Chances are when you are reading this, you’re a tourist who came to Durmitor National Park and have already river-rafted the Tara river, watched the black lake, and enjoyed the beautiful place. Then there’s a day left before you travel to another place, and you wonder: could I climb Bobotov Kuk?

That’s where I come in! Yes, you very most likely can! I am both a beginner when it comes to climbing, and fairly unfit who managed to climb Bobotov Kuk with my fairly unfit girlfriend (sorry) who also have a minor phobia of heights. We read on blogs and TripAdvisor that it’d be tough, and it most definitely was. But, it was also very, very rewarding! Worth mentioning is that while both of us are unfit (i.e. don’t regularly run or hike), neither of us are by no means out of fit. That is, we are healthy, 25-ish years of age.

Is it dangerous? 🔗

I’d start out by saying a no. However, we had the luck of receiving no rain during the excursion, even though the forecast suggested that we’d get a little bit. We agreed before-hand that if the excursion became too difficult or fatiguing and either of us wanted to turn-around, we’d do it. That was a good starting point.

Now, some of the views when you get closer to the summit can be very frightening, because you are very high up. Whenever I had the slightest possibility of falling, there was never a fatal distance to the ground. That might not be very comforting, but at least that’s one thing to remember — worst case, you’ll hurt yourself a bit!

Which route do I take? 🔗

There are two main ways up to Bobotov Kuk. One starts in Zabljak, while the other starts in Sedlo. Sedla is a tiny camp located roughly 14 kilometers outside of Zabljak. As the Sedlo track was easier, we decided to go with that path — our main interest of the day was to reach the summit and not the actual hike (!).

I read on blogs that it’d be roughly 3 hours to ascend, and 3 hours to descend from the Sedlo path. As it turns out, for us it took roughly 4 hours up and 4 hours down, but then we also squeezed in a refreshing lunch of 30-ish minutes. Regardless, you should plan that this takes a bit longer than you expect. It’s nothing you run through if you’re a beginner!

Recommendations 🔗

• Go early in the morning. Almost a requirement if you ask me!
• Pack a lot of water. When you think you have enough, add some more. I brought 3 liters, and ran out of water on the descent.
• Sun screen. I forgot it and as a result got some blisters on my neck which made the tour along the coast of Montenegro a lot more sad! Blah.
• Snacks and some food, of course!