Gornje Vusanje - Zla Kolata / Kollata e keqe (normal approach on shepherd path from Zarunica)

Access to the starting point:
Getting to Plavo or Gusinje and onwards to Vusanja in CH is quite a feat on the narrow, steep and winding Montenegrin roads, and no matter which side you come from, you need to take your time.
a) From the south (from the sea), e. g. from Podgorica: towards Lake Skadar, 15 km across the Bozaj or Hani Hotit border crossing on the Albanian side and along a fairly new road (very scenic and winding in the second part) on the Albanian side of the border for about 75 km to the Vermosh - Guci border crossing, when you get back to Montenegro; this road has recently become popular especially with motorcyclists. From the border to Vusanja is about 10 km (about 2. 5 hours from Podgorica).
b) From the north, e. g. from Žabljak: via Mojkovac, Berane, Andrijevica, Plav, Gusanje, Vusanje - approx. 180 km in total, but you are driving inside Montenegro the whole time (approx. 4 hours from Žabljak).

Path description:
Gusanje - a larger town in the municipality of Plav, has approx. 1000 inhabitants and is situated at approx. 1000 m above sea level, from there we go about 5 km further to the smaller village of Vusanje at approx. 1063 m above sea level, which is the starting point for the climb to Zlo Kolata - along the normal or shepherd's path over the katun/planšaria Zarunica and past the saddles or passes of Qafes Borit and Presllopit.
The trail starts with mountain signs just in front of a small mosque (directly behind it are the buildings of an old abandoned military caravelle) in Gornji Vusanj, but there is very little space for parking, and there is a larger parking lot about 500 m further on and lower down at the end of the village at the Skavkač river, where there is a small but attractive waterfall Grlje, which falls into the river canyon.
From the start to the saddle between Kolata, the trail is well marked and reasonably easy to follow. After leaving the village, walk along a comfortable shepherd's path, past some abandoned houses and new buildings (larger holiday homes) in the hamlet of Zarunica, and after a good hour's walk through the forest, you will reach the small mountain pasture shepherd's hut, Zarunica, where more than 600 sheep graze. Above mountain pasture, the path starts to climb a little more, but it is still steep rather than gentle until you reach the Fuš Sirma livade. Above the katun Zarunica, on the right side of the path, about 10 m lower, there is a permanent spring of water, where it is good to replenish your supplies for the rest of the way.
From the aforementioned grassy livade Fuš Sirma, the path passes through a more difficult world of scrapes and gullies, and so you reach the next livade, where the Grlata cantonment once stood, now abandoned.
From the grassy livade, two paths lead on: straight ahead to the east to the karaoula and the South Peak of Bora and to the Qafa Borit cantonment, while we take the southern path to Zla Kolata, over the Skripa and towards the Preslopit saddle, already at 2039 m above sea level. In between, along the way, we reach the interesting cave of the Ice Cliff, which is very cold even in summer.
From the Preslopit saddle, the terrain becomes more difficult and sometimes requires a bit of climbing. Then we cross the wide cirque, where there are usually still a lot of snowfields in the upper part of the scree even in summer, and climb along its left edge (looking up), in bends, over numerous ledges and slabs, which in places and in wet conditions are dangerous for slipping. In fact, we are going up the southern face of Maja Kolata or Dobra Kolata, and over the scree on the opposite side we are always looking at the ridge and the northern faces of Zla Kolata. After crossing the last rocky and steep part, we reach a comfortable grassy saddle between the Kolatas (called Qafa e Kollates), with the deep glacial cirque a little ahead and the flat Kolata and the Albanian border behind it, which is not marked. From the saddle onwards there are no more markings, but from there you can climb left to Maja or Dobra Kolata (2528 m), which has a more difficult approach to the summit, or right to the higher Zla Kolata (2534 m), which is an easier route. From the saddle, go about 100 m further, towards the Albanian border, bypassing the ridge of Zla Kolata a little and climbing to the summit on the easier, more grassy terrain from the southeast side. Zla Kolata is called Kolata e Keq in Albanian, which is supposed to mean "bad pasture".
The descent from the mountain and back to the valley is done along the same route, as the trail is long, about 12 km (unless you extend it to one of the other two Kolatas), and the total walking time for such a tour is about 11-12 hours.

On the way: Katun Zarunica (1236m), Ledena pečina (1910m)

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