Hiking The Accursed Mountains

IT’S A STORY OF ATTRACTION, murder, and a curse. Brother A kills brother B because he’s jealous that a woodland fairy, beautiful and kind, couldn’t choose him over his brother. Brother A, fresh off of a fratricide high, takes the fairy home to mom who swiftly curses him, his prize, and the entire mountain chain around them.

Welcome to the Accursed Mountains of Albania. This range of snow-capped peaks is a part of the southern Dinaric Alps and dotted with isolated communities. Wolves, bears, barren stone pinnacles and blood feuds lend the deep green forests a dark hue.

Our journey began in the city of Shkoder on a hot, sun-bleached day, where we met Hassan, our Albanian guide, and soon friend. We were lumped into a van with a few other hikers from the Netherlands and Italy. A van ride, ferry ride, another van ride, then three days of hiking and we had seen some of the most gorgeous Albanian countryside.

Here are some highlights of our hike starting with the Lake Koman Ferry, running daily from Koman to Fierza in 2.5 hours. Lake Koman is a reservoir on the Drin River and its surrounding landscape is home to jackals, badgers, otters, ferrets, herons and woodpeckers. Its towering limestone walls seemed to be closing in on us at times, and getting lost in the heights gave me a kind of sea sickness.

Valbonä Valley:

Once the ferry docked we climbed into another van and wound our way around crumbling hills to the town of Valbonä in Valbonä Valley. Here we were immediately shown to our rooms for the night and let loose to relax and explore the valley.

After a game of volleyball with some locals and beers on the porch, we were invited to an elaborate dinner down the street. Utterly filled with goat meat, breads, rice, fresh vegetables and rakija (Albanian moonshine), we waddled our way back to our rooms for the night in complete darkness. I scowled at the overcast skies, knowing what a gorgeous starry expanse lie just underneath and how impressive it would have looked with light pollution at next to nothing.

The next morning was bright and crisp, and we booted up and headed up the mountainside.

Judging us hard for our goat dinner last night…

A day’s hike from Valbonä Valley we went through scree fields, alpine forests, and what seemed like endless switchbacks that went straight up the mountainside. A welcomed respite came in the form of a pit stop at Simoni Kafe, an open-air, wooden venture serving coffee and Cokes.

Here we sat with three smoking locals, chattering, uninterested in the panting, sweaty visitors. We peeled off our outer sweaty layers worn since the chilly morning and dipped our hats and bandanas in a cool stream of runoff to prolong the relief.

Taking a break at Simoni Kafe with these mountain men.

Valbonä Pass:

In what was the most difficult portion of the entire trek, we slowly tramped up 5,889 feet (1,795 m) to the Valbonä Pass, the apex of this journey, and vantage point over the entire valley below. It’s hard to hide the excitement that comes along with knowing the uphill battle is over. And the commanding views, sweet breeze, and general bravado from our group of conquerors had me smiling from ear to ear.

Conquering the pass at 5,889 ft (1,795 m).

Thethi:

Our final stop on the trek was in the small mountain village of Thethi where we craftily acquired a full bottle of rakija during dinner, and a wise plan was hatched - a game of hide-and-seek…in the dark…in a graveyard…in the Accursed Mountains.

Hours of laughing, tripping, scraping knees, getting scratched, and being on the verge of terrified later, we dragged our tired, inebriated bodies to bed. At well past midnight, it was officially my birthday, and I couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend it.

Nderlysa & Vaskat e Gurit:

The stone “bathtubs” of Nderlysa are rock formations carved out by the flow of the Black River. The perfect place to take a dip on hot days, was all but a collection of stone puddles during our stay. That didn’t stop some local boys from making the most of the fading oasis.

After splashing around a bit we climbed up to the only building in the area for a lunch spread of small fried fish from the river that you ate whole - head, fins and all, fried potatoes, cucumber and tomato salad and Tirana beer.

My birthday feast of little fried fishes and a Tirana beer.

Hassan (Albania) to the left. Hugo (Netherlands), right, and I share a birthday and our gift to him was this goat (Albania).

The Blue Eye of Thethi:

Like the stone pools of Nderlysa, The Blue Eye of Thethi is also carved by the Black River, which is formed entirely from snowmelt from the Dinaric Alps - a fact which makes the Blue Eye very cold. The azure pool is about 1,000 sq. ft (100 sq. m) in size and about 9 to 15 feet deep (3 to 5 m).

The highlight of our trek, we loitered at this spot for quite some time - jumping in in our underwear, taking photo after photo, and just kicking our feet up and enjoying the view and the sounds of the waterfall. We knew the next time we set off on foot we would end at a vehicle, ready to take us away from one another and this beautiful wilderness, both of which we had become very partial.