Jesenica - Otavnik

Access to starting point:
A) First, we drive to the center of Cerkno (to here from the road Idrija - Most na Soči, or from Gorenja vas and Žiri over the mountain pass Kladje, or from Zali Log through Davča...), then we continue driving in the direction of Zakojce. Just a few meters after that, when we have turned in the direction of Zakojce, the road towards the village Zakriž branches off to the left, through which a steep shortcut leads, and we continue on the road which continues along the stream Zapoška. Higher, the road leads through villages Trebenče, Gorje, and then after crossing the slopes, on the upper side we bypass the village Zakriž, where the already mentioned shortcut joins. A little further, the road turns even more to the right, and after a few kilometers of crossing we arrive at the beginning of the village Jesenica, where we notice the first signs for the saddle Vrh Ravni, Kojca and Porezen, which point right, and we continue left towards the main part of the village, where we park at an appropriate place by the recycling spot. At the starting point, there is also a bus stop and a memorial plaque.
B) From Most na Soči or Bača pri Modreju we drive towards Idrija, and after the settlement Reka, right before we cross the stream Jesenica we continue sharply left, and at the next intersection sharply right in the direction of Orehovska grapa. After a few kilometers of relatively steep road we arrive at the village Orehek, a little above the village we join the transverse road below Kojca, which we follow to the right. When we arrive at the village Jesenica, we park at an appropriate place by the recycling spot. At the starting point, there is also a bus stop and a memorial plaque.
C) From Bača pri Modreju we drive towards Podbrdo or vice versa, then in the settlement Grahovo ob Bači we turn in the direction of Zakojce and Bukovo. Further on, for quite some time we drive on a winding and ascending road, then at the marked intersection we continue right in the direction of Cerkno (left Zakojca). Next follows the crossing of Kojca, then when we arrive at the village Jesenica, we park at an appropriate place by the recycling spot. At the starting point, there is also a bus stop and a memorial plaque.

Path description:
A few steps southeast from the starting point we notice signs for Kojca and Porezen, which direct us left onto an asphalt road that starts to ascend steeply through the village. With views of Kojca we ascend past a few houses, then the asphalt ends and the path leads us past individual houses. Behind the last house the road turns into a cart track, along which in a few minutes of further walking we ascend to the saddle Vrh Ravni, where there is a junction of numerous paths.
From the saddle Vrh Ravni we continue right in the direction of Porezen and mountain pasture Otavnik (sharply left Košena, left Kojca, slightly left Čemažar, straight Zakojca, slightly right Podčrnovrhar and sharply right cart road towards Jesenica) and continue on an ascending macadam road which further leads us along the slopes of the peak Na krogu (1050 m). Higher the road passes to the northern slopes of Ritovščica (1156 m), where at a small quarry it changes into a wide cart track. This is followed by a transverse ascent through the forest, which leads us above the bed of Otavnik, then we step out of the forest, where ahead of us we see a hunting cabin, to which we ascend in two hairpins.
From the hunting cabin we continue on the cart track, which ascends to the southern ridge of Otavnik. The mentioned, partly forest-covered ridge we soon leave, as the path turns slightly left, where it then ascends transversely across an increasingly panoramic pasture. After a few minutes of transverse ascent we arrive at the upper part of the mountain pasture Otavnik, where on the left we notice a hunting observation post, straight across to the other side of the ridge a shepherd's hut.
On the mountain pasture, at the direction signs we continue right onto pathless terrain, along which in approximately 5 minutes we ascend to the summit of Otavnik.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in the year 2015 (December).

On the way: Preval Vrh Ravni (826m), Lovska koča LD Otavnik (1090m), Planina Otavnik (1268m)