Koča na Šumiku - Ruška koča na Arehu

Access to starting point:
A) From highway Ljubljana - Maribor we go to the exit Slovenska Bistrica - south, and then we follow the signs for Šmartno na Pohorju, and from there we drive also to the settlement Smrečno. Further, we drive on forest roads on Pohorje, where we drive by Bistrica. Higher, we join the road which leads past the mountain hut Ruška koča na Pohorju. Here we go left towards Osankarica, and at the next crossroad, we go slightly right in the direction of estate Šumik (slightly left - Osankarica). When we drive to the mentioned estate we park on a macadam parking lot before the estate Šumik.
B) We leave Štajerska highway at exit for Slivnica and Rogoza, and then we follow the signs for Pohorje and Areh. The path ahead leads us through Spodnje and Zgornje Hoče, Slivniško Pohorje, and after the settlements we follow the signs for Areh. From Areh we follow the signs for Cojzerica and Šumik and Osankarica. After few kilometers, we go slightly right in the direction of estate Šumik (slightly left - Osankarica). When we drive to the mentioned estate we park on a macadam parking lot before the estate Šumik.
C) We drive to Ruše, and then we follow the road towards Fala. After crossing of Lobnica we go left in the direction of Smolnik and Šumika, and then we follow the signs for estate Šumik, where we park on a parking lot before the forestry cottage Gozdarska koča na Šumiku.

Path description:
From the starting point, we go on a marked path towards Osankarica and Koča na Klopnem vrhu (on the road leads a little shorter unmarked path), where through a lane of a forest we ascend back on the road. When we reach the road, we continue straight (right - Ruše), and at the nearby crossing of roads we choose a slightly left road (slightly right - Klopni vrh), on which we quickly get to a marked crossing.
From the crossing, we continue left downwards (straight - Koča na Pesku and lake Tiho jezero, right - Klopni vrh) and on a moderately steep path we descend back on the road, where we join a little shorter path which leads on the road. The road we only cross, and a little lower we cross also Lobnica, after which we return on the road. We continue on the road left and we go past the turn-off of the path towards Ruše - path Holcarska pot by Lobnica, which leads past both waterfalls Šumik and past the turn-off of the path towards the lake Črno jezero and Sveti Trije kralji.
At the both crossings, we go in the direction of Ruška koča na Arehu, and the path soon leaves the road, and a little higher we cross the road towards Osankarica. Next follows a diagonal ascent on the northern slopes of Bajgotov vrh (1161 meters), and then the path flattens, and at the crossings we follow the blazes. The path ahead leads us on a worse macadam road, and after a short descent, we cross even wider macadam road. Next follows some more of walking through the forest and then we reach another road, where from the right joins also the path from Sveti Trije kralji. We continue on the road to the nearby NOB monument, from where we continue on a marked path, and the path few minutes higher joins the cart track, where we follow the blazes. Higher, we cross a bad forest road, and a little ahead we get to a marked crossing, where the path on Žigartov vrh branches off to the left, and we continue straight. The path ahead descends a little and it brings us to a bad road, on which we continue crossing. Next follows traversing of Žigartov vrh, where a short path branches off to the right towards the source of Polskava, and we continue straight to a crossroad, where we join a wider macadam road, where we go right (from the left joins a little longer path which leads via Žigartov vrh).
The path ahead few minutes leads through the forest, and when we leave the forest, we reach a larger parking lot at Hotel Areh. At the end of the parking lot, we go right and in a minute of additional walking, we get to Ruška koča na Arehu.
Description refers to condition in June 2022 and pictures are from May 2022 and June 2022.