Ljubelj - Vertatscha/Vrtača

Access to starting point:
From the highway Ljubljana - Jesenice, we take the Ljubelj exit and follow the road ahead to the border crossing. Just a few meters before the border crossing, signs for Zelenica direct us to the left and after some 10 meters of additional driving, the road brings us to the parking lot below the ski center Zelenica.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we head onto the footpath in the direction of Zelenica, Vrtača and Stol. The cart track, which runs along the left side of the ski slope, brings us after approximately 15 minutes of moderate ascent through the forest to the aforementioned slope, along which we then ascend. The path, which offers nice views of the extensive scree fields of Begunjščica on the left and the ridge of Ljubeljščica on the right, then brings us in a gentle ascent to the hut on Vrtača. From the hut, we continue straight on the marked path, which slowly turns slightly to the left and after a shorter traverse ascent brings us into a belt of dwarf pines. Further on, the path ascends more steeply for a short time and then brings us to a cart track (transport rescue road), which we follow in a moderate ascent to the mountain hut on Zelenica.
From the hut on Zelenica, we continue right in the direction of Stol and Vrtača (left Begunjščica) on the path which immediately after the hut turns left and ascends beside the children's ski lift. Somewhere halfway along the lift, we reach a less noticeable junction, where we continue right and ascend transversely across the ski slope (straight to the hut at the source of Završnica). Further on, we cross a short belt of forest and the path brings us to the next lift, which we cross in a gentle descent. On the other side of the ski slope, we notice a larger rock with a marking on it that directs us into the forest. The path ahead first descends slightly, then ascends transversely across the scree. The path soon levels out and turns somewhat to the left, where we reach a smaller unmarked junction. We continue straight on the gentle and marked mountain path, which a little further brings us to the place where an unmarked path branches off to the right into the valley of Suhega ruševja (cairn).
The path ahead ascends transversely along the southern slopes of Vrtača. The path, which partly runs through the forest and partly across extensive scree fields, then brings us higher to a marked junction, where we continue right in the direction of Vrtača (straight Stol). The path ahead begins to ascend more steeply, first through a belt of dwarf pines, higher across extensive grassy slopes. On these grassy slopes, an unmarked path from the saddle Šija joins almost imperceptibly from the left, but we continue on the marked path, which steeply ascends toward the side ridge of Vrtača. Higher up, the path turns slightly to the left, crosses steep partly rocky slopes and after a few minutes of further walking brings us to the aforementioned ridge, where the path turns sharply to the right. The path ahead begins to ascend steeply on very steep and slippery-dangerous slopes. Higher up, the path brings us to the main ridge of the Karavanks, where it levels out. This is followed by approximately 20 minutes of walking along and on the ridge, which is somewhat exposed in places and slippery-dangerous throughout the section. We then follow this panoramic path all the way to the summit of Vrtača.
Ljubelj - Zelenica 1:20, Zelenica - Vrtača 2:10.

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