During our 3rd visit to Croatia in September, I managed to activate 3 summits: 9A/DH-134 on the island of Mljet, plus 9A/DH-089 and 9A/DH-011 on the mainland. We were based in Dubrovnik for the first week and the Trilj for the second. DH-134 was a spur-of-the-moment expedition from Dubrovnik, as my XYL fancied a trip to Mljet. The other two were already known to me from our holiday last year - I fell and broke my nose on DH-089 in an unsuccessful activation and I had scouted DH-011 with the family but the subsequent WX had been too bad to do a follow-up activation. While walking with the XYL I also investigated DH-167 on the island of Lopud.
DH-134 Planjak 1 pt Not to be confused with the other Planjak on Mljet, DH-130
Mljet island is about a 1 hour passenger ferry ride from Dubrovnik and the fares are very reasonable at €16 return. Car ferries also run but go to the north of the island which is a Nature Reserve. The passenger ferry docks at a small harbour round the bay from the village of Sobra and here we encountered a logistical issue - taxis on Mljet are not cheap.To get me from the dock to the start of the track up Planjak and then take my XYL to Sobra where we had booked an overnight apartment - roughly 20Km - cost €45 and my return after the activation was another €40.
Ready to board ferry in Dubrovnik
Location of DH-134 copyright Sot.las
Track up, starting ftom the main road outside the settlement of Korita copyright Sot.las
The walk up the summit was easy - there is a good track all the way, used for servicing a fire watch tower at the top. Took me less than 1 hour.
The summit area is stony and flat, dominated by the watch tower. There is also a small stone shelter at one end.
Due to the stony nature of the surface, guy stakes were unusable, so I secured the mast guy ropes using handy blocks of limestone. WX was good all day, hardly any wind and about 23C. A couple with a young child appeared early on but just said hi - Dad went up the fire tower.
Activation: 14th Sept 2024 all SSB
KX3, 10m moxon, Sotabeams 20/40m dipole, hf delta loops, Spiderbeam 7m and Sotabeams Tactical 7000hds masts
Mobile coverage was very limited. I couldn’t send SMS for some reason and getting any webpage data was very slow and spotty. To start I managed to Whatsapp Ivica, 9A6CW, who did a first spot for me and then I managed to spot directly to Sotawatch from then on.
Starting on 20m at 1048 utc the band wasn’t in great shape and a spot got me 7 itl including a S2S with DL/ZL1KS.
10m was very quiet, but I got 3 itl - 2 x EA8 and ON7ZM who was very strong
Went back to 20m to get a S2S with Stephan HB9EAJ/P, then got 3 EU on 17m
2 more S2S with HB9BIN/P on 10m and LB8CG/P on 17m and then I tried 15m, getting 3 EU itl
Back on 10m I was hoping to get a QSO with Fraser, MM0EFI, who was on the beach in Barbados operating as 8P9BW and it seemed the band was starting to open, as I worked ZS6FY. I was delighted shortly after that to hear Fraser, and after a couple of calls he heard me and we had a good exchange. Easily best DX of the day. The band went quiet again, so I ended the day back on 20 and 40m for a total of 39 itl.
Some nice views from the top
DH-089 Pometeno Brdo 2 pts 17th Sept 2024
This is an innocuous 2 pointer on the mainland with a wind farm at the top, the attempted activation of which last year, put me in Split A&E for a few hours with a gashed forehead and broken nose. This time I followed the .gpx track from Ivica 9A6CW, which I should have done last year. There is a section of decent track at the start, but that peters out about 1/3 of the way up and the .gpx then follows a stone wall for most of the way up a grassy stony slope. Judging by the frequent cowpats, there were cows around but I didn’t see any.
Start of the trail
The wall - last year I was on the wrong side of the wall where the grass is much longer
At the top - the wind farm service tracks go up from the other side of the hill and are a much longer route up
Activation all SSB
The bands were in very bad shape following a flare and CME hit and I was also watching the rain radar nervously as some thunderstorms were on the horizon. In the end I got just 14 EU itl on 20 and 40m, with conditions so poor that Chris F4WBN was only 57 
. 9A2HC was a notable contact on 40m - Milan was transmitting from his bed while recovering from a car accident.With the storms seemingly headed my way, I decided to cut things short after just 30 minutes and didn’t try any other bands, but conditions were really bad so I don’t think I missed anything.
DH-011 Tovarnica 8 pts 21st Sept 2024
This was a hill I had scouted with my family last year, so I knew the route up.
The start is signposted just past the little village of Vostane near the border with Bosnia.
copyright Sot.las
There is a good ATV track for about 2/3 of the way, then its a case of following an often vague single track path with red and white waymarkers painted on rocks and tree trunks.
At one point near the beginning we (XYL was with me) had to duck under an electric fence which had been placed across the track and there was a herd of placid cows wandering about, who took very little interest in us.
Near the start of the waymarked trail - there is a red/white dot on the boulder in the foreground.
Just near the top, the slope gets quite steep and some care is needed. Following a .gpx trail is to be recommended.
The top is reasonably flat, with a large wind-turbine close by. This wasn’t moving when we arrived but started up after lunch and was quite noisy with an intimidating whoosh-whoosh.
Wx was great - very little wind and about 22C
Activation **This was my 100th. 
Gear as for DH-134; all SSB. Mobile signal almost non-existant - I could only send SMS. Not sure if this was a phone problem, as my XYL who was also on O2 could get 4G occasionally. Being so close to Bosnia, my phone often switched to a Bosnian network but despite having a Zone 3 bolt-on, I still couldn’t get 4G at all even though the network said it was available. Very frustrating.
I started on 40m as I was hoping for a S2S with Armin, 9A/DL1AI/P, who had emailed me earlier. Unfortunately we missed each other and he later WhatsAppd me from hospital, where he was being treated for a badly broken leg incurred on his descent. The mountain rescue team took 4 hours to bring him down. I wish him a speedy recovery!
Bands were in much better shape and I got 11 itl from my first spot starting at 1044 utc. Switching to 20m got another 15 itl , all EU, including my first chase from Scotland GM0AXY.
10m was very good after a relatively slow start, first with EA8DMZ and then F4WBN back to his normal 59. Things then went quiet so looking around the band I found 9K2OW and was delighted to get Hamad itl, with 59 both ways. After a short break, the band opened nicely to the US with 12 Stateside chasers itl as far West as KF9D Illinois, interspersed with EU QSOs and even some G-land, including Damian M0BKV. R9FDM was furthest East.
I finished the day with a quick S2S with DH2ID/P on 20m and then went back to 10m where I was delighted to get a S2S with N4NFM on W4G/NG-010. 51 itl for the day.
Looking down at Busko Lake in Bosnia
Dipole and moxon sitting on tilted limestone beds with another wind-turbine in the distance. No trouble with guy stakes at this location. Note the red/white waymark spot in the foreground.
Other summits scouted but not activated
Dubrovnik area DH-127 and DH-168
DH-168 is a small wooded hill to the west of the town centre, close to the main hospital. Easy access by road and paths. Its the green hill with the mast on top.
DH-127 is on Srd on the opposite side of the city from DH-168 - the first photo is taken from Srd. It has a fort at the top, a relatively expensive restaurant with nice views, cable car access in good wx and you can drive to the top. There is an excellent museum of the Croatian war of independence within the fort, with some shocking pictures and film of the bombardment of Dubrovnik.
The comms tower next to the fort. This was badly damaged during the war.
DH-167 Balokovo, Lopud island
Lopud is a 45m cheap ferry ride from Dubrovnik. The XYL and I walked the trails close to DH-167, which is unactivated for the very good reason that you would need a machete and chainsaw to get to the top. The forest, although low level, is very thick. I doubt if there would be much difference in winter.
Strangely, there is another peak on the island, Polacica, which is 11m higher than Balokovo. I don’t know why this is not the SOTA summit. There is a path to a nearby ruined fort (not in any possible activation zone) but no obvious paths to the actual summit, which is heavily wooded.
The map of the island given out by the visitor centre and on posters, is inverted, with North to the bottom for some weird reason.
Another excellent vacation in Croatia which I survived unscathed. Unfortunately my XYL gashed her leg while we were walking on Mljet, which needed 7 stitches in Dubrovnik A&E, but it didn’t stop her walking up DH-011 with me 
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73 to all.