Ruski križ - Bivak v Veliki Dnini

Access to starting point:
Drive to Kranjska Gora, where we continue driving left in the direction of Vršič or Bovec. Just a little before the 3rd serpentine of the Russian or Vršič road, we will notice a smaller parking lot by the road, where we park. On the opposite side of the road from the parking lot we can see a cross, a few meters further on the left side, the turn-off of the forest road and mountain signs for Koča v Krnici. We can also descend along the mentioned poorer macadam road towards Suha Pišnica where there is also a somewhat larger parking lot. Some parking spaces are also located a little further along the main road between the 4th serpentine and Mihov dom.
We can also reach the starting point from the Primorska side, namely via the Vršič pass.

Path description:
We head onto the poorer macadam road, which immediately begins to descend moderately through the forest. Soon a path branches off to the right upwards that leads towards Mihov dom and further to Vršič. We continue along the road, which is descending and after a few minutes brings us to the parking lot in the vicinity of the Suha Pišnica streambed. Here by the parking lot there is also drinking water. We continue right past the parking lots and then continue along the road, which is closed to public traffic in the continuation.
The road here first crosses the Suha Pišnica stream and then turns slightly left and brings us out of the forest onto the expansive grassy slopes of Planina v Klinu, where on the right we notice an isolated hut, and on the left a smaller memorial park Mali Tamar. The path ahead completely levels out, then joins a forest road that comes from the former hotel Erika or the bridge over Velika Pišnica. Here we continue right, and soon we come to a junction where a footpath branches off to the right towards Koča v Krnici. We turn right onto the mentioned path, which in the continuation leads us in a gentle ascent through the forest, mostly it is pleasantly soft, only here and there a bit more stony. A little before the hut we again join the macadam road and there is only a short walk left to the hut.
From the hut we set off left in the direction of Špik (straight Kriška stena) and for a short time we still walk along a level path through the forest. The path then crosses two smaller torrent beds, at the next wider bed the path turns slightly to the right and in the continuation climbs for quite some time along the bed. Here we mostly ascend through dwarf pine, from the path we have a nice view especially towards Prisank and Razor. Higher the path crosses the bed to the left side and climbs up a steeper slope. When the dwarf pine begins to become somewhat sparser, the marked path turns left, and along the path we will notice a large rock with the inscription „Špik 3h“.
Here we leave the marked path towards Špik and continue straight parallel with the bed. Along the path we will also notice some cairns. For some time we continue slightly left of the bed where there is also a visible, though somewhat less trodden path. Because the slope above the bed along which we are walking is eroded in some places, some caution is needed. From the mentioned path we then soon descend right into the torrent gully along which we continue the ascent. In the continuation we still follow the torrent bed for quite some time and ascend over numerous rocks and boulders. Higher our path turns decisively right and brings us out of the gully along a poorly visible path. A well visible cairn that is located right above the gully also helps us. When crossing along the mentioned path some caution is needed, as there is quite a lot of slippery sand on the path.
From the gully we then continue on more vegetated terrain and cross a belt with some more larches, then the path turns left and begins to climb steeply through dwarf pine. On this part we will also notice some old markings along the path. Higher the dwarf pine becomes sparser and the path turns somewhat left and brings us to scree under the walls of Škrlatica. A quite strenuous and steep ascent follows along the path that runs over the scree. The steepness in the continuation somewhat eases and below the slopes of Visoka Ponca we can already see the bivouac. Soon we come to a poorly visible junction where we turn left towards the bivouac, straight leads the path towards the end of the valley and further to Visoka Ponca.
Again we ascend somewhat more steeply and soon come to a ledge secured with a steel cable that leads to the bivouac. We head onto the mentioned ledge and after a short crossing follows a few meters of somewhat more demanding ascent along the steel cable, which brings us to the bivouac.

Starting point - Planina v Klinu 0:20, Planina v Klinu - Koča v Krnici 0:25, Koča v Krnici - turnoff from the marked path 0:50, turnoff from the marked path - bivouac 2:10.

On the way: Mali Tamar (996m), Planina v Klinu (980m), Koča v Krnici (1113m), Odcep z markirane poti (1425m)