Tuši's blog: 15716

Bosnia and Herzegovina: MTB trip with AO Tržič - Jelašca - Tjentište

Our local Mountaineering Society AO Tržič organizes a mountain biking trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2015 and this year's destination was Zelengora.

Today we finally started cycling. After the breakfast in Mountaineering and tourist lodge Jelašca, we saddled our bikes and started cycling South. Near Orlova glava we turned left and soon we passed by Crno jezero (Black lake) and then we ascended to Ljubin grob mountain pass and nearby we made a group photo near the World War 2 monument. We were already hungry and since Janez takes care about everything, we made a stop in Lučki katun, where locals waited for us with food and drinks. We were full and in front of us was only the descend to Tjentište, mostly through the Hrčavka valley. Our journey ended near another WW2 monument, where the owner of the Jelašca lodge picked us up and drove us back to our base camp.

Previous days of this trip: Day 1 - 15715.

Previous MTB Trips with AO Tržič: 1. 2015 (13161, 13162, 13163), 2. 2016 (13518), 3. 2017 (13889, 13890, 13891), 4. 2018 (14253, 14254, 14255), 6. 2020 (14997), 7. 2021 (15353, 15354).

One of our rooms.

Breakfast.

Our lodge from the outside.

Let the cycling begin.

Nice gravel start for a proper warm up.

Out of the forest onto the plateau.

If you translate Zelengora, you get a Green mountain.

That's us, Janez, Aleš, Marija, Jaka, Jana, Bojan and Tuši, while the big boss Janez was taking a picture.

Our bikes-

Missed the turn, but no worries.

Geologically, the Zelengora range is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly limestone. The Zelengora range is bordered to the south-west by the Neretva river, to the east by the Sutjeska river and to the north by the Lelija range.

The mountains of Zelengora were not part of the frontline during the 1990-1995 conflict and therefore have virtually no contamination with land mines and unexploded ordnance.

Regrouping.

Everywhere you look, green mountains without human presence, except us off course.

Janez, the mastermind behind the MTB project.

The wildness of the nature and the complete lack of signs of modern civilization gives these mountains a special appeal.

One more stop, where we checked our maps and directions.

Direction, straight ahead, a little left and a little right.

We were already a little bit tired, but show must go on.

Getting bored with the scenery.

Up and down and repeat.

We said hi to some locals.

Black lake - Crno jezero.

Bojan with the help of electricity.

Pushing the bikes is part of the game.

Onto the saddle.

We arrived to one of the saddles and we already saw the Monument at Ljubin Grob.

Jaka in action.

One more saddle.

But first another break.

The hardest ascent was behind us.

On June 12th of 1943, the column of evacuating Partisan units, along with Tito and the Partisan Supreme Command (and wounded soldiers), were making their way north out of the Zelengora Mountains through Dobri Do valley during the final stages of the Battle of Sutjeska. However, as the column was moving through the valley, segments of the German 118th Jäger Division began to descend on their location. To protect the evacuating column, Partisan soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 4th Montenegrin Brigade, as well as the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Proletarian Brigade, moved in to set up a defensive barrier at the Ljubin Grob mountain pass at the top of Dobri Do to prevent the German unit's advancement. What resulted was a two day bloody conflict between the two sides. The fighting here was so brutal that it often was reduced to hand-to-hand combat. Ultimately, these two units holding the valley were successful in aiding in the escape of the Supreme Command and the majority of the Partisan forces, but hundreds of fighters died in the process. When visiting the Ljubin Grob mountain pass today, you will find a small memorial site dedicated to the Partisan fighters of this battle, created in 1986 by sculptor Miodrag Živković.

In Lučki katun, we had a freshly made Börek with sides and beer.

Soon we left the settlement and we were ready for a long descent.

Minor difficulties were quickly fixed.

Exiting Sutjeska National Park and soon we ended our cycling trip - Garmin Connect.

This monument at Tjentište commemorates the fighters and fallen soldiers of the Battle of the Sutjeska, which took place from May 15th to June 16th, 1943.