Hiking the Northern Albanian Alps

Welcome to Albania – in South Eastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic sea, and only recently open to the world.  Albania has a peculiar history: while courted by the Yugoslavs’ and Soviets during the Cold War, the isolationist government under Enver Hoxha implemented a homegrown form of repressive communism. The country lingered in relative obscurity after the fall of Communism in 1992. It wasn’t until a giant Ponzi scheme involving many high-ups in the government bankrupted the entire country and led to a brief period of lawless violence that outsiders began to take notice.  Unfortunately, this brief episode, along with the war in Kosovo, fostered a lasting impression of a dangerous and lawless place.   Which as we discovered, could not be further from the truth.

We came to Albania to hike the Northern Alps. Within the Northern Alps, two main areas, the Valbona Valley and the small hamlet of Tethi stand out as major destinations. There are no direct roads that connect the two areas, and going from one to the other by car would take 2-3 days. However, a series of hiking trails connects the two areas and it is possible, although not easy, to hike between them in a day. Most places recommended a guide, but the main trail is well marked.

Albania has large number of travel agents who cater to outbound tourists, but, none run tours within Albania. There is no central bus station, and while it is possible to take a combination of taxi, bus, ferry, bus, taxi, to get to the Valbona valley (our destination), the best option of reaching Tethi is to hire a car to drive you to Tethi. From there, however, you will be on your own.

Driving north along narrow and crowded roads, Albania’s rapid modernization became apparent:  shiny Mercedes’ with drivers on cell phones weaved through donkey carts pulling loads of hay freshly cut with sickles by peasants; cows and goats grazed next to fashionable clothing stores.

The drive to Tethi, from the capital Tirana, takes about 6 hours, 3 of which are on fairly rugged and steep dirt roads.. There are no hotels here, but most families have a sign outside their home advertising guest rooms. For a small price, 25 Euros, one gets a place to stay and three hearty meals a day (homemade bread, fresh cheese, hefty plates of meats, organic watermelon, and pudding cake). Tethi is not really a town, but more of a collection of ancient stone houses. There are no stores, although a few families have started selling coke and beer out of their backyards.

From the house we stayed at we followed a series of goat trails to the valley floor and then started up the long steep pass. Hiking the Northern Albanian Alps, one quickly realizes: the switchback has yet to make it here. Most paths are straight vertical inclines that make your legs burn and your lungs burn.  But the astounding beauty of 4,000 foot drops of limestone make the struggle well worth it.  Snacks of homemade bread, cheese, and jam packed at the guesthouse provide the energy needed to scale the mountains.

The highest pass was a knife edge. One minute we were walking straight uphill, and then suddenly, after a single step on flat ground, we were headed straight downhill.

Near dark the trail finally flattened and we passed several more stone houses with massive gardens exploding with fresh vegetables. And just like that we had crossed the Albania Alps. The following morning we awoke to Turkish coffee prepared by our hosts and began walking and hitchhiking our way towards Kosovo.

Check out the Visual Blog for photos.

-Robert Bart is a teacher, explorer and writer based out of Hood River, OR.

His next adventure can be found here: www.kamchatkaproject.org