Ljubelj - Celovška špica / Klagenfurter Spitze (upper path)

Access to starting point:
We drive to the border crossing Ljubelj, where before the tunnel we turn left towards Zelenica. Then we drive across a small bridge, and then we park on a large parking lot.

Path description:
At the beginning of the parking lot, the mountain signs for Stol, Vrtača and Dom na Zelenici direct us onto a wide cart track which starts to ascend beside the torrent. When a little higher the cart track turns left, we continue straight on the mountain path which continues through the forest and soon returns to the cart track. The cart track a little higher turns right and brings us out of the forest onto the ski slope of the former ski resort Zelenica. There follows a short steeper ascent on the ski slope, then the path levels out and leads us along the foot of the screes below Begunjščica.
From the marked path, a path running along the service road soon branches off to the right, while we continue along the "road" to the nearby Koča Vrtača hut.
At the hut, the road turns right, while we continue straight in the direction of the mountain path to Zelenica. For a short time we continue below the former single-seat lift Zelenica II, then the path starts to ascend more steeply up the slope which is partly overgrown with dwarf pines. After a few hairpin turns, we return to the service road, along which we continue with a view of the Šentanski plaz gully.
The path further leads us across the slopes of Spodnji plot (peak on which a sport climbing route was created some years ago), then from the road we turn right onto a footpath that cuts a longer bend. When we return to the road, we are already at the upper station of the former single-seat lift Zelenica II, and only a few steps of descent separate us from Dom na Zelenici.
Past the mountain hut we continue left and ascend to the midpoint of the children's drag lift, then on the right we notice signs for Vrtača and Stol, which direct us right into a strip of forest. A little further we cross the connecting strip between the children's drag lift and the anchor lift, then we also cross the other ski slope.
We find the continuation of the path by a smaller boulder, then we cross the slopes below the ridge Na Možeh. When the traverse ends we arrive in an indistinct little valley, where a path to Suho ruševje branches off to the right (usually a cairn at the junction).
From the junction we ascend briefly through the forest, then the path brings us to the slopes of Vrtača, where in a gentle ascent we cross a few scree slopes and occasionally also a really short strip of forest. Further on, the path from Dom pri izviru Završnice joins us from the left, a little further ahead the path forks.
We continue on the somewhat narrower lower path in the direction of Stol (right Vrtača), from which the nearby Srednji vrh overgrown with dwarf pines is nicely visible. At the next junction we continue straight in the direction of Stol (left saddle Šija, Srednji vrh, Stol-lower path...), and the path then traverses occasionally steeper grassy slopes interrupted by some less steep gullies. The traversing of the grassy slopes soon ends, and the path brings us to a steep chute through which we begin to descend steeply along a path that is eroded in places and slippery in spots. When the chute ends the path goes onto the scree, across which it descends transversely below the cliffs to the sinkhole V Kožnah. Here the path starts ascending again, and the lower path and the path from Završnica join us from the left.
We continue straight, and the path ahead leads past several large boulders. There follows a somewhat steeper ascent with nice views of the surroundings and the wall of Srednja peč on the left. When higher up the marked path levels out, it brings us to a junction where the path to Celovška koča / Klagenfurter Hütte and Svačici branches off to the right.
At the junction we continue approximately 100 meters further in the direction of Stol, then we leave the marked path and head right into pathless terrain. Exactly where we leave the marked path is not important; we could also leave it at the very junction where the path from Završnica joined us. Once we leave the marked path we head towards a smaller saddle in the Orlic ridge (between Celovška špica and Jelenček). Initially we ascend rough scree across numerous rocks and boulders; somewhat higher, where the stones become finer, we notice a poorly trodden little path. When we reach the wall of the Jelenček peak the path is already well visible. Here we continue left, and the path brings us in a traversing ascent soon to the saddle on the border ridge.
At the saddle we continue left and ascend onto the ridge. Further on we ascend the ridge for a while, aided also by some cairns. The slope here is quite steep, so some caution is required. The path then brings us to a shorter grassy section where a traverse of a short belt of dwarf pines follows. The path then turns right and ascends a short gully, bringing us to a partly vegetated ridge. Here we continue left and ascend the mentioned ridge for some time. The track here is mostly visible, aided also by some cairns. When we get very close to the steep rocky slopes below the summit, we continue right and pass through a narrow gap onto the north side of the mountain. Here we continue left, and a short traversing ascent follows on a somewhat exposed slope that is dangerous for slipping. The slope then becomes less exposed, and a few more meters of easier scrambling follow to the summit.
Ljubelj - Koča Vrtača 40 minutes, Koča Vrtača - Dom na Zelenici 40 minutes, Dom na Zelenici - turn off from the marked path 2:25, turn off from the marked path - Celovška špica 0:35.

On the way: Koča Vrtača (1288m), Dom na Zelenici (1536m)