Slake (Church of the Virgin Mary on Pesek) - Zavetišče Šmarnica on Mala Rudnica

Access to starting point:
We drive to Podčetrtek, and then we follow the signs for Olimje. In the settlement Slake, we turn right onto a narrower road with red hiking signposts, and along this road, we drive to the church of the Virgin Mary on Pesek, where we park in the parking lot above the church.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the asphalt road, which leads into the forest, and at a smaller crossroad, we turn slightly right and continue ascending. Higher up, we leave the dense forest, and at a few crossroads, we follow local signs. After some time, we reach a macadam road, which quickly leads us to a marked crossing where Knafelc blazes and standard red hiking signposts appear along the path.
We continue right (left Olimje) and for some time, without significant changes in altitude, we proceed with a traverse to the right. When we reach a marked crossroad, we turn sharply left toward the tower of health and joy (straight Podčetrtek (Sveti Lovrenc) and Terme Olimia).
The path ahead begins to ascend on the macadam road, and at a right turn, we leave the road and continue left on a marked footpath, which soon rejoins the road. On a poorer road, we continue to the marked crossroad of multiple roads, from where we proceed in the direction of the easier path towards the tower of health and joy (left to the harder path, which is also easy, right to Podčetrtek).
We continue on a forested cart track, on which we moderately ascend to a small saddle, where we go right in the direction of cottage Zavetišče Šmarnica (left the tower of health and joy on Silavec, which is only a few minutes away). The path ahead first slightly ascends, then continues without significant ascents or descents, and we follow this path to cottage Zavetišče Šmarnica, from which a beautiful view opens up.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in December 2023 and April 2024.