Hiking

What a day for a hike…

It’s sunny, wonderful day at the Balkan mountains in Eastern Serbia. Just as we hoped when we planned our hike to Midžor peak. Starting point is at the mountain hostel “Babin Zub”, located just below the Babin Zub peak (how surprisingly :)).

We are packing our backpacks with water, rain suits (in case of rain), food, fruits… The clock shows 11:30 AM and we are ready to start our hiking adventure.

As we walk through the nearby forest to our destination, we find interesting shapes of old beech and the source of the coldest water on the mountain. We fill our canteens with water and continue.  After 15 minutes and first 500 m of walk we reach the clearing called “Sunčana dolina” (Sunny valley). The path lead us next to the restaurant “Plaža” located at the bottom of a “Sunčana dolina”. 200 m from it, following the path, starts our first uphill hike. After the app. 1000 m of easy uphill walk  we are reaching the treeline and continue to Midžor peak through the Juniper flowers field.

 

Uphill, uphill, uphill…

It is a bit harder walk in front of us, but after next 500 meters we reach “Žarkova čuka”, located at an altitude of 1700 m. After a short break we continue further following the path, red from a rocks and stones beneath our boots. The scenery is beautiful in this part of year and we enjoy in green/yellow/blue colors that mountain offers. Here and there we are passing by snowdrifts, saved from the sun on “hidden” slopes of the mountain.

 

 

After next 1000 meters of steep uphill walk along the path to Midžor peak we are reaching next plateau. Already breathtaking view at the mountain is now fulfilled with beautiful flowers Kaćun (Colchicum autumnale). Be cautious however, because this flower is toxic when ingested.

 

 

This blue and purple flower bloom in the spring and can be found in a large quantities in this part of a Balkan mountains in Eastern Serbia. It is time to take a pictures and a short brake.

 

Reaching the Midžor peak (2169m)

The next 4000 meters to the summit is pretty much easy hiking. We enjoy the landscape, saving the breath for the mountain top. After a 3 hours of walking from starting point we are finally there. The Mižor peak. We did it, again 🙂 The border stone is at the very top of a summit, telling us that we are ate the right place. Clear sunny weather allows us to see all eastern part of Serbia, western Bulgaria, part of Romania…

 

 

Here we take a break for a meal, make bunch of photos and enjoy every second in scene that this mountain give us. Total distance covered to Midžor peak from stating point is approximately 7,5 km.

 

 

An hour and some after a summit reach we are ready to go back. We choose the same path as we take to go to top.

Coming back to Sunny valley

The hike back take us next 2,5 hours of mostly downhill walk and after 15 km of hiking we make our last break at the restaurant “Plaža”. Smooth evergreen and Roma music combined with the sunset on the mountain makes the beer (essentially wished at the top of the Midžor:)) even tastier. While we talk about hiking experience and new pleasures every time we hike to Midžor, our senses reach the state of “fully recharged”.

 

 

It is almost evening and we are heading to our next destination- Balta Berilovac village. There’s another surprise waiting for us, in the form of domestic food and drinks. Our host is lady Nada, widely known for her kitchen skills and artistry of traditional food preparation. And that food is… Well, you should come and see for yourself 😉

A note for those who read all above

If you still didn’t do it, we encourage you to try this hiking trail to Midžor peak. And if you need, we are here to give you all the info, logistic support and our guides are more than happy to share with you those unforgettable experiences.

Welcome…