A day of two parts hiking the Peaks of the Balkans long distance trail between Cerem and Doberdol, a third boring 4WD road walking, and two thirds much more interesting track along the attractive Lumi Gashit Valley.

I didn’t particularly enjoy the 5.5km of road walking uphill that started the day, but there were some good views, with the morning cloud lifting to sunshine.

There were some photogenic ruins, and this odd wall and staircase to nowhere construction.

This was a great day for wildflowers, which were in full bloom in mid June.

There was an unexpected large lookout structure, paid for by various governments and aid agencies, nowhere near anything, with a relatively uninspiring view.

I also didn’t expect to see this dead snake in the road.

It was a great relief to get off the 4WD road onto more interesting hiking trails.

This was another day that I crossed from Albania into Montenegro and back again. Given how well guarded Albania was during communism I was surprised at the lack of old fortifications.

This was a classic long drop!

Lumi Gashit Valley was home to a number of seasonal shepherd villages, though none appeared to be in use.

The lack of sun doesn’t do them justice but there were plenty more beautiful wildflowers.

Unfortunately there were also quite a lot of stinging nettles, not ideal when hiking in shorts.

The final hour and half was spent hiking in steady rain. Thankfully the track was straightforward and I could walk with poles in one hand and umbrella in the other, so stayed basically dry.

Doberdol is a typical seasonal shepherd settlement, used in the summer for grazing horses and cows. The main business now is probably tourism though with three decent sized guesthouses. It lies close to the three point border between Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro.