Izvir Ljubije - Smrekovec (via Leskovškova pustota)

Access to starting point:
A) From the Ljubljana - Maribor highway, take the Šentrupert exit, then continue driving towards Mozirje and Logarska dolina. At the beginning of Mozirje, turn right from the roundabout towards the settlement of Bele Vode, then further follow the signs for Ljubijski graben. Higher up, the asphalt ends and after a shorter quite steep section the road flattens and takes us past the homestead Rožman to the water catchment, which is located near the confluence of Ljubija and Kramarica. Park at a suitable spot by the water catchment.
B) From Ljubno ob Savinji or Gornji Grad, drive to Mozirje, then from the roundabout near the Hofer store continue towards Bele Vode, then further follow the signs for Ljubijski graben. Higher up, the asphalt ends and after a shorter quite steep section the road flattens and takes us past the homestead Rožman to the water catchment, which is located near the confluence of Ljubija and Kramarica. Park at a suitable spot by the water catchment.
C) Drive to Šoštanj, where from the roundabout by TEŠ continue towards Bele Vode. After the bridge over the Paka river and past the railway track at the intersection continue straight towards Bele Vode and also in the following intersections follow the mentioned direction. Further, drive past the church in Bele Vode, then arrive at the pass north of Sv. Križ. After the pass, the road starts descending, then in a traversing descent it takes us into the valley of the Kramarica stream, where we continue left. Further, we descend along the Kramarica stream, then when we arrive at the confluence of Kramarica and Ljubija park at a suitable spot by the water catchment.

Route description:
From the starting point by the water catchment we continue left along the Ljubija stream, where a green barrier is placed over a poor road. After the barrier we continue along the poor road, which leads us through a scenic gorge. In a few minutes we arrive at a relatively strong karst spring, where the Ljubija stream originates. From the spring we continue along a poorer and, due to frequent rains, quite eroded road, which continues through Ljubijski graben. Higher up the gorge splits into two parts, and we continue along the left gorge, along which the poorer road continues. Further on, the slopes along the path become less steep, then suddenly we step onto a spacious meadow. The path continues along the left edge of the meadow, then we join a wider macadam road, which we follow to the right (straight to Dom na Smrekovcu - along the road).
Along the road in a few minutes we arrive at the Leskovšek farm, where we continue left onto a cart track that steeply ascends across a panoramic hay meadow. From the hay meadow a nice view opens towards Sv. Križ, and the cart track a little higher enters the forest, through which it then ascends. The cart track for most of the time ascends transversely to the left, then on a larger clearing (Leskovškova pustota) at the hunting observatory it turns right and ascends across the clearing. On the upper part of the clearing, just before the path enters the forest, we will notice a wooden hut to the left of the path. When the path returns to the forest, it soon turns sharply left, then ascends transversely all the way to the point where we join a wider macadam road, which we follow to the right.
We walk along the road for a few minutes, then when we reach the marked path we continue left uphill along the marked path (right Bele Vode, straight along the road to saddle Kramarica). Higher up we cross another road, where the path to Golte continues left, and a little above the road we step out of the forest, where we continue right towards Dom na Smrekovcu. From the point where we step out of the forest there follows a few minutes of a somewhat more panoramic path and we already reach Dom na Smrekovcu.
From Dom na Smrekovcu we continue towards the summit of Smrekovec, where the path first leads across a short panoramic section, from which a view opens towards the central Kamniško Savinjske Alpe, then it passes into a sparse forest, where after a short ascent we reach a marked junction, where we continue right (straight Komen, Travnik...). From the junction onwards the forest thins out even more, then it already leads us across a completely bare section somewhat more to the right, where with views reaching far around we reach the pyramid on the summit of Smrekovec without major difficulties.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in 2016 (March).

Along the route: Leskovšek (950m), Leskovškova pustota (1101m), Dom na Smrekovcu mountain hut (1375m)

The trip can be extended to the following destinations: Krnes, Komen

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