Two weeks ago we set off to Prokletije mountains in Montenegro but my car had broken down on the way and I had to tow it back for a repair. Unfortunately, cars are not like wine, so I wasn’t in the mood for pushing the luck with my aged Astra for another long journey. We opted for something closer instead, and Velebit is just gorgeous at this time of year. Southern Velebit got two really nice mountain shelters recently so the plan was to check them out and enjoy the foliage.

We started the hike from Baške Oštarije and headed towards Ždrilo, the first shelter on our way. For me, it is the nicest shelter on Velebit, with installed solar electricity, drinkable rainwater, stove and excellent isolation.  Ždrilo has been there for, I believe, two years now and it still looks like new, hopefully people who visit it will behave responsibly and keep it in its original state. We stayed there for a night and in the morning we headed into Ramino Korito towards Šugarska Duliba. Ramino Korito is a special beech forest reserve that has never seen any human intervention, therefore it is considered as a primeval forest. The trail navigates between standing and fallen trees giving you a true sense of remote wilderness. It is absolutely stunning in autumn, not even the best sensors and lenses can capture its beauty, so we really took it slowly to enjoy it as much as possible. We had reached Šugarska Duliba shelter and settled in just in time for sunset. The old Šugarska Duliba used to be a basic container in poor condition and now it got a facelift by the same architect that had constructed Ždrilo. At the same time it is very functional and stylish with capacity for 10 people. The only downside of the whole thing is that the shelters are very popular these days and even on a work day you can find 10 people there which certainly kills the silence and peacefulness of the area. On the way back we met 15 people heading towards Ždrilo to spend a night, and the shelter is rated for 6. In my opinion these shelters are not intended for parties, but I guess views differ, so next time I’m taking my tent 🙂

Take a look at my photos. Nikon D750 + 35 and 85mm