Slovenji Plajberk / Windisch Bleiberg - Kosmatica / Kosmatitza

Access to starting point:
Over the border crossing Ljubelj we drive to Austria, and after few kilometers we turn left towards the valley Poden / Bodental. Next follows some ascent, and then we get to the settlement Slovenji Plajberk / Windisch Bleiberg, where we park on a parking lot below the church.

Path description:
From the parking lot below the church we continue straight and we quickly get to the inn Gasthaus Kirchenwirt and Windisch Bleiberg, where before the inn marked path on Žingarica / Singerberg branches off to the right, after the inn and still before the end of the settlement, marked path branches off to the left towards the valley Poden / Bodental.
We continue left, we cross the bridge and we ascend to the near chapel. At the chapel, we continue straight (possible also sharply right, in this case higher we short time walk on the asphalt road) and we go past few houses to the nearby hayrack, where we leave the road.
We continue right, where on a nearby tree we notice a sign of the path 17. The path ahead leads us by the edge of the forest, higher also through a lane of a forest and then by the edge of a pasture to an asphalt road which we reach by the chapel. We cross the road towards the right (left settlement Žabnica / Bodental) and we continue in the direction of "Bodental, Sonnenhang 15 min. "
Next follows a diagonal ascent through a lane of a forest, and we walk on the path number 2. A little further, the forest ends and with nice views on the main Karawanks we reach boarding house Lužekar / BergPension Lausegger.
We continue on the road, where the path leads us past "exhibition" and farm, and on the asphalt road we descend to a marked crossroad, from which we continue slightly right, on a macadam road in the direction of Vgrizeva planina / Ogrisalm and Celovška koča / Klagenfurter Hütte. A little further from the left one of the paths from inn Gasthof Sereinig joins, and after the crossing, we get to some houses in the settlement Žabnica, where we go at the first crossroad left, and on the second right in the direction of the mountain pasture Vgrizeva planina and mountain hut Celovška koča. The path ahead leads us also past the chapel, behind which blazes of the path 603 show up, and the road starts ascending diagonally. We walk on the road past individual houses, and at the crossroads, we follow the blazes or signs for mountain hut Celovška koča.
Above the farm Vgriz / Ogrisbauer, asphalt ends, and by the path, we notice a notification, that we are entering the bear area. Some 10 strides ahead from the left joins the path from Podnart / Bodenbauer, the road which is further with a traffic sign closed for public traffic, splits. We continue on the left road which is getting worse and by which there are the blazes. A little further for some time a nice view opens up, and then the road returns into the forest and it brings us to the next crossing. To the right an old wooden sign is pointing towards Veliki rob / Grosser Rain (1464 meters), and we continue left, on the road which changes into a cart track. Cart track further leads into a small indistinct valley, where we go past a smaller source, and after the source we start steeply ascending on a footpath. We quickly reach the ridge, where from the right also a little worse beaten path joins, which leads from Veliki rob, and we continue left and we some time walk on and by the ridge and occasionally on this part a nice view opens up, which reaches all the way to High Tauern. Higher, the path avoids the ridge to the left and it passes on quite steep eastern slopes of Kosmatica / Kosmatitza (1659 meters), where we mostly only cross the slopes without large changes in altitude. When the slope flattens a little, the path turns right, crosses a grazing fence and out of the forest brings us on the edge of the mountain pasture Vgrizeva planina. Next follows a short walk and we get to older and newer cottages on the mountain pasture, from where an outstanding view opens up on Vrtača and surrounding mountains.
Before the both cottages on the mountain pasture, we continue sharply right, where on a less beaten, but followable footpath we start ascending on a grassy slope. Higher, we reach the ridge and in few minutes of additional walking, we reach the peak of Kosmatica.
Slovenji Plajberk - Vgrizeva planina 2:45. Vgrizeva planina - Kosmatica 0:15.
Description and pictures refer to a condition in the year 2018 (November).

On the way: Lužekar / Lausegger (1085m), Vgriz / Ogris (1180m), Ogrisalm/Vgrizeva planina (1569m)