Brzika - Donačka gora (harder path)

Access to starting point:
A) We drive to Rogaška Slatina, then continue driving towards Rogatec. In Rogatec, at the roundabout we turn left in the direction of Ptuj, then drive along the main road to the Brzika pass, where we notice red hiking signposts, beside which we park in a suitable place.
B) We drive to Majšperk, then follow the signs for Stoperce and Rogatec. After Stoperce, the road starts to ascend more steeply, and we follow it to the Brzika pass, where we notice red hiking signposts, beside which we park in a suitable place.

Path description:
From the starting point, we head onto the macadam road which branches off from the starting point towards the east and beside which there are signs for Rudijev dom and Donačka gora. We walk along the macadam road for a short time, before the road gently descends to the nearby house we go slightly left onto a cart track which ascends transversely along the edge of the hay meadow. A little further on, we continue along the lower cart track, beside which there are signs for Rudijev dom, then we ascend along the pasture fence to a smaller saddle which connects Gaj (454 m) and Ženčaj (582 m).
On the saddle we go right and walk to a wider macadam road, which we follow left. The path ahead leads us along the macadam road, which ascends mostly gently to moderately, only on a shorter section it temporarily descends a little. Higher up the road turns right and brings us to a junction, where we go sharply left following the signs for Rudijev dom. There follows a few minutes of transverse ascent through the forest, when we leave the forest we go right and ascend along a less trodden path which leads us across the meadow to the hunting observatory, which is located on the saddle connecting Donačka gora with Ženčaj.
Here the path turns slightly left and ascends transversely, at the nearby house the path widens into a forest road, along which we continue to the Rudijev dom a few minutes away.
From Rudijev dom we continue left in the direction of the summit of Donačka gora (right Sv. Jurij, Rogatec and spring of Sotla) and initially walk along the macadam road. From the road an easier path to Donačka gora first branches off to the right, we continue along the road to the left-hand hairpin bend, where we leave the road and continue straight ahead with the path, and subsequently walk along the cart track which crosses the northern slopes of Donačka gora. There follows a shorter transverse ascent and we ascend to an indistinct little saddle beside Joški vrh, where we continue straight (left Joški vrh), then there follow a few shorter descents and ascents along the northern slope of Donačka gora. Before the cart track descends to the nearby turning area of the forest road, we go slightly right in the direction of the more difficult path to Donačka gora.
There follows some steeper ascent and we arrive at the next junction, where we go right in the direction of Donačka gora (left Kupčinji Vrh, straight pass Vrhe and Žetale), at the next junction we go right again.
We continue again in the direction of Donačka gora, the path gradually leads onto steep slopes that are especially slippery when wet, across which we ascend mostly transversely. Further on we arrive at a shorter technically demanding section, where a steel cable assists us on the steep ascent along the rocky slope. When the steep demanding ascent ends we reach the main ridge of Donačka gora, where the path forks.
We continue left (right main summit) and quickly arrive at the precipitous eastern summit of Donačka gora.
From the eastern summit we return to the last junction, then continue along the marked path which continues slightly to the left of the ridge. There follow a few shorter ascents and descents along the path which occasionally leads along a fairly steep slope, where there is especially a greater risk of slipping when wet. Such a path brings us, after about 20 minutes from the eastern summit, to the western summit of Donačka gora, which is one metre higher.
Brzika - Rudijev dom 1:00, Rudijev dom - eastern peak of Donačka gora 1:15, eastern peak of Donačka gora - western peak of Donačka gora 0:20.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in April 2022.

On the way: Rudijev dom na Donački gori (590m), Donačka gora (eastern peak) (883m)