We embraced a warm sunny day to walk the path to the cross that borders the valleys of Bajze and Goraj. The trail is rocky but easy going with level spots from the incline up and a switchback path near the top. Views of the small neighborhoods that back up to the ridge, a few old abandoned stone homes along with some pretty plants made the journey to the top less tiresome. A few spots of shade in the lower sections but all sun up top. At the neck, we deserted the trail and climbed to the cross that crests the mountain ridge between the two valleys.
It is a 360° view of the valley of Bajze to Lake Shkoder to the border mountains of Montenegro, Ivanaj, Vukpalaj, Maja e Sukajt, Maja e Tatiqit, Maja e Veleçikut, Maja e Kashtes and the valley towns of Goraj and Zagore. We did not take a path down from the cross but instead through the bush, Art style. It was steep, rocky and thick with trees. Slowly we made our way back to the corner of one of the switchbacks before making the final descent down back to town.
We left at 11 am and did not return till around 5 pm. The step app showed over 30,000 steps accumulated. And after two days, my quads are still feeling the gentle burn. A must pack for this hike is water, hearty snacks, sunscreen, hat and camera. We will likely do this again with visitors, once the world hits restart.
The next hike adventure on my list is to summit the ridges of the Maja e Sukajt. We have hiked a few on the left when visiting the Mokset Castle but I want to hike the ridge from Mokset to Vukpalaj. Just over that rise is Lake Shkoder and Montenegro. Who is game to tag along?
Our mission this year is to support the local schools with a shipment of books, projectors for the classroom and improvements to the shelves and tech in the school libraries. The shipment of books has landed and is arriving at customs this week. We have not reached our fundraising goal to provide additional support and with the current pandemic, fear that we may have to put our additional support on hold. If you are interested in learning more visit: https://www.homesteadalbania.com/stockthelibrary