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Wild thyme and other herbs carpet the ground in places, and blueberries grow in profusion during the summer months, along with blackberries and wild strawberries – hiking at this time is sometimes reduced to a slow but very enjoyable grazing pace. The number of fungi is astonishing; there are an estimated 2000 or so species in Montenegro alone.

Climate

The Prokletije mountains experience moderate summers and long, harsh winters. Daytime temperatures during the summer are warm but not unpleasantly so, reaching up to around 25°C in July/August, the nights refreshingly cool. July is the driest month of the year in Prokletije, followed by August and June, although the weather here is notoriously fickle and you shouldn’t rule out the possibility of showers, even in the summer months.

Over 90% of precipitation occurs during the winter, with precipitation generally at its highest in November. Winters in Prokletije are long and harsh, with heavy snowfall (between one and three metres). The first snowfall in the mountains is usually sometime in October, and is at its heaviest in November/December, with snow lingering well into the summer months, particularly on northern slopes. The snowline in Prokletije is considerably lower than in the Alps – around 1500m.