By far, the most popular hike in Durmitor National Park is to the peak of Bobotov Kuk: the highest mountain in Montenegro.

We hiked up the adjacent mountain instead.

At 2393 meters tall, Prutas Peak sits 130m shorter than Bobotov. But, hikers who have done both say that this one is the more visually pleasing, less crowded, and all around more enjoyable hike. We took their advice and set out for a nice Thanksgiving summit.

Some hikes make you work for a while before they give you a payoff. Not this one: it is immediately visually stunning.

After maybe an hour of gradual incline through alpine meadows, you reach this rocky, craggy section. Once you get over this ridge, you are immediately faced with 1) beautiful mountaintop views, and 2) an incredible amount of wind.

If you had told me that this was the end of the hike, I’d have believed you and turned around. But no: the path continues on a gorgeous yet harrowing slope along the ridge.

Is this Prutas Peak? (Narrator: it was not).

I was so convinced that this was the peak that I stopped for a snack. But it, too, was not the summit (as you can clearly see from this picture).

Both the beauty and the perceived danger continued to increase as we gained more altitude. The tremendous amount of wind doesn’t come through in the pictures, but I think it added a lot to the fear factor of the hike.

I have a song on my hiking playlist that goes, “I’m already high enough”. Never has a song been so fitting.

At last: Mount Prutas!

There was a metal tin at the top with a journal where you could leave messages for other people who reach the summit.

It was cold up there. James kindly lent me his puffy jacket so I could better enjoy my snacks.

I’m not sure if the wind eased up or if we just got used to it, but the hike down felt considerably less scary.

The views, as always, are best on the way down. And, we were a lot more comfortable stopping to photograph them.

James took nearly 1400 pictures on this hike. It pains me to only be able to share a couple dozen with you. Just an unbelievably photogenic place.

“The mountains are ancient, but they never get old.” – James Marchment