Ascent of Ðeravica on 2015-07-27| Date: | Monday, July 27, 2015 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Ðeravica | | Location: | Kosovo | | Elevation: | 8720 ft / 2657 m |
Ascent Trip ReportThe day before the ascent we drove to Junik to see if we could drive the road to Erenik, the trailhead for the hike. We drove a few kilometers along the road and came to a new restaurant called Trofta Juniku. We talked to some dirtbikers coming down the mountain. Note: all conversations mentioned in the TR are a mish-mash of English, German, French, and Spanish. We talked to them and understood that the road was good for 10 km but with the rain coming down it would be bad.
We walked into the restaurant and talked to a guy who said that for 100 euros he could drive us there. The dirtbikers thought that was a ripoff but we had too much time already put into this ascent to risk losing the ride up for 30 euros or something. We agreed to meet again at 9:00 am the next morning, still unsure if it would be that same guy or if he would call one of his friends.
After the night in Pejë/Pec we returned to Trofta Junuku, arriving a few minutes early. At about 9:10, still not having seen anyone, we walked from the parking lot to the restaurant to inquire. The people there were not the same as yesterday and did not know anything about a driver, but called one of their friends who would drive us up to the trailhead and return for 100 euros.
30 minutes later a pickup truck with a man, his wife and toddler sun drove up. We shook hands, but they spoke no English and we don't speak Albanian. We got in the car, and drove up the road. It was quite steep in places, and muddy from the previous night's rain. I doubt our passenger car would have made it 3 km, but in dry weather it may be possible. Later on the road got quite a bit rougher. After about an hour on the road we arrived at Erenik, and the trailhead seems to be just the edge of the town.
The guy told us to follow the road to the end and then turn left. We did that and ended up going straight south. There are landmines on the mountain--- it's the only area of the Balkans (amongst other peaks that supposedly have landmines) that the shepherds stay on the hiking trail instead of wandering around off piste. We decided to continue, and after 2.5 km ended up on a ridge that seemed to mark the Montenegrin border. There were a few collapsed huts (remnants of the war I presume), and a road on the Kosovo side of the ridge. We followed the road and it eventually led us back to the valley we were supposed to be in. We knew that we were on the right route because we ran into some red/white trail markers, 3 km after the ridge.
We hiked along the route, sometimes a little off course because the markings were not very good, and 2-3 km later we were on the summit. We descended quickly, knowing that our driver would be waiting for us in town.
We followed the red marks all the way down, but followed them too far and ended up looking down at Erenik from a waterfall, and had to backtrack 1 km to the truck. Total distance, 16 km.
At the truck, the driver was hanging out in someone's front yard. They invited us in, and made us turkish coffee on his porch, which was excellent. They were saying that the water in Gjeravica is the best in all of Kosovo, and poured us a glass. Despite the grazing sheep directly above the stream that this water came from, we drank it to avoid being rude. It was good water, and we didn't get sick. Next they offered us wild blueberries and some alcohol, rakija or something like that. It had no label so I can't be sure. That was pretty good too!
We thanked them for their hospitality and got in the truck and drove down the mountain to our car. A very long day, but a very memorable one. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 3432 ft / 1046 m | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 3432 ft / 1046 m | | Start Trailhead: | 5288 ft / 1611 m | | Descent Statistics | GPS Data for Ascent/Trip
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Peaks:  climbed and  unclimbed by Andrew Rankine
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