The Alps

by Alion Caci (Albania)

A leap into the unknown Albania

We entered the valley on a July afternoon. It was cold, like in any other valley. But it wasn’t beautiful as in any other valley. It was more than that in the valley of Valbona. The river was like a rope thrown with no attention among the mountains. Up there, in some corners of the mountains, was the eternal snow. The north face of the mountains where the sun never warms enough to melt the ice. We were five people in the car. The driver, who was also our guide, a young girl, a young boy, my boyfriend Mike and me – the other young girl. Suddenly the car started to slow down and the guide said we just got at the hostel where we’d spend the night. It was almost dark. The lights of the car shone on a young man who stood up and opened his arms, recognizing our car.. We sat in a big table full of traditional alpin food which is always very greasy, because it helps with the low temperatures. After dinner, we went in our rooms of a three floor hostel made of stones and woods. Luckily me and Mike had a two bed room. The morning after, we woke up at 4am, so we could start hiking early to reach the top of mount Jezerca, the hightest mountain of the Albanian alps; the most difficult mountain to climb in Albania. It was still dark. We jumped in a local truck that the guide rented for us from the host and drove in the middle of the valley… again. The darkness was getting deeper. It was almost ready for sunrise. Mike was quite. So was I. After getting of the truck, we got our bags ready. We double checked our shoes, axes, sticks, crampons, hooks, etc. Even thought it was July, we expected some snow and ice up there. While walking, the sun started to rise and our trail just got brighter and safer. Mike was walking in front of me so I could hold myself at his back anytime I’d need to. After a couple of hours walking in the mountains, we finally had our first break. I opened my back and gave some chocolate to Mike, who gave me a kiss. Back on the trail, now the slope was getting harder and we slowed down our pace. At 1800 m, we were so tired that we didn’t even wanted to think of our way back. Just when we saw the Yezertsa’s top and thought that we almost made it, right in front of us appeared a big wide strong glacier. We didn’t have nails for our shoes but we didn’t want to go back either. So we kept going… I was holding Mike’s bag while he was holding strong his axe and walking slowly into the glacier. Already tired, we sliped time to time but little ones. They reminded me of walking home after my mother had just wiped the floor. After a few hours of climbing hard into the stones, using both our hands and feet, we reached the top of Jezerca. 2694 m. From one side was Albania, on the side was Montenegro. Breatheless! I hugged Mike and we took a picture there. The clouds gathered together fast and we had to hurry up because probably it would start to rain. So it did. We could stop because we were too far. With the rain, came the darkness. Some os us started to panic, me included. And with the panic, the rain, the darkness, the extreme fog, came another glacier. We tried to hurry but I slipped again and, while holding Mike’s bag, I pulled him down in the abyss. He hit the ice with his axe so we stopped slipping. It took us a few minutes to get on the trail again and we kept running and running until we went down all wet, cold, dirty, extremely tired after 15 hours of walking and climbing. We jumped on the truck and closed our eyes. We made it. I was cold and had high fever. Mike was cold too. But we made it.