"Mount Doom"

Perhaps the title is a tad bit over-dramatic.....

There is a mountain, and it is called Gramozi.  It towers over the town of Erseke, hiding the sun until late in the morning.  It is barren and dry, but it is beautiful.  It is the third highest mountain in Albania.  The summit looks like a pyramid, and on the other side is Greece.

Barren and dry.

And so we set off, armed with water and sandwiches and the most appropriate shoes we brought.  First a casual walk from a nearby village to the base of the mountain, then an easy hike across a stream to the bottom of the trees.  Spirits were high.  Then, up and up, and UP some more!  Everyone was relieved when we reached the top of the trees - our first resting point.  But then, the shade was gone.  Up and up and up.  There were no insurmountable difficulties, but just always up!  Over rocks and scrub and through the prickles.

Prickles, prickles...

 (Oh, the prickles!  A friend here aptly said, "Albania has a disproportionate amount of prickly plants." and it's so true!  Thistles and roses and prickly tumbleweed-like plants.  Prickly evergreens, blackberries, other berries, prickles, prickles, prickles!)

....beautiful prickles!

Erseke from our first rest point.

  
Erseke became smaller and smaller below us as we pressed on.

Can you spot Erseke on the left?

 By this point, the motto was 'one step at a time'.  Muscles were aching and lungs were straining.  Friends from Miami and Vancouver were having a hard time with the high mountain air.  Up..... up..... up.  Finally, the pyramid came into view, having been hidden behind the mountain for most of the trek.  Most of the group was up ahead, and now we could see some of them, making the final ascent to the summit.  They looked so small.  We still had so far to go.

Looking ahead.

A curious cow.

We passed a shepherd with his sheep.  A chorus of cowbells alerted us to a herd of cows up ahead.  We were happy to avoid any encounters with sheep dogs - the most dangerous of the 'wild' animals in the area. 

I 'signed' my name at the summit - can you spot it?

Finally, one step at a time, up..... and up...... and up....., we were there.  There's a reason this place is called "one kilometer closer to heaven".  We gained well over 1000 m in elevation!  And it was worth every aching step.  Words can't describe the beauty of God's creation, nor the satisfaction of having persevered to the finish.

 

Coming home.