Ljubelj - Žerjavov Praprotnik / Loibler Prapotnik

Access to starting point:
We leave the Gorenjska highway at the Podtabor junction, and then we continue driving towards Tržič and Celovec. When we get to Ljubelj, before the tunnel we turn right onto a larger asphalted parking lot, where we park.

Path description:
From the starting point, we head on the path in the direction of the Koča na Ljubelju mountain hut. After a short ascent, we reach the macadam road, on which we continue the ascent. Next follows an ascent on a quite steep road which leads us over a few torrents and past a chapel and a pleasant spring with a bench. Higher, the road makes a few more hairpin turns; at the last left hairpin turn a nice view opens up on Košutica and Veliki vrh, and then we already arrive at the Koča na Ljubelju mountain hut.
From the hut we walk along the road to the state border, cross it, and then on the Austrian side descend to a marked junction a few minutes away. From the junction we continue right in the direction of the marked path to Košutica / Loibler Baba and continue the path along a poorer road. The marked path soon turns right upwards from the road, while we walk along the ever worsening road to its end. The road ends at the nearby torrent; on its other side we search for the continuation of an unmarked trail. Next follows traversing along a poor trail, first above the torrent, then through the forest. A little further we arrive at an older clearing, from which a beautiful view opens up, and on the northern part of the mentioned clearing we reach a wider cart track, along which we descend towards the northwest to the nearby macadam road (we can also reach here by road, if at the first marked junction we continue straight ahead, then at the next two intersections turn right. The mentioned road path is approximately 15 minutes longer).
We follow the road to the right, along which we descend diagonally towards the left. We bypass the nearby hunting hut on the left side, then cross another torrent. Next follows quite some walking along the road, which gradually begins to ascend, from which beautiful views open up several times on the surrounding mountains. Higher, at an altitude of approximately 1300 m, a road branches off to the right leading to the saddle north of Rjave peči; we continue straight on the wider road. The road along which we continue soon splits again; this time we choose the upper, slightly right path (the lower path leads towards the saddle Oselca / Eselsattel), along which we ascend to a smaller saddle south of Žerjavov Praprotnik, where slightly to the right from the path we notice a cross.
At the mentioned saddle there is the next junction of roads; we continue straight ahead on the cart track that proceeds between both roads. The quite overgrown cart track soon turns right, briefly crosses the slopes, then turns left upwards and steeply ascends to a newer forest road. We continue along the road to the first left bend, which is located on an indistinct ridge.
At the mentioned bend we leave the road and, with nice views, continue along the indistinct ridge, where we proceed walking pathless. Higher we cross a few belts of forest, all the while accompanied by grassy terrain. After approximately 15 minutes of ascent from the place where we left the last road, we reach the panoramic summit, on which a trigonometric point stands and on a nearby tree a smaller cross.
Ljubelj - Koča na Ljubelju 45 minutes, Koča na Ljubelju - Žerjavov Praprotnik 1:45.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in the year 2016 (December).

On the way: Koča na Ljubelju mountain hut (1370m)