Lakes and Katuns of the Kucke Mountains from Podgorica

Lake Bukumirsko lies in the Kuci region, at the foot of Zijovo, approximately 1,450 m above sea level. Jagged rocky peaks rise above its grassy basin, with Pasjak standing out among them. Because these slopes are so close, the lake offers more than a place to rest beside the water: from the shore, you can see how the high mountains rise from an almost level meadow.

The lake basin was shaped by glaciers. Today, it receives water from precipitation and melting snow. It is approximately 210 m long and 130 m wide, with a depth reaching almost 17 m. That relationship between surface area and depth explains why the calm, seemingly shallow scene along the grassy edge tells you little about the lake as a whole. Wetland vegetation occupies part of the shore, while the rocky slopes remain open above it.

At the Bukumirski Pogled viewpoint, the landforms around the water also deserve attention. Beside the lake is a moraine, a deposit of rocks and other material left behind by a glacier. From higher ground, it is easier to connect that deposit with the basin and surrounding peaks than it is from the shore. The view therefore offers a geological explanation as well as a photograph of the lake.

The name is associated with the Bukumiri and legends about their disappearance. One story tells of a blood feud, another of a water creature and red-hot stones thrown into the lake. These are local legends, rather than a confirmed history of a community's disappearance. Their value lies in showing how long this lake has held a place in the stories of the Kuci region.

Mokra is a mountain area at about 1,500 m, between Lakes Bukumirsko and Rikavacko. Meadows, woodland edges and katun houses occupy gentler ground among higher ridges. From the paved approach, you enter a landscape where roads mainly connect pastures and seasonal settlements, which also explains the change in road surface toward Sirokar.

A katun is a settlement associated with spending the summer with livestock on mountain pastures. Its houses and other buildings serve people who use grazing land at higher elevations during the warmer part of the year, rather than keeping their livestock only beside the permanent settlement. The meadows between the houses are therefore not simply empty space: they are part of how the mountains are used. Alongside this way of life, Mokra now also offers stays for guests. The Podgorica Tourism Organization presents Katun Mokra through accommodation and activities arranged in advance, such as horseback riding, showing how an area once used mainly for livestock farming is opening to visitors.

Sirokar is a pass on the route from Mokra toward the Rikavacko basin, with the Ljakovica katun at about 1,760 m. Sources also use the name Lakovica, so both names refer to the same katun. The houses are grouped on gentler ground below higher rocky slopes, beside the pastures that give people a reason to stay here seasonally.

The move by livestock herders and their animals to a katun is called izdig. In Kuci, use of the mountains has traditionally been associated with komunica, common pasture and woodland. Individual clans had the right to establish a katun in a particular place, while the surrounding grazing land remained shared. This explains why katuns have family names, while their pastures cannot be understood as a simple extension of each house's yard.

The traditional dwelling used by shepherds was called a glada and was built of stone. Beside it were mljekare for storing cheese and clotted cream (skorup), often partly sunk into the ground to keep them cool, and torine for holding livestock overnight. Different buildings had different purposes: living space, food storage and sheltering the herd. Understanding these functions helps you see the settlement as a place of work and everyday life, rather than a few isolated houses at a viewpoint.

Lake Rikavacko lies in a basin below Vila, beside the mountain ridge toward the border with Albania. The lake itself is at approximately 1,310 m, while Vila reaches 2,093 m. From Drekalov Vidik, that difference in elevation becomes clear: the water lies well below the pass, with slopes rising above it to enclose the valley. This is why the view from higher ground offers a different understanding of the landscape from a visit to the shore.

The lake is glacial in origin and elongated, approximately 525 m long and 235 m wide. It receives water from the Rikavac stream and precipitation, and water also drains underground toward the Cijevna and Ribnica catchments. The absence of a large visible outlet therefore does not mean the water stays trapped in the basin. In the karst terrain, part of its course takes place below the surface, linking this high lake with rivers much farther down in Podgorica's hinterland.