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| Radusa   | 
| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Europe Lat/Lon: 43.89580°N / 18.98330°E County: Prozor municipality Activities: Hiking Season: Spring, Summer, Fall Elevation: 6417 ft / 1956 m | Page By: toc Created/Edited: Apr 22, 2006 / Mar 23, 2007 Object ID: 189802 Hits: 2265  Loading... Page Score: 86.35% - 15 Votes  Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Serene mountain in scenic environment
...mt. Radusa is one of
those not particulary high mountains
that sometimes attract our interest because of the
surroundings, rather then striking geological features.
By the geological structure, it is part of the internal
Dinarides.
Together with mountains Vran,
Ljubusa, Vranica mountain
group (Vranica, Stit & Bitovnja), Bjelasnica,
Treskavica, Zelengora
and Maglic
, Radusa
creates natural border between forrest and fertile ground rich
Bosnia on
the north, and rocky, harsh karst environment enhanced Herzegovina on the
south.
Boundaries:
Vukovsko polje on the north, Zahum pass (1224m/4015f)
and Rama basin with large man made lake on the south, mt.
Stozer(1758m/5766f) on the east,
Makljen pass(1123m/3683f) on the west. Makljen pass is
connection between Vrbas river valley
and Neretva river valley. Nearest town is Prozor on the east.,
Tomislavgrad (ex Duvno) on the west.
Ascending:
Common ascent is from Zahum pass over the southern
slopes to Idovac
(highest peak of Mt. Radusa)
Elevation gain: 732m/2401f
Time required: roughly 3 hours
From the Zahum pass, hit uphill north through the Zahum village.
After leaving the village, follow the - at the time of visit poorly
marked - trail up the southern slope (not too steep,
mixed grass/rough grazing with small crags and rocks). Inside hour of
walk, you will reach pastures and meadows rich
area and perhaps a herd or two and some sheppards enroute. If
no sheppards, pay some attention to sheppard dogs
(local breed, named tornjak)
and stay at reasonable and common sence driven distance both from the
dog and the herd.
Near the Radusa kamen peak (1664m/5458f), trail enters then leaves the
small woods, catching with the upper meadows again.
As you reach the highest point of the mountain, trail will continue
toward the lake (cca 1850m altitude), leave the trail and continue
uphill to the main summit. Once you have noticed collapsed concrete
pillar with name "Idovac" and altitude "1956" indicated,
this is it. Now , one may enjoy the views.
The
views: The cone shaped
Idovac is the highest peak mt Radusa and, arguably, top
lookout summit in central Bosnia.
Southbound, vista stretches accross the undulated mt. Ljubusa towards
mt. Cvrsnica and mt. Vran.
Deep down is what once was the Rama river valley. Rama river is the
western tributary of the Neretva river.
It was dammed after WWII, flooding the walley, but not the
hills in the valley. They still peak out of the water.
Those small islands, together with the newly formed small gulfs, make
Rama lake one of the most scenic man made lakes of Southeast
Europe
(285km long Neretva is the only Bosnian river flowing into the Adriatic
sea,
it is well known for its gorge between mt. Cvrsnica
and mt. Prenj).
Vranica group of mountains entertain our views on the east, whilst on
the west side, view stretches accross the so called Trium camporum,
Kupresko polje, Glamocko polje and Livanjsko polje,
the largest polje district
of the entire Dinarides, stretching SW->NE between Dinara massif
and Kupres pass.
(Polje is one of the key ladforms of the limestone Dinaric mountains,
large deppression
formed as a result of collapsing underground caves and caverns. Overall
number of poljes
in Dinarides mountains exceed 100,
Livanjsko polje being the largest one).
On the way back from the summit, you can
visit the small lake.
Nothing spectacular, more like pond. Still, it is the highest
lake of Bosnia & Herzegovina.
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Bits on history
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- First traces of human life in the area were found at th foothil of mt
Radusa,
near the Rama river source
and they are dating back to the Paleolitic. Remains of
settlements dating from the Illyrian and Roman times have
also
been found...
- This area was also the heart of the early Bosnian
medieaval state ...
-Some of the trails on mt. Radusa are actually the old "tobacco
trails", routes used in the past by smugglers smuggling tobacco
from Herzegovina to the North...
- During the Second World War, early year 1943.,
Yugoslav
resistance forces ("partizani") have undertaken a breaktrough down the
Rama river
valley, aiming to cross the Sarajevo-Mostar railway line.
Mt.
Radusa was used as observation point enroute. What had
followed,
was the largest
frontal battle on the Balkans during the WWII, between
partisans
at one, and combined German/Italian/Ustasa/Chetnik forces at the other
side.
Movie about the whole event was filmed in late 1960s, titled
"The Neretva battle".
Actually, the movie was nominated for Oscar award, but did
not make it.
Some may still remember it, though, because of the famous
Orson Wells stunt...
- In early 1970s, group of Croat uprisers (later known as "the
Bugojno group" )
crossed illegally the Austrian/Yugoslav (now
Austrian/Slovenian) border.
What had followed was wierd and wild one month chase,
involving 30000 strong combined police and military forces.
Group was finally nailed down whole month later on Mt. Radusa. There
were casualties on both sides.
Short
therm effect was Radusa making the news headlines.
Long term effect, however,was complete change in Yugoslav
defence doctrine and switching to the "territorial defence"
(teritorijalna obrana),
with ubiqous NNNI (Nothing should catch us by surprise)
drills...
- In 1980s Rama lake became popular chillout destination among
painters and art photographers alike. Motifs of the
lake
topped by mt. Radusa
appeared on several art exhibitions...
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Getting There
Nearest intl airport is the Sarajevo
airport
By
car: From Sarajevo (the Bosnian capital)
drive east the Konjic-Jablanica road next to the Jablanicko
lake.
At Jablanica, turn right for Bugojno and drive till Prozor. At Prozor,
turn left for Rumboci and hit the old Prozor-Tomislavgrad(ex Duvno)
road.
It is about 1 hour drive from Prozor to Zahum pass (start of the
trail), last part of it unsurfaced
road with rocks and small boulders around it. Good 4x4 recommended. One
may drive opposite
direction, from Tomislavgrad as well, you are likely to use this option
if coming from south (Dalmatia).
Again, careful driving recommended.
From north ; E661 Banja Luka-Jajce-Bugojno-Prozor; 150km.
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Weather, Gear, Camping
Weather:
nearest weather station is in town Bugojno, some
18km north of mt. Radusa.
http://www.fmzbih.co.ba/prognoza-bugojno.php
In
English ( from the drop-down list pick Bugojno, then click
"Submit" button)
Gear:
hiking gear, kompass, tent and camping gear if you plan to camp
Camping:
no camping grounds nearby, as far as one may remember.
Camping is not prohibited, however,
you may wish to talk with villagers at Zahum village first for more
info. Other options are to base yourself
on
the plateau above the Rama lake, or negotiate for accomodation with
people living down next to the lake.
It may be that there is some dedicated camping place next to
the Rama lake. In fairness, I just do not remember one |
Tongue twistingRadusa is written with caron atop of the "s" letter
and should be pronounced "Radooshah" Images
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