Mali Gamtit

Mali Dajti near Tirana

They were a little spooked when I came by

 I'm still trying as often as possible to get out on the weekends and enjoy the Albanian countryside. Escaping the sprawl of the city is not as easy as I had hoped it might be, even though Tirana sits a mere 10-15 kilometers away from any number of lovely peaks. But as I mentioned in an earlier post, hiking as we in Alaska think of it is virtually unknown here.

For example, on a recent outing our group passed a couple of farmers working in their field. As soon as he saw us, one of them jumped up, came over and started giving us directions to the nearest road. When we explained that we weren't looking for the road, he was genuinely puzzled. One of the Albanians in our group gamely tried to explain ("We just enjoy walking around in nature") but he clearly thought we were nuts.

 On another outing in which I was solo, I came upon a shepherdess tending her flock. My limited vocabulary made conversation difficult; but one thing she said was clear even to me: "Why on earth did you come here on foot - don't you have a car?".  I had no better answer than my friend had given that poor farmer.




That's why it is especially fun to meet Albanians who like to hike in the mountains. I went with just such a group this past weekend to climb Mali Gamtit.

Reservoir

About 20 of us gathered at 9 am to drive 30 minutes or so to the base of the peak, located near the reservoir that supplies drinking water for Tirana. 

Resting on the way up

It was an interesting group. Some clearly had done this kind of thing before, while others seemed to have little idea of what was involved - namely about 900 meters of elevation gain.

No matter. One thing I have learned about Albanians is that they are highly social and very good at managing groups. We eventually separated ourselves into a variety of sub-groups. Some went to the top, others stopped halfway, and still others barely made it past the first steep uphill. This seemed perfectly natural to everyone, and it seemed to work just fine.

Looking down on the reservoir

It was a lovely day, so the ones who stopped short of the top found sunny spots in which to wait for the others.

The views were fine - we could see the ocean and the port city of Durres in the distance.

Here are a few photos of the views on the way up and from the summit.

Full moon rising

Tired but happy at the end of the day