It is simply unbelievable what beauties the Plav and Gusinje region hides. Fortunately or unfortunately, those areas are still under-exploited for tourism, and Hridsko Jezero is the clearest example of it: a small glacial lake high in the Prokletije, ringed by spruce and rock, reached only on foot, and unknown to most people who spend a fortnight on the Montenegrin coast a few hours' drive away. Our wish is to introduce as many people as possible to the potential of this area through these photos.
A lake at the top of the forest
Hridsko Jezero sits at close to 1,970 metres in the Bogicevica massif, the eastern arm of the Prokletije, the range known in English as the Accursed Mountains. It lies within Prokletije National Park, declared in 2009 and the youngest of Montenegro's national parks. Like the lakes on Durmitor it is glacial in origin, scooped from the rock during the last ice age and now fed by snowmelt and springs. It is not large, and it is not deep, but it is set exactly where a mountain lake should be: at the point where the last spruce forest gives out and the open pasture and scree begin.
The water is cold all year and the colour shifts with the light and the season, from near black under the trees to a pale green when the sun is high. Shepherds still bring flocks up to the katuns nearby in summer, and for a few weeks the meadows around the lake are grazed and busy before emptying again in September.
The lake of the fairies
Locally the lake carries a second name, jezero vila, the lake of the fairies. The stories attached to it are the usual mountain kind, of water that should not be disturbed and of beings who live around it, and they have kept a certain respect for the place alive. Whatever you make of them, they are part of why the shoreline has stayed as clean as it has.
Walking up to Hrid
There is no road to the lake and that is the point. Walkers normally start from the villages above Plav, on the Vojno Selo and Babino Polje side, and climb through beech and then spruce forest onto the Bogicevica pastures, where the marked path continues to the lake. It is a long half day up for a fit walker, with a serious height gain, and the terrain is karst: little surface water, no shelter above the treeline, and cloud that can come in fast. Rough tracks used by shepherds reach the high pastures and shorten the walk for anyone with a suitable vehicle, but they are not a family drive.
Hrid also appears on some itineraries of the cross-border Peaks of the Balkans trail, the long circuit that links the mountains of Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo. The lake sits high in the Bogicevica, close to where the three borders meet, so it is worth carrying a passport and checking the current permit and crossing rules for any route that leaves Montenegrin ground.
The wider Plav and Gusinje country
Hrid is one item on a long list. Plav Lake, at the foot of the town, is the largest glacial lake in Montenegro and freezes in hard winters. Above Gusinje the Ali Pasha springs surface all at once out of flat green meadow and run cold enough to numb your hand in seconds. The Grlja waterfall drops beside the road into the Grebaje valley, where the Karanfili, the Carnation peaks, stand up in near-vertical walls that draw climbers from across the region. Over the ridge, the Ropojana valley leads towards Zla Kolata, at 2,534 metres the highest point in Montenegro.
The towns themselves are worth time. Plav keeps several old kula, the fortified stone and timber tower houses of the region, the Redzepagic tower among the best preserved anywhere in the Balkans. The food is mountain food, and the hospitality is direct and generous.
Practical notes
- Season: July to mid-September is the safe window. Snow lies late on the north slopes, and the high pastures can be under it again by October.
- Access: Plav is roughly 130 kilometres from Podgorica by way of Kolasin and Andrijevica, a mountain drive of about three hours.
- Gear: proper boots, wind and rain layers, and all the water you will need. There is no shop, no signal to rely on, and no shelter at the lake.
- Guides: local guides in Plav and Gusinje know the approaches and the weather, and are the sensible choice for a first visit.
We are sure that in the near future there will be a true valorization of the Plav and Gusinje area. Such a quantity of attractive locations and natural beauty can very rarely be found in one place. We owe a great debt of gratitude to our dear friend Sead Jasavić.
Gordan Stojović
www.montenegro.com
