The peak of Ljuboten is impressive and last week's hike was definitely challenging and the views were very beautiful. Ljuboten stands out, however; not because it is one of the tallest peaks in Kosovo (it is around 16th highest depending on your source), but Ljuboten is a giant among the smaller foothills that surround it. The peaks that are about 2,000 (~ 6,500 ft) meters are more than 50 and most seem to be in the Sharr Mountins, followed by the Accursed Mountains. While impressive, most of these are close to the elevation of Flagstaff, Arizona (7,000 ft, 2,079 meters) where our son lives. The highest peak in Flagstaff is Humphries which stands at 12,633 feet (3,851 m) and I have climbed to the top of it.
Sunday's hike with the hiking group was to the double peaks of Bistra in the Sharr Mountains near Prevalla. The east summit is 2,651 m (8,698 ft.) and is according to some the third highest peak in Kosovo. The west summit is 2,644 m (8,675 ft.). We met at the tea shop at 7 am and left around 7:30 am for the drive to Prevalla, which is a small tourist village headed toward Prizren. It is an entry point to the Prevalla National Park.
Prevalla was already bustling as we arrived at the trailhead. There were picnickers, campers, hikers, and traditional flija bakers at the trailhead. As we headed on our way, we started out on a gently sloped gravel road. However; as we have found, the thing that makes the trails so challenging here is they often go fairly straight up the peaks. You do not have the highly maintained switchback trails that you find in the U.S. Not long after starting, we were off trail hiking up the mountainside, picking blueberries as we went. At one point we saw the spring that is the source of the Lepenci River as we continued to make our way to the peak. The Lepenci goes east toward Kaçanik. It was a hard climb, but the terrain is easier to navigate than Ljuboten.
Flija making at a make shift bakery -- the lids are covered with coal to cook the flija
Making two pans of flija at once
A camper at the trailhead
Hiking to the peaks of Bistra was much more beautiful than the hike to the peak at Ljuboten. It was green and lush all the way to the top. We hiked up surrounded by beautiful lush mountain peaks and it was hard to tell which peak among the many was the tallest. At the top, as we looked south we saw into North Macedonia and as we looked east beyond the peaks, we see Ljuboten. We were truly walking among the peaks and it was beautiful and amazing. We took a gentler trail back, but it was still very steep. We saw the spring source of the Lumbardhi (White River) to the left us as we headed down the trail. The Lumbardhi flows west to Prizrin. It was a tiring hike (although we had many breaks along the way) and we finished around 5 pm and headed back to Kaçanik.
As we neared the end, Enis (one of the hiking clubs leaders) told us that once we had done Ljuboten and Bistra, we could hike any peak in Kosovo as these were two of the hardest.
A new person that we met on the hike was the chief of police in Kaçanik and Ferizaj. He said he often hikes with the Ferizaj hiking group.
I was just able to get a quick shower, before the water stopped for a couple of hours. This was the second day, I had no tapped water to make dinner. Fortunately, we had bottles of spring water. I will be making dinner earlier and reheating for as long as this persist.
This ends another story of a great hike with the Kaçanik Hiking group.
Photos from our day of hiking
Picking berries as we go
With the youngest participant on the hike
A short break on the way up
Lepenci as we near it's source
The source of the Lepenci
The sun playing among the clouds
Prevalla in the distance
The final ascent to Bistra East
Prevalla below
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