Komovi

Komovi is a mountain massif in eastern Montenegro, standing between the pastures of Bjelasica and the deep valleys around Andrijevica and Kolašin. Three rock summits rise from a broad shoulder of high grassland — Kom Vasojevićki, Kom Kučki and Kom Ljevoriječki, each of them above 2,400 metres — their bare crowns visible from far across the north. Seen from the meadows below they look less like a range than three separate towers set down on the same plateau. Paths climb from the Štavna and Carine plateaus through open meadows that in June and July are thick with wildflowers, then steepen into rock for the final push. Kom Vasojevićki is the usual choice for hikers, a scramble rather than a climb, and from the top the view runs over the Prokletije wall on the Albanian border, across the Tara valley and, on clear days, as far as Durmitor. Kom Kučki demands considerably more of anyone attempting it. What sets Komovi apart from Montenegro's better-known peaks is the katuns. Shepherd settlements of low wooden and stone huts still fill the summer pastures, occupied from roughly June to September while the herds are up high, and some now take guests and serve milk, cheese and kajmak made a few metres away. Nights are cold even in August, the sky is unusually dark, and the silence is complete. Come between late June and late September, when the snow has gone from the approaches and the katuns are alive; outside that window the tracks are hard going and the huts stand empty. The mountain suits hikers content with simple accommodation and a long day on foot, and anyone who wants alpine Montenegro without the traffic of Durmitor. Bring layers and water — the karst holds none on the surface.