Planina Polog - Batognica (via planina Sleme)

Access to starting point:
First, we drive to Tolmin; from there we follow the road in the direction of Zatolmin (we leave the main road at the traffic light). In Zatolmin we notice the mountain signposts for Javorca, which direct us onto an ascending road towards Javorca. Occasionally quite narrow and in places precipitous, the road brings us after approximately 8 km of driving to a small crossroads, where the road towards Javorca branches off to the left upwards. Here we turn left and follow the road for just over 100 m to the marked parking lot.

Route description:
From the parking lot, we continue on a concrete road, which quickly enters the forest and begins to ascend steeply. After approximately 15 minutes of walking, the forest thins out, and the road turns sharply to the right. There follows only a few minutes of walking along the edge of the pastures, and the road brings us to the memorial church of the Holy Spirit on Javorca.
We bypass the church on the left side and continue on a wide and initially gentle cart track, which quickly enters the forest. Here we can hear the roaring of the waterfall of the stream Peščak to the left below us, but we continue on the marked path (cart track), which higher crosses the aforementioned stream over a bridge. Further, we ascend on a moderately steep cart track, which continues partly through the forest, partly through dense shrubbery and brambles. Higher, we cross yet another of the numerous grazing fences, and the path brings us to the mountain pasture Črča, on which a few old huts stand.
Just before the huts on the mountain pasture, the signs for the mountain pastures Sleme, Medrje and Laška seč direct us slightly to the left, where we ascend through high grass to an indistinct ridge along which a grazing fence runs. Further, we ascend along the grazing fence, then the path enters dense forest, where it steeply ascends for a short time to a trough with water. Here the path turns slightly to the right, and after a few dozen steps it brings us to the next grazing fence. We cross the grazing fence and walk to the huts on the mountain pasture Laška seč.
Above the mountain pasture the path goes into the forest, which continues on a wide cart track. A little higher we emerge from the forest, and just a few meters after crossing a grazing fence we continue left on a poorly visible and poorly marked path. The path higher joins the cart track and brings us just a few meters further to the shepherd's hut on the mountain pasture Medrja.
From the hut on the mountain pasture we ascend diagonally to the left, where we soon reach a poor forest road. We follow the road to the left, which after an initial gentle ascent gradually begins to descend lightly. Higher we approach the mountain pasture Pretovč completely, and at the crossroads by the eponymous saddle we continue right in the direction of the mountain pasture Sleme. The road ahead begins to ascend more steeply, higher it crosses a belt of dense forest, then levels out and brings us to the mountain pasture Sleme amid ever more beautiful views.
On the mountain pasture by the NOB monument we continue left onto a panoramic grassy ridge, along which we walk to the former junction. Here the signs for Krn and Rdeči rob direct us left onto the lower path (the upper path has been closed for a long time due to impassability), which crosses the slopes to the left. The path ahead quickly brings us to a steep and wide gully, over which runs an excellently arranged path (if the path is damaged the crossing is deadly dangerous). The path ahead passes onto grassy slopes, crosses another smaller gully, over which the path is likewise exemplarily arranged. After that the path enters a belt of forest, where it continues to cross relatively steep slopes. The slope then levels out, and the path brings us over a grazing fence to the grazing areas of the mountain pasture Leskovica, where the otherwise marked path begins to fade. We descend diagonally somewhat to the right, where we pick up the path from the mountain pasture Kuhinja towards the lake in Lužnica.
We continue in the direction of Krn, and the path ascends ever more steeply upwards. Further, we ascend on steep slopes between Maselnik (1906 m) on the left and Veliki Stador (1903 m) on the right. Higher the path turns and brings us into a small cirque, where to the right an unmarked path to Rdeči rob branches off (the branch is marked). The marked path here turns left and ascends over a short steep slope, then levels out and brings us to the saddle between Maselnik and Škofič. Here we continue straight ahead and then along the lower path (the right upper path bypasses the lake); in a few minutes of descent we arrive at the lake in Lužnica, which we can already see from the aforementioned saddle.
From the lake we gently ascend on a poorly visible little path (direction north), then join the path which bypasses the lake on the right side. Further, we ascend through a beautiful high-alpine valley (Peski po Lužnici), then the path turns somewhat to the left and ascends more steeply. A short steep ascent follows, and the path brings us to the ridge north of Srednji vrh. Here the path turns right and in a few minutes brings us to Prag (2068 m). At Prag, where there is a marked junction, we continue left in the direction of Batognica (straight down Krnsko jezero, right Vrh nad Peski and Koča na planini Razor) along the path which moderately ascends along the summit slope of Batognica. We then follow this increasingly panoramic path to the summit, which we reach after 15 minutes of further walking.

Along the route: Javorca (571m), Planina Črča (800m), Planina Laška seč (1000m), Planina Medrja (1133m), Planina Sleme (1448m), The lake Jezero v Lužnici (1801m), Prag (2068m)

The trip can be extended to the following destinations: Krn ( 45 min)

We recommend: trips from the same starting point, similar trips, panorama, summit register