Hotavlje - Špik (Vranškov grič)

Access to starting point:
A) From Železniki, Kranj or Medvode we drive to Škofja Loka, and from there we continue driving in the direction of Gorenja vas in Poljanska dolina and Žiri. After Gorenja vas, in the settlement Hotavlje, at the crossroads behind the inn Gostilna Lipan we leave the main road towards Žiri and continue driving right in the direction of the Cerkno ski resort and village Leskovica. Immediately after the crossroads, we park at a suitable place beside the road.
B) From Horjul or Polhov Gradec we drive to Lučine, from there we descend to Gorenja vas. In Gorenja vas we continue left towards Žiri, then in Hotavlje at the crossroads behind the inn Gostilna Lipan we continue right in the direction of the Cerkno ski resort and village Leskovica. Immediately after the crossroads, we park at a suitable place beside the road.
C) From Vrhnika, Logatec or Spodnja Idrija we drive to Žiri, and from there we continue driving towards Gorenja vas and Škofja Loka, but we drive on the main road only to the settlement Hotavlje, where we turn left in the direction of the Cerkno ski resort and village Leskovica. Immediately after the crossroads, we park at a suitable place beside the road.
D) First we drive to Cerkno, and from there we continue driving over the saddle Kladje (Podlanišče) towards Sovodenj. From Sovodenj we continue driving along the stream Hobovščica, then at a somewhat larger crossroads we continue left in the direction of Gorenja vas (right Žiri). On the main road towards Škofja Loka we drive to the settlement Hotavlje, where we turn left in the direction of the Cerkno ski resort and village Leskovica. Immediately after the crossroads, we park at a suitable place beside the road.

Path description:
From the starting point, where there is a vending machine of the farm pri Šupc nearby, we continue along the road towards the village Leskovica and in the direction of the hiking paths to Blegoš, Ermanovec and Slajko. We walk for a few minutes along the edge of the road, partly also on the sidewalk, then the signs for Ermanovec and Slajko direct us left (straight to Blegoš), where we cross Kopačnica over the bridge, and immediately after the bridge by the church of St. Lovrenc we continue right and gradually begin to ascend. Initially we ascend past a few more houses, then the signs direct us sharply left, where we continue for some ten steps along the cart track; on the hay meadow the cart track turns into a footpath, which veers slightly right and leads us past one more house. Higher up we cross several poorer cart tracks, and the blazes through a strip of somewhat overgrown path lead us to an asphalt road, which we merely cross. On the other side of the road we first ascend more steeply, then continue along a narrower path that proceeds through a small valley, where the power line route also runs. From the valley we soon ascend obliquely to the right to reach the ridge (here another small path joins us from the right), and here the path turns left. A little farther we cross yet another cart track; when we leave the forest we quickly ascend to an asphalt road, which we follow to the right. The asphalt road then leads us past a bench, where a path branches off to the right to Vrh Slajke; we follow the road, which curves semicircularly left, to the nearby farm, from which the Dom na Slajki is only a minute's walk away.
From the hut we return to the nearby farm, where we bypass the main buildings along the upper side and continue along the macadam road with the path, which on the nearby meadow turns into a cart track. Walking follows through a strip of forest; when we leave the forest we continue right (straight Ermanovec) on an unmarked path, initially a cart track that continues along the edge of the forest. When the forest on the right ends, we continue the ascent along the pasture fence, which leads along the grassy ridge; higher up the ridge flattens and turns left. We continue along the edge of the forest to a panoramic subpeak, from the subpeak we go slightly right into the forest. Through the forest we ascend towards the west to northwest, occasionally noticing an older blaze along the path. In a few minutes of ascent through the forest we reach the overgrown summit, on which stands a small cairn.
Hotavlje - Dom na Slajki 1:30, Dom na Slajki - Špik 0:20.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in January and December 2020.

On the way: Dom na Slajki (789m)