Witnessing freedom across Korab’s Horizon
On the dark highway, our car was the only light. We are driving west, towards the big mountains, cold rivers, and deciduous forests, where, with every deep breath, your body feels alive. The stars in the sky I can see from the car are just good signs for the upcoming day. The valley of Strezimir, at the foot of Mount Korab, is probably the coldest in Macedonia. Silence was not possible there since the upper course of the river Radika took over the place. We were ready for rapid movement once we parked the car because of the cold, which, I had a feeling, was waiting for us in the ambush. It was 05:49 AM when we started our journey across Mount Korab Massif. Simona and I, two mountaineers with their backpacks, were ready to explore the high ridges on the most beautiful mountain in Macedonia. It took us enough time to hike up to the peak of Korab, the highest in the country. At this moment, I see our path very clearly. Looking south, I just ran the entire massif with my eyes. Now, we needed to do that with our legs and hearts. From the summit of Korab, the route goes south, following a well-marked path to the end, where the mountain goes down to the base of the earth, and everything appears normal and boring.
As we hiked, the wind was doing its orchestra, playing natural sounds and whispering about the winter's arrival. It was true. The weather forecast was predicting heavy snowfalls in the upcoming days. We had two days to pass this mountain, stretching north-south in around 60-70 kilometres. Right before the snow, we enjoyed, as Simona said, the brown-gold colours of the mountain as we moved through the ridge as two cells in a healthy body. The mountain has enough water to hydrate us and tons of other sheep and animals. Korab is a very fertile mountain. With its alpine surroundings, it is also an attraction for mountaineers from around the world. Our home mountain is the symbol of the Macedonian mountaineering. Here, many generations of mountaineers were moving and doing different activities. As we were moving, we lost the sense of time. I could only daydream, and I found myself thinking about all these people in the past going on the same path Simona and I were doing right now. Only one hour until the sun lets the moon rule the northern hemisphere and bring the cold into our bodies. After many kilometres, we set up our sleeping bags in an old bivouac spot surrounded by big stones. However, there was no wind, and the night was as quiet as before the start of a performance in the theatre. The stars started to fall down.
The horizon was red as blood, but the sun was not there. 06:24 AM, cold and cloudy. The second day of our journey across Korab just started as we shook the ice of our backpacks and left no trace. You need twelve hands to count how many beautiful places Korab has. Easy to navigate, we were like a ship with its wind in the sails. Passing below the summits and above the valley, Simona said that in the cities, we are not living to our full potential. Before I agreed with that, for the first time, I saw the village where we needed to end our journey. The view was incredible. Before starting to descend, we had another last summit to climb. We left our backpacks and went to climb the peak of Velivar, from where one can feel the freedom in the air.
With our trekking poles, I show our way down to the village. As with every adventure, you are not sure about the outcome. We lost our way down after our well-deserved breakfast in the middle of the mountain. We found ourselves in a beautiful, steep forest full of leaves and fallen trees but with no clear path to follow. The secret of happiness is the freedom. You are free to find your path. The secret of the freedom is the courage.
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