Završniško jezero - Smokuški vrh (via Brezniške peči)

Access to starting point:
From the highway Ljubljana - Jesenice, we take the exit Lesce, where at the roundabout we turn onto the old road in the direction of Žirovnica and Jesenice. After a few km of driving, we drive past the crossroad, where the road branches off to the right to Žirovnica. When we drive past the viaduct Završnica, we notice on the right side a turn-off, onto which we turn (sharply right). Immediately we come to a smaller crossroad, where we go left, and at the next one (after approx. 50 m) right, in the direction of Završnica. After a short descent, the road ascends slightly for some time, then flattens, and brings us to the spot where macadam branches off to the left towards Valvasorjev dom. A little further on, on the right we notice a large parking lot, which is located at the beginning of the artificial lake Završnica. Here is our starting point.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we head over the concrete bridge that crosses the lake. On the other side, on the right we notice a forked path that leads into the forest. We take the left (upper) one, along which we ascend towards the top of the ridge. The path soon runs out, but we head slightly left towards the top, where we eventually come upon a fairly wide path that leads right towards the top of the ridge. When we arrive there, a view opens up on the other side, where Žirovnica and Moste are located, from where the path from the south side also arrives. We turn left (towards the east) along a pleasant, beaten track on the ridge towards Mali Vrh. Soon a view opens up back towards Jesenice to the west, while on the left in the valley we can partly observe the lake in Završnica.
At the signposts, we continue straight towards Gosjak (right Sveti Lovrenc). Soon the path from the top of Mali Vrh descends slightly and then flattens for a while. On the right edge of the ridge, nice viewpoints occasionally invite us. On the left side of one of these, we observe interesting cliffs (Peči), past which the path on the right side continues along the ridge towards the next summit Gosjak. Before ascending to it, we also come upon a marker (cross) and a bench on the left. Here a path from the valley crosses ours, but we continue straight along the ridge, where we encounter rocks over which we scramble a little, thus first on the left and then on the right side of the ridge ascending to the summit of Gosjak, where for the first time we see Smokuški vrh somewhat closer. Later on the right we notice another viewpoint with a bench located above Doslovče, a bit further on the left a smaller hut and then a water collector (here a wider path from Doslovče crosses Gosjak). We continue steeply uphill to the right of the collector, where we soon again encounter rocks over which we partly scramble ascending over the so-called Golovec. We are at the narrowest part of the ridge. The steepness of the larger part of the rocky ridge only slightly eases 2-3 times while ascending Golovec, and the demanding panoramic path finally steeply ascends for the last time towards Smokuški Vrh, where we first come upon a nice bench with a summit logbook; after a further 15 minutes of walking, where the ridge already widens, we reach the end of the trail—a vantage point with "benches" on the summit section of the ridge.
When ascending and descending Gosjak and Golovec, in wet conditions there is a great risk of slipping!