Žaga - Velika Kuhinja

Access to starting point:
From Bovec, we drive towards Kobarid or vice versa. In the village of Žaga, before the bridge over the Učja river (but after the bridge when coming from the direction of Kobarid), is the starting point. When driving towards Bovec, there is a small parking area on the right side of the road. Parking is prohibited at the spot marked with a “private” sign.

Path description:
At the turn before the bridge over the river Učja we turn onto a shorter asphalt road which leads to the parking lot intended for guests of Gostilna pri Mostu. Before the parking lot, yellow signposts direct us onto a steeper narrow road, along which we ascend in serpentines to the last houses. There, yellow signposts direct us onto a footpath that leads along the fence behind the house and quickly brings us to the next marked junction.
At the junction, a path branches off to the right towards the waterfall Boka, while we continue straight ahead. The path from the junction first ascends slightly, then becomes flatter and traverses a slope above the river Učja. Occasionally, breathtaking views open up towards the village Žaga and the river Učja below us. We continue along this path to the next marked junction, where a path branches off left downwards towards Učja. Here we leave the paths marked with yellow signposts and turn right upwards onto the path marked with Knafelc blazes. From the junction, the path begins ascending through the forest in a northwesterly direction. Although it is somewhat less trodden, this section is well marked with new blazes. The path leads us past a smaller mountain pasture where two abandoned cottages stand. From here, a nice view opens up towards the river Soča. We continue along the narrow footpath through the forest, which occasionally runs along quite steep slopes. Higher up, the new blazes end, and along the path we only rarely notice a faded blaze. This relatively poorly trodden path leads past the summit of Gulj, which lies a few metres to the right of the path. Soon after the summit we reach an unmarked junction, where a path branches off left towards Planina Globoko.
At the junction we continue right along a narrow footpath that ascends a steep slope. The path, in a traversing ascent over steep slopes, brings us to Planina Ognjenik, which we reach on its southern side. The footpath across the pasture, which is already somewhat overgrown, is not clearly visible. We head towards the cottages on the pasture and continue along the footpath past them, which soon leads us back into the forest. The path then ascends for a longer time through the forest, mostly heading northeast. Higher up, we join a mule track and continue right along it, while another path to Planina Globoko leads left. The path becomes somewhat flatter, then an unmarked footpath from the waterfall Boka joins from the right. We continue straight ahead and the path quickly brings us to the quite overgrown Planina Baban.
On the pasture we leave the mule track; a faded inscription on a rock directs us left onto a grassy slope where the path is not visible. All that remains is a traversing ascent across the slightly overgrown pasture to the hut that we can already see ahead.
From the hut we walk back a few metres and beside the path we can spot a faded blaze and arrow on a rock that directs us diagonally across a grassy slope. From the pasture we then turn left and head towards a small valley that runs northwest. The path through the grassy valley is mostly invisible; only here and there we may notice a faded blaze. For most of the time the path runs along the right side of the valley and continually ascends west-northwest towards the slopes of Velika Baba, which we can see in the background. When we are very close to the slopes of Velika Baba, the path turns slightly right towards the north and ascends through a narrower valley on the southeastern side of Velika Baba.
We leave this valley where the marked path runs and head left onto the slopes on the southern side of Velika Baba. Here a faintly visible footpath runs in places, and several cairns also help us. We ascend diagonally and reach a broad ridge on the south side of Velika Baba. Here a view also opens towards the notch Med Babo.
On this broad ridge we leave the footpath that leads to the notch Med Babo and head left downwards towards Velika Kuhinja, which is clearly visible from here. At first, we descend along a grassy ridge in the direction of Velika Kuhinja. As we approach the notch, we leave the ridge to the left and ascend an occasionally slightly steeper, mostly grassy slope where some caution is required. On such a slope we then quickly reach the panoramic summit.
It is also possible to ascend the summit from the east side; in that case one would leave the marked path leading from Planina Baban towards Velika Baba a little lower down.

On the way: Gulj (954m), Planina Ognjenik (1060m), Planina Baban (1401m)