Accursed Mountains


The Accursed Mountains, also known as the Albanian Alps, is a mountain range in coastal Southeast Europe adjacent to the Adriatic Sea. It is the southernmost subrange of the Dinaric Alps range, extending from northern Albania to western Kosovo and northeastern Montenegro. Maja Jezercë, standing at, is the highest point of the Accursed Mountains and of all Dinaric Alps, and the fifth highest peak in Albania. The range includes the mountain Zla Kolata, which, at, is the tallest mountain in Montenegro. The range also includes the mountain Gjeravica, which, at, is the second tallest mountain in Kosovo. One of the southernmost glacial masses in Europe was discovered in the Albanian part of the range in 2009.

Name

The origin of the name "Accursed Mountains" is disputed. According to one local legend, the devil escaped from hell and created the jagged glacial karsts in a single day of mischief. Others say a woman cursed the mountains while she and her children trekked through them on a scorching-hot day and could not find any water. A third legend claims Slavic soldiers gave the mountains their name as they struggled to march through them.
Both the Albanian and Serbo-Croatian names mean "The Accursed Mountains".

Location and relief

The Accursed Mountains, the southernmost part of the Dinaric Alps, stretch more than from Lake Skadar along the Montenegrin–Albanian border in the southwest to Kosovo in the northeast. These points are at 42°45' and 42°15' N in the Mediterranean zone of the western Balkans. The southern boundary of the Accursed Mountains is at the river Drin and its tributary Valbona. In a broader sense, the Accursed Mountains also include the mountain ranges to Mitrovica with the Hajla and Mokna massifs. Some authors, however, see the river Lim as the northern boundary of the Accursed Mountains in geological terms.
From Lake Skadar, the mountains stretch northeast along the Cem river then curve slightly to the east in the direction of Gjeravica summit above the western Kosovo basin. From here, the Accursed Mountains turn northwards over the Bogićevica massif and Čakor pass and continue with another row of mountains. The Accursed Mountains finish in the area of upper Ibar River valley near Mitrovica, just after the Suva Planina massif that encircles Dukagjin basin from the north and northwest.
The Accursed Mountains are ethnographically and sociologically diverse with many tribes living in the region as sheep herders. Names of various Albanian tribes refer to their geographical locations within the range.
On the Montenegrin side of this mountain range, on the rock wall of the summit Koplje, there's a rock climbing route which is the most difficult in this region. The route is called "Prvo Koplje" and its first ascent was made by the alpinists Žarko Gostović from Skopje, Macedonia and Ante Bedalov from Kaštel Kambelovac, Croatia. The two climbed this route starting from 15 June 1972, and finishing the ascent on 18 June 1972, needing three and a half days to finish this first ascent.

Geology

The Accursed Mountains are a typical Dinaric karst high mountain range with a pronounced steep topography and glacial features. Maximum relief differences of are found in the Valbona, Grbaja and Ropojani and Cem valleys. Overhanging walls and ridges forming pointed peaks are typical of the western and central Accursed Mountains. The eastern mountains are less rugged with lower relief. The valleys show characteristic effects of Pleistocene glaciation. Most of the area was modified by glacial activity with karstic areas in the western parts.
The range was formed by the folding resulting from the collision of the African and Eurasian plates. Nowhere in the Balkans have glaciers left so much evidence of erosion. After the Alps, these mountains are the most glaciated in Europe south of the Scandinavian ice sheet. They have very steep limestone slopes with abundant karst features. The Accursed Mountains are a large, rugged, pathless range. It is one of the rare mountain ranges in Europe that has not been explored entirely.
In some areas, the Accursed Mountains run almost parallel with the Šar Mountains in North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. This tectonic crash produced the unusual zig-zag shape of the range and also their curving from the dominant Dinaric northwestern – southeastern direction toward the northeastern one. In the western and central parts of the range the composition of the mountains is of mainly uniform with Mesozoic limestones and dolomites of the Jurassic and Cretaceous ages. In the eastern Accursed Mountains in addition to the limestone and dolomite series, there are rocks from the late Palaeozoic and Triassic periods, medium-Triassic volcanic rocks and Jurassic metamorphic rocks.
The Kalktafel is cut deeply with valleys in a variety of rock blocks of the mountains north of Përroi i Thatë, the Biga e Gimajive south of it, the Jezerca block between Shala and Valbona valley, the massif of the Maja e Hekurave, the plateau of the Maja e Kolats north of Valbona and Shkëlzen northeast of Valbona. The valleys were formed by glaciers which created very steep walls and hollows up to deep. The south wall of the Maja Harapit is high, making it the highest rock face on the Balkan Peninsula.
Although some scientific research gives the Accursed Mountains the status of a separate mountain chain, in most other ways this chain is still considered the highest of all Dinaric areas, connected with the Dinaric mountain chain in terms of geology, morphology, and ethnography.

Massifs

The Accursed Mountains are made up of many large sections or mountain massifs/groups, all of which are connected to one another. These massifs include the Popluks group with a height of, the Shkurt group at, the Radohimës group at, the Zaborës e Krasniçës at, the Bjelic group at, the Karanfili-Brada group at, the Rabës group at, the Ershellit group at, the Kakinjes group at, the Shkëlzen group at, the Bogićevica group at, the Horolac group at, the Kershi Kocaj group at, the Maja e Zezë group at, the Lumbardhit group at, the Kopranik group at, the Strellc group at, the Gjeravica group at, the Junik group at, the Starac-Qokorr group, the Hajla group at, the Stedim-Ahmica group at, the Zleb-Rusulija group at, the Mokna group at and the Suva Planina group at.

Canyons and valleys

Erosion during glaciation left many telltale features behind. Deep river canyons and flat valleys wind around the ridges of the mountains. The largest canyon is Rugova Canyon. It is situated in Kosovo and is long from the border with Montenegro to Peja and is deep. It has very steep vertical mountain slopes on both sides. Valleys common at lower altitudes are found at the alpine level, creating mountain passes and valley troughs, such as Buni Jezerce in Albania. Buni Jezerce means "Valley of the Lakes" and it contains six small glacial lakes, the biggest being called the Big lake of Buni Jezerce.
Canyons in the Accursed Mountains
  • Rugova Canyon
  • Deçani Canyon
  • Gashi Canyon
  • Cemi Canyon
Valleys in the Accursed Mountains
The Accursed Mountains contain several notable rivers of the region. Rivers in this range fall roughly into two main categories, those that flow into the Lim and those that enter the White Drin and meet the Black Drin downstream at the Drin confluence. The southern and eastern slopes of the Accursed Mountains fall into the latter category. The Tara and Lim rivers, two major sources of the Dinaric river system, originate on the northern borders of the Accursed Mountains. The Vërmosh originates in the northwest mountainous part in Montenegro, close to the border with Albania. As a tributary of the Drina it drains into the Danube and then into the Black Sea. The Lim flows through the Plav lake. The Ibar, which originates on the slopes of the Hajla, takes a similar route into the Danube via the West Morava in Serbia.
In the southern Accursed Mountains, the Drin dominates. It drains most of the ranges with its tributaries and when measured from the source of the White Drin in Radavc to the mouth of the Drin near Lezha, it is long. However, not all of the Drin flows near or parallel to the Accursed Mountains. One Drin tributary is the Valbona, which drains into the Adriatic Sea, and its eastern tributary the Gashi River. To the west of the mountains is the Cem, which drains the northwestern part of the Montenegrin-Albanian border area to the Adriatic. Water levels fluctuate because the karst topography drains the water underground. Some rivers or streams, such as Përroi i Thatë in Albania, dry out completely during the summer droughts. Although the Lumbardhi i Pejës river in Kosovo is short, it is very powerful and carved the Rugova Canyon.
There are about 20 small alpine lakes of glacial origin in the Accursed Mountains. Many lakes are in the Bogiçevica border area between Kosovo and Albania and the Buni i Jezercë trough near the Jezerca and Bojs peaks. Some lakes, such as Lake Liqenat in Kosovo and Hrid Lake in Montenegro, are tourist attractions. Hrid Lake is a clear example of a well-preserved glacial relief. In the Pleistocene period this was a collection area for ice that fell down over steps of rock from surrounding peaks, dragging with it heterogeneous material. Precipitation washed away smaller rocks, but larger ones remain on the southwestern and western lake shore. The lake is long, wide and about deep on average. In addition to precipitation, it receives water from sources near its shores. The largest lake is Lake Plav in Montenegro. The lake lies at an altitude of above sea level in the Plav valley, nestled between the Accursed Mountains and the Visitor range.
Waterfalls are found in some parts of the range. The White Drin Waterfall in Kosovo reaches a height of. Because it is not far from Peja, it is easily accessible and frequented by many visitors. The Grunas Waterfall in Albania is high and is in the Theth National Park. The Ali Pasha natural springs in Montenegro near Gusinje are the premium attraction for the town.