Canyon Vruca Rijeka certainly is among the most impressive canyons in our environment. It is located near the town center of Bar on the Montenegrin coast. Although easily recognizable and visible from the city center, to the entrance of the canyon is not so easy to arrive. To the entrance of the canyon leads the old gravel road through the Great Mikulic located directly above the entrance.
This year we had many problems in the form of broken crankcase and flat tire, but it did not at all affect our mood. From the Great Mikulic entrance is very recognizable as a hilltop on the right side and ejected and rounded rock which is the boundary between two canyons. From that point is also clearly noticable the river basin of Vruca Rijeka and we felt the strength and size of the canyon which is eagerly sucking us into a new adventure. Although the entering seems quite easy and simple, the whole surrounding is very abandoned and overgrown with thorny prickly bushes so wandering and searching for a route can be a lot of time and energy consuming. Learning from previous experience we have chosen the most beautiful and most simple entry with the help of tributaries, so we found ourselves early in the very heart of the canyon. As in most coastal canyons, the upper part of the basin is characterized by old stone dams, covered with fine moss over which the water is flowing. These dams firmly resist the time so they are usually almost intact and we used that in order to take a photo session. In addition to solid and compact bank, this canyon is characterized by a lot of small lakes which are the real jewels of this canyon. We used every opportunity to take a bath and enjoy the most of those lakes, and beautifuly sunny day rewarded us with unrealistic colors of the water inside them. The canyon is a lot faster to walk through than before because of a growing number of anchorages. The first time we discovered and passed this canyon it was completely intact, wild, without any artificial anchor, and now the situation is somewhat different because of the new anchors, so that certain obstacles are more quickly to pass. We set up two new rings, and we noticed some tape and rope cuttouts that were set up by another people, which means that other crews also go through the canyon and that makes us very proud as discoverers. The most beautiful part of the canyon is definitely recognizable in all the photos and it displays several lakes in a row and recognizable form of the canyon. We have spent the most time here and also had lunch. Since we got here a lot earlier we had left plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the canyon. Verticals were alternating with their beauty in smoothness and influence must be obvious. The river is mostly noisy which its name also confirms, while in periods when there is not much rain it dries up. Although scarce, but still flowing water, greatly contributed to enjoing to the max but since we “managed” to completely immerse our photo equipment we were deprived of the photos of the last third part of the canyon. Without photoshooting we “ran” pretty quickly to the end of the canyon while the sun was still high in the sky. We hardly wait for this canyon at a higher water rate.
Tekst: Miloš Radević/extremecanyoning.com
Photo: Predrag Vučković/extreme-photographer.com
