Across the Pond

In June Shadow and I will head out on another adventure.  Orginally the plan was to hike multiple trails in Western Europe, but after doing some research we decided against it this Summer.  Between the reports of crowed trails and the similarities of Western culture, Shadow and I thought we needed a little more of an adventure. Not to mention that fact that we would spend more money in Western Europe. We fell in love with the Pacific Crest Trail this past Summer, but missed the adventure and wildness of the Te Araroa (New Zealand). 

We combed the internet and magazine clippings I had collected for weeks and found nothing.  Then, in a matter of few days I found two articles about a new long-distance trail (700-miles) in the Balkans called the Via Dinarica.  The icing on the cake was that a girl that had hiked the PCT from the Netherlands reached out on a PCT Facebook page, looking for information about the new Balkan trail.  I immediately Googled all things Via Dinarica and found that this trail is in an earlier stage of development than the TA in New Zealand.  I looked up at Shadow and said, “I think I found our next trail.”  

There are in fact 3 trails that make up the Via Dinarica.  A coastal trail (Blue), an inland trail (Green), and a mountainous trail (White).  They parallel each other through 6 countries, 5 languages, and 3 religions.  From Slovenia to Albania with the White trail hitting the highest peaks of the Dinaric Alps in Eastern Europe.  Our next step was finding maps and GPS waypoints.  Neither was easy to find.  This trail was started with backing from the UN, USAid, and involved countries to bring back tourism after the Kosovo Wars.  A couple weeks ago they released a set of topo maps at www.viadinarica.com.  They are basic topographic maps with no track notes for water locations and resupply as of now.  A representative in each country is in charge of their section of trail.  After contacting the Montenegrin and Albanian representatives with questions, we found that there is a lack of backpacking supply stores.  Shadow's worried about food, but the Albania representative seems to think it will not be a problem.  Our packs will be a little heavier than normal to account for the lack of REIs.  Haha.  There also is the problem of finding compressed gas and denatured alcohol for cooking.  Currently we are testing a lightweight wood burning stove just in case  we need hot water.

At this point we are not sure how long the hike will take.  Our goal is not to have the "thru-hiker" mentality and enjoy the mountain villages and culture.  Speaking of culture, I hope to not make this blog all about the ethnic issues that have plagued the Balkans for centuries.  After reading a few books about the area, it might be difficult.

We head out June 21st, at which point our cell phone number will be cancelled.  You can find us via our e-mail addresses and through an app called WhatsApp.  You can also keep track of us by clicking the "Where are We" tab at the top of the blog.  30 days and counting...