Sunday 6 July 2014

Balkans 2

WOW! that really was an adventure!....We have just returned from a second successful trip to the Balkans with 5 more summits 'in the bag'. There were thunderstorms, bears and bureaucratic border crossings aplenty but the mountains were good to us! 

First up was Montenegro's - Zla Kolata (2534m) a beautiful part of the world with some on the most friendly people in the whole Balkan region. 



Next up was Kosovo - Djeravica (2556m). We negotiated a good rate with the hotel manager in Junik to take us in a 4X4 to the trail head. On the way, lightning struck 2 ft away from the Jeep, then it overheated and finally we were stopped in our tracks by a huge bear. The climb was amazing too!



The poor weather in Bosnia & Herzegovina - Maglic (2387m) meant that we had to cancel our first attempt and try again the next day. Although the conditions were far from perfect we made it to the top. 



We were now a day behind schedule by the time we reached Croatia - Dinara (1831m), but the conditions were perfect and we enjoyed a relaxing hike to the summit accompanied by two 'guide dogs' - they must have lived locally and clearly new their way around!  



After a long drive we arrived in Slovenia to tackle our final mountain of this trip - Triglav (2864m). The trail was only opened offically a few days before but the Prag Route was still closed. We laboured up the steeper and more exposed Tomasinski Route and made it to the summit late in the afternoon. 
   

Next up Switzerland and Russia!