A Hike to Mostarska Bijela on Mount Prenj: My first time hiking with professionals
Here We Go
It was my first ever attempt at ‘real’ hiking. I walked before, yes. I even did a silent/meditative 4-hour hike with my yoga group and I often go for long walks in nature like during a relaxing weekend with my friend.
But I have never tried to join a group of professional hikers and keep up with them.
This particular hike was open to the public, so my sister and I figured that we could make it. We even took our children. (we did call them first to ask if that was ok!)
When we arrived at the meeting point to join up with everyone, there were many newbie hikers just like ourselves, without the proper gear. But we were assured that we will be able to manage in our regular sports shoes and would you believe, with our umbrella’s (we didn’t think about emergency rain jackets).
And it was just fine. Perfect for beginners like us.
We lucked in with the weather as the weather can be flimsy. During our hike we heard a story of two women who hiked up the Prenj mountain, when the weather changed and they froze to death in August! I have to remember to look up that story.
What Fascinated Me the Most
I know the highlight of this hike is the cave at the endpoint and it is fascinating for sure, especially if you manage to skip the slippery rocks (and not fall in the water) all the way to the end to see the waterfall inside it.
But for me, this is what really stood out.
At one point during the walk we came across five tombstones from the 1950s. Sitting there all alone in the forest they look both eerie and peaceful. All I could think is that it would be a great final resting place.
Details of Mostarska Bijela Hike
Mountain: Prenj
The starting point GPS Coordinates: N43° 29.391; E17° 48.394 (Coming from Mostar, it is the first turn right from Bijela Bridge, Salakovac)
The end point GPS Coordinates: GPS Coordinates, N43° 33.034; E17° 47.778 (Cave at Mostarska Bijela)
Duration: About 2.5 hours (some of us took longer!)
Difficulty: Easy (for some!)
Water Supply: We went in July and the creek had mostly dried up, so the only water supply available was from a spring at the cave (the endpoint)
The whole route is clearly marked.
Actual Footage of our Mostarska Bijela Hike
This footage shows the Bijela Cave. I could not take any useful pictures with my crappy, old phone.
Now I think I could do this walk again, all on my own, or at least without having to follow the really experienced folks.
The trail is well marked and while I am terrible with directions, I think I could wing this one. I already have some friends willing to trust me to walk this track at the end of the summer.
Next time I will make sure I have a better camera with me!
Hiking is my go-to activity, especially with everything else being shut down or limited. I loved it before and love it even more now! That cave is badass! Watch for bats though…I have a friend with a chronic respiratory disease from his caving days due to the bats. Whoever put that video together did a stellar job!
trail looks so much fun! Silent hike would have make my husband so much, me saying nothing for 4 hours next to him sounds like a dream
This looks like a lot of fun! I love hiking, that four hour silent hike sounds interesting but I talk too much to be silent for that long hahaha.
I never knew there were professional hiking groups out there! I’ll have to look into that in my area and see if it is a thing. Because that seems like a really fun experience. Did someone really freeze to death in August? I’m curious about that too.
This looks like such a beautiful place and I LOVE that they opened the hike up to new hikers. The truth is that we all started somewhere, right? Before my husband and I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro for our anniversary, we each had to go on ‘newbie hikes’ to learn the ropes and discover what gear we would need. Congratulations on your hike – I’m sure it’s just the beginning!
I haven’t been hiking since I was in Primary School. I would love to try it again.
I love this! What a great adventure. My family loves to go hiking, and I’ve actually thought about joining a hiking group. I think it would be such a fun adventure. And what an interesting story that you were told while you were hiking. I miss hiking, and I’m thinking we will go again very soon. That fresh water supply at the endpoint looked beautiful. Thank you for sharing your hiking adventure with us all. 🙂
This sounds like a lovely outing. Bosnia looks beautiful!
Nathalia | NathaliaFit – Fitness & Wellness Blog
http://www.nathaliafit.com
I love hiking. A lot of my friends in my running group also go on hiking trails. I believe it’s call trail running. But I would love to find more trails around here that don’t involve you being on a mountain. I don’t think I could go through that cave though.
Yes, that’s a great point, why do the hiking trails always seem to be up in the mountains?
Re cave, I didn’t go too deep either, personally, but now I think I should go back and try it again. But then again, just the hike was an adventure for me.