Podkorita - Gladki vrh (Ratitovec)

Access to starting point:
From the Ljubljana-Jesenice highway, we take the Lesce exit, then continue driving towards Bled and Bohinjska Bistrica. When we arrive in the municipality of Bohinj, we should slowly start paying attention to the left turn-off. Just before the main road crosses the bridge over the Sava Bohinjka River, we continue slightly left onto a macadam road that runs parallel to the river. From the main road, we drive another 2100 m on the macadam road and then park in a suitable place by the road.

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue on the macadam road, which already leads us over two successive streams and a smaller wooden cottage that we notice on the left side. A little further ahead, or right after the small bridge, we arrive at a small crossroads where a short road branches off to the left towards the nearby bee house. We continue towards the bee house (straight to waterfall Grmečica and Nomenj, the right road ends on the nearby meadows) and behind it straight into a belt of bushes, where we first notice a faint footpath that becomes more distinct just a few meters higher. The path ahead leads us across a short scree slope, where it turns right and transitions to an old cart track. We continue ascending the cart track, following it to the right at two less noticeable junctions. The cart track then veers slightly right and brings us to a small valley, where it almost completely disappears. We continue a few steps through the valley or a sort of wide gully, then the path leads us left onto the slopes, where the cart track becomes distinct again. A little higher, we cross a forest road, and above it the path first ascends through a belt of bushes, then enters the forest, through which it begins to ascend more steeply. Higher up, there are again a few almost unnoticeable junctions, and we follow the "main" path, which brings us higher to a more rocky cart track partly overgrown with tall grass. Here we continue left and then, after a few meters when we reach a small valley, right onto a gentle cart track, along which we ascend to the nearby macadam road. We follow the road to the right, and then after some 10 meters at a small right bend, slightly left onto the cart track, along which we ascend to the lower part of Bitenjska planina. When we step out of the forest, we continue slightly left, and after a short ascent we already see the first cottages on the mountain pasture, to which we walk across an increasingly panoramic meadow.
Above the mountain pasture, we step onto an asphalt road, which we follow to the right (left to Železniki), walking along it to the nearby crossroads, where we notice the first signs for Ratitovec.
We continue left onto the road towards Ratitovec, and initially the still-asphalted road quickly leads us into dense forest. We walk along the mentioned road for about 10 minutes, then the blazes direct us slightly left onto a marked footpath that continues along a grassy cart track, which runs along the Bitenjski graben stream. Higher up, we return to the road, reaching it right at a small crossroads. We continue along the upper right road, along which we soon arrive at Ribčeva planina.
From Ribčeva planina, we continue along the road, which a little higher brings us to a crossroads, where we continue right. From the crossroads, we walk along the road for about another 2 minutes, then the signs for the footpath to Ratitovec direct us left onto a marked cart track, which higher turns into a somewhat steeper mountain path that soon crosses a forest road and flattens out behind it. On the other side of the road, we continue along the cart track, then quickly leave it as the blazes direct us right onto a forest path that initially still ascends moderately, then gradually descends to the nearby forest road, which we follow left. We continue the ascent along the road, walking along it in a few minutes to its end, where there is a larger parking lot and turning area.
From the parking lot, we continue along a wide cart track that begins to ascend relatively steeply through the forest. After about 10 minutes of walking, the cart track flattens, then a little further brings us to the cottages on Pečana mountain pasture.
A few steps above the mentioned cottages, we emerge from the forest onto grassy slopes, and we continue along the right side of the mountain pasture for just a few more meters, then at the junction continue right towards Krekova koča (straight to Kosmati vrh). The path ahead begins to ascend moderately through increasingly sparse spruce forest. Higher up, we finally step out of the forest onto the expansive pastures of Ratitovec, where we leave the cart track and continue the ascent along a somewhat less visible but marked footpath that brings us, after a few minutes of further walking, to the summit slopes of Ratitovec, where the path from Soriška planina joins from the right. We continue left along the increasingly panoramic path that leads us past the winter bivouac all the way to Krekova koča on Ratitovec, which we reach after less than 5 minutes of further walking.
From the hut, we continue left along a somewhat steeper path towards Gladki vrh. We then follow this increasingly panoramic path all the way to Gladki vrh, which we reach after 5 minutes of further walking.

On the way: Bitenjska planina (901m), Ribčeva planina (1115m), Planina Pečana (1472m), Krekova koča na Ratitovcu mountain hut (1642m)