Hiking the Accursed Mountains

According to Balkan legend, the devil escaped from hell and constructed the metal gray glacial karst formations that make up the accursed mountains. Other legends say the name stems from travelers not being able to find water on the trail, or from the Slavic soldiers that struggled to march through them. The mountains sprawl across the borders of three countries – Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro. These Balkan nations only recently opened back up after decades of being war torn from ethnic conflict and being sealed off from the rest of the world. The Peak of the Balkans trail was a cross-border project that began in 2013 in an effort to restore peace and connect these three nations linking Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox communities.

The full circuit is about 200 kilometers long linking old shepherd trails and pathways throughout the mountain range. I had overheard a few people at my work talking about this region a couple of months ago and my interest was piqued. I would be attending a mongoose conference (yes, those exist) in Zurich in early September and decided it could work out to then fly from Zurich to Tirana to tackle the trek. The full circuit is usually completed in 10 days, and with a guide. I only had a week of holiday to take off, and I wanted to do it alone. It was beginning to look like it would be a classic Kelly adventure.

I felt a little nervous on my flight from Switzerland to Albania. I had done a ton of research on the Balkan area and made a pretty decent plan, but there were still a lot of unknowns and I wasn’t sure if I could complete the 10 day hike in nearly half the time, those were a few big double days. I had coordinated with guesthouses to reserve bunks along the trail, so I really did need to make it to each destination to have a place to sleep and to be off the trail in time for my flight back to Germany.

Tirana to Valbona

I landed in Tirana and caught a bus into the city, arriving at my first hostel just around dinner time. I dumped my stuff on one of the free bunks and went to the restaurant on the first floor for some tasty hummus/sausage/bread combination. I had read that a lot of people get sick from drinking the water in town, perhaps with a recent boom in ecotourism the infrastructure for water and waste management hadn’t quite caught up yet. I slept in fits since I knew I needed to catch a shuttle at 5 am to start my journey to the trail. By 4 am I gave up on sleep, slipped out of the hostel, and made my way to the pickup location for the shuttle.

It was a bit elusive where I needed to be for pickup, but I noticed some other travel type folks lingering around the gas station parking lot near the center of town. By 5 am our shuttle came and I realized just how dehydrated I was, but it was too late to amend that now as the start of a 3-hour drive to Komani Lake ensued. It seemed like everyone on the shuttle was equally tired and heads bobbed as people drifted in and out of sleep as we wove our way out of Tirana and up into the mountains. The road began to degrade and as we swerved and bumped along a few people were getting motion sickness. I felt really fortunate to not be too affected by rough travel.

The shuttle stopped just before a tunnel and we were told we should walk through and in about 5 minutes we would arrive at the ferry. Lots of other shuttles and buses were dropping people off and I started to realize that the tourism here is actually quite popular. Through the other side of the tunnel there was a small harbor where a few ferries waited. Some people drove cars or motorcycles onto it, but most people walked on. I couldn’t find an open seat so I went to the upper deck and plopped down on my backpack. It was clear there were a lot of backpackers heading to this trek as packs bumped each other or were strewn into a pile. The ferry ride through Komani Lake traveled through steep canyons while sharp jagged peaks poked out behind the walls. It had been a while since I had some solid mountain time and my legs were getting antsy just seeing the peaks.

From the ferry there was another shuttle (about an hour and a half) from Fierze to Valbona, where I would be starting my hike. The driver dropped us off one by one at our respective guesthouses. I dropped my pack on my bunk for the night and set off to explore town, try to find some water, and get my bearings to start my first “double day” hike the next morning. I couldn’t find bottled water, but I found a weak local beer and wandered up the riverbed enjoying it and taking in the mountains. They were just stunning. Jagged gray peaks stabbed into the sky like crocodile teeth. I hoped I would be lucky to have sunny weather like this day for the trek.

Valbona to Doberdol: 29.5 km, 2225 m gain

The next morning, I snuck out of the bunk room just before dawn where 3 others continued to sleep. I had found the trailhead of where I needed to start the evening before and began the sharp ascent up to the pass. This was actually not part of the original circuit, but sort of an alternative way to the next town of Cerem. The high route from Valbona to Cerem via Prosllopit Pass was about 15 km with around 1200 meters of gain, and I felt the gain. The trail blasted up the side of the pass. Despite my caltopo map showing the mountain side was riddled with creeks, I couldn’t find any water. I was content with my decision to avoid potentially contaminated water in town, but as I hiked up to the pass all I could think about was how thirsty I was. I left the switchbacks in the forest and eventually topped out on a plateau where a sheep dog bellowed at me from the trail. I had read that hikers should be wary of the dogs since bites are not all that uncommon and they fiercely protect the flock of sheep. Luckily the shepherd was nearby and called off the dog. I wove between the sheep and continued up the pass hoping for some water on the other side.

The trail crossed into Montenegro at the pass, but since it returns to Albania a visa wasn’t technically required for this route. It was simple enough to apply online for my visas and, though I had them, I was never asked on the trip to provide them. I had never walked between countries before and it kind of blew my mind that I was now in Montenegro, if only for an hour or so.

I made my way back down the other side of the pass towards Cerem, still in search of water, when two men walking up the trail stopped to chat. The first man told me to be careful since around the corner there was a wolf, which then the second man corrected saying it was a bear. I hadn’t really thought about encountering brown bears on this hike. “They only eat woman,” the first man said with a heavy Albanian accent, to which I then replied “And they probably prefer to eat blondes.” We both laughed and I continued down the trail, never meeting that bear, but I did find some water.

I arrived in Cerem around 12:30 and had a four-legged travel companion for the descent into the village. The puppy was so sweet, I wish I could’ve taken her home! This village is the usual stop for this leg of the hike, but I would now be heading off on the second phase to make it to Doberdol that night. As I passed through the sleepy mountain village a man ran to me from a driveway trying to convince me to stay at his hostel there instead of continuing my walk. Rain was scheduled that afternoon, so it was tempting, but I needed to keep a pretty rigid schedule to complete the trek. I took a quick lunch break at a creek, then started on the second big ascent of the day.

The trail seemed to charge up another mountain with the same aggressive slope as the pass from Valbona. This second phase was around 15 km with another 1000 meters of elevation gain. Eventually though, it leveled off and I was cruising along mountain ridges in and out of little forests and across fields. The rain did come around 4 PM and I realized my rain jacket was no longer waterproof. I was thoroughly soaked with another 6 km to go. It was at this point I was realizing my plan was a little crazy but there was nothing to do but see it through now that I was on the trail.

By the time I arrived in Doberdol the mountains were completely socked in and it was raining hard. The last mile or so felt the longest and my legs were just about dead at this point. The name of the hostel I was staying at here was Leonardi and as I approached, I couldn’t believe how many people were running between the bunkhouses dodging the rain. It sort of had a pig stye vibe, not that it was unkept, but with the rain came the mud and hundreds of footprints pocketed the ground. I burst through a door to what looked like a kitchen area where a wood stove was warming up other hikers. My soaked running shorts clung to my legs and I was dripping wet and out of breath from hurrying up the last section of my hike. My entrance was met with surprised faces of who would later become my new friends. The hostel owner seemed really stressed with all of the wet guests and originally, he said he had no room for me, every bunk was full. I showed him that I had messaged him a month ago and reserved a bed, I didn’t really have anywhere else to go. I could sleep on the floor if I needed to. At this point the other men in the room were offering me their sleeping pads or sleeping bags (I had my own) and trying to help me work something out. The owner asked a couple who had booked a private room if they would mind sharing with me. It felt a little awkward but I was happy to have a bed and a place to dry my wet gear.

I rejoined the men for dinner and realized they had all equally just met that day coming from Brazil, Belgium, and Finland. We were served a hearty bean soup, some bread and cheese, and a rice and chicken meal. I love how much you can eat after big days in the mountains! We chatted for a bit around the fireplace with beers afterwards as the Brazilian rolled one cigarette after another. We shared stories of the places we’ve traveled and ponderings about when life seems to predominantly be travel. Before we went off to bed, the Brazilian shared that all of the Danish people he encounters seem to be aerodynamic, and he called them “wind people” just floating through the mountains with their long legs and arms. For the rest of my hike I kept an eye out for these “wind people,” and I spotted a few!

Doberdol to Milishevc: 20 km, 541 m gain

The rain continued in the morning and I was a bit sad to find my boots were still soggy from the hike before. Everyone was packing up and getting ready to head out, but they were still a bit hesitant waiting to see if the weather would break. I decided to get moving and packed up and left around 8 after grabbing some bread, cheese, and a cucumber for lunch. There seemed to be a theme with these phases of the trail as the path climbed up another pass as it zigzagged up and out of the valley of Doberdol. I wasn’t sure if my new friends were ahead or behind me and wondered if we’d cross paths again. Once at the pass there was a brief break in weather and I was stunned at how beautiful the landscape was. It reminded me a little bit of Alaska and a little bit of Cochamo Valley in Chile. It would be a 15 km day through these peaks and valleys.

I finished the day very soggy again as I got caught in weather pretty much from the pass above Doberdol to Milishevc. At some high point the trail crossed in to Kosovo. I got a little lost in the clouds before finding the small village of Milishevc and again made a hurried entrance into my next hostel, Guesthouse Lojza. I was the first person to arrive and the sleepy owner seemed happy to have some company. Ziggy told me to get dry and warm up by the fire, then we could see which bunk I’d take and get sorted. He shared some homemade plum liquor with me and wanted to play chess. Eventually though the next group of soggy backpackers were knocking at the door and he worked on hosting. The group consisted of 6 Germans maybe in their mid 20s. They spoke among themselves in the living room and eventually I got a little bored of not understanding German and went to the kitchen to help Ziggy prepare the meal for the night. We chopped tomatoes and cucumbers (these seem to be some of the most common foods on this trek), cooked a bean-based soup, and sliced some bread. We sipped at little cups of the schnapps and chatted about mountains, cars, the different people who passed through his hostel, and his big white fluffy dog.

Milishevc to Drelaj: 13 km, 700 m gain

I joined another group of women for breakfast and learned that two of them were visiting from Israel and an older woman from Australia (doing a solo hike as well!). Ziggy gave me some sandwiches for lunch, remembering I don’t like tomatoes, and didn’t charge me for the bunk since I helped him out with dinner. He tried to convince me to stay another day and wait out the rain, this also seemed to be a common theme among hosts and I wished I had more time!

The rain made the trail incredibly muddy and the day began again with a steep ascent up into the clouds. I only came across a few other hikers as I crossed the mountain pass in the clouds, perhaps others were waiting for better weather. There was a beautiful eeriness up there, with only swooshes of wind breaking the silence of the fog.

The next part of the trail destroyed my legs. From the rain the days before the path was slick with mud and it plunged down 1270 meters to the next town of Drelaj. My knees were not happy hammering down this section so when I arrived to the road to Drelaj, I decided to take a shortcut to the next hostel shaving off 8 km of the trail. I walked the road to Drelaj and found my hostel, guesthouse Shqiponja, among some sheep farms. I lucked out and had my own room (full of 5 bunk beds), a hot shower, wifi, and a nice little hang out area to plan my next day. Soon I heard some voices and realized they were the Finish and Belgian guys from Doberdol! A digital nomad joined us later, also named Kelly, and we spent the evening around the kitchen table sharing stories.

Drelaj to Plav: 36 km, 1900 m gain

The monster day! The Belgian did not think my plan for this day was possible, a double day combining the trail phases from Drelaj to Babino Polje and from there to Plav. All four of us were at least heading in the same direction, so instead of walking the trail section along the road we arranged to share a car transfer up the road to a place called Te Liqeni where the trek left the road and continued to climb up to the pass that separated Kosovo and Montenegro. The guys were a little slower than Kelly and I, so we went on ahead and hiked together for the morning. She set a quick pace up the 1000 meters to the pass and I enjoyed the company of another solo female traveler. Once we reached the pass we stopped for a quick snack, but I still had a long day ahead so we said our goodbyes, exchanged contacts, and I continued on the ridge and into Montenegro.

The trail cruised down into Babino and without pause I began the second ascent up to a lake called Hereski Jerezo. This gain wasn’t so bad and by early afternoon I was enjoying my lunch at the lake with a dog I had actually met back in Milishevc! She must follow hikers looking for food, and appeared quite thin, so I shared some of my sandwich with her. Another couple came along the trail and she barked aggressively at them, as if protecting me? I explained it wasn’t my dog and she’s probably friendly. As they continued on, the dog followed them instead, back down into town.

From the lake I popped over another little pass and then down through some beautiful, dark forests. It was all downhill from here into Plav and I was feeling strong, my body felt like a machine on this day! I arrived in Plav just around sunset and checked in to Bear Hug hostel. The guy at reception did not believe that I walked from Drelaj and hadn’t heard of anyone combining those phases of the hike. But when he showed me my bunk, the two women from Israel I had met were there and they greeted me as the “double day girl!” proving that this was in fact what I was doing. Maureen, from Israel, and I went into to town to treat ourselves to some dinner by the lake while lightning flashed up the mountains behind Plav.

Plav to Vusanje: 27 km, 1151 m gain

The next morning the thunder continued to roll across the roof and the rain fell heavily. We chatted amongst ourselves while still curled up in our respective bunks. Should we wait out the weather or go for it? It was another big day, so we should start sooner than later. There was another road section so we decided to do a shuttle transfer, and it would buy us some time out of the rain. The “jeep” that picked us up was actually an old mini van and I was skeptical as it climbed up the muddy dirt road. Eventually the road just got too steep and that was the end of our transfer. We decided to continue hiking together and the two women would try to stay at the same hostel I was heading to, Dedushi.

The first few days alone on the trail I mulled over a lot of things that were on my mind, and I was pretty much done thinking about them, so it was really nice to enjoy company on the trail. We powered through the steep ascent up Bora Pass in the rain. However, once we popped up and over and began along a beautiful ridge trail, the sky opened up, the sun came out, and we feasted our eyes on the accursed mountains ahead of us. These are truly some of the most gorgeous mountains I have ever seen, and I am already planning on returning to this range for some off trail exploration of these peaks.

Our moods were high and we chatted and laughed constantly that afternoon. We took a little detour to see another pass and I realized this was actually where the bear sighting had been back on my first day on the trail. I had never really hiked a circuit trail so it was really cool to realize I had actually been up in those mountains when I went over Prosllopit Pass! As we descended into Vusanje we passed by a little house serving cold drinks and gave our knees a little break. Marueen and I had a shandy, and Daphne had a warm cup of tea before we continued the last few kilometers into town.

I hadn’t realized, but apparently when I was organizing this trip (from a tent in Kenya… I still need to write up that story), I decided to treat myself to a private room for my last night on the trail. I was confused when my new friends were checked into bunks and I was led to my own little cabin. What a treat! A bunch of backpackers crowded around a table under a tarped awning and we ate our dinner protected from the rain. They lit a fire that Maureen and I sat around for a bit before the rain chased us to bed.

Vusanje to Theth: 21 km, 1111 m gain

We gathered for breakfast at 7 AM and decided the three of us would continue hiking together, at least for a bit. This day would be my last day on the trail and I still didn’t know how I was going to get from the town of Theth to Tirana to catch my flight the next morning. I had read that there were daily buses from Theth to Shkoder, but they left at 7 AM and I still had a full day to hike. The two women were not very confident in their map of the trail, so I agreed to at least hike with them to the pass where the trail just leads down to Theth and then run ahead to try to sort out a ride.

We started in the rain with a bunch of other hikers, this was definitely the most crowded day on the trail. We hiked slowly, clearly feeling the impact of the series of hiking days before. We walked through a lake called Ropojansko jezero, which means Snake Lake, since in the summer months it’s just mostly dried up and I guess sort of resembles snake skin. We skirted the lake as the rain stopped and continued across the border back into Albania and then up Pejes Pass. This section of the trail was stunning as sharp peaks pierced the sky and we passed through hanging valleys. We caught glimpses of glaciers nestled in the amphitheaters of the mountains and passed by old bunkers from when Albania was living in fear of invasion. Water was plentiful, seemingly for the first time on this trek, and spirits were high.

The weather became threatening again so we continued on without a break up to the pass. Once we reached the top, I decided to run ahead to figure out that bus. We agreed that we would try to meet if I was still in Theth when they made it down. I shoved down a roll of bread and quickly began the descent into town.

I finally hit flat ground about 2 kilometers from town where I saw a cute little sign for Theth. It was only about 3 PM, so I allowed myself a short break to eat some sausage and cheese that the last hostel had packed for lunch. Once in town, it was again a bit elusive on how to find a shuttle or bus. But eventually I asked the cashier at a market and he called a driver and arranged for me to have a seat on the shuttle to Shkoder leaving at 5 PM. I had made it! I chilled at a picnic table outside a restaurant to wait for the bus and was joined just in time by my friends from Israel. We shared a beer and a pizza, gave big hugs, then I was off.

The ride to Shkoder felt like another roller coaster ride, but luckily no one got sick on this stretch. We were all dropped in the city center and I set off to find a hostel I booked last minute from the wifi at the restaurant before the bus left. I wasn’t even sure if the booking went through, so when I arrived there was some confusion as the hostel owner announced he was full but then asked if I was Kelly. He checked me in, he spoke a bit in broken English, and recommended a seafood place for dinner. He told me how to catch the bus to the Tirana airport the next morning, so I was all sorted. I had a huge bowl of seafood and pasta, returned to my room at the hostel, and collapsed into a deep sleep, not really believing the trip was over.

In the six days on the trail, I hiked about 100 miles (160 km of the 192 km circuit) with total elevation gain of 29,000 feet (8811 m). I had lots of time alone with my thoughts in the mountains as well as with new friends I met along the trail. Discovering a new nook of wilderness left in the world was a real treat and inspires me to continue traveling around to find gems like this. It was a classic Kelly adventure after all 🙂

Caltopo map here