Montenegro: 3in1

dicus Climbing, Landscapes, Nature

[:en]

Four days, three summits, two mountins and one canyon, that is possible only in Montenegro! For every fan of outdoor sports, Montenegro is winning combination.

So we went to our favorite mountains for the umpteenth time. Ture goal was the climbing some summits of Prokletije and Komovi mountains, and one trad rock climb . However, the weather was not in our favor, so for 5 days we had to change our precise planned routes several times, so in the end, everything would become a trip without any plans, where we in the evening morning planned what to do next that morning …What would wise people say “The morning is wiser than evening”.

Prokletije

Since it was raining in Komovi, we went to Prokletije. There, in the following three days, we climbed Severni Vrh (), Očnjak, some sports paths and enjoyed in natural beauty of that region. Here we go…

click images to enlarge / kliknite na fotografije za veće

The view from the valley Grbaja of the peaks of Albanian Prokletije. The valley Grbaja was the starting point of our climbing.

The goal of first climbing was the peak Očnjak, 2185 metres, not the highest, but the most difficult in the Montenegrin part of Prokletije. Years ago, it was possible to reach the top only through rock climbing routes , but since the sixties there is also hiking trail, which is very dangerous and exposed in some parts.

Our plan was to climb the top over southern ridge, through “Radnički” route, but since we didn’t find the „entrance“ , we took the normal hiking route.

Očnjak

Očnjak (2185 mnv.)

The view from Severni vrh on Očnjak.

South ridge of Očnjaka.

Just before the summit. Final part is going through an extremely steep terrain. Cables on exposed details are very old and it’s recommended not to use them. In the back is Grbaja, the valley from which we started.

Finally at the top. Signing in the book, stamping, sunbathing and departure. BTW, that was my third climbing on Očnjak.

Returning the same way…

Ropojana

We used the gloomy day for visiting Ropojana, beautiful valley on the border with Albania. Ropojana and its notability deserve special theme on blog, so Savino Oko, Alipašini izvori and other places will be mentioned some other time ;)

Ropojana valley .

Besides the walking, we succeded to climb some rocks, ten minutes away from Alipašeni izvori.

Viper (Vipera ammodytes), Europe’s most toxic snake.

Severni Vrh (Northern Peak)

Visibility was only few metres, and did not promise successful climbing that day. Our tent was in the cloud, and we didn’t have days to waste. We decided to take the risk, and went toward Severni vrh with hope that we will be out of the clouds soon. That is exactly what happened, after just 200 meters of elevation , we left the clouds in the valley below us.

Karanfili are certainly the most dominant peak (means the group of peaks) of Montenegrin part of Prokletije. One of three peaks is Severni vrh (2460 amsl), which rises steeply between the valleys Grbaje and Ropojana. The very climbing is not easy, there are some parts under the snow and exposed, but certainly it is one of the most beautiful on Prokletije. During the climbing is possible to se see both valleys (Ropojana and Grbaja), and almost all the tops of Prokletije.

Thanks to the great weather, we reached the top very easy. Most of the time we took the normal hiking trail, except the ridge, where we were practised the simultaneous movement of roped party, as preparation for Alps.

“I told you that weather will be good.”

Severni vrh is few hundred metres above us… In this imposing rock there is a lot of (trad) climbing routes.

“Wait until I put on crampons”

We are moving next to the rock of Severni vrh to Krošnjina vrata – narrow passage that lead us to Ropojan part of mountain.

Steep part before Krošnjina vrata is always under the snow, so it is necessary to have appropriate equipment, as crampons and ice axe

The view on Zastan (1384m) , the place where is summer border post of former Yugoslav Army. While the army was there, this was fully functional facility, where hikers were regular guests. Today, when there is no army here, this facility is completely dilapidated. That is sad, because if there were smart people, this facility could be addapted into great mountain lodge, almost without any investments. The landscape around border post is unreal beautiful!

The view from the peak towards Maja Jezerce (2694 mnv.) – the highest peak of Prokletije and Dinaric Alps.

Plav and Plavsko lake.

After more than four hours of walking, here we are on the top.

 

Canyon Mrtvice

Canyon of river Mrtvica is in the central part of Montenegro, only 40 km from Podgorica. Canyon is very deep, and the height of the cliffs reaches 1100 metara. All along the canyon, there is a nice walking trail, around 12 km long, what makes it accessible to tourists. This place is incredibly beautiful, and I recommend to everyone to visit it.
Soon, I plan to visit this canyon again, but this time leisurely and with full photo equipment. Last time I didn’t have time to take photos I wanted.
 

River Mrtvica

The gate of wishes
 
 

Komovi

Mountain range Komovi is composed of several peaks, and most notably are Kučki Kom (2487 m), Vasojevićki Kom (2461 m) and Ljevoriječki Kom (2469 m). Original plan was to pass Komovi in one day with long ridge tour. However, since we already postponed the climbing due to weather conditions, there was no time for that long and exhausting tour. Instead, we decided to climb on Vasojevićki Kom again, and to use that as check of our condition .
We went in “lite” option, without backpacks, photo equipment or anything that could slow us down. In a strong pace, we were on the summit for less than an hour, which is, actually, very good ;)

The view from Štavna to Komovi. The left peak is Vasojevićki Kom (2461 m), and right is Kučki Kom (2487 m).

Turbo guys from the summit (L-R) : Brothers Marić, myself & brothers Pajić

*all of this happened in june 2010.

Text and photos: Dimitrije Ostojić

Tekst i fotografije © Dimitrije Ostojić 2011

[:sr]

Četri dana, tri vrha, dve planine i jedan kanjon, to je moguće samo u Crnoj Gori! Za svakog ljubitelja outdoor sportova Crna Gora je dobitna kombinacija.

Tako smo i mi po ko zna koji put krenuli ka nama omiljenim planinama. Cilj ture je bio uspon na neke malo teže vrhove Prokletija i Komova, i penjanje jednog alpinističkog smera. Međutim vreme nas je sputavalo u ostvarivanju naših ciljeva , pa smo za 5 dana nekoliko puta menjali naše precizno isplanirane maršrute, da bi se na kraju sve pretvorilo u put bez ikakvih planova, gde smo uveče ujutru planirali šta ćemo raditi sledećeg tog jutra …Što bi pametni ljudi rekli “Jutro je pametnije od večeri”.

Prokletije

Pošto nas je na Komovima dočekala kiša, produžili smo do Prokletija. Tamo smo u naredna tri dana popeli Severni Vrh (), Očnjak, penjali neke sportske smeri i uživali u prirodnim lepotama kraja. Idemo redom…

click images to enlarge / kliknite na fotografije za veće

Pogled iz doline Grbaje ka albanskim vrhovima Prokletija. Dolina Grbaja je bila polazna tačka naših uspona.

Cilj prvog uspona je vrh Očnjak, visok 2185 metara, nije najviši ali je zato najteži vrh u masivu crnogorskih Prokletija. Nekada je do vrha bilo moguće stići samo alpinističkim smerom, ali od sredine šezdesetih postoji i planinarska staza, koja je u nekim delovima prilično eksponirana i opasna.

Naš plan je bio da se na vrh popnemo alpinističkim usponom preko južnog grebena, smerom Radničkog, ali pošto nismo našli „ulaz“ u smer krenuli smo normalnom rutom.

Očnjak

Očnjak (2185 mnv.)

Pogled na Očnjak sa Severnog vrha.

Južni greben Očnjaka.

Neposredno pred vrh. Završni deo uspona vodi preko izuzetno strmog terena. Sajle na ekponiranim detaljima koje su davno postavljene su propale, pa je pametnije ne oslanjati se njih. U pozadini se vidi Grbaja, dolina iz koje smo krenuli.

I konačno na vrhu. Upisivanje u knjigu, lupanje pečata, sunčanje i polazak nazad. BTW to mi je bio treći uspon na Očnjak u životu..

Istim putem nazad…

Ropojana

Sumorni dan smo iskoristili za obilazak Ropojane, prelepe doline na samoj granici sa Albanijom. Ropojana i njene znamenosti zaslužuju zasebnu temu na blogu, pa ćete Savino Oko, Alipašine izvore i ostala mesta koja smo obišli videti u nekoj drugoj temi ;)

Dolina Ropojana.

Pored šetnje uspeli smo da ispenjemo i dosta sportskih smeri u steni koja se nalazi na desetak minuta od Alipašenih izvora.

Poskok (Vipera ammodytes), najotrovnija evropska zmija.

Severni Vrh

Vidljivost od svega par metara nije obećavala penjanje tog dana. Šator nam je bio u oblaku, a mi bez rezervih dana za uspon. Rešili smo da rizikujemo, krenuli ka Severnom vrhu sa nadom da ćemo brzo izaći iz oblaka. Tako i bi, posle pređenih 200 metara nadmorske visine, oblak je ostao ispod nas u dolini.

Karanfili su sigurno najdominantniji vrh (tj. grupa vrhova) crnogorskih Prokletija. Jedan ot tri vrha Karanfila je i Severni vrh (2460 mnv), koji se strmo uzdiže između doline Grbaje i Ropojane. Sam uspon do vrha nije jednostavan, ima nekoliko eksponiranih i snežnih deonica, ali je svakako jeste jedan od najlepših na Prokletijama. Tokom uspona moguće je videti obe doline (Ropojanu i Grbaju), a sa vrha i gotovo sve vrhove Prokletija.

Zahvaljujući sjajnim vremenskim prilikama, do vrha smo stigli brzo i bez ikakvih problema. Veći deo puta kretali smo se normalnom planinarskom stazom, osim na grebenu, gde smo radi pripreme za Alpe uvežbavali simultano kretanje naveza.

“Rekao sam ti da će biti lepo vreme.”

Severni vrh je par stotina metari iznad nas… U ovoj impozantnoj steni nalazi se i dosta alpinističkih smerova.

“Čekaj čekaj, samo da stavim dereze”

Krećemo se pored stene Severnog vrha ka Krošnjinim vratima – uzanom prolazu koji nas vodi na Ropojansku stranu planine.

Strmi deo pre Krošnjinih vrata je uvek pod snegom, pa je na ovakav uspon poželjeno krenuti sa derezama i cepinima.

Pogled na Zastan (1384m) , mesto na kome se nalazi letnja karaula nekadašnje Vojske Jugoslavije. Dok je vojska bila tu ovo je bio potpuno funkcionalan objekat, gde su i planinari bili česti gosti. Danas, kada vojske tu više nema ovaj objekat je potpuno oronuo i raščerupan. Neverovatna šteta, da je bilo pametnih ljudi, ovaj objekat je mogao da se adaptira u odličan planinarski dom, gotovo bez ulaganja. Inače krajolik oko karaule je nestvarno lep!

Pogled sa vrha na Maja Jezerces (2694 mnv.) – najviši vrh Prokletija i Dinarskih Alpa.

Plav i Plavsko jezero.

I posle nešto više od četiri sata hoda eto nas na vrhu.

 

Kanjon Mrtvice

Konjon reke Mrtvice nalazi se u centralnom delu Crne Gore, na svega 40 km od Podgorice. Kanjon je prilično dubok, a visina litica dostiže i 1100 metara. Ono što je karakteristično kod ovog kanjona je njegova prohodnost. Duž celog kanjona postoji lepo uređena pešačka staza dugačka oko 12 km, što ga čini dostupnim i za turiste. Ovao mesto je nestvarno lepo, i svakom toplo preporučujem da ga obiđe.
Planiram da uskoro ponovo posetim ovaj kanjon, ali ovaj put natenane i sa kompletnom foto opremom. Prošlog puta smo bili u škripcu sa vremenom, pa gotovo i da nisam fotografisao.
 

Reka Mrtvica

Kapija Želja
 
 

Komovi

Masiv Komova se sastoji od više vrhova od kojih su najpoznatiji Kučki Kom (2487 nmv), Vasojevićki Kom (2461 mnv) i Ljevoriječki Kom (2469 mnv). Provobitni plan je bio odradimo “prečenje Komova” tj. da ih sve obiđemo u jednom danu “jakom” grebenskom turom. Međutim pošto smo uspon već jednom odlagali zbog vremenskih prilika, vremena za tu dugačku i napornu turu nije bilo. Umesto toga odlučili smo da se popnemo samo na Vasojevićki Kom, a da nam taj uspon bude neka vrsta provera kondicije.
Krenuli smo u “lite” varijanti, bez rančeva, foto opreme i ičega što bi nas usporavalo. Ubrzanim tempom na vrhu smo bili za neki minut manje od sat vremena, što i nije loše prolazno vreme ;)

Pogled iz Štavne ka Komovima. Levi vrh je Vasojevićki Kom (2461 mnv), a desni Kučki Kom (2487 nmv).

Turbo ekipa sa vrha (L-D) : braća Marić, myself & braća Pajić

*sve ovo se dešavalo juna 2010.

Tekst i fotografije © Dimitrije Ostojić 2011

[:]