Koča pri Savici - Velika Zelnarica (via Vrata)

Access to starting point:
From the Ljubljana - Jesenice motorway, take the Lesce exit and follow the road towards Bled and on to Bohinjska Bistrica. Continue driving towards Bohinjsko jezero (Ribčev laz), at which you will come to a crossroads, where you will continue straight along the left (south) side of the lake in the direction of Ukanc and the Savica waterfall. Follow this increasingly narrow road to the large parking lot at the Savica cottage. There is a charge for parking.

Path description:
From the parking lot, head right in the direction of Črno jezero, Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih and Hotel Zlatorog (straight ahead Slap Savica and Dom na Komni). The path initially leads along a macadam road that crosses the Savica river over a bridge. Just beyond the bridge, signs for Komarča direct us left (straight to Hotel Zlatorog) onto a path that is initially still quite wide and relatively gentle forest trail. The path soon begins to climb more steeply and a little higher leads to the point where the path to the Savica spring and Velika Savica cave branches off to the left, while we continue right along the increasingly steep path.
The well-maintained and relatively wide mountain path soon transitions to very steep and slippery slopes of Komarča, where there is also a high risk of falling rocks. The path ahead climbs steeply along the mostly forested wall of Komarča, with fixed protections, mainly steel cables, assisting in more difficult sections.
Higher up, some views open from the path towards Bohinj, and the path leads to a short technically demanding section where, with the help of staples and steel cable, we cross an otherwise not very exposed gully. The path continues to climb steeply for some time and, with the help of some protections, leads to the edge of Komarča, from where a nice view opens to our starting point. A short moderately steep ascent follows, then the path begins to gently descend towards Črno jezero, which we reach in less than five minutes of further walking.
Near the lake is a marked junction where the path to Planina Viševnik and Pršivec branches off to the right, while we continue slightly left and proceed along the marked path that bypasses Črno jezero on the right side. On the other side of the lake, the path from Dom na Komni joins from the left, and we continue along the relatively gentle path that proceeds along the edge of Lopučniška dolina. Higher up, the path begins to climb moderately and leads us along the edge of overhanging cliffs to a small spring that dries up in dry periods.
We continue along the marked path, which near Bela skala turns sharply right and climbs steeply. A few minutes of steep ascent follow, then the path flattens and leads to a marked junction where the path from Planina Blato joins from the right, namely the path over Prode. We continue left in the direction of Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih and proceed along the relatively gentle path, reaching Dvojno jezero in ten minutes of further walking. The marked path bypasses the lake on the right side and, before reaching the other side, leads to a junction where the path to Štapce and Mala Tičarica branches off to the right.
Here we continue straight and in a few minutes of further walking reach Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih.
From the hut, continue in the direction of Triglav, Dolič, Hribarice, Prehodavci and Veliko Špičje, where the path first leads past the dam and artificial lake Močivec. The path bypasses the lake on the right, eastern side and continues with a moderate ascent through the Valley of Triglav Lakes, which is overgrown with increasingly sparse forest.
Still in the belt of sparse forest, the path forks, and we continue along the slightly right path that proceeds towards Prehodavci and Hribarice (left path to Veliko or Lepo Špičje over the Zgornje Komne plateau) and leads first through sparse larch forest, then under the scree slopes of mighty Kopica and later Mala Zelnarica. Later, the path temporarily climbs a bit more and leads to a small pass from which a nice view opens to Jezero v Ledvicah.
The marked path bypasses the mentioned lake on the right side, continuing over extensive scree at the foot of both Zelnarice. Behind the lake, the path returns from the scree to the Valley of Triglav Lakes, along which we continue a relatively gentle ascent. Already a fully high-mountain path, higher up it climbs more steeply for a short time, then flattens completely and after a few minutes of further walking leads to Zeleno jezero.
At Zeleno jezero, continue right in the direction of Triglav, Dolič and Hribarice (straight Rjavo jezero and Prehodavci) and begin climbing towards the scree under Poprovec, where the path from Prehodavci joins from the left, passing Rjavo jezero, while we continue right towards Hribarice.
A traversing ascent over the scree to the right follows; upon reaching the valley under Hribarice, we reach the next junction.
Continue right in the direction of preval Vrata (slightly left Hribarice, Kanjavec, Dolič and Triglav), first crossing moderately steep slopes, later arriving at steeper slopes under Vršaki, where we cross a short exposed ledge requiring greater caution over several dozen steps to avoid slipping. A short descent on less steep terrain follows, then we gradually begin climbing towards preval Vrata, located between Zadnji Vogel on the left and Velika Zelnarica on the right.
From the marked junction at Vrata, continue right in the direction of Mala Zelnarica and Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih (straight valley Za Kopico, Planina Dedno polje and Koča na Planini pri Jezeru) along the path that traverses up over relatively steep slopes of Velika Zelnarica and after a bit more than ten minutes leads to Sedlo med Zelnaricama, where we leave the marked path and head right onto a less visible trail that in a few minutes of moderate ascent leads to the somewhat exposed southern ridge of Velika Zelnarica. The path ahead leads along or slightly right of the ridge, the trail sometimes completely disappearing, but we follow the ridge to the summit of Velika Zelnarica about 15 minutes away, from which a nice view opens to the surrounding mountains and valleys.
Izhodišče - rob Komarče 1:35, rob Komarče - Črno jezero 0:05, Črno jezero - razpotje nad Lopučniško dolino 1:15, razpotje nad Lopučniško dolino - Dvojno jezero 0:10, Dvojno jezero - Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih 0:05, Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih - odcep za Veliko Špičje 0:25, odcep za Veliko Špičje - odcep k Jezeru v Ledvicah 0:30, odcep k Jezeru v Ledvicah - Zeleno jezero 0:45, Zeleno jezero - razpotje pod Vršaki 0:30, razpotje pod Vršaki - Vrata 0:45, Vrata - Sedlo med Zelnaricama 0:15, Sedlo med Zelnaricama - Velika Zelnarica 0:20.

On the way: Komarča (810m), Rob Komarče (1295m), Vrh Komarče (1313m), Črno jezero (1294m), Bela skala (1575m), Razpotje nad Lopučniško dolino (1671m), Ruski grob (1686m), Dvojno jezero (1689m), Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih (1685m), Močivec (1690m), Odcep za Veliko Špičje (1762m), Odcep k Jezeru v Ledvicah (1854m), Lake Jezero v Ledvicah (1831m), Lake Zeleno jezero (1988m), Razpotje nad Rjavim jezerom (2087m), Razpotje pod Vršaki (2192m), Vrata (2192m), Sedlo med Zelnaricama (2222m)