Klippitztörl - Ladinger Spitz (Saualpe) (via Geierkogel and Gertrusk)

Access to starting point:
A) Via the Ljubelj border crossing we drive into Austria and follow the signs for Celovec / Klagenfurt am Wörthersee. In Celovec at McDonald's we turn right onto the south bypass / Südring, at the next major intersection we turn right again towards Velikovec / Völkermarkt and Mostič / Brückl. We soon leave the road towards Velikovec, shortly after the Obi store turning right towards the highway and Mostič. We then pass the IKEA store, following the signs for Mostič and passing the highway on-ramps. When we arrive in Mostič we follow the signs for Svinec / Eberstein and Hüttenberg. Still before Hüttenberg, more precisely past the settlement Mösel, we turn right towards the Klippitztörl pass and the Lölling settlement. Further on, we begin to ascend more noticeably along the valley of the Löllingbach stream, higher up, past the Lölling settlement, gradually distancing ourselves from the stream as well. We follow this road all the way to the Klippitztörl pass, where we turn right and park on the large asphalt parking lot.
B) Via the Jezerski Vrh, Holmec or Vič border crossing we drive into Austria, then follow the signs for Velikovec / Völkermarkt, from there the signs for Mostič / Brückl. When we arrive in Mostič we follow the signs for Svinec / Eberstein and Hüttenberg. Still before Hüttenberg, more precisely past the settlement Mösel, we turn right towards the Klippitztörl pass and the Lölling settlement. Further on, we begin to ascend more noticeably along the valley of the Löllingbach stream, higher up, past the Lölling settlement, gradually distancing ourselves from the stream as well. We follow this road all the way to the Klippitztörl pass, where we turn right and park on the large asphalt parking lot.

Path description:
At the beginning of the parking lot, signs for Geierkogel, Wolfsbergerhütte, Forstalpe and other destinations direct us onto a path that continues above the parking lot and leads us south. Initially we walk on a wide mountain path (not a road), which ascends gently; after crossing a macadam road, the path gradually becomes slightly steeper and brings us to a marked junction.
We continue left towards the Geierkogel summit (the right path bypasses the mentioned summit) and ascend through increasingly sparse forest. A little further we cross a forest road again, then the path becomes steep and ascends among blueberries, with better views accompanying us with every step. Higher up the path brings us to a wire fence, and to the right of it we reach the cross on Geierkogel.
From the cross on Geierkogel we continue south and initially ascend a bit more, soon reaching the highest point where on the right on interesting granite rocks we notice a logbook with a stamp.
From here the path begins to descend gradually, and at the lowest point of the saddle a path joins us from the right that bypasses Geierkogel on the west side.
We continue south and gradually begin to ascend. When we reach 2000 m above sea level we soon notice an interesting natural window on the right, where the Forstalpe summit stamp is located. We continue on the marked path, and soon on the left we notice a smaller rise, which is the highest point of the mentioned summit; we recognize the summit by the number 398.
From the Forstalpe summit the path leads quite gently southwest through grassy and partly marshy terrain to a junction at Hafeneck, where we continue slightly right towards Velika Svinja / Ladinger Spitz (left Kleinhinterbergerhütte).
The path ahead continues without major elevation changes, the ridge narrows somewhat, and the path leads us with a few short easy ascents and descents. When we are already very close to the grassy Kienberg summit, the marked path turns slightly right and bypasses the highest point, which we reach in less than a minute of walking from the marked path.
We continue on the marked path, which proceeds along the grassy ridge, gradually approaching a fence along which we descend to the saddle at the Eisernes Kreuz cross (1958 m), where the path from the Weissbergerhütte hut joins.
We continue south, where the path forks. We choose the slightly left path (right path bypasses the Gertrusk summit), which ascends the panoramic Gertrusk along the ridge in a few minutes.
From Gertrusk we continue south and along the initially somewhat narrower ridge begin to descend moderately. Soon we join the path that bypassed the summit, and the path descends lightly for a short time. When we start ascending again we reach a junction, where the path to the Offnerhütte and Ladingerhütte huts branches left, and we continue straight. Further on we ascend moderately below the indistinct Kaiserofen summit, which is a few dozen steps from the marked path.
On the other side of the mentioned summit the path splits for the last time, and we choose the slightly left path (right path bypasses Velika Svinja and continues towards the Wolfsbergerhütte hut) along which in a moderate ascent across expansive grassy terrain we ascend to the cross on Velika Svinja.
Starting point - Geierkogel 1:00, Geierkogel - Forstalpe 1:10, Forstalpe - Kienberg 0:40, Kienberg - Gertrusk 0:45, Gertrusk - Velika Svinja 0:35.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in August 2020.

On the way: Geierkogel (Svinška planina / Saualpe) (1917m), Forstalpe (Svinška planina / Saualpe) (2034m), Hafeneck (2030m), Kienberg (Svinška planina / Saualpe) (2050m), Eisernes Kreuz (1958m), Gertrusk (Svinška planina / Saualpe) (2044m), Kaiserofen (2037m)