Scratching My Way up Čeline

Straight after last week's Baumgartenjoch (1939 m) and the dentist visit thereafter, I went on vacation to Croatia. The road took me 17 hours by FlixBus and only made the muscle pain worse, so I took some days off adventuring to recover and prepare for new peaks.

Since I ended up visiting my mom vacationing in Omiš again, I decided to explore other mountains in the area of the Old Fort via ferrata. I wasn't sure about the trail conditions of the higher mountains (and had some negative experiences in the past), so it made sense to take a shorter route first and do some scouting.

I looked at the map in my LigMapper app and found Čeline (455 m), a local mountain overseeing Duće with a nearby church and some power lines. The official route is part of the "Stare Duće - Gospa od Sniga" trail, but I took a detour to visit another peak nearby - Babnjača (334 m).

The route starts at the old Omiš bus stop, with a random trail leading under the cliff too. Straight from the start, hikers are greeted with a nicely-marked but rocky and steep climb, where one has to jump between rocks and avoid sliding down on gravel.

The surrounding forest provides enough shade, but with 37 degrees outside, no amount of shade can hide you from dehydration. As I kept climbing, I was surrounded by cliffs from both sides, leaving Omiš as the only view to look at.

After quite a lot of climbing, I entered a plateau closer to the top of the mountains. There, the rocky path ends and you enter a steppe with tall grass and spiky ferns. A few minutes of walking later, I was scratched by spikes from head to toe. Still, this was just the beginning of the hike, and I had two summits in front of me.

The road from the plains splits a couple of times. I didn't really get why back then. I don't fully grasp it now either, but I've since learned that there used to be rock climbing routes nearby, so some of the trails probably lead there. Moreover, the local tourist board seems to take a safe and cheap approach with hiking routes - unless the trail is super popular like the Old Fort hike, the curious tourists shouldn't go there, so there's no point maintaining it. And the more experienced hikers (like me of course) would still find a way.

Although I wasn't sure I'd find any routes leading to Babnjača (334 m), I saw something resembling a path deep in the shrubs, and took my chances. Climbing through the bushes and pricking myself on the thorns, I got through the natural barricade and stepped foot on a real old trail. I was happy I wasn't hallucinating a track, but nobody used it for ages and I still debated myself if I should stay on it or turn back.

My thrill to visit an extra peak got the better of me, and I took my chances. The trail wasn't actually that bad, and I drew blood only a couple of times fighting my way through the plants. When I reached the ridge, the trail abruptly ended on some rocks. With no markings to be seen, the rest of the way was improvised, which you can see in the GPX file.

On the flipside, the ridge opened up to a nice panorama of Omiš, Čeline (455 m), Sveti Jure (1319 m), and Stražina (731 m). It was a bit tricky to traverse the rocks and find stable footing, but I kept going and reached Babnjača (334 m) soon after. I don't know what I expected, but the peak had nothing on it. No cross, no log book, no markings, no traces of human existence. I did a small loop around the peak to see if I was at least missing some trash left between the rocks, but there was nothing at all.

The way back was roughly the same. I felt more comfortable and walked faster on the rocks, knowing none of them were shaky or slippery. The GPS in my watch was spazzing out, so I missed the trail I took on the way up, and climbed down a steeper and spikier way, getting some deep cuts on my fingers. When I reached the original trail, I was overjoyed. The stupid detour was over and I could continue on the real path ahead.

The rest of the way to the Church of Our Lady of the Snows was nice, with the road in a decent shape, and the sun setting on the horizon. I tried going faster on this easier section expecting to see more trouble ahead, and soon after I faced the entrance to the church area.

As you'd expect, the first thing you see are the power lines with their massive steel towers going up in the sky. If you pay attention, right underneath you'll see old stone bunkers and technical "buildings" that litter the cliffs and mountains of Omiš. Walking past them, you enter a flat area with a big cross you can see from the shore, a flag of Croatia and the Crkva Gospe Snježne itself.

The view from there is nice, but it's located in a saddle between two larger mountains, so you don't get a full panoramic view. I heard some voices of other hikers and decided to keep going. Walking past the church, I noted some benches on the back side, and started my climb.

The way up Čeline (455 m) was not much better than the detour. Although it's a bit easier to find the trail where one can be found, the rocks and ferns still pose some challenge. The Čeline (455 m) peak itself is no different from Babnjača (334 m), offering largely the same views and not being marked in any way. With the popular hiking trail to the church, this one at least gets some foot traffic from time to time.

I offered the official popular section of this trail to my mom (she completed the Old Fort hike last year), but the heat was too discouraging for her. Still, I decided to explore the trail we would have taken together, and went down to the Naklice village. The trail towards it is surprisingly flat, with occasional inclines that I could easily run over, escaping from the numerous bugs and flies chasing me. Closer to the village one has to cross Lisičina, a small mountainside stream flowing into Cetina near Omiš. This time of the year, it was completely dry start to end.

First thing I saw when I reached the village was a scenic bench overseeing the sunset between the mountains. Although it was getting late and I wanted to get home before sundown, I couldn't pass by such an opportunity, given I've also seen a scenic sunrise at Schneefernerkopf (2874 m) not so long ago. Rehydrating and taking in the view, I was thinking about my route back to the city. All markings said that it takes about 90 minutes to get there, although my gut feeling was telling me I can do it way faster.

I continued my way through the village and down the hills with no further breaks, trying to beat the official time with as much margin as possible. I passed Crkva sv. Ante and the local cemetery and took the main trail down. As the sun was setting, the mountains got covered with the remaining pink rays gently touching them. The evening breeze was also a welcome change, although too late to make any lasting difference to my hike.

The snaky road down was also very well-kept. Paved with stones, it was easy to walk on and had just the right incline to step on without any hurdle. As I rushed down past the benches near scenic viewpoints, I noticed quite some iconography written on the cliffs, pointing at long-forgotten climbing routes and shortcuts. It really made me wonder if Omiš is less popular nowadays than it used to be, at least for active sports. Maybe it's the people that got lazier?

The remaining section of the hike was just as easy, and soon after I reached the town, bustling with night life and covered in fanfare lights. For people with some hiking experience behind them, I'd definitely recommend the route I took. Take some long clothes with you, more water, and you'll be fine. For all other readers, take the official lighter route. It's surprisingly nice, especially compared to the other one. Have fun!