Tom`s travels: September 2026

With one of the hiking clubs of Sarajevo, we took a day trip to the Zelengora mountain range. We left early with a small group and after a few hours' drive, passed the town of Kalinovik. From there, we left the main road, drove along a dirt road, and after a while, we eventually reached a group of houses where we parked the van and began our hike. A dog from one of the houses decided to follow us and would not leave us for the entirety of the hike, ending up walking for much more than we did, as he was often gone and running around at every spot. The landscape was typical of these parts of the Dinaric Alps, an endless plateau covered in already yellowish grassland, mixed with rocky terrain and barely any trees. We followed a path marked by a country road through the grassland and passed some ruined buildings, once probably used by local farmers and shepherds. After the rather monotonous landscape, we reached an area with a small valley sided by rocky hilltops with a few trees here and there. Close by, we then reached the Kladopoljsko Jezero, a 250m long and 100m wide lake located at an altitude of 1,380 meters. It is quite a small lake and with a low depth, but a rarity in these parts, and picturesquely set, surrounded by rocky faces. The surface was covered by lots of algae and plants, a sign of the hot weather. After the short break, we continued our walk and avoided a group of bulls hanging close by. A short way ahead, we then stopped at a spot where the guide told the group there was a small spring from which to refill our water bottles. We continued along the path, walking through the nice valley until we reached a small saddle opening up to a vast landscape with a small plateau filled with trees, and around it, rocky hilltops. We started walking around the plateau and heading slightly uphill. Eventually, the grassland gave way to mostly kartsic rocky landscape where we had to watch out where we put our feet not to sprain our ankles. The landscape was mostly gray with the yellow grass in between. As we continued, we headed up a ridgeline and eventually came to a halt, where we decided to have a break and eat lunch. At that point, we had one last climb to reach the Drhtar peak; part of the group decided to stay down at the lunch spot while the rest, including me, headed up to the peak, leaving our backpacks behind. The hike up was unmarked, steep, through rocky terrain, and the typical short bushy mountain pine, hard to pass through. We eventually made it to the top, with the dog still following closely, from where we had a great 360-degree view. Despite the haze due to the heat, we could still make out lots of mountains and peaks all around us. From there, we then headed back the way we came and rejoined with the rest of the group. We then started our hike back to the start, taking a different path this time, heading down the rocky mountainside. We passed some nice, blossoming flowers, yellow, purple, and pink, and then reached a basin with a large, beautiful patch of purple flowers. Continuing on, we then reached another valley where we met a herd of bulls, not sure if a new one or the previous one, which we again avoided walking around at a distance. We then passed a small forest and eventually rejoined the trail that we had taken on the way up. We continued further, passing yet again next to the lake and then through the wide plateau covered in endless grassland. We eventually arrived back at the starting point after around 25km and more than 1200m of uphill climb.