Last up on my Balkan trip was Albania. Unfortunately time was running out quickly and I only had the chance to visit one area. It had to be the North of Albania and there was basically only one option, the two national parks of Valbona and Theth. From my research beforehand, it appeared to be the number one spot for hiking and I looked forward to spend another couple days in the mountains of the Balkan. In the city of Shkoder, the gateway to the national parks, I learned everything about what could be done in the parks and the various options of getting there. Choosing to take the longer route first, we were three guests from our hostel that got up early in the morning to make the journey to Valbona. Two hours on the bus, two hours on a ferry and one more hour on another bus before we eventually arrived in the settlement of Valbona. Getting out at the last stop, the trailhead was right in front of us and while most of the other tourists stayed in Valbona, Josef, a German that I met in the hostel, and I decided to start walking already. Hitting the trail a little after one o'clock, I was off to my last hike on this trip through the Balkan.
Day 1: The lazy day From the start the path led along a dry river bed and while walking on the many stones was not that pleasant, the scenery with the surrounding mountains convinced us from the very beginning.
Making our way in the direction of Valbona pass, we were chatting away and didn't pay that much attention where we were going. So suddenly there was no real way anymore and we realized that we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Markings there were none in that part and a quick check on the GPS was needed to find the way again. Soon after that, the trail led into the trees and once we were out of the river bed, the going got much better. While we thought beforehand that there would be no accommodation along the way anymore, we soon noticed that we were wrong. As the trail from Valbona to Theth was the most popular one, it seemed as if every house owner in the valley turned his home into a guesthouse. :) Passing them all, the path gradually started to get steeper. The trees were surrounding us more and more and whenever we came upon a clearing or opening, we took a little break to enjoy the views. The mountains around us were simply stunning and together with the leaves, that were right in the middle of changing their color, constantly made for a beautiful sight.
Coming upon the steepest slope so far, we soon had it behind us and arrived at a place that sold some cold drinks. As we didn't know how much further we could go, we decided to take a break, drink a beer and discuss what we should do. Well, that turned out more difficult than expected, as we talked about everything else except how much further we should hike. :) The time marching on, we eventually had to make a decision though and as the place we were at also offered a very nice camping spot, we agreed to spend the night right there. For sure this was the right decision, as the view from the campsite was splendid and as we started a campfire after dinner to end the day with some good talks and another beer. :) It had been a long day though and with another one up ahead, we went to sleep rather sooner than later.
Day 2: The long day While I had decided yesterday already, that I would start early, Josef had not made up his mind yet. When I got ready after breakfast, he chose to stay a bit longer at the campsite to enjoy the moment and the surroundings some more.
That made me lingering around for some time, but eventually we said goodbye and I was off at around 8 o'clock. From now on the path went only upwards and emerging out of the forest soon, I enjoyed a nice outlook towards the steep mountain walls ahead of me.
The slopes got steeper pretty quickly and steadily I made my way towards the Valbona pass. It was a nice walk in the fresh morning air and with the weather being super nice once again, the views were absolutely marvelous.
About one and half hour after my start I had reached the pass and climbed up to a little peak close-by. Views unfolded towards the Valbona valley where I had come from and to the Theth valley where I was heading to. Mountains wherever I looked and the red trees, as well as the angle of the morning sun made for a wonderful scenery.
The advantage of doing a part of the trek already yesterday was, that I had those superb views to myself and could rest for quite a while without being disturbed. As I had some more plans for the day, I left the pass after 30 minutes and started the descent towards the village of Theth. Another forest swallowed me soon and the views were limited for basically all the way down. There were a few clearings though and from there it seemed as the valley of Theth would be even more spectacular than the one of Valbona.
Passing quite a few hikers on their way up, as well as some more guesthouses, I eventually came upon the first houses of Theth and had to make a decision. There were two things I wanted to see: one was a pool of water in the forest called Blue Eye and the other a tiny alpine lake called Peja. As the valley of Theth was pretty long and I arrived at the end of it, it would have been closer to first head towards the Peja lake, but after thinking it through for a while, I decided against it and instead started to walk in the direction of the Blue Eye. For that, I had to walk through the whole valley and while at that point I wasn't sure if I had made the right decision, it would turn out tomorrow that I did everything perfectly right. :) Theth itself was very widespread and consisted, not surprisingly, mainly out of guesthouses. As it was off season already, there were many construction sites to be seen and it was obvious that they were getting ready to accommodate more and more tourists in the coming years. On my map was one spot, mentioned with free camping and I headed there first to have a look. It was on the way to the Blue Eye anyway, so when it turned out to be just another guesthouse that offered camping, I was not disappointed to have taken a sneak peek in advance. From there I started to walk along a narrow trail that went further into the valley and mainly followed the river Theth.
That part was very beautiful and I enjoyed it a lot. There was no other person on the trail, the bushes around me were as red as possible, more mountains were towering above me and with the clear blue river close-by, I had a stunning panorama most of the time.
At the end of the path I came upon a gravel road and crossing over a bridge, I turned left afterwards towards the settlement of Nderlysa. Going around the tiny village, I eventually entered the trail that would lead me to the Blue Eye. While the first kilometer was along another gravel road, the path narrowed down afterwards and surprisingly went upwards quite a lot. As it was a pool of water that I was heading to, I had expected to walk downwards, but that assumption was completely wrong. Well, whatever. :) Even though there were quite a few steep slopes in between, I still enjoyed the walk along the tiny path. Coming upon the Blue Eye some time later, mixed feelings started to settle in. It was a nice setting, but as a traveler that has seen quite a lot already, I was not sure if the time and effort invested to see this little pool of blue water was really worth it. But now that I was there, I took a break anyway and enjoyed a cold beer and a little snack. :)
Retracing my steps, I took the exact same way back to Theth and started to look for a place to camp overnight. My best bet was a place that I had seen on my way towards the Blue Eye. As I had seen it from above on a different trail than I had been on, it took me a while to locate it, but once I found it, it definitely was the perfect spot to spend the night. Close to the river, it was secluded from the hiking trail, as well as from the gravel road on the other side of the water. It had been a long day as anticipated and when I pitched my tent, the sun had almost set already. As once the sun was down it got cold quite quickly, I was in my sleeping bag soon after dinner and drifted off to sleep before the clock had struck nine.
Day 3: The strenuous day As I didn't know what exactly was awaiting me today, I got up early again and started walking at about 7.30 to make the best of the day. For the third day in a row, no cloud lined the sky and another beautiful autumn day laid ahead of me. Walking through the center of Theth again, I made my way to the turnoff that I had passed yesterday coming from Valbona. This time I went straight ahead and followed another gravel road towards the upper part of Theth. Coming upon the last houses, the view was quite superb already. Steep mountain walls wherever I looked and anticipation was sprouting in me, as I knew that the way to go would be through there somewhere. :)
Continuing on the gravel road, I soon passed a clearing where I knew camping was allowed. Being off season, the adjoining cafe had closed, but I guessed that it was still okay to pitch my tent there. That was a matter for the evening though and I soon resumed my way towards the Peja pass. The way I followed was part of the long distance hiking trail "Peaks of the Balkan" and therefore it was marked perfectly. Leading me mostly through woods again, the first part was gentle enough, but before long it started to go upwards. When exactly the change was from gentle ascending to steep ascending I couldn't tell, but I was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily rather sooner than later. :) The higher I got though, the less trees there were and every now and then the view towards Theth opened up. It made for a beautiful walk now, as the sun was over the mountains in the meantime and I was back to some good old switchbacks, so the ascent wasn't that steep anymore.
Making good way on the well maintained trail, I arrived at the Peja pass about one and a half hour after I had started with the ascent and took a well deserved break to enjoy the view towards the valley of Theth. As I couldn't find a proper description for this hike beforehand, I hadn't been sure how far I would be able to go, but now I knew that I would be reaching my goal of today without any problems. About 10 minutes further from the pass, a mountain plateau with the Peja lake unfolded before me. Surrounded by towering peaks, it was another magnificent panorama to behold.
It was time for a long break at that lovely place and while I ate my lunch, I laid out my tent and clothes to dry. While the tent was still wet from the morning dew, the clothes were just drenched from sweat because of the long and steep ascent. :) Space for this was enough, as I was the only person far and wide and for once also the silence was absolute. Nice!
On my way to the lake, I had passed a turnoff towards another place and checking it on the map during my break, it turned out to be the trail to Mount Arapi. As the peak was only about two kilometers away from the lake and I had more than enough time, I decided to give it a go and try to get up there as well. With my lunchtime over at one o'clock, I retraced my steps to the turnoff and was on my way towards Mount Arapi. The trail narrowed instantly and scrambling among some rocks, I soon figured out that I had to follow the many cairns that lined the way. Without them, that was obvious also pretty fast, I would have been lost. Whoever erected all those cairns, did a damn good job, as they helped me to find the path basically all the way to the top.
While in the beginning there was mostly an actual path to follow, it changed further up when the going became more rougher and I had to scramble over many rocks and crevices. Once again I blessed the good weather, firstly because the way up would have been a huge hassle when the stones would have been wet and secondly, because the panorama that unfolded to the opposite of me was just breathtaking and easily the best view I had during my whole time in the Balkan.
As it was quite steep and a lot of scrambling was involved, the going was slow and because of my rather heavy backpack I also got pretty tired the further up I went. There was even the thought of turning around, as the time was running out somewhat, but as the peak came closer and closer, I kept on going anyway. Coming upon the final ascent, I eventually was out of the rocks and could walk along a dirt path again. What a blessing! :) Reaching a ridge I could see the valley of Theth for the first time during that ascent and views onto the other side of Mount Arapi unfolded as well.
The scenery was so stunning now, it made the last part of the ascent a breeze. Scaling the summit at about a quarter past two, I first sat down and enjoyed the epic 360° panorama around me.
Even though the ascent had taken longer than expected, I stayed more than 30 minutes on the top, as I wanted to do this marvelous scenery justice. :) Before the clock turned three though, the time had come to start with my descent, as I wanted to make it back to the camping spot that I had passed in the early morning. Going back to the turnoff was of course a bit faster, but involved as much scrambling as the ascent before and once again the many cairns were super helpful to find the right way. The only unfortunate thing was that I had to focus on where I was stepping and therefore couldn't enjoy the panorama ahead of me as much as I wanted to, but that was lamenting on a high level. :)
Back at the Peja pass, a last break was needed before I retraced my steps along the switchbacks to the valley below. As the trail was in a really good condition, I made it down much faster than expected, arriving at the planned camping spot with enough time to pitch my tent, change my clothes and eat an early dinner before the sun vanished from the sky. Setting the opening of my tent towards the mountains I had scrambled along before, I had a last look at the superb scenery before I snuggled into my sleeping bag. What a day that was!
After a good nights rest, I didn't had to be up that early, as all I had to do when I was ready, was to follow the gravel road back to the center of Theth. There I treated myself to a nice breakfast and waited for the bus to bring me back to Shkoder. When it finally arrived, I vowed to be back again for the whole Peaks of the Balkan trail. The scenery was just too spectacular and I would love to get some more of that. :) Back at Shkoder it was time to say goodbye to the Balkan. It were three super nice weeks and hopefully I will be back soon. :)
Highlights of the hike: the views from Mount Arapi and Valbona pass
This hike is for you if: - you want a sneak peek of the "Peaks of the Balkan" trail - you're looking for panoramic views over the valleys of Theth and Valbona - you don't mind walking on stones and gravel a lot - you want to see an area in the middle of developing tourism
This hike is not for you if: - you're not in a good shape - you never before walked along a trail that is marked with cairns only - you mind a huge altitude difference on two days out of three
Comments