Window on Niksic

The weather afforded us one last sunny weekend before the snow was due to hit Žabljak, although it was blustery and cold. Parking at the ski centre at Savin kuk, we took a gently rising path around the foothills westwards through woodland, past Šupljika in the direction of the road to Sedlo. Then we found a protected steep grassy slope going up to the ridge Zupci.  This ridge gradually rose all the way to Šljeme. We calculated that we would not have enough time to reach the highest peak, so settled for the eastern summit, which affords a view towards Međed northwards and to Bobotov kuk north-eastwards.  It was bitingly cold with a stiff breeze here, so after a brief stay at the summit, we headed back towards Čista strana and then back to the ski centre. This was a physically challenging climb, but very satisfying because of the excellent views over most of the main peaks and features of Durmitor. At 2,445 m the eastern summit is still one of the highest peaks, w...

During the summer the macadam/dirt track to Lake Kapetanovo is accessible, although a car with high clearance is recommended because of rocks on the road. The walk from the start of this road, if one decides to park there, to the lake across the valley (not along the road which snakes through the mountains) is about 1 hr 20 min and is a pleasant enough walk. The path from Lake Kapetanovo at the south-west side of the lake rises steeply to a rocky and stony pass, from where a goat trail up to the right leads over another pass to a mass of rock, intercut with deep cracks some of which contain snow. Following the line of the ridge on the left brings you to a grassy area where the peak of Stozac comes into sight, as does the more interesting rocky outcrop, Ilin vrh (Elijah’s peak) which is slightly lower. There are some other peaks further on which afford a great view of Lake Manito and Lake Kapetanovo and a steep descent, although tricky with slippery grass down to Lake Mani...

Of the two peaks called Žurim – the shorter, Mali Žurim, is the more interesting to look at and climb. The taller, more massive Veliki Žurim is less dramatic, easier to climb, but the benefit is that from its peak you have an excellent view of its little brother. Mali Žurim consists of a steep, flattened cone with three distinct sharp peaks which separate just below the summits. The easiest way to climb is to the right-hand side, as you approach from the road from Bare Bojovića, going up a stony, zigzagging path to a pass which leads towards Ilin vrh, a peak further to the right. From this point just before the pass, looking up high to the left, there is a red arrow painted onto a rock near the top of the mountain, although this is very hard to spot unless you know it is there. The slope has a lot of movable material, but there are grassy parts which provide more stable footing. The rocky peak requires some clambering, but is not dangerous on that side. We decided to clim...

This wasn’t my first climb up Prutas, in fact it was possibly my third; however, this was my first climb from the spring Sarban, which as it turns out is a relatively short route (which means almost straight up!). August is not a sensible month to be climbing such a mountain which has no trees, however this is a yearly event supported by the Montenegrin Army and the Municipality of Pluzine, which provide bean stew and beer, and of course company. The ascent is unrelenting in intensity, but it is by no means unattractive. From the top there is a wonderful 360 degree view, with a lovely view over the Susica Canyon, which leads to Lake Susica (which is a great walk for summer months, because there is plenty of overgrowth). We came down via the pass of Skrcko zdrijelo, down to the road through Urdeni do, but it was a long distance along the road back to the start place, so we were fortunate to be able hitchhike the remainder of the walk, which would have taken over an hour.

One of the greatest barriers to climbing this mountain was access along the roads beyond the quarries, and working out which of many unmarked roads to take to get to the start of the walk, a shepherds’ settlement called Rekočica katun, although it would have been a better choice to continue another couple of kilometres to the katun of Maganik, which has a more clearly marked trail. Needless to say we lost any semblance of a trail and oriented ourselves by means of compass and instinct, arriving at a pass with a large rocky pavement with deep cuts between the flat karst “paving slabs”.  In front of us the valley where the village of Velje Duboko lies was just about visible in the distance, with the Mrtvica Canyon leading off to the right side.  View towards the Mrtvica Canyon We turned right along the ridge which appeared to lead to Babin Zub (the location of a plane crash in the seventies). The going was difficult because the rock had so many crevasses, which req...

I found rough directions to this mountain in “The Mountains of Montenegro – A Mountaineering Guide” by Vincek, Popovic and Kovacevic, which led along a road of dubious surface quality from Savnik to the village of Strug where we parked and walked along the macadam for a few kilometres before turning off the road right and heading up to a ridge and then over rolling hills, across a valley until finally arriving at a chain of peaks which grew in size to the left, stretching to the distant Kapa Moracka. Unfortunately the weather seemed to promise rain, so we didn’t make it to the peak of Lola, Veliki Zebalac, but enjoyed a wide view over the Krnovo plain from the Moraca Mountains on the left all the way through Zurim to the green valley of Bijela.

From Zabljak centre, we followed a road winding up between rows of alpine houses, following signs to Bosaca (Montenegro’s highest village). There was a place to park opposite some signposts to Jablan jezero. The walk up and along Crvena greda (Red Ridge) takes you through woodland, across pastureland, by the beautiful green Jablan jezero (Poplar Lake) which stands in front of the sheer cliffs of Crvena greda. Even at the end of May, there was still enough snow to make parts of the ascent slightly hazardous with normal hiking shoes. The view from the top (which is covered mainly in scrub but dotted with the occasional remains of trees hit by lightning) is impressive – several lakes are visible and the ridges of Medjed in one direction and Bobotov kuk in another, both speckled with snow only half-melted.  The path from the top leads down the opposite end of the ridge, eventually arriving at a valley with shepherds’ huts, a place named Crijepulj poljana. Now on the flat,...