Window on Niksic

Gackova greda is part of a line of peaks along the southern border of Krnovo Plain which extends from the southern line of windmills towards Mt. Žurim. The access road to the windfarm allows you to get closer to Gackova greda, even during the winter, since the windmills have to be accessible for maintenance all-year round. From the windfarm, facing eastwards, veer to the right and onto the top of the ridge, where there is an interesting walk along the ridge towards the tree-covered Mt. Borovnik (to the right) and Mt. Žurim which forms the end of this ridge.

The Piva Mountains represent a less well known attraction for hikers, partly because it is not (yet) a national park – currently it has been characterised as a nature park, but doesn’t have the sort of funding that the five national parks have. Despite this, there is now good signposting to the main attractions. The highest peak is Maglić, on the border with Republika Srpska. These mountains can be accessed in various different parts, mainly near the town of Plužine, the municipal capital. Mount Vrsta lies among the northernmost clumps of mountains and is best accessed from the village of Ćalasani: after arriving in Plužine from the south, drive along the main road further until the hydroelectric dam, where, after crossing the dam, there is a left turn through a tunnel to the village of Mratinje. There is a signpost to Maglić and Trnovačko jezero at a t-junction, left. We parked at the end of the road near where a spring emerges and flows over the road. The first part of ...

This relatively easy walk can be done in several variants, all of which will be detailed here, although this time I am recording the second walk along this canyon, not wishing to duplicate blogs on the same trail. The River Komarnica starts in Durmitor near Sedlo, flowing down this canyon – in the summer it is largely dry or else underground, whereas during the spring the flow is at its most powerful, and there are several waterfalls either along its course or from streams feeding into it as the descend into the canyon. The canyon is dominated on one side by a 15-km-long almost vertical wall of rock called Boljske grede, while on the other side the incline is gentler and almost completely covered in trees. The canyon widens out at the village of Komarnica, where there is road access. After several kilometres of dirt track, asphalt begins and the River Komarnica is joined by the River Grabovica which pours down one side of the canyon making a spectacular waterfall called S...

This ridge, the second parallel ridge going northwards after passing Zurim, has featured in many of my hikes this year. However, so far we have either gone eastwards along the top of the ridge, or perpendicular across it towards the next ridge (Mt Lola). This time we decided to go westwards along the top of the ridge towards Bijela and Krnovo. It took about two hours to get from the car parked by Zagaracki katun to the top of the ridge, then another hour or so to the highest point of the peak Trpezarija, not far from where the wind farm on Krnovo starts. It was not a tough walk, but we had to be careful because of the early sunset this late in the year. We wanted to see whether there was a quick route down from the ridge to the valley bottom, but not finding one along the way, we had to return the way we came.

More just for the exercise than anything else, we decided to head over to Durmitor and enjoy the view from the top over all of Durmitor National Park. We needed crampons near the top, as the peak was covered in ice and packed snow. We tried exploring the minor peaks between Sljeme and Bandijerna, but decided that we would be hard-pressed for time and so headed down. The descent took a little longer than we had bargained for, and ended up seeing the sun set as we came down and returned to the car with hardly any light left.

We set out on a cloudy day, hoping that the road would not be covered in snow or ice, and we were fortunately able to get to the katun at the foot of Mali Zurim. A view from Borovnik a week earlier had revealed another way up Veliki Zurim, and it was decided to explore this, even though the entire mountain was engulfed in low cloud and we could not see where our path was taking us to. When we found an animal trail, we followed it up a snaking route to a pass, but given the limited visibility, headed straight up to where we knew the summit to be, which was marked by a canister containing a log book and pen. The way down was potentially dangerous, given that we could not see that far in front, but I trusted to my memory of climbing it before, and we managed to descend without problem, if a little tentatively.

Ice on the road to Zagoricki katun prevented us from driving up to the foot of Zurim, so we decided to head towards Borovnik, which I still have not climbed right to the top. There was some snow on the ground and the rivulets that crisscross the Lukavica valley were apparently in full flow. We had to cross on stepping stones on many occasions, until unexpectedly we came to a beautiful hidden waterfall. I managed to divine a way up this side of Borovnik, up a grassy strip cutting through boulders and pine trees. This side was relatively free of snow, facing towards the sun, but once we got to the top, there was enough snow to hide the crevasses and cracks in the rock, and made traversing the top ridge quite hazardous. But the weather was excellent and the descent was relatively danger-free. Borovnik is a wide massif, and the three times I have tried to climb it, there has not been enough time to get from the foot right to the summit