Albania, Kosovo & Montenegro
(Hiking a loop trail thru all 3)
August 2024
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| Camping out was the best part of this hike. |
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| This pic doesn't capture much, but the stargazing was the best I've had in over a decade. |
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| The three countries have Muslim populations ranging from 30% (Montenegro) to 95% (Kosovo). I spent about 3 days hiking in each country. |
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| That tire sums it up: with some obvious clean-up (and some zoning laws) the region could be a great outdoors location. For now, the litter and construction is a bit disheartening. |
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| Lots of old Albanian bunkers along the borders. |
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| Had a great swim here. There were only 2 real lakes along the trail. |
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| The largest insect nest I've seen in the northern hemisphere (red ants). |
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| A spring |
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| Some shepherds sold fresh food at their summer settlements, especially bread, soup, honey, blueberries, and sheep dairy products (cheese, yogurt & milk). |
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| Stand-alone graves sprinkled the mountains. I spent an hour hiking thru here in a scary thunderstorm. |
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| Some fountains "in the memory of" deceased. |
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| Parts of the trail were easy to follow... |
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| Other parts, not. Almost everyday I used map and compass, asked people for directions, and lost the trail. One day I lost the trail for about 6 hours. |
Itinerary: 8 days of solo hiking for 210 km. (130 miles) thru Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro in the Dinaric Alps along the "Peaks of the Balkans" trail.
Roughly 2.5 days in each country. Highest elevation was 2,300 meters (7,550 ft.).
- Plav town & lake (Montenegro)
- Vusanje village (Mont.)
- Theth village (Alb.)
- Valbona valley & village (Alb.)
- Cerem village (Alb.)
- Doberdol summer settlement (Alb.)
- Milishevc summer settlement (Kos.)
- Rugova gorge (Kos.)
- Reka e Allages village (Kos.)
- Drelaj village (Kos.)
- Duganjive settlement (Kos.)
- Lake Liqenat (Kos.)
- Babino Polje settlement (Mont.)
- Plav town & lake (Mont.)
Wildlife Seen: salamanders, woodpeckers, many types of butterflies, trout, big slugs, hunting kites, fat water boatmen, a hare with very long ears, and a night-time flying bug glowing bright orange and seen from afar (a shepherd confirmed thru his Google translate that this bug exists and comes "when the wheat is harvested").