Top Biking Trail 3 - EASTERN ENCHANTMENT (Hrid Circle)

We start towards Hridsko Lake riding along an asphalt road leading north,
into the valley of the Komaraca River. This narrow valley is squeezed between
the peaks which are especially high on its northern side. Riding through here,
we will enjoy the forestgreen, picturesque meadows. After the village of
Komaraca (3.6 km) a mild ascent begins. There is plenty of water along the
road, there are springs at 0.7 km, 6.7 km, 7.9 km, 9.1 km (Becova voda), 9.3
km and 12.8 km.
The asphalt ends just before an important crossroads (11.6 km, height 1,500 m)
where we will later complete our circuit past Hridsko Lake, but now we will
continue riding straight.
The surface is roughly cobbled at the beginning, and in poor repair. After more
than a kilometre it slightly improves.
Babino polje, the area we are riding through, slowly widens, and the wild lines of ridges and the peaks of Bogicevica become a decoration and a crown for
each glance. A kilometre and a half after the katun of Bajramdurovi pijeskovi
(some 100 m from the road to the left) we will reach the spot where an access road branches off, leading to the nearby small, but nice new mountain hut of the
Hrid Mountaineering Association (15.9 km, 1,650 m high). One can spend the
night in the hut, but it is not always open, therefore it is necessary to contact Hrid M.A. to announce one’s arrival (see the section with
contact data). In front of the hut there is a drinking fountain and a nice camping area.
Back to our route: near the road to the hut is another memorial drinking fountain with benches and a table – a good spot for a break and a rest, since
“more serious business” is ahead: 9 more kilometres of climbing, with a
height difference of around 530m. The road deteriorates (it is mainly a dirt
track) and for the fi rst couple of kilometres through four serpentines it climbs
into the katun of Jesavica (1,820 m). To make the ascent more interesting there
is a small chalet half-way up: the yard is decorated with attractive benches
and tables for people to sit and enjoy the view; there is water from a spring, and above the chalet door a rug proudly hangs, with a portrait of Josip Broz Tito on it (with a pitch-black, afro-style hair-do). This is the last opportunity to take on supplies of water for the next 18 km of the route
that will, partly because of the ascent and partly because of the many things
to see, take us quite a long time.
After the serpentines the route is easier for one kilometre, but then one must
conquer a diffi cult stretch, just a couple of hundred metres long, where the
road is in an exceptionally bad condition. There is a crossroads near-by (19.4
km, 1,960 m high) where the road to Decani in Kosovo branches off upwards
and left. But from there an amazing landscape comes into view, towards the
enormous, rough, stony amphitheatre ahead of us dominated by Krs Bogicevice (2,374 m high). Behind us, the valley of the Babinopoljska River that
we went through on our way up, ruled over sovereignly by the peaks of
Pasji vrh (2,405 m), Crni krs (2,426 m) and Starac (2,352 m) opens up.
Our goal, Hridsko Lake, lies on the other side of the rock, but we still need to break into a sweat to reach it. For the next kilometre we descend along a better stony road carved into the side of Ravno brdo to an altitude of 1,970 m, 20 21Hridsko Lakefrom where we start the
last section to the lake. The rough and deserted mountain road goes mainly upwards, and only very occasionally downwards for the next four kilometres, and fi nally takes us to an altitude of 2,130 m (24.6 km from Plav town centre) – this is the highest point on the whole of route TT3.
It offers an excellent view of the surrounding peaks: to the northeast, behind Pasji vrh, the sharp point of Mt. Bogdas (2,533 m) peeks out; to the southeast the guards of Mt. Tromedja (2,368 m high, a point where the borders of Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania meet), the recognizable sharp peak straight ahead of us is Ujkov krs (2,269 m high), and behind it,
towards the horizon, the line of the highest peaks of the Albanian Prokletije mountains; behind us, Krs Bogicevice towers over us, as if getting ready to swallow us: we are riding along its southern side. A short and steep descent will take us pass the former military border building (25.8 km, 2,091 m alt.). Now deserted, there are plans to transform it into a
mountain hut – anyhow it offers good cover from the rain or lightning. After the building we enter a lovely area covered with pine forest and, completely surrounding Krs Bogicevice
we come to a spot from which we can see the emerald waters of Hridsko Lake for the fi rst time.
At 28.2 km and a height of 2,045 m (there is a biking signpost here) is a place where we need to take some time out for some local magic again: we can quickly go down a narrow path that starts here to the lake. The path is very steep, so we should best leave our bikes in the bushes next to it. A walk around the lake (along a tiny path that sometimes disappears among the stones and green undergrowth, but then reappears) along with the return to the road
is 1.7 km long. The lake is considered by many to be the most beautiful one in Montenegro,
and truly, the whole effort of coming here will be worth it if only for the smile it gives us through the branches of the pines. It is hidden in a small forest shaped like an upturned
palm, looking on one side as if cowed, lying beneath rocks reaching towards the sky, and bold on the other side, where it lies on a sort of terrace above the surrounding area. Hence the
lake allows itself to be bordered only on three sides – on the fourth it fl ows over the horizon and into the distant blue, where, blending into the sky, it has no limit. For this reason, it seems to be the largest lake in Montenegro, Europe, or even the world…
If we have enough time it is worthwhile following a path that goes from the eastern side of the lake to the spacious meadow of Tepsijica nearby – a soft quilt of luscious grass, under the mighty elevations of peak of Hridski krs. We will want to stay here a long time, sleep over, stay another day, sleep over again…
After the lake the quality of the track deteriorates again, but on the other hand it is descending all the time through the forest covering Mt. Hrid. 35 km from the start we come
across a small spring with a hose, on the right side of the road. Soon after that the road again turns into bumpy cobbles, and at 38.8 km we will come down again to the crossroads we crossed earlier on the way from Plav. We will now make a left turn there (the asphalt road
starts nearby) and go back to Plav with a lovely downhill ride, using the same road that we came by.
It is now time to fi nally leave Plav (maybe after another taste of cevapi and yoghurt) and ride towards Andrijevica, along the main road that follows the slopes of Mt. Visitor.