Kneške Ravne (Prošček) - Rodica

Access to starting point:
From the road Bača pri Modreju - Podbrdo, in the settlement Kneža we turn onto the road in the direction of Kneške Ravne. We then ascend along the road, which continues through the valley of the stream Kneža. Initially fairly gentle and partly macadam road, higher up it starts to ascend more steeply, on the steep section the road is mostly asphalt. Higher up, the road splits, and we choose the slightly right road which leads towards the mountain pasture Planina v Prodih and becomes macadam (left Kneške Ravne). There follows a few hundred metres of ascent on the macadam road, then we park at a suitable spot before the gate.

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue on the macadam road over which there is a gate, and along it in a few hairpin turns and after approximately 35 minutes we arrive at the forestry cottage.
At the cottage, we leave the road and walk on the right side of the cottage into the forest, where an easy-to-follow and still unmarked footpath continues. There follows an ascent, mostly through the forest, occasionally with some views opening up in the direction of the prealpine hills. There follows a crossing of a torrent bed, then we reach the marked Geological Trail.
We reach the marked trail on the edge of the mountain pasture Planina v Prodih, and we go right and walk to the nearby hunting cottage.
From the hunting cottage, we continue on the marked trail, which further mostly through the forest and with a gentle ascent crosses the slopes towards the southeast. The trail then briefly ascends somewhat more steeply and brings us below the slopes of the peak Konjsko brdo (1385m) and out of the forest. There follows a crossing of steeper and occasionally somewhat exposed grassy slopes. At a few spots, a steel cable assists us during the crossing. Further, the trail leads us also through a few belts of forest and then begins to descend somewhat more. The trail here still mostly runs towards the east or southeast. The slopes soon become steeper again and the trail becomes somewhat more demanding. Here fixed safety gear in the form of steel cables and a few pegs assist us at the crossing. The trail then starts ascending again and brings us to a short tunnel where there is also the stamp box Huda stopnja.
From the tunnel there follows a somewhat steeper ascent on a somewhat narrower trail where a few more steel cables assist us. Further, the trail becomes less steep and mostly runs through the forest. We still cross slopes towards the east, which are occasionally somewhat steeper. The trail, which runs along an old mule track, later descends gently and first brings us to an unmarked junction where a shorter branch of the mule track branches off to the left. We continue right and after a few tens of metres we reach a marked junction where we join the trail from the village Rut.
Beyond the junction named Mladinska koča we ascend along a well-preserved mule track, which after a few minutes turns sharply to the left, then for quite some time ascends diagonally to the left, first still through the forest, then through dwarf pines. During the diagonal ascent the trail also leads us over a few gullies, and the passages over them are not demanding, as the trail is wide all the way. With fine views of the Idrija and Cerkno hills, at the right hairpin turn we approach very close to the summit of Jehlc, which we see ahead of us all the time during the crossing. At this hairpin turn a pathless approach to the mentioned summit continues straight ahead (the last part before the ridge is demanding), while we continue on the marked trail, which continues further along the mule track. Two hairpin turns higher a still easier approach to the aforementioned summit branches off to the left, while we continue ascending through dwarf pines. A little higher we reach the ridge, which stretches from Jehlc to the main ridge of the Lower Bohinj Mountains, and the trail withdraws from it several times, once to the left, then again to the right side. Higher up dwarf pines are replaced by grass and rocks, and finer views open up with every step. There follows a few more hairpin turns, where we ascend over a steeper slope, then the slope flattens and the trail brings us to a marked junction, where we join the trail from the Bohinj side.
Here we continue right (left Šija, Ski hotel Vogel and Ribčev Laz) and along a moderately steep ridge in a good 10 minutes of further walking we ascend to the 1966 m high summit of Rodica.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in June 2024.

On the way: Gozdarska koča (937m), Planina v Prodih (1070m), Huda stopna (1300m)