Montenegro - new facets

This trip to Montenegro is far from the first in my “track record”. And yet, there was a lot of new things on this trip - for the first time we reached the inaccessible peak of May Jezerce, for the first time we implemented a 100% radial travel format, for the first time we added a third reserve to Prokletiy and Durmitor - Komove.

Tivat

The hike in Montenegro unexpectedly began from the beach. We waited for about 5 hours for a late flight and, of course, did not sit at the airport.

From the terminal to the sea it is probably less than 500 meters. The depth there is of course childish, but they set the teeth on edge.

We moved a little further - to a Soviet-style park. Leaning pillars, concrete pavilions, broken asphalt and homely chickens in the bushes (guinea fowl, actually).

I needed to buy a local SIM card with the Internet and I went to the city (Tivat) and it also seemed old-fashioned to me.

But a little later we found ourselves there again and saw a new embankment and chic neighborhoods with a yacht dock, and a quite comfortable (albeit stone) city beach. Thank God we didn’t get sunburned on the first day))

The late flight was so late that we left Tivat already at dusk. Accordingly, we found ourselves in Prokletiye around midnight. Hungry and tired - you want to fall and fall asleep, but your voracious appetite forces you to cook dinner.

Prokletie - Popadya and Volushnitsa.

By some miracle, in the morning there were heroes who were able to eat breakfast and hit the road. The tents were left under the supervision of local shepherds, and we went to the radial camp.

The first two hours passed very slowly. Even without backpacks, it was felt that people needed to “disperse.”

When we got out onto the cliff, the mood improved noticeably. Moreover, two blueberry fields were plundered along the way

We had lunch overlooking the white cliffs of Karanfila. People don’t want to believe that tomorrow we will climb THERE.

At the top of Volushnitsa we take a break and read notes from the “black box”. Of course, we leave our homage to eternity.

Not long before Montenegro, I returned from a trip to Turkey and Georgia. The dogs there (mostly Caucasians) looked much more plump than this Montenegrin anorexic.

We walk along the ridge, which is also the state border. On the left is Albania, on the right is Montenegro.

Suddenly it turns out that many have not calculated the amount of water and are already beginning to suffer from thirst. We go down into that bushy ravine on the left and replenish supplies there from the only source in the entire area.

Prokletie - Karanfily.

Climbing Karanfily is a wonderful workout for everything at once. First, a protracted "cool" episode.

Then - stone chaos, uncomfortable for the feet.

Behind him is a huge snowfield. At first, the guys took it for a dry lake.

And just before the pass, such an extreme situation began that only two people went to look at the “other side” - me and Andrey.

Beyond the pass the next part of the Prokletiye was visible. Tomorrow we will move there with our things in order to subsequently climb Maja Jezerce (the highest hill in the background).

We select our companions and easily and naturally climb through the stone gates into a closed valley.

We dine with a feeling of accomplishment. All the main obstacles of the day have already been passed, then the descent begins. But it also requires a huge amount of strength.

Of course, all the oncoming bushes (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries) were immediately stripped to the skin. The topic of food generally dominated the minds of the first two weeks of the trip))

We pass through a dense, shady and humid area of ​​forest - it bears little resemblance to the usual Mediterranean shiblyak.

Savino eye

Our shepherd neighbors, in addition to wonderful cheese, plum brandy and dogs, also had a car. For a modest sum, they took us to the neighboring valley in two trips. Of course, with a stop at the grocery store))

The incredibly cold Lake Savino Oko helped us replenish our food supplies. Our people bathed so actively in this natural freezer that the neighboring group (pensioners from Holland) shared their lunch rations with us. They didn’t want to eat in the heat, but we were severely frozen and especially needed calories. Zhe ne mange pa sis jour? Yes, sure!

We continued to warm up in the evening by the luxurious beech fire. I love these trees for their convenient branches in everyday life :)

Extreme in Albania

I already knew that the radial trip to Albania is a major event. And if you want to achieve your planned goal (climb May Jezerce), then you need to drive without delay.

Therefore, we crossed green lawns and tempting lakes at full speed and jumped out into the rocky and snowy zone quite early.

There was no time for speed anymore. They crawled as best they could.

This time we crossed the huge snowfields without any problems. The snow was dense and non-slip.

During lunch we even hid a little from the sun, but overall the weather was much cooler than the day before.

Harsh clouds pressed down from above, threatening to block the view from the top. Do you think this stopped us?

Halfway up the climb we found a teddy bear. Apparently, his owner abandoned him, despite all his merits and the presence of limbs :(

Not everyone reached the peak of May Jezerce. And those who reached it sat down and laughed merrily, anticipating the most difficult descent.

The lack of greenery, the abundance of complex powder, gloomy clouds and heavy thoughts formed a very specific image for Mai Jezertse. The character of the mountain, so to speak.

On the descent, we perfected the “five-point” descent technique - an advanced version of the classic “three-step” method.

We barely crawled to the place where we had lunch 5 hours ago when the sun began to hide behind the mountains. To boost morale, I had to urgently arrange a snack :)

What should you do in a situation when the sun has almost set, and you still have 2 hours to go before you spend the night? Right! We need to arrange an emergency stop and count the lanterns in the group. Of course, there were half as many of them as there were participants.

Upon returning to camp, the impossible happened. Several people went to bed without having dinner. Reassessment of values, undermining foundations and all that.... Those who remained had dinner for two.

Sunny May

Taking advantage of the lack of dew and precipitation, I slept in the open air for the second night. Such a dream differs significantly from an ordinary one in the absence of any psychological protection. There is nothing between you and the world, you are vulnerable. And you close your eyes and fall asleep. I love this feeling))

By the way, about safety. When we got out onto the path, we caught a sleeping snake there.

See the red roof in the middle of the clearing at the bottom of the photo? This is a former border outpost, now a shelter for shepherds. Our tents are located in a small forest, 200 meters from this barracks.

I'm glad that I decided to do today's output in radial format as well. Even walking up such a steep slope without backpacks is fun and stress-free.

There was lunch beyond the pass. And at lunch Zhenya said that she would wait for us here. On a pebble. And while everyone was climbing to the next peak, she sang songs and collected flowers. Are you jealous?

Once again we rushed to the border with Albania and met a couple of tourists from Ireland crawling from the other side. They also have a one-day radial. And according to their information, crossing the border is not a problem either.

We find ourselves at the top unexpectedly easily and simply. At least it can’t be compared with yesterday’s Maya.

The general mood is total relaxation. There is plenty of time, you don’t have to rush, the weather is excellent, the trail is not difficult. We often arrange stops and blockages :)

The sun is hot and when the wind subsides we even hide in the shade. For your next vacation, of course :)

In the evening we go down to the camp and while the guys are preparing dinner, I go to the shepherds for cheese. They live all summer in a former border barracks under the reliable protection of shepherd dogs. I even thought about giving up cheese...

Komove Nature Reserve

According to the plan, today we were supposed to go to the Durmitor nature reserve. But part of the group had already been there and we decided to slightly shorten the Durmitor program and use the two free days to explore a new area. We went to the Komove nature reserve.

It's amazing how many events fit into one day when you're hiking. At dawn we were still packing our tents in Prokletiye, and we met the sunset going down the mountain in Komovo. Between them there was a trek to Gusynye, a cheerful trade with taxi drivers, a raid on a supermarket, a beautiful mountain serpentine, an estimate for a campsite and a search for water on the ridge.

In the end, we found a source and a huge blueberry tree, set up tents and went on a hike to the first of the three main peaks of Komove - Kom Vasolevitsky 2461 m.

In the box at the top, in addition to the logbook, there was a nice stamp - you can make a note in your passport about visiting the mountain)

While I was trying to discern the familiar outlines of Prokletiye on the horizon, people arranged a photo session at the summit. I was also spanked once.

And on the other side of Komove one could discern the dark silhouette of Durmitor (it was about 70 km away). A brisk wind was blowing from that side and a wall of cloud loomed somewhere on the horizon.

In the morning the wind became so strong that my tent, pressed to the ground by the air flow, began to interfere with sleep. A peg flew out of the ground a couple of times. The towels drying on the line spontaneously moved ten meters to the side. When I climbed out to organize breakfast, the wind almost blew my sleeping bag out from under the awning.

The weather forecast showed that this would be for a long time. Therefore, we decided not to wait for mercy from nature and after breakfast we moved to a clearing on the other side of the ridge. It was assumed that there would be no wind there. Everyone relaxed, the guys even took a half-hour nap on the grass. However, soon the squalls reached the new parking lot.

We reinforced the tents with additional guys and went to the radial camp. The sky was periodically overcast, but the rain did not have time to fall - the wind carried them away too quickly.

Behind the huge loose rock, a smooth ascent began into the neighboring valley. This section was remembered for two moments - the dramatic burner and the Montenegrin grandfather. Gorelnik stood as expected, and the grandfather lay on the grass, smoking a rolled-up cigarette and chatting about abstract topics. It's a pity I was embarrassed to take it on video. “Such a colorful old man, big forelock, blue cap with a red band...” if you remember, of course))

It started to rain a couple of times and we decided to have lunch before it was too late. We hid in a karst sinkhole, hid under a large stone, laid out food and life immediately somehow got better. It got warmer, the birds began to chirp, the landscapes became full of flowers.

By the way, we also figured out the landscapes. The main feature of the mountains in the Komovo nature reserve is the mighty fields of dry powder. Whole oceans of rubble, at 45 degrees to the horizon. There are no such people in Prokletiye and Durmitor.

As soon as we stuck our nose out onto the pass, we were pressed into the rock by air currents. Not really hoping for success, we walked a little towards the top, but after the rain was added to the hurricane wind, we finally gave up on this idea and went down.

From the pass we did not turn back to the camp (which means we didn’t have enough time), but went into unknown distances. My map said that there was a shelter very nearby.

The map did not deceive, shelter was found. While I was putting things in order in the raspberry patch in the backyard of the shelter, Tolik studied the contents of the shelter caches and generated this cute composition with wine and candles. I had to start a second lunch))

We returned to camp along a new path around the mountain. She walked through a dense forest, where the wind was almost not felt. And when we again found ourselves in our clearing next to the tents, we wanted to urgently save them and hide them in the forest. The wind got crazy to such an extent that in order not to burn the forest, we had to put out the fire that had been lit with great difficulty.

By the way, while defending the fire from the wind and the forest from the fire, one of the tents was destroyed. A cobblestone rolled down on top of it (intended to build a wall around the fire) and the tightly stretched tent simply exploded. Thus, the participant who threw the stone suddenly became the owner of a broken tent. And Andrei, who had lost his shelter, moved to a campsite for the night. The day clearly wasn't going to end :)

The final chord was a night thunderstorm. This time, rain with thunder and lightning finally joined the wind. Despite the additional braces, the arcs bent inward a couple of times and hit me on the head. The neighbors were in awe, and I, falling asleep again, discussed the advisability of sleeping in a helmet :)

Transfer to Durmitor.

In the morning, as expected, the storm subsided and we wanted new adventures. We ordered a car and went to Durmitor.

The driver who took us to Durmitor proudly called his car “Oldtimer”. It was an old Volkswagen minibus, probably from the 70s. An all-metal interior, a unique exhaust gas heating system and anti-draft windows for real gourmets. Of course, there was a real risk that not everyone would make it to Durmitor, but the price of the flight greatly justified the inconvenience :)

During the traditional stop at the Djurdzhevich Bridge, no one ran rafting. Apparently, the organisms developed a short-term allergy to vehicles.

But there was time for a leisurely walk along the bridge. We walked from end to end and became familiar with the peculiarities of Montenegrin traffic in detail. Nobody is in a hurry. Cars stopped in the middle of a narrow bridge, the driver went to take photos with passengers, and the whole world quietly waited.

Near the bridge over the Tara canyon, two trolleys (aka zip-line) were organized. Montenegrin trolls are the safest trolls in the world. Most of the skaters did not reach the opposite bank by at least ten meters. And they had to overcome this distance by moving their hands along the cable.

Durmitor Nature Reserve

In Durmitor we set up tents at the Ivan Do campsite and quickly ran to the Black Lake. I wanted to swim in it before dusk fell.

After swimming, with new strength, we ran around the lake. I have already been to Durmitor, but previously I did not have enough time for such a detailed study of the Black Lake. In particular, I have never seen Titov's Cave. A very interesting cave, I must say. It’s not entirely clear how it was possible to hide from anyone in THIS... But I won’t reveal my cards to you, come and see for yourself))

The next morning greeted us with milk porridge. We ate the porridge, but the thick fog did not go away. And we set off on a radial hike to Mount Savin Kuk, guided solely by instruments.

In winter, a ski resort operates on the slopes of Savny Kuk. In September everything was empty. There wasn't even any security and we had a lot of fun playing in abandoned bars and ski lifts.

At the top of the mountain there were a couple of seconds when the fog cleared and we managed to notice that from the side of Mount Meded, new safety ropes had been stretched along the trail. But they haven’t checked them yet; they decided to postpone it until the weather clears.

On the way back we sat in a randomly opened “ski” cafe. They had mulled wine and hot milk on the menu. What do you think I chose?

Since our campsite was located very close to the lake, running along its shores twice a day became an integral part of our camping life.

Another day in Durmitor began with heavy dew. This promised good weather and we boldly rushed towards the difficult route.

I’m sharing my experience - if you try too hard to avoid meeting the cashiers of the national park, you can discover many untrodden paths... and lose a lot of time :)

The steep climb up Mount Maly Meded pleased us with new angles of the Black Lake. Of course, the Montenegrins missed the mark with the color in the name.

Next was a gorgeous traverse towards Bolshoi Meded.

The trail followed a narrow ridge; many sections were also equipped with safety ropes. A very interesting route, especially if you go without heavy backpacks))

We looked into the Magic Red Barrel. This is a shelter for climbers and lost tourists. From the outside it looks tiny - like a tent. But due to the thoughtful layout, there is a lot of space inside - there is a corridor, a kitchen and a bedroom. Muggles are not so hopeless :)

Above the shelter on the slope there is a permanent snowfield. It is even marked on the maps.

The people were tired, so we returned to the camp along a simple path through the forest.

Several new noisy companies appeared at the campsite. We watched with interest as one of them fought with the administration for the right to light fires right in the middle of the lawn. The cultural program was supplemented by songs accompanied by guitar from another group. I love variety :)

The last day in Durmitor should be the culmination of the trip. We planned to visit the Ice Cave and climb Bobotov Kuk (the highest peak in Montenegro). It’s not clear how to fit all this into one daylight.

Near the Ice Cave we meet a group of Japanese amateur filmmakers. With the help of a group of Montenegrin assistants and porters, they are trying to disperse other tourists and film the descent into a deserted cave. We patiently watched this circus while we had lunch, but no longer. We begin the descent.

The cave looks bad this year. There are almost no ice stalactites, everything has melted. Steel cables were stretched along the sides - handrails, but for mysterious Montenegrin reasons they were not brought to the bottom of the cave. Usually you can go down here on the snow more or less safely, but this year it melted a lot and turned into dense and slippery firn.

While I was thinking about the situation, Victor, who was walking on the other side, stepped onto the ice, took a couple of steps and safely rolled down. Luckily, I escaped with a couple of abrasions and a broken trekking stick.

Having got out of the cave and wishing creative success to the stunned Japanese, we continued our journey. Moreover, one half of the group headed back to the camp (to prepare dinner, of course), and the second decided to try their luck on Bobotov Kuk.

There was very little time left before sunset, and climbing to the top we were guaranteed to doom ourselves to a many-hour descent with flashlights. But the people clearly wanted to have a blast for the last time, and I didn’t become a bore and drag everyone down. In addition, there was hope to make the return journey a little easier. At the saddle we met an elderly Polish climber who offered to take us to the city.

A lone backpacker from Australia and a black dog from our campsite climbed to the top at the same time as us. The latter accompanied our group all day. He clearly knew the way and had been here many times before. But when this dog playfully made it to the top, not at all embarrassed by the short climbing sections, we were surprised, to put it mildly.

On the descent towards the “circular” Durmitor road, we caught up with a limping Pole and, like real Timurites, we helped him down. We approached his car in complete darkness and joyfully pressed ourselves inside in full force (along with the dog and the recruited Australian).

Adriatic coast - Budva and Kotor

To make it not so sad for us to leave Durmitor, it started to rain in the morning. True, the guys were a little worried about the prospect of a rainy, cold sea. After all, we were going to Budva and everyone was already looking forward to beaching.

But as soon as the mountains descended, the air became saturated with warmth and evening light. It was ideal in Budva - not too hot and with a very warm sea.

After the beach I was terribly hungry. But we didn’t want to miss the approaching colorful sunset, so instead of hanging out in a restaurant, we bought shawarma and went for a walk along the embankment.

I must say that in the evening, after a real dinner, ours couldn’t resist and went swimming again. We had to make full use of the time.

The resort town of Budva was already preparing for the closing of the season. There weren’t many people on the streets, some cafes were already taking out their outdoor tables, souvenir sellers were preparing cardboard boxes...

The next day we went to Kotor. The guys took a boat excursion, and I lazily crawled around the city with completely unclear goals. Apparently, this is how they become tourists.

Somewhere in the middle of my photo tour of Kotor, the guys from the group appeared again. Together we stormed the fortress wall and looked out of the windows a little.

In the evening in Budva, I found 10 minutes of time to run to the sea with a tripod and shoot the surf with a long exposure.

I also looked at the marina. In addition to the boring yachts, there was a pleasure submarine there. Essentially the same trough as all the other neighbors, but thanks to a small grain of magic (in the form of underwater lighting), it reminded me of childhood and underwater romance (Nautilus, Cousteau, The Secret of Two Oceans, etc.). Small fish flashed in the rays of an underwater spotlight, but at some point a huge fish slowly swam out of the darkness. Bathing in the waves of sacred delight, I turned off the camera and memory.