Dajti National Forest Park

The weather in Tirana today is perfect, with clear skies and sunshine. The temperature is a cool mid-50's; we have 4-wheel drive and the Dajti National Forest Park beckons. The Park is located about 27 kilometers East of Tirana with a center piece of Mt. Dajti at 1,613 meters(about 5243 ft). The road to the Park varies from a nearly impassable cartpath(with ruts and water) to an usable asphalt road(with ruts and rocks). This is our kind of challenge; nature versus a 4x4 SUV, it doesn't get any better than that considering we do not have "monster car crash shows" or NASCAR in Albania.This time we are prepared, we have two maps and a tour book showing us where to go and telling us what to see!

The drive through Tirana past the Lana River to Qemal Stafa Road is quick in the early traffic. We pass through vibrant neighborhoods with large open markets and many small shops. One thing we also notice; municipal projects do not halt on the weekends. We climb rapidly past large villas, new high rises and many restaurants with expansive views of the City of Tirana.

With the haze that floats above Tirana it is difficult to get a clear and clean photograph of the city. That said, as we climb, the views are impressive and afford us our best picture of Tirana; allowing us to see the size of this rapidly developing city.

We continue to wind our way up the slopes past a Turkish wedding group (complete with beating drums and flutes). Turning toward the park we see a common traditional rural fence made from saplings and branches.
Up ahead of us we can see snow on the ground and can feel a noticiable chill in the air. It is so quiet on the road, puncutated with a, "Oops, didn't see that" from Mike from time to time, as we bounce through craters in the road! We see springs cascading over the rocks on the hills as we drive through the Beech forest on the way to the Pine forest. It is definitely cooler as the frozen water dangles above the road.
We are in the snow zone, with patches of white atop green moss and fir branches laden with snow; just waiting to drop on the unsuspecting tourist!
Up ahead is a restaurant and a fresh lamb has just been put on the spit. I approach the "chef" and get his picture with the lamb. Mike declares this should be our lunch spot on the return trip as it smells wonderful! The location is set into the hill with terraces climbing the side with tables and chairs set in the little clearings. I bet in the spring and summer this is a beautiful location.
A surprise awaits us uphead as we continue to climb into Pine forests; we have found our bunkers again, this time they are softened by the backdrop of snow and a bench.


A great opportunity to "capture" nature's attempt to hide the folly of man. I convince Mike to get behind a bunker covered in snow; it looks absolutely frigid inside the bunker and so beautiful around the grey mushroom "sprouting" in the snow. We may have to document our travels through the alphabet of the bunkers!

We cannot go too much further up the road into Dajti National Forest Park due to the presence of communication and military installations. We are in four-wheel drive now as the snow is on the road and in places the road is frozen. Around a turn, after passing Albanian "Military Zone" signs we come to an abrupt halt; our road is barred by a rather large metal pole and we notice barbed wire on the fences next to the road...not very subtle of them! Mike backs us up and we realize there are multiple "Military Zone" signs and perhaps they really do not want tourists up here.

Back down the road to the Panorama Retaurant for refreshments. The property has a beautiful garden, water fountain, small cabins and cold beer! In my opinion, the lady in the fountain does not look too happy sitting in icy water.

Wow, what a view from up here, whom ever named this place was right on target. We can see from here to the Adriatic and the port city of Durres; all of the city of Tirana; and into the mountains toward Berat. My only wish, no haze; the view is severely obscured by the brown cloud hanging over Tirana. Tirana is impacted by the strong breezes from the sea, however the very mountains where we are sitting traps the air over the high valley. You can see from the photograph(I apologize for the poor quality) the size of the city and the cloud!



For lunch,we drive back down the forest road to the cafe where we earlier saw the roasting lamb on the spit. Inside we get seated quickly and realize there is no heat in the dining area. With teeth chattering Mike moves to a new table away from an open window. A small fireplace in the back of the dining room emits zero thermal units for our benefit. We are laughing until I realize the menu is only lamb (nothing in the tour book to help me out), salad and olives for me today and of course french fries!!! Outside the waterfall is coursing through a chute underneath a bridge that leads to the hillside seating(covered in snow).

We get the heat on in the SUV and make our way down the mountain back to the Park entrance. On the way down the we comment about the total lack of any natural wildlife in the Park. No birds, no ground creatures and no large animals; not a sign of life in the Park.

Instead of heading directly to Tirana we head East and follow the road towards a mountain pass. As we approach the pass we can see a massive rock crushing and excavation project in the works. At one point while we were standing near the top a loud explosion was heard and felt by both of us. The view was spectacular, looking East towards the mountains and a large valley below us.
Addtionally, we were able to identify several mining sites in the adjacent mountains and found a large rock crushing plant further up the unimproved road. All said, the scars on the hills were not unlike what I have seen in Nevada from some of the larger mines located there. The counter to this was a tranquil view of a terraced valley of tile roofs.
The trip home took about 35 minutes and was marked by greater activity of families and traffic on the streets of Tirana. What a great day to go exploring; the weather was perfect; we visted a National Park in Albania for the first time and we got to go four-wheeling!!!