Tinčkova koča - Selenitza/Palec (via Zagon)

Access to starting point:
From the Ljubljana - Jesenice highway, take the Lesce exit and follow the road ahead in the direction of Žirovnica and Jesenice. After a few km of driving, we will arrive at an intersection where the road to Žirovnica and Moste branches off to the right (from the direction of Jesenice, left). Just a few meters ahead, at the next intersection, we turn left to Moste (right to Žirovnica). We continue driving past the monument to the fallen fighters, where the road begins to climb the hill under the railway track. At the top of the hill, turn right (at the sign Vila Karin), but we continue straight towards Završniško jezero and Valvasorjev dom. The road then flattens and brings us to an intersection where the road to Valvasorjev dom branches off to the left, and we continue straight on the initially still asphalted road. The road soon becomes macadam, and we follow it to the parking lot near Tinčkova koča. The road in the upper part is often in quite bad condition.

Path description:
From the starting point, signs for Valvasorjev dom and Stol direct us left onto a wide cart track that enters the forest. Already after a few tens of meters, the marked path to Valvasorjev dom and Stol turns left, and we continue slightly right on the cart track that leads us past a few more cottages. We continue on the unmarked cart track, which first ascends moderately, higher up relatively steeply through the forest. A little further, the cart track turns into a forest path, which splits into two parts before crossing the torrent. We continue on the lower right path, which crosses the torrent, then ascends only moderately through the forest for a few minutes. The path soon becomes quite steep and on some sections somewhat harder to follow. The path through Zagon valley has some junctions in the upper part, and at all of them we choose the right branches (even if at some we continue straight, higher we join the path leading from saddle Šija toward Stol, just reaching it further west).
Higher, at an altitude of about 1500 meters, the path temporarily takes us right into the valley, from which it soon withdraws somewhat to the right. On this section we reach another less noticeable junction, where we go right again, then ascend diagonally with nice views of Stol, Srednja peč, and surrounding mountains. The followable but partly more overgrown path gradually flattens and returns to the torrent valley. For a short time we ascend along a smaller torrent, then we reach the lower path to Stol.
We follow the mentioned path slightly right to the nearby collapsed concrete hut, from there right toward saddle Šija and Zelenica. A short ascent follows, then the path turns left and continues ascending diagonally across the northwestern slopes of Srednji vrh. After a few minutes the traverse ends, and the path brings us to saddle Šija, where there is a marked junction.
We continue left toward Vrtača (right Srednji vrh, straight Dom pri izviru Završnice) on the path that ascends through a belt of dwarf pines and after a few minutes of further walking brings us to the upper path Zelenica - Stol.
Here we continue right toward Zelenica and initially still walk through dwarf pines. After a few minutes the dwarf pines end, and the transverse path brings us to a marked junction, where we continue straight (sharply left Vrtača). Further, in a slight descent, we cross mostly the southern slopes of Vrtača, and the panoramic path leads us over scree, grassy slopes, occasionally also through a narrow belt of forest. A little further, one of the paths leading toward Dom pri izviru Završnice branches off right downward, and we walk a few more minutes on the marked path toward Dom na Zelenici. When we step into the forest again, the path brings us to a smaller indistinct valley, where an unmarked path branches off to the left into the Suho ruševje valley (a cairn is usually at the junction).
The path to Suho ruševje first ascends through the forest, then passes among dwarf pines, where it is well trodden and the dwarf pines are cut. A short steeper ascent follows, where looking back a nice view opens onto Begunjščica; ahead of us left is Vrtača, straight Zelenjak, right Palec and the Na možeh ridge. Higher the path flattens somewhat and enters a high-alpine valley that gradually narrows. A little further the path turns right and joins the path running over scree below the Na možeh ridge (the mentioned path is more suitable for descent than ascent, bringing us somewhat closer to Zelenica than the path we ascended). We continue left and begin to ascend diagonally over the scree, following such path all the way to Žleb, located between Zelenjak and Palec.
From Žleb, from where a nice view into Austria opens, we continue right (left Zelenjak), still walking on a followable path. The path ahead ascends transversely to the right, where we soon reach a wider, partly crumbly but not overly steep gully, which we cross. On the other side of the gully we begin to ascend steeply, and the path soon brings us onto the Palec ridge, from where a nice view opens onto the Na možeh ridge, extending far to the east. A short steep rocky step follows, where we must use our hands to progress. Above the step the path flattens somewhat but still ascends steeply toward the summit of Palec, which we reach in a few minutes of further ascent amid nice views.

On the way: Šija (1693m), Žleb (Suho ruševje) (1916m)

Trip can be extended to: Vertatscha/Vrtača ( 30 min)