Sutjeska National Park (getting here is hard) – Part I (road? what road?)
The wind was still roaring when we woke up near Bjelasnica Mountain and the forecast was for increasing winds, so we decide to pack up and ship out. The wind is still rocking Rosie, so we quickly feed the dogs (not us) and start down the mountain.
We are trying to get from Bjelasnica Mountain to Sutjeska National Park. We tried to find a route that didn’t backtrack, but if you look at Google Maps you can see there are not a lot of roads to the south of us. There are quite a few dirt roads (don’t appear on the map until you zoom in a lot), but they all seem to end before connecting to any road that gets us where we want to be!
So, backtracking it is. The trip back down the gravel/rock road is not bad, but when we get to the Olympic Ski Village of Bjelasnicki we find the road blocked by parked cars on one side and garbage containers on the other. Fortunately the garbage containers are empty and we can move them over just enough to squeeze by.
There is no snow on the ski hills and very little activity in the village, which leaves very nice large parking lots empty for us to park in and have breakfast!
We have a route planned that takes us to a set of lat/long coords that we found online from another Bosnian adventurer. A photo take at these coords show a nice lake in the middle of nowhere (our favourite place). We are heading towards roads R433 and R434 which go down the west side of the park. When we get to the split for the east and west roads we discovered that the road that goes down the east side of the park is closed for maintenance. We picked the right road! [Fate, aside: “ha ha ha, those silly fools”]
We blissfully carry on down R433. A nice paved road, meandering, but not too narrow. We take the turn to R434 which heads into the park. A dirt road, but reasonably well maintained as it looks like it is used by logging trucks. Okay, only 22 km to go. After a while we notice that there is no longer any evidence of logging and the road condition has deteriorated. Undaunted our intrepid adventurers push on!
The road continues to deteriorate. Big potholes, large ruts. Switchbacks so tight I have to back Rosie up in order to make the turn. In a couple of place the edge of the road has eroded so much there is hardly enough room for Rosie, and going over the edge is a big NO as the landing spot is a few hundred feet down (no such thing as guardrails in this part of the country).
We make it to a small river crossing that has 3 sections of concrete culvert, each at a different level, with gaps in-between. Just to make it more interesting this river crossing is at a bend in the road, making it difficult to line Rosie up for a straight shot across. I got out, kicked the concrete culverts a couple of times (nothing moved), so let’s give her a go! No problem. [Fate: “bwah ha ha ha”]
We came upon another river crossing, no culverts, so Rosie gamely splashes through. Shortly thereafter we encounter yet another concrete culvert, this one with a hole in it and rebar sticking out. The culvert is just wide enough that Rosie can squeeze by.
I am going to stop the narration for a moment to point out a couple of things. One, we have been passed by two vehicles during our time on this road: one was a capable looking 4×4 heading in the opposite direction; the second was a compact Volkswagon which did not look capable at all, but passed us and disappeared around a curve.
Back to the story.
We have been on this road for about 1-1/2 hours so far and I asked my navigator if we had to come back this way when we leave the next campsite. Nope, we carry on down this road until it exits the park. Thank God (not religious at all, but I truly truly do not want to have to go back down the road we just came in on). [manic cackling from off-stage]
We are now about 2 km from our destination. We are half-way around a switchback (the kind I have to back-up to make the turn) when we encounter 2 oncoming vehicles. We all come to a halt in the middle of the switchback. A lively Bosnian fellow leaps out of the first vehicle gesticulating wildly and informing us in a loud voice of something very important I am sure. But, I don’t know exactly what is so important as my understanding of the Bosnian language is limited to Hello (dobrodan) and Thank-you (valla). I am reasonably sure he is not saying Hello or Thank-you. Another gentleman gets out of the second vehicle, which turns out to be the same VW that passed us earlier. This person speaks English and even less Bosnian than I do. However, he met the Bosnian gentlemen at a spot in the road that had road clearing equipment and it appeared that said gentleman was in the process of clearing the road. Furthermore, the Bosnian gentleman seemed quite insistent that he turn around and follow him out.
The Bosnian gentleman did not seem inclined to move out of the way to let us continue (more gestures and loudish speech), so we backed out of the way, turned around and followed them back down the road. [offstage: Fate rolling around on the floor laughing so hard she can hardly breathe]
I can’t f*()ing believe this. The one thing I really really did not want to do was go back down this road. It is now around 4pm and the sun is starting to make its exit. If I have to drive this road in the dark bad things will happen. [Fate: head nodding]
When we agreed to follow our Bosnian rescuer(?) the English speaking contingent left with the impression that we would be shown the way back (I am secretly hoping for some unknown and unseen shortcut). The two small cars quickly disappear around a turn in the road. I use the term “road” only to indicate a surface upon which a vehicle may be able to navigate, not that the current surface has any relationship to what one normally considers when one hears the word “road”. I endeavour to keep up with the racing vehicles ahead of me, but Rosie is anything but a racing vehicle and all sight of my hopeful guide is soon lost from sight.
Knowing where the obstacles and challenges are located makes it a bit easier on the return trip, and we manage it in about 1 hour without damage or loss of life (or wife).
Much to our happy surprise, our rescuer is stopped at an intersection. We get out and another multicultural exchange ensues. I leave the encounter with a vague feeling that heading down the sandy/muddy track to my right will get us out to a road (a real road) in about 15 km or so.
It is after 5 pm now and the sun has definitely packed it in for the day. We scoot (if 20 km/h can be called scooting) down the new track in the hope of finding a road. All is good for several km then the track (I have given up calling it a road) is starting to get narrower. I don’t think we have missed a turn, as any turns have led to tracks much worse than the one we are currently on. Just when I am starting to get bored (not) we encounter oncoming traffic. We both come to a halt. The vehicle in front of me decides, much to my delight, that as he is in a small car he will back up to the last widening of the track. I follow him backing up for almost 1/2 km until it we come upon a spot wide enough for the two of us to pass. Profuse thanks from myself to the other drive as we pass!
We carry on for another km or so and, yes, another oncoming vehicle. This time a large van. Still smaller than Rosie, so he backs up until… he encounters another car coming up behind him. They stare at each other for a moment or two and then both of them start backing up. Only a few hundred feet this time.
It is now almost dark, so we decide to stop at the next place where we can get Rosie far enough off the road for the night. We finally see a small road that cuts through a bend in the road and pull Rosie in. We (well me for sure) are done for the day. Way too much excitement for one day (or 10). So much excitement in fact that I did not stop to take even a single photo!
Sutjeska National Park (getting here is hard) – Part II (you can’t get there from here)
Next morning we put Rosie back on the road early in the morning (7-ish in the am) to try to beat the traffic. We make the next 5 km with only one oncoming vehicle which we passed in a wider section of the road. We come to a stop sign and see a strange sight in front of us… asphalt! After almost 60 km of dirt/rock/sand/mud track we are finally on a ROAD.
We resupply in a nearby town called Foca. We wandered in and around Foca for about 20 minutes before we could find a spot big enough to park Rosie. Rosie has decided she is a country girl, not a city girl. After restocking we get back on the main road (a real road, I am chuffed) until we get to a place where we can pull off and feed the dogs and ourselves.
We make a plan to carry on down the M20 (the aforementioned road with real asphalt), but the Garmin keeps telling us that road limitations won’t allow Rosie to pass. The Garmin then presents us with a new route that takes us through Montenegro. As much as we would like to visit another country, we haven’t quite finished with the one we are currently in. After much messing around with the Garmin we determine that the problem is due to a 3.5 ton weight limitation. At 16 tons Rosie is not a lightweight. Being as we do not want to visit another country today, we decide to carry on down the M20 to see where the restriction occurs and if there is a bypass we could use. If there is a 3.5 ton limit bridge we may be out of luck.
As soon as we start out the Garmin starts issuing warnings. We ignore them.
After several warnings and no sign of imminent death, we come to the realization that the Garmin thinks the road has a weight limit of 3.5 tons. This is a bit absurd as we see many other heavy trucks around. The M20 is quite narrow and winding, but nothing Rosie can’t handle.
We finally get to the National Monument at the edge of the park, where we are welcomed by a dog and her pup.
Sutjeska National Park (getting here is hard) – Part III
The entrance to the park is just a couple of km down the road. We have finally made it to the park! [offstage tittering]
The road starts out with nice new paving. A little narrow, but just wide enough for Rosie. Smooth! [offstage: more tittering]
The new asphalt gives way to old asphalt. The old asphalt comes complete with potholes. Actually, in some places there is more pothole than road. Finally, the asphalt gives up entirely and is replaced with plain old gravel and rock. It is actually an improvement.
The gravel and rock road is a little washed out in places, but a pretty easy drive after yesterday. We are finally going to get to our camping spot! [offstage: tittering elevates to snickering]
The road turns back into pavement, somewhat confusing until we realize we have come upon a parking lot. We turn the next corner…
[offstage: Fate laughing so hard tears are flooding the stage, “You guys! Just stop it! I can’t breathe!”]
So we backed Rosie up into the parking lot. And here we sit. It’s actually quite a nice spot to camp out. No neighbours. No traffic. There are mountains nearby. We can take the dogs for off-leash walks without having to worry about traffic, unless the park people come around with some chainsaws in the next day or two.
Nevertheless, here we are. Finally made it to Sutjeska National Park!
The End.
