Jesenice (Straža) - Španov vrh (via Jelenkamen)

Access to starting point:
From the highway Ljubljana - Jesenice, we take the exit Lipce, where we turn right towards Jesenice. In the settlement Slovenski Javornik, at the intersection with traffic lights, we turn left towards the town center. At the second traffic-light intersection (at the high school), we turn right, back towards Tomšičeva cesta past the primary school on the left. We drive a further 2.5 km to the end of Tomšičeva ulica, or to the spot where, along the railway tracks, there is the last bus stop below the hill. Here there is a large parking lot, our starting point.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we head up the asphalt road, where just below the top on the left we notice a footpath, onto which we step and turn along it in the direction past the gardens on our left. We immediately come near residential buildings on the left, where we cross a short cart track (leading to the nearby water reservoir on the right). The footpath now rises slightly towards the power line, which we quickly reach. Here we turn right uphill to the east along a gravel path.
We soon reach the second power line, where the path turns left into a short woodland (in season we encounter a wire fence), after which we step onto the (hunting) east-west footpath. We turn left (westwards) across a pasture, at the end of which we notice a small bench, but here we continue right, more steeply uphill. Soon the gradient eases, and the path turns left towards the exposed rocky "baba", where we can enjoy the view.
We continue into the deciduous forest (west direction), where the path crossing the slope first descends slightly, then brings us to a forest clearing. Here among the ferns we reach its edge, where there is a minor junction. We continue right along the edge, and after approx. 40 m we encounter another junction (left branch), where we go straight uphill. Initially a wider forest path, it soon turns right and narrows. It then ascends the forest slope in switchbacks. After some time, at the top of the eastern ridge of Jelenkamen, the path levels out slightly and continues straight uphill to the north. Soon (at the fallen tree) the path turns sharply left, first crossing a somewhat steeper slope, then bringing us to a partly open spot, where we get a view of the Julian Alps and the main viewpoint of Jelenkamen, which lies over 100 vertical metres below its summit. Here the path turns right, steeply uphill (careful on descent when wet!), which does not last long. When the path levels out and directs us slightly to the left, we notice various markers on the trees. Soon, along the eastern slope on a northwest traverse, the path makes its final ascent towards the summit of Jelenkamen. After a few minutes when we reach the summit, we turn right (left to Jelenkamen) towards the northwest. There follows a few-minute walk along the marked path on the forest ridge, after which, as it descends slightly, we reach a junction: right Pristava, left Rovt Dole, straight hunting path to Lenčkov Špik. We choose the last one and ascend it in the same direction from which we came. When after a short time the path descends slightly, we reach a right branch, onto which we turn and leave the marked hunting path. The path, which crosses the fairly steep slope of Lenčkov Špik, soon brings us to Lenčkov rovt. Here we step onto a cart track, along which we first descend slightly and then at the junction choose the left one, and along it moderately ascend across and along pastures to its end on the forest road Prihodi - Križovec. We turn right and walk along the said road for another 10 min, after which we encounter a cart track from the left, which leads into the forest towards the northwest (small parking lot on the right side of the road). We take it and step onto the marked path Pristava - Črni vrh. A little further on, the path reaches a small indistinct saddle, after which it begins to descend gradually. At the point where the path turns left and then rises slightly, we cross a stream (left Ukova). After a short moderate ascent, just before leaving the forest, at the junction we choose right, i.e. the path going straight. When we reach the grassy slope, we head onto the ascending cart track on our right and thus (before re-entering the forest) leave the marked path. The cart track, which fades away towards the top of the increasingly panoramic slope, brings us to a large saddle right below Španov vrh on our right (here a view opens towards Golica). Only a short ascent remains along the edge of the ski slope to the upper station of the Španov vrh chairlift.

On the way: Jelenkamen (1096m)