Trate / Johannsenruhe - Srednja peč (via Celovška koča)

Access to starting point:
A) Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive into Austria, then we drive on the motorway towards Beljak, which we leave at the first exit. From the point where we left the motorway, we follow the signs for the village Šentjakob v Rožu / Sankt Jakob im Rosental. When we arrive in the mentioned village, we drive on the main road past Podgorje / Maria Elend and the settlement Sveče / Suetschach to the settlement Bistrica v Rožu / Feistritz im Rosental, where in front of the stores Billa and Penny we turn right in the direction of the valley Rute / Bärental. About 100 m after we leave the main road, we continue left, then on a somewhat narrower and ascending road we drive to a large parking lot (the parking lot is located near the meadow named Trate / Johannsenruhe). From the Penny store to the starting point there is approximately 9 km of narrower asphalt road, macadam is only in the last part. From the entrance to the Karawanks Tunnel to the starting point there is approximately 38 km.
B) Through the Ljubelj border crossing we drive into Austria, where on the main road towards Celovec / Klagenfurt am Wörtersee we drive to the second roundabout, from where we continue the drive in the direction of the exit Bistrica v Rožu / Feistritz im Rosental (the main road towards Celovec we leave before we cross the Drava River). In the mentioned settlement immediately behind the stores Billa and Penny we turn left onto the road in the direction of the valley Rute / Bärental. About 100 m after we leave the main road we continue once again left, then on a somewhat narrower and ascending road we drive to a large parking lot (the parking lot is located near the meadow named Trate / Johannsenruhe). From the Penny store to the starting point there is approximately 9 km of narrower asphalt road, macadam is only in the last part. From the entrance to the Ljubelj Tunnel to the starting point there is approximately 32 km.
C) From Dravograd or Slovenj Gradec we drive to Ravne na Koroškem, then we continue driving in the direction of the border crossing Holmec. When we drive into Austria, we first drive towards Pliberk / Bleiburg, then we follow the signs for Globasnica / Globasnitz and further Železni Kapli / Bad Eisenkappel, Borovlje / Ferlach. Behind Borovlje at the roundabout we join the road through the Ljubelj border crossing. Here in the first roundabout we continue in the direction of Celovec / Klagenfurt, in the second in the direction of Bistrica v Rožu / Feistritz im Rosental. In the mentioned settlement immediately behind the stores Billa and Penny we turn left onto the road in the direction of the valley Rute / Bärental. About 100 m after we leave the main road we continue once again left, then on a somewhat narrower and ascending road we drive to a large parking lot (the parking lot is located near the meadow named Trate / Johannsenruhe). From the Penny store to the starting point there is approximately 9 km of narrower asphalt road, macadam is only in the last part. From the border crossing Holmec to the starting point there is approximately 71 km.

Path description:
At the beginning of the parking lot, between the road closed with a barrier and the parking lot, we will notice the beginning of the marked path leading towards Celovška koča / Klagenfurter Hütte, Stol, Svačice, Ovčji vrh / Geissberg and other destinations. A little further, the marked path is joined by an unmarked path leading from the upper part of the parking lot, and we join the macadam road leading towards the already mentioned mountain hut a few steps ahead. The road then leads us across the bed of a torrent and a little further brings us out of the forest onto the meadow (Trate / Johannsenruhe), which is only a few minutes from the starting point. From the meadow a beautiful view opens up, and the road then returns into a strip of forest. When the forest temporarily thins out, an unmarked "shortcut" continues straight ahead in a gentle left bend. We continue on the road, as directed also by the yellow mountain sign. Only about a minute further, the "main" road turns right, while the "side" road continues straight. From the mentioned junction, we continue on the footpath that runs between both roads and ascends further with the road leading to Celovška koča. For some time we ascend diagonally across occasionally steeper slopes, then return to the wider macadam road. Further on, the marked path crosses the road several more times, then at a larger rock or boulder with memorial plaques it splits into two parts.
To the right leads the climbing path to Stol, while we continue straight towards Celovška koča. The path ahead crosses the road several more times, and higher up it brings us from the occasionally sparse forest onto the grazing slopes of Mačenska planina / Matschacher Alm (the huts on the pasture are a few minutes to the left from the marked path). From there follows a gentle ascent, and the path or road takes us to Celovška koča in a few minutes.
From the hut we head right towards Stol / Hochstuhl, Svačica / Bielschitza and Prešernova koča, continuing on a gentle cart track that lower down turns into a mountain path, which through a belt of dwarf pines brings us to the screes below Svačica. The path ahead ascends diagonally across the first scree, then brings us to a short steep section where a fixed cable assists at the crossing. This short and technically not particularly demanding section ends quickly, and the path continues across the scree on a wide and well-maintained trail. With a view of the surrounding walls, we then ascend without major difficulties to the saddle Belščica, where there is a marked junction.
From the saddle Belščica, where the path to Svačica branches left, we continue straight towards Vrtača, Prešernova koča and Zelenica. For a few minutes we cross grassy slopes, then arrive at the point where the path to Vrtača branches left, and we continue straight downhill. The path ahead first descends steeply down the gully, then turns right, transitioning onto expansive screes across which it ascends diagonally. Higher up we leave the scree and descend slightly to the nearby junction, where we join the upper and lower paths to Stol.
From the mentioned junction we continue sharply left towards Zelenica (slightly right Stol), and after a few dozen steps, still before the path begins to descend noticeably, on the right we notice a small cairn and a nice passage across pathless terrain towards the saddle between the Stol massif and Srednja peč.
We continue along the edge of the dwarf pines on easily passable pathless terrain, where individual cairns indicate the correct direction. After approximately 5 minutes we arrive at a small pass west of Srednja peč, where on the left across the scree we notice a faint path. We ascend to the mentioned path, then cross the scree to the right. When the scree ends, the path leads through a narrow belt of dwarf pines, then the faint path turns left along the dwarf pines steeply upwards and ends after a few steps in relatively steep grass. We continue the ascent steeply upwards beside the dwarf pines, proceeding in approximately the same direction until we reach the ridge, where a faint path reappears. We continue right, a little further also through a short belt of cut dwarf pines, then along and on the ridge, which occasionally drops off steeply to the left, we ascend to the little-visited and panoramic summit.
Trate - Celovška koča 1:30, Celovška koča - Srednja peč 1:30.

On the way: Trate / Johannsenruhe (1226m), Klagenfurter Hutte/Celovška koča (1664m), Sedlo Belščica (1840m)