We started our remote mountain expedition at Umoljani, which is a another semi-nomadic village along the way to Lukomir. We walked around the village, seeing what a simple, pastoral life looks like, and curiously investigated the wares being sold by locals: finely hand-knitted clothing made from local wool, fresh forest berries, and dried herbal tea picked from the mountains.
Next, we began our hike to the nomadic village of Lukomir. The first part of the trail was about 3.5 hours long. The trail took us from a starting altitude of 1275m in Umoljani, and across Obalj Peak, perched at 1896m. Along the way we explored settlements dating back to the Illyrian (pre-Slavic) period, and enjoyed breathtaking scenery, particularly at Studeni Potok (Cold Creek).
This is without a doubt one of most amazing trails I’ve ever hiked. The sheer beauty, remoteness, and pristine cleanliness of Bjelašnica mountain made it feel like the wild, untouched nature I always dreamed of exploring.
We barely saw any other people on the trail besides a few villagers, one elderly man picking berries in the middle of nowhere, a shepherd herding his sheep, and two other small groups of hikers.
Another cool thing is that depending on the time of year, you will find vast fields of wild berries, rose-hip, mushrooms, thyme or other plant species you can freely gather and enjoy. We were there during blueberry and raspberry season, and each resting spot seemed to have an abundance of them growing for us to feed on.