Category Archives: Photographs: Albania

Photographs: Albania, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Travel

Albanian Alps

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Albanian Alps
“Albanian Alps” — Rugged peaks of the Albanian Alps, seen from the Valbone River Valley.

As a serious fan of California’s Sierra Nevada, for many years I regarded that spectacular range as more or less the only one worth visiting. And I visited (and still visit) it a lot! My first concrete hint that maybe, just maybe, there were other mountains in the world worth visiting came during a long bicycle trip through Alaska in 1999, where we spent days in sight of huge, ice covered mountains. After a very brief visit to this mountains in Albania, I’m adding them to my list of worthy summits.

We were in Albania for literally only hours. We were staying in Kosovo near Decan, south of Peja, with relatives of a member of our extended European family. He chose to take on on a long drive to the mountains, and I did not even realize we were going into Albania until we arrived at a border station! We ascended the beautiful Valbone River Valley, finally arriving at a resort located at the base of these spectacular mountains.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Albania, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Travel

Old Bridge and Water

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Old Bridge and Water, Valbona Valley
“Old Bridge and Water” — An old and very dilapidated wooden bridge across the Valbona River, Albania.

This is one more (and perhaps the last) of my photographs from our brief foray into the Albanian Alps and the Valbona Valley during the summer of 2023. To recap, we were staying in Kosovo for several days, and one day our family member from Kosovo took us all on a trip into these remarkable mountains. I made the photograph on our drive back to Kosovo.

We stopped along a curve in the river where a small mosque stood on the opposite bank, backed by the distant peaks far up the valley. We got out and walked around a bit, eventually venturing onto a bridge across the river. From that bridge we could look down on what I assume is a much older bridge, the one in this photograph. It looked like you probably still could cross it… but you probably would not want to try! The bridge fascinated me, but so did the perfectly clear mountain water flowing over the stones on the riverbed.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Albania, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Travel

Albanian Farm Valbona Valley

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Albanian Farm Valbona Valley
“Albanian Farm Valbona Valley” — A gravel road leads toward an Albanian farm in the Valbona Valley.

This is another photograph from our fascinating but brief foray into Albania from our Kosovo home base back in the summer of 2023. A member of our “European family” who is from Kosovo took us on a tour up in to the Valbona Valley where we saw the spectacular Albanian Alps. On our return trip down the valley we briefly paused at this spot.

If I’m remembering the event correctly — and not superimposing two separate stops — we spotted a rural mosque across the river in this beautiful valley with the peaks in the distance. I wanted to photograph it, of course, so we all stopped and briefly walked around the area. Just upstream from a bridge across the river I saw this farm — or is it a homestead, or something else entirely?

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

Photographs: Albania, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Travel

Afternoon Shower, Albanian Alps

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Afternoon Shower, Albanian Alps
“Afternoon Shower, Albanian Alps” — An afternoon shower in the Albanian Alps of the Valbona Valley.

My experience in Albania is extremely limited — a single day driving from Kosovo up into the Valbona Valley, to what I believe was the end of the road. We started in Kosovo lowlands, gradually ascended, and passed through small towns. Eventually the land became more rural, somewhere we crossed the border, and we saw signs of past military conflicts in the valley. At the end of the road there is a big lodge where we stopped to eat and admire the stunning panorama of alpine peaks looming above us.

The weather was the sort where it is sunny but there’s so much humidity that a shower could develop at any moment. That’s precisely what happened here as we headed back toward Kosovo – a cloud passed by and surprised is with some rain. (“Hey, it is raining! And the sun is out!”) This is some of my favorite light — dappled sunlight moving across the landscape of mountains and trees, with peaks looming overhead as mist swirls and gentle rain falls.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.