Ribniška koča - Ostruščica

Access to starting point:
A) From the road Maribor - Dravograd, before the settlement Brezno we turn left in the direction of Podvelka, Ribnica na Pohorju and Ribniška koča. After the bridge over the river Drava we arrive in Podvelka, and we follow the road further in the direction of Ribnica na Pohorju. After approximately 10 km from the bridge over Drava we arrive at the center of Ribnica na Pohorju, where we go left. There follows approximately 8 km of ascent, mostly on the macadam road, to the mountain hut Ribniška koča, where we park.
B) From Dravograd we drive towards Maribor, after Radlje ob Dravi at the roundabout we leave the main road towards Maribor and continue driving in the direction towards Vuhred, Ribnica na Pohorju and Ribniška koča. After the bridge over the river Drava we arrive in Vuhred, and we follow the road further in the direction of Ribnica na Pohorju. After approximately 10 km from the bridge over Drava we arrive at the center of Ribnica na Pohorju, where we go right. There follows approximately 8 km of ascent, mostly on the macadam road, to the mountain hut Ribniška koča, where we park.

Path description:
From Ribniška koča we head for the path in the direction of Jezerski vrh and Ribniško jezero and at first walk on the road by which we arrived at the starting point and which leads us in a gentle descent to the saddle between Mali Črni vrh and Jezerski vrh. On the saddle, where it is also possible to park, we leave the road and head for the marked footpath, which first gently, then more steeply ascends to the monument on Jezerski vrh, which we reach in approximately 10 minutes of increasingly panoramic ascent.
From Jezerski vrh we continue slightly left in the direction of Lovrenška jezera and Rogla (left Ribniško jezero 5 minutes) and begin to descend through thin forest. Soon a path joins us from the left that leads past Ribniško jezero, but we continue first with a still moderate descent through thin forest, then pass into dense forest, and the path descends a little more steeply. During the descent a short path branches off to the left to the memorial for the deceased pilots, but we continue the descent to the saddle Šiklarica. After the saddle we start ascending again, and at a few smaller junctions we follow the blazes. A little further we pass a spring, after it we ascend quite steeply for a few minutes. Higher the path flattens and brings us from the forest to the meadow Planinka, across which we ascend mostly gently to moderately with ever more beautiful views. Higher the path turns right and a little further a path from Lovrenc na Pohorju joins us from the left. There follows some more traversing with beautiful views, then the path enters thin forest, where it runs below the plateau of Lovrenška jezera, consequently crossing a greater number of smaller streams. After a few minutes of traversing we arrive at a marked junction, where we continue slightly right in the direction of Rogla (left Lovrenška jezera, Koča na Pesku and Rogla via Lovrenška jezera).
Further we continue for some time without major changes in elevation through the forest, then the forest thins and a beautiful view opens up to us, reaching as far as the Karawanks and Kamnik Savinja Alps. A little further the path returns to the forest and on the saddle Komisija it joins the path that leads past Lovrenška jezera.
We continue straight towards Rogla and ascend in moderate ascent to the indistinct summit of Ostruščica.
Ribniška koča - Jezerski vrh 0:15, Jezerski vrh - Ostruščica 2:50.
The description refers to the state in October 2022, and the pictures are from various periods.

On the way: Jezerski vrh (1537m), Preval Šiklarica (1300m), Sedlo Komisija (1446m)