I finish the long hike to the top of the canyon and stand at the point of a huge pinnacle of earth overlooking the valley. I gaze out into the distance, and see the pathway wrought by the persistent flow of water. This mighty river has been pounding away at the packed rock and soil in its way for thousands of thousands of years, and has created this awe-inspiring gorge for others to marvel at. But the river is not satisfied; it will keep chiseling deeper and deeper into the rock, and will not stop. It will never stop in this lifetime, or the next lifetime, or the next. It will not stop until it is the deepest, the longest, the most amazing canyon ever witnessed by life. This, this is the Tara Canyon.

I soak in the scenery with all my senses. Foremost, the amazing panorama spread out beneath me, with the outline of trees on the other side of this wide crack in the earth. I see the tiny huts deep in the gorge. Over the roaring wind, I hear the majestic cawing of giant birds of prey below me, and I hear gasps from my brother and parents as they finish their trek. I feel the treacherous wind trying to push me off of the edge, grabbing me with a cold tendril.  I smell, faintly, the aroma of smoldering wood rising from the chimneys in the miniscule village below me. I taste nothing as my mouth goes dry. I commit every detail of every sense into my memory before I leave. This, this is the Tara Canyon.

I slowly make my way back through the trail to the bottom of the amazing landform and see where I had been at the point of rock, rising over the gorge proudly. I have stood there. I have seen everything the entire canyon has in store for me. But there is more to see, and more to tell, as I explore further into the center of the wide ravine, two walls enclosing me from the rest of the world.

I know that I will remember this awesome majesty valley for as long as I live. I will remember the pride of Montenegro, the pride of Europe, the pride of Mother Earth, forever.

This is the mighty Tara Canyon.

Lukas Bruihler is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program.

Photo courtesy and copyright Lukas Bruihler, taken in Tara Canyon, the second biggest canyon in the world.