Vodel - Gradovec

Access to starting point:
A) We drive to Bohinjska Bistrica, where from the roundabout we continue in the direction of Soriška planina and Tolmin. Further, we drive through Bohinjska Bistrica, and then at the beginning of the left turn we continue straight in the direction of the settlement Ravne v Bohinju. From the crossroad ahead we start ascending steeper, and when the road flattens, it brings us to the mentioned village. At the end of the village the asphalt ends, and we drive on a macadam road first through a meadow, and then the road passes into the forest, where it first leads past the former mountain hut Planinski dom dr. Janeza Mencingerja (today private house), near which there are two turn-offs of paths to Črna prst, we then drive for quite some time and we cross the path Polje - Črna prst, after the mentioned crossing we already get to slopes of Pezdenica, where we semicircularly bypass the mentioned ridge. When on the other side of the ridge the road first turns more noticeably to the right, we pay attention as we then park at the first appropriate place by the road. From the spot where the asphalt ends to the starting point is 6.5 km.
B) From Rovtarica or Soriška planina we descend to Bohinjska Bistrica, and then at the beginning of the mentioned settlement we continue left in the direction of the settlement Ravne v Bohinju. From the crossroad ahead we start ascending steeper, and when the road flattens, it brings us to the mentioned village. At the end of the village the asphalt ends, and we drive on a macadam road first through a meadow, and then the road passes into the forest, where it first leads past the former mountain hut Planinski dom dr. Janeza Mencingerja (today private house), near which there are two turn-offs of paths to Črna prst, we then drive for quite some time and we cross the path Polje - Črna prst, after the mentioned crossing we already get to slopes of Pezdenica, where we semicircularly bypass the mentioned ridge. When on the other side of the ridge the road first turns more noticeably to the right, we pay attention as we then park at the first appropriate place by the road. From the spot where the asphalt ends to the starting point is 6.5 km.

Path description:
From the spot where we have parked, we return along the road to the turn, some 10 meters behind the turn we cross the metal dražnik (transverse drainage channel across the macadam road), after which we continue sharply right uphill (at the spot where we leave the road there is usually a cairn). There follows a one- or two-minute ascent up the slope straight upwards, where individual cairns show the direction, then we reach a well-visible old hunting path, which we only cross, as the cairns direct us straight upwards onto a worse but mostly followable little path, which steeply ascends with the help of individual cairns. On the section where there is more fallen timber, we must follow the little path more carefully, then we arrive at the edge of a quite overgrown torrent gully. In the last part of the gully we steeply ascend transversely across a partly exposed passage, then we join a better-trodden path, which we follow straight ahead (right in descriptions of the starting point Pod Debelo glavo).
The path ahead leads us along the little valley between Pezdenica on the left and Ventije on the right. We walk for a few minutes along the little valley, then we arrive at a clearing, at the edge of which the hunting hut Ventije is located.
Behind the hut we continue for a few more minutes along the little valley, then the path ascends more steeply and, with occasional fine views reaching as far as Triglav, brings us a level higher to more plateau-like terrain, where the path forks into two parts.
We continue along the right path (the left path leads to the watering place and meadow on Dolga Planja), which then gently ascends through a series of smaller valleys surrounded by dwarf pines. A little higher another path branches off to the left to the mentioned watering place, but we continue right, where ahead of us we already see the mountain pasture Poljana and above it Raskovec. A slight descent follows, and when we reach the mountain pasture, another path from the starting point Pod Debelo glavo joins us from the right.
Here we continue left and walk to the nearby shepherd hut.
From the shepherd huts we continue along the right side of the mountain pasture, and along the edge of the mountain pasture we walk to the spot where a well-followable path branches off to the right, which begins to ascend through a belt of dwarf pines. After a short ascent the path turns sharply right, then after a good 10 minutes of further walking it brings us to a less noticeable junction, where a path (later pathless) branches off to the left towards Raskovec. We continue along the wider right path, which a little further levels out, then brings us in a moderate ascent to the saddle south of Gradovec (1692 m).
On the mentioned saddle there usually stands a cairn, which directs us right onto the cleared path that continues through a belt of dwarf pines. Further on we first ascend moderately, then quite steeply along the southern and increasingly panoramic ridge of Gradovec. With fine views of the mountains surrounding Bohinj, we quickly reach the panoramic summit, which is cleared just like the last part of the path.
Vodel - planina Poljana 1:15, planina Poljana - Gradovec 40 minutes.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in 2016 (June).

On the way: Lovska koča Ventije (1305m), Planina Poljana (1466m)