Bjelasnica Highland Trek

Day 1: Today we'll be trekking to Bjelasnica Mountain to Green Visions’ mountain hut. We’ll hike up the opposite side of the Olympic Ski Slopes, much less traversed by hikers and nature lovers alike. The hike will take us through a pine and beech wood forest up to the Gate of Wind where you will be either gently and pleasantly greeted by warm Bjelasnica breeze or its rugged ever piercing south wind. From here we traverse up to a small Sheppard’s hut (at 1,620 meters). The hut is a bit more than 45 minutes from where we were dropped off. We’ll have lunch and enjoy the flowing hills and bare peaks of the south-east side of Bjelasnica.

At this point we will start our steep 1 hour climb to the top of Hranisava (1.964 meters). Hranisava’s slope is rather steep in some places but offers lovely views of Central Bosnia and Herzegovina and their peaks, Bukovik, Trebevic, Igman, Romanija, Treskavica, Visocica, Velez, Prenj, Cvrsnica, Vran, Vranica and Vlasic, almost all main mountains in Central Dinaric Alps chain. In short, what a view you will get. From the top we’ll continue hiking down to Krosnje (1.660 meters), a traditional summer settlement for Sheppard’s coming from as far away as Capljina in Herzegovina. Krosnje which is at the foot of Krvavac, a magnificent peak partially surrounded by 2 to 4 meter high pine brush “Kleka”. Krvavac is rough and demands respect from man and animal alike. Locals say that it is the place where wolves descend from and bears over winter. After a brief rest in this truly mystical place we head back via a cool source back to our cosy mountain hut where we stay for a night. Approximately 5-6 hours walking (L,D)

Day 2: After breakfast, we trek across the northern part of Bjelasnica towards Lokvanjsko Lake…a tiny lake perched high in the mountains surrounded by high altitude alpine pines called 'kleka'. After a short break in these quiet surroundings of kleka and the lake with its numerous frogs, endemic type of salamanders and water snakes we set off to Vlahinja summit (. After an hour and a half we arrive at the peak with its rare view of the olympic skiing resort of Babin Do. Here we will enjoy a picnic lunch before hike to Sitnik through truly beautiful and empty mountainous terrain of Bjelasnica's interior. The hut is a lonely reminder of Bosnia's great mountaineering past. We will return back to our hut, picking up our overnight gear, using the "back way" circling around the lake while being treated to great views of Hranisava and Krvavac. Approximately 6-7 hours walking (B,L)