Durmitor Adventures

First and foremost, thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate my 500 blips yesterday - especially those kind enough to bestow hearts. Your comments, hearts and stars are very much appreciated. We’re still in the mountains and now only have no access to Wi-Fi in our little cabin but only in the  communal area - hence I really only have the chance to post.  

The clouds gathering over the Durmitor range built up to dramatic storms last night with thunder, lightning and torrential rains. We wake this morning to a misty world where the sun is slow to make an appearance.

After a delicious breakfast of organic fare we bid a sad farewell to our lovely hosts, and head into the high mountains for our day’s exploration. Initially, we drive through pastoral scenes of mountain sheep and the traditional V-shaped wooden farm houses - the weathered boards often now replaced with zinc - and increasingly encounter mounds of melting snow, remnants of the long winter. Climbing ever higher, all evidence of human population ceases, the sheer majesty of nature taking over. 

We stop at a viewpoint where we decide to clamber down to the glacial lake below to get a better look. It is from here we notice a small car along the road above with two people digging away some snow and we realise our route ahead may well be blocked. Returning to the road - a steep climb which makes me regret my decision to go down - we see a tractor passing. Whist initially we thought the men were local workmen clearing snow, we now realise it’s a pair of a German tourists who have foolishly decided to drive round a snow drift resulting in their hire car now perched precariously between road and steep hillside. By now a small group of other intrepid travellers have gathered, and G joins them to help with the ‘rescue’ as they try to pull the car away from the edge while the tractor pulls it backwards. I just hope that should the worse happen and it plunges headlong into the valley, they will all remember to let go; thankfully after a few attempts it’s safely back with all four wheels on the road and much  high-fiving and general bonhomie ensues. 

It’s clear that our planned route will have to be abandoned, but we decide to walk a few kilometres along to see the views. Sure enough, the road becomes increasingly encroached by huge drifts of winter snow until we reach the point where it disappears completely. Beyond this point I can see a herd of wild ponies and would love to get closer, but sanity prevails and we retrace our steps. 

By now the sun is piercing through the clouds and the snow covered slopes sparkle in the light. Wild crocuses are blooming, and in places drifts of purple grace the hills - it’s really beautiful. 

Our plans now change to visiting the Black Lake next - although it’s actually green due to the reflection of the conifer forests surrounding it, and right now an algal bloom seems to have turned part of it a surreal slightly scummy blue from which small frogs poke their heads and croak a slightly mournful song. 

G is eager to reach a viewpoint for the Tara Gorge - the largest and deepest canyon in Europe, so we start in yet another road adventure - though it really is beyond the capabilities of our little hire car. At times the road seems replaced by huge water-filled potholes, but G - now in rally driver mode - assures me ‘there is no ‘problem’. We reach the point where we literally run out of road - a rough parking area for a hike to the viewpoint. The steep rocky trail is wet, slippery and ill defined, and clearly rain is in the way so sanity prevails - but even from the lower stretch, the views are breathtaking.

Finally, it’s on to the Tara Bridge, a feat of engineering spanning the canyon that predates WW2. There’s a minor - well actually pretty major - panic where I think I’ve lost my iPhone. Of course, it’s in the car all the time, but we only realise this after some frantic searching around the area! 

Our accommodation for the night is a campsite down the Tara valley, a beautiful drive in the late afternoon sunshine. Simple accommodation and another welcoming meal of local fare. 

In a day of so many sights - and so, so many photos - choosing a main becomes almost random. In the end I’ve gone for the Tara Bridge, with collages of our road adventures, the mountains, the Black Lake etc in extras! Not that I’m indecisive or anything ….