain follows, then we reach the panoramic border ridge, from where a nice view opens onto Montaž, Viš and the neighbouring peaks. We continue the path along the occasionally exposed ridge, where the path leads westwards, and on the more difficult sections some fixed protection helps us.
A short descent follows, where with the help of fixed protection we reach Kaninska škrbina, and from it an ascent back to the ridge. A bit further the ferrata Julija joins from the right, and we follow the increasingly panoramic ridge path to the Visoki Kanin a few minutes away, from which an even nicer view opens to the west.

Gozdec - Planina Gozdec 0:45, Planina Gozdec - Stara koča 1:25, Stara koča - Mali dol 0:30, Mali Dol - razpotje pod Gnilo glavo 0:40, razpotje pod Gnilo glavo - Dom Petra Skalarja 0:55, Dom Petra Skalarja - Vrh Osojnic 0:25, Vrh Osojnic - razpotje pod Hudim Vršičem 0:10, razpotje pod Hudim Vršičem - Kaninski Vršič 1:25, Kaninski Vršič - priključitev ferate Julia 0:15, priključitev ferate Julia - Visoki Kanin 0:10.

On the way: Planina Gozdec (1305m), Old mountain hut on Kanin (1814m), Mali dol (1959m), Razpotje pod Gnilo glavo (2045m), Dom Petra Skalarja na Kaninu (2260m), Vrh Osojnic (2371m), Razpotje pod Hudim Vršičem (2376m), Kaninski Vršič (2515m), Kaninska škrbina (2495m), Priključitev ferate Julia (2535m)

Trip can be extended to: Mali Kanin