Kopačnica - Veliki vrh (Lajše)

Access to starting point:
A) First, we drive to Gorenja vas in Poljanska Valley (to here from Škofja Loka via the new bypass road that bypasses Škofja Loka, Horjul or Polhov Gradec), then we continue driving towards Žiri and Cerkno. When we get to Hotavlje, we turn right in the direction of the village Leskovica and the Cerkno ski slope. The road then soon brings us to Kopačnica, where we notice signs for Ermanovec, which direct us left over the bridge. Because there are no appropriate parking spots at the starting point, it is better to drive a little further up the narrower road, which through the hamlet Kopačnica brings us into the valley of the Podkovščica stream. We park above the village in an appropriate place by the road.
B) We drive to Žiri (to here from Vrhnika or Logatec), then we continue driving towards Škofja Loka. When we get to Hotavlje, we turn left in the direction of the village Leskovica and the Cerkno ski slope. The road then soon brings us to Kopačnica, where we notice signs for Ermanovec, which direct us left over the bridge. Because there are no appropriate parking spots at the starting point, it is better to drive a little further up the narrower road, which through the hamlet Kopačnica brings us into the valley of the Podkovščica stream. We park above the village in an appropriate place by the road.

Path description:
Above the village, the road beside which we parked gradually turns into a cart track that moderately ascends beside the Podkovščica stream. The cart track along which we walk crosses the mentioned stream several times, then near the partly overgrown end of the ravine turns sharply left, where it also ascends somewhat more steeply. The path ahead ascends diagonally for a few minutes, then brings us to a wide indistinct ridge, where it turns right again. Further on we follow the blazes; the path in a moderate ascent through the forest brings us to the nearby forest road, which we follow to the right (at the place where we step onto the road there are no blazes).
We continue the ascent along the increasingly panoramic road, which with fine views of Blegoš and the surrounding hills brings us to the Erženovše homestead. Above the farm, macadam replaces asphalt, and after 3 minutes of further walking we arrive at a marked junction beside which we notice a larger chapel.
From the junction, located on the main ridge of the 1005 m high Štor, we continue right (left to Koča na Ermanovcu - 5 minutes) along the fairly panoramic asphalt road, along which in a few minutes we reach the information board on the Rapallo border and the renovated border stone from 1920.
A few steps further, signs for the Franja hospital direct us right onto a macadam road that leads through the yard of the nearby house. On the other side of the house we continue left onto a cart track, along which across the grassy slope we enter the forest. Through the forest at several forks we follow the blazes, and the path beyond the structure from the Rapallo border era begins to descend noticeably. Lower down the path brings us out of the forest, from where a fine view opens onto Škofje. A few more steps lower, at a hamlet of a few houses, we step onto the asphalt road leading from Koča na Ermanovcu to the Kladje pass, which we follow right. Some 10 steps further a marked path branches right towards Škofje and the Franja hospital, while we continue along the road that leads alternately across panoramic meadows, partly through forest, passing several individual houses. Lower down another path from Škofje and the Franja hospital joins from the right, and past a few houses we reach a marked junction at the Kladje pass, located in the Podlanišče settlement.
From the Kladje saddle at Podlanišče we continue along the asphalt road in the direction of Lajše, Bevkov vrh and Sivka. The path first leads past houses, behind which a marked path to Bevkov vrh branches left, while we continue straight ahead along the asphalt road. The road then crosses a strip of forest, after which we arrive at a panoramic grassy slope. With views of Škofje, Porezen, Kojca and part of the chain of the Spodnje Bohinjske gore, we walk past a smaller hamlet, then the road brings us to a smaller junction where we continue right downhill in the direction of the shrine at Lajše.
We continue along the macadam road, which begins to descend moderately and, after crossing a strip of forest, becomes completely level. Here another path to Bevkov vrh branches left, while the gentle road across the extensive meadow quickly brings us to the next junction, where we continue right and after a few steps reach a small church (shrine at Lajše), located some 10 m from the path.
From the shrine we continue along the slightly ascending road, which brings us to the quarry, where we take the left road. The road quickly rises above the quarry, then slowly turns right. We follow this occasionally more panoramic road all the way to the summit, which we reach after a few minutes of further walking.

On the way: Kladje (787m), Svetišče na Lajšah (830m)