The Mountains of Montenegro. Rudolf Abraham

and sun-block

       Biodegradable soap (such as that made by Lifeventure)

       Small first aid kit

       Swiss army knife

       Whistle (for attracting attention in an emergency)

       Emergency reflective bag or ‘space blanket’

       Matches (keep them dry in a plastic bag!)

       Large plastic rucksack liner

       Mosquito repellent

       Iodine tablets (unlikely to be needed, but just in case)

       Small two-pin adaptor (same as for most of continental Europe)

      In addition to the above, you may wish to add:

       Lightweight day pack

       Walking poles.

      A down jacket or vest will prove infinitely warmer than a fleece on a cold evening sitting outside a hut or tent, and will certainly not be out of place outside the summer months. Early in the season, you may need to carry a long-handled ice axe; in winter, this is mandatory, as are crampons.

      Water

      Water can be problematic on some routes, particularly in karst areas such as Orjen. It is a good idea to bring some collapsible plastic ‘bladders’ (such as those made by Platypus). These are extremely durable, weigh very little, and when empty take up almost no space in your pack. Details of available water are given in the introduction to individual routes and stages. Water from the great majority of springs referred to in this guide is clean and does not need purifying. However, it is wise to bring some iodine tablets for use in cases where you are uncertain about the quality of a water source.

      Food and supplies

      A spring in Kučka krajina (Route 12)

      Buy food and supplies in larger towns on the coast; with the exception of Žabljak, few smaller mountain villages will have more than very basic items, and probably not much that you would want to carry into the mountains. It would also be wise to bring some essentials, such as instant soups and quick-cook pasta, from home – these can be difficult to obtain in Montenegro. The best place to try to find camping gas cartridges (both the pierceable and screw-on types) is the Voli supermarket in Žabljak. If you use camera film, bring it from home – that sold on the coast may be close to its expiry date or may have been poorly stored.

Maps

      Haystacks on Bjelasica (Route 10)

      Specialist map and travel shops in the UK such as The Map Shop (www.themapshop.co.uk) and Stanfords (www.stanfords.co.uk) stock general maps of Montenegro. Alternatively, Magic Map’s Crna Gora Autokarta, covering the country at a scale of 1:370,000, is widely available in Serbia and Montenegro and is reasonably priced. Wilderness Hiking Montenegro (1:450,000) also gives a useful overview, and is available free from tourist offices. The Slovenian-produced Črnogorsko primorje map of the Montenegrin coast (Geodetski Zavod Slovenije, 1:100,000), although more detailed, is not suitable for hiking.

      Detailed walking maps of Durmitor and the Tara Canyon, Prokletije, Lake Skadar, Orjen, Bioč, Komovi and Bjelasica (at scales of between 1:25,000 and 1:60,000) are available in Montenegro from National Park offices and Tourist Information offices in the relevant area for around €4. You may be able to find one of the recommended maps of Durmitor (1:50,000) second hand on the internet (try www.abe.com) in the book Durmitor and Tara Canyon Guide by Branislav Cerović (Belgrade, 1986) – check with the seller that the copy you are buying still has the map attached. Montenegro Wilderness Biking contains detailed maps at 1:100,000 of several areas and can be a useful aid for hiking itineraries. See the box below for a summary of recommended maps for the routes in this guide.

      The whole of Montenegro is also covered by various series of detailed military maps (generally not available for sale, or prohibitively expensive), including those produced by the JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army – 1:25,000, produced 1975; 1:50,000, produced 1981; and 1:100,000), by the former Soviet Union (1:50,000, produced 1974–77; and 1:100,000, produced 1975–87), and by the US (NIMA Series M709, 1:50,000, produced 1992–95). The JNA series are by far the best – US NIMA M709 sheets have very few local place names. Note that the text of the Soviet sheets is in Cyrillic. Buying military maps is not essential for the walks in this guide, however, all of which are covered by the guide’s sketch maps and by more detailed local hiking maps.

      Unfortunately, even seven years after the first edition of this guide was published, many of these more detailed maps are still difficult to obtain or unavailable in the UK – at the time of writing, Stanfords (www.stanfords.co.uk) stocked some. As a last resort, a number of them can be viewed online, which (at least where they are unavailable in the UK) provides a means of looking at the relevant maps before setting off on your trip. (Do still buy the maps themselves when you get to Montenegro!) Try the following websites:

      www.summitpost.org Several useful maps are given on the relevant pages of this website.

      http://travel.valek.net (Czech website, some English text, click on ‘Mapy’) The ‘Prokletije’ map is excellent, and covers both Prokletije and Kučke krajine. ‘Sutjesko and Volujak’ covers Bioč.

      There are also some very detailed maps by Pavlo Bandović in Planine Crne Gore by D Vincek, R Popović and M Kovačević (Podgorica, 2004), also available in English, as well as in German. Although not available in the UK, it is well worth getting a copy in Montenegro itself.

      Note Some maps, however recent, are not without their inaccuracies, such as the inclusion of a hut which does not exist or a nice-looking route long obliterated by rockfall. Details of any such errors are given in this guide in the introduction to each walk.

      RECOMMENDED MAPS

      Maps available commercially in Montenegro are highlighted in bold.

      ORJEN (Routes 1–2)

      Guide and map (1:31,250) to the Orjen Massif (Mountaineering Club Subra, 2006); also available as Mountain Orjen Trail Hiking Guide and Map (1:40,000) (Mountaineering Club Subra, 2012). The older edition is by far the clearer of the two.

      LOVĆEN (Routes 3–4)

      Lovćen National Park (1:25,000)

      SKADARSO JEZERO (LAKE SKADAR) AND RUMIJA (Route 5)

      National Park Skadar Lake (1:55,000; Skadar Lake National Park/Austrian Development Cooperation/GTZ/Huber, Belgrade)

      DURMITOR (Routes 6–8)

      Durmitor and Tara Canyon (also available as Mountain Map Durmitor) (1:25,000, Tara Canyon on reverse at 1:50,000); alternatively, but not as good for Durmitor, Hiking and Biking Tourist Map, Montenegro – NP Durmitor, Piva/BiH – NP Sutjeska (1:50,000; COSV/US Aid); Durmitor (1:50,000) in the book Durmitor and the Tara Canyon, Serbian and English editions

      BIOGRADSKA GORA AND BJELASICA (Routes 9–10)

      Bjelasica Komovi Mountain Touristic Map, Biogradska Gora National Park (1:60,000; Geokarta, Belgrade); military sheets: JNA (1:50,000) sheet 628/1 (Ivangrad 1)

      KOMOVI (Route 11)

      Bjelasica Komovi Mountain Touristic Map, Biogradska Gora National Park (1:60,000; Geokarta, Belgrade); military sheets: JNA (1:50,000) sheet 628/3 (Ivangrad 3) – good coverage of Komovi, Maglić and Kučka