Ruski križ - Planja (via Kriška stena)

Access to starting point:
First we drive to Kranjska Gora, then continue driving towards the Vršič Pass. Just a little before the 3rd hairpin bend of the Russian or Vršič road, we will notice Ruski križ on the right side, and a smaller parking lot on the left, where we park. Because the parking lot is relatively small and fills up quickly, we can also park a bit higher at a larger parking lot just above the 4th hairpin bend (in this case we have to descend a bit to our starting point at Ruski križ).
We can also reach the starting point from the Primorska side, namely via the Vršič Pass.

Route description:
Just a little before the 3rd hairpin bend of the Russian road, along the road we will notice mountain signs for Koča v Krnici, which direct us slightly left onto a wide cart track that immediately begins to descend moderately. After a few minutes of descent through the forest, the path levels out and brings us to the bed of Suha Pišnica. Shortly after crossing the mentioned stream, the path turns slightly to the left and brings us out of the forest onto the vast 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 follow the relatively steep forest road all the way to Koča v Krnici, which we reach after about 20 minutes of further walking.
From the hut, where there is pleasant shade, we continue straight in the direction of Kriška stena through the Krnica valley, initially slightly, then increasingly steeply upwards. The path soon exits the forest, where a beautiful view of the nearby rock faces opens up. Next we cross scree that storms bring from the surrounding gullies. The path ahead becomes steeper and still leads us in the same direction. The last trees are already behind us and we slowly transition to the scree under the walls of Kriška stena. In the upper part of the scree the path slightly turns left to the entry into Kriška stena. Here begins the climbing part of the path, where we put on the helmet.
The path at the beginning of the wall turns left and climbs steeply. In the wall the path is routed mostly along natural passages, sometimes helped also by fixed protections. On this part we also take care not to dislodge rocks! After about an hour of climbing the wall, which is in places quite difficult, we step out of it.
Above the wall the path levels out and brings us to a junction at Vrh Kriške stene, where we continue right in the direction of Križ (left Vrata and Škrlatica) and the path, which transitions to a wide ridge, quickly brings us to Bovška vratca, from which a view opens to Kriški podi, where we can see the highest lying Slovenian lake, Zgornje Kriško jezero, which lies at an altitude of 2159 meters.
We continue straight downwards in the direction of Pogačnikov dom (left Križ, 10 minutes) over the broken rocky terrain. During the descent we can notice Šplevta (mountain with the outline of an Indian) on the right side, which livens up the trip. The descent, which is slightly demanding, brings us with the help of a few pitons to a smaller saddle between Križ and Kriški rob. The path bypasses the latter on the left side, where we cross steep slopes (the hardest part is protected). Here we can still observe Zgornje Kriško jezero for some time, then the path begins to descend through the karst world of Kriški podi. After about an hour's descent the path brings us to a junction near Pogačnikov dom.
Here we continue right in the direction towards the summit of Razor (left Pogačnikov dom, 3 minutes) along the path that crosses slopes towards the northwest. The path ahead leads us left transversely across the scree, where we also descend a bit, then the path is stopped by a rock jump. We climb it with the help of protections and at the top of the jump continue left along an exposed rock slab. On the other side of the slab we are again on the scree and continue along it further towards the Planja saddle, where the path from Vršič also joins us.
We continue left in the direction of Planja (straight down Vršič, right Razor) along the path that in a traversing ascent with the help of protections climbs to the summit slopes of the mountain. Here the steepness eases and the increasingly panoramic path, from which beautiful views of the highest peaks of the Julian Alps open, brings us in a few more minutes to the spacious summit.

Starting point - Planina v Klinu 0:20, Planina v Klinu - Koča v Krnici 0:25, Koča v Krnici - Vrh Kriške stene 3:30, Vrh Kriške stene - Bovška vratca 0:15, Bovška vratca - Pogačnikov dom 1:00, Pogačnikov dom - sedlo Planja 1:05, sedlo Planja - Planja 0:30.

Along the route: Mali Tamar (996m), Planina v Klinu (980m), Koča v Krnici (1113m), Pod Kriško steno (1945m), Rob Kriške stene (2300m), Bovška vratca (2378m), Pogačnikov dom na Kriških podih (2050m), Sedlo Planja (2352m)

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