Križovec - Barentaler Kotschna/Struška (čez Sedlo Kočna)

Access to starting point:
From the Ljubljana - Jesenice motorway, we take the Lipce exit and continue on the road towards Jesenice. When we reach the traffic-light intersection where we join the old road, we continue right towards Žirovnica. We follow this road only briefly, as at the next somewhat larger intersection (traffic light) we continue left towards Javorniški Rovt. The road then goes through an underpass (railway) and then turns left (right Koroška Bela). We follow the road that starts to climb steeply higher up towards Javorniški Rovt. The road takes us past the Pristava house (the house is slightly above the road) and after the house we reach the next (smaller) intersection, where we go right. We then drive on a gravel road all the way to Križovec, which we recognize by the intersection of several roads (there are a few small parking areas and a cross at the intersection).

Route description:
From Križovec we continue past the cross on the road towards Pusti Rovt. At the beginning the road leads us past a barrier and then climbs gently through the forest. After about 15 minutes of walking it turns left and takes us out of the forest to the lower edge of Pusti Rovt. We continue on the road to which a marked path from Dom Pristava on Javorniški Rovt joins from the right, and after a few dozen steps this path leads us to the shepherd's hut on Pusti Rovt.
From the shepherd's hut we continue on the road which in the upper part of Pusti Rovt turns right into the forest. A little further on we reach a marked junction where we continue slightly right (left Golica) on a moderately steep path. A few meters higher this path crosses a relatively new road leading to Belska planina (Svečice). We only cross this road and continue the ascent on the marked path which soon leaves the forest and leads onto scenic slopes below Sedlo Kočna. We continue the ascent past a small hunting hut, after which we soon reach a watering place for animals. Only a short climb follows and the path takes us to Sedlo Kočna, from which there is a beautiful view of the Austrian side.
At the saddle we continue right towards Struška (left Golica and Ptičji vrh) on a relatively gentle path that continues along the main ridge. After a few minutes the path starts to climb more steeply and then turns sharply right, where in a traversing ascent it crosses slopes to the right. Higher up the path leads us from a belt of sparse forest and shrubs onto a scenic ridge, where after a few dozen meters of further ascent we cross a pasture fence.
Immediately after the pasture fence the trail splits into two parts. We continue on the right, lower and marked path (slightly left Struška along the ridge or along the state border), which further crosses slopes towards the southeast. The path continues for some time through the forest, then enters a belt of dwarf pine where it starts to climb more noticeably again. Higher up it briefly returns to the forest, then passes onto the grazing areas of Belska planina (Svečice). Here we continue slightly left and after a few more minutes of walking we reach the shepherd's hut on the mentioned mountain pasture.
From the mountain pasture we continue eastwards. From the marked path which turns slightly more to the right, we soon go a little left onto an otherwise traceable but not very well-trodden unmarked trail leading towards the highest peak of Struška (if we continued on the marked path we would reach Planina Seča).
The junction from the marked path is located in a small grassy gully, from where we start to ascend on the unmarked path that leads us through dwarf pine. We also continue ascending on a sometimes harder-to-follow trail that for some time runs along a kind of ravine or small valley. At the top of this small valley the trail turns right into the vast world of the upper slopes of Struška, which are partly overgrown with dwarf pine, so we carefully follow the poorly visible trail so as not to stray into difficult terrain. A little below the highest peak of Struška the trail leads us onto a ridge, along which we then continue to the summit, from where there is a beautiful view towards Slovenia and Austria.
Part of the route from Belska planina to the summit is orientationally somewhat more difficult, and in fog even more caution is needed so as not to get lost.

Križovec - Pusti Rovt 0:15, Pusti Rovt - junction for Struška 0:10, junction for Struška - Sedlo Kočna 0:20, Sedlo Kočna - Belska planina 1:00, Belska planina - Struška 0:45.

Along the route: Pusti Rovt (1296m), Razpotje nad Pustim Rovtom (1349m), Belska planina (Svečica) (1373m), Sedlo Kočna (1469m), Belska planina (Svečica) (1700m)

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