Montenegro – Zla Kolata (2,534 m) The mountain that lived up to its name
📍 Coordinates: 42°29′06″N 19°53′50″E
🗺️ Route: Vusanje – Zla Kolata Summit – Return
🚗 Transport to region: 819 km total
• 141 km drive Strezimir (Korab) → Skopje Airport
• 434 km bus Skopje Airport → Skopje Bus Station
• 93 km bus Skopje → Pristina
• 19 km taxi Pristina → Pristina Airport
• 151 km drive Pristina → Vusanje (Montenegro)
💤 Accommodation: Slept in the car after the climb
🌤️ Conditions: Warm evening, clear skies, descending into darkness with wildlife sounds in the valley
⚡ A restless transition through borders
After the emotional climb on Mount Korab, there was no real rest. I spent the night partly sleeping in the car near Skopje Airport before navigating yet another maze of buses and border crossings through North Macedonia and Kosovo. By the time I reached Pristina Airport, I had crossed three borders, waited at countless checkpoints, and still hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep.
Once I picked up a new rental car, I drove 151 kilometres southwest toward Vusanje, a quiet mountain village deep in the Prokletije National Park. The plan had been to start early, but delays and exhaustion pushed the climb into the late afternoon. By the time I left the trailhead at 17:57, the sun was already sinking behind the dramatic limestone ridges.
🧗 The hardest chase against daylight
Zla Kolata is a serious mountain, steep, rocky, and deceptive in distance. I moved quickly, covering 15.8 km and over 1,300 m of elevation gain in under four hours, but it wasn’t fast enough. As I neared the summit, the light dimmed to gold, then red, and finally faded completely.
I reached the top at 20:20, just minutes after the sun disappeared, the last rays spilling across the jagged horizon of the Albanian border. I had missed the sunset by a few minutes, but the view was still unforgettable. The silence was absolute, and the thin twilight air carried the scent of stone and pine.
🌙 The descent into the dark
The way down was long and tense. The trail was rough, narrow, and occasionally vanished among rocks and bushes. As night fell, I switched on my headlamp, the only light in the vast wilderness. In the distance, I heard the movement of animals, maybe deer, maybe something larger. The loneliness of that descent felt almost haunting.
By 22:35, I reached the car completely exhausted. I lay across the back seat and fell asleep instantly, surrounded by the silence of Prokletije’s valleys.
💭 Reflection
Zla Kolata lived up to its name, “Evil Kolata.” It was a lesson in timing, exhaustion, and stubborn determination. I had rushed harder than ever before and still arrived moments too late to see the sunset from the top. But perhaps that made it more meaningful, not every climb ends with a perfect view. Some end with darkness, and the quiet understanding that you pushed your limits and made it through safely.
📅 Date: 18 August 2025
