Ljubelj - Žerjavov Praprotnik / Loibler Prapotnik

Access to starting point:
We leave Gorenjska highway on crossing Podtabor, and then we continue driving towards Tržič and Celovec. When we get to Ljubelj, before the tunnel we turn right on a larger asphalt parking lot, where we park.

Path description:
From the starting point, we go on the path in the direction of the mountain hut Koča na Ljubelju. After a short ascent, we reach the macadam road, on which we continue the ascent. Next follows an ascent on a quite steep road which leads us through few torrents and past a chapel and a pleasant well with a bench. Higher, the road makes few hairpin turns, at last left zig zag a nice view opens up on Košutica and Veliki vrh, and then we already get to the mountain hut Koča na Ljubelju.
From the mountain hut on the road we walk to the border, we cross it, and then on the Austrian side we descend to few minutes distant marked crossing. From the crossing, we continue right in the direction of a marked path on Košutica / Loibler Baba and we continue on a bad road. The marked path from the road soon turns right upwards, and on an increasingly bad road we walk to its end. The road ends at the nearby torrent, and on its other side we look for continuation of unmarked footpath. Next follows traversing on a worse footpath, at first above the torrent, and then through the forest. A little further, we get to an older clearing, from which a beautiful view opens up, and on the northern part of the mentioned clearing we reach a wider cart track, on which we descend towards the northwest to the nearby macadam road (to here we can get to also on the road, if at the first marked crossing we continue straight, and at the next two crossroads right. The mentioned path on the road is approximately 15 minutes longer).
We follow the road to the right, and we are descending there diagonally towards the left. Nearby hunting cottage we bypass on the left side, and then we cross also a torrent. Next follows quite some walking on the road which then gradually starts ascending, and from there several times nice views open up on surrounding mountains. Higher, at an altitude of approximately 1300 meters, a road branches off to the right, which leads to a saddle north from Rjava peč, and we continue straight on a wider road. The road on which we continue soon once again splits, this time we choose the upper, slightly right path (bottom path leads towards the saddle Oselca / Eselsattel), on which we ascend to a smaller saddle south from Žerjavov Praprotnik, where a little right from the path, we notice a cross.
On the mentioned saddle there is the next crossroad of roads, and we continue straight, on a cart track which continues between the both roads. Quite overgrown cart track soon turns right, where it short time crosses slopes, and then it turns left upwards and steeply ascends to newer forest road. We continue on the road to the first left turn, which is situated on an indistinct ridge.
At the mentioned turn we leave the road and with nice views, we continue on an indistinct ridge, where we continue walking on pathless terrain. Higher, we cross few lanes of forest, and all the time we are accompanied by grassy grounding. After approximately 15 minutes of ascent from the spot, where we left the last road, we reach the panoramic peak, on which stands trigonometric point and on a nearby tree a smaller cross.
Ljubelj - Koča na Ljubelju 45 minutes, Koča na Ljubelju - Žerjavov Praprotnik 1:45.
Description and pictures refer to a condition in the year 2016 (December).

On the way: Koča na Ljubelju mountain hut (1370m)