Mansion in the Mountains

23 kilometres, 500 metres of elevation gain, and the Albanian Alps doing their best to justify every step. The hike through the Theth valley to the Blue Eye was a planned route — the destination known, the views very much not.

This building appeared around a bend in the track without any warning or context. Stone walls, a weathered timber roof, windows long since emptied of anything useful — sitting at the foot of a hillside so aggressively green it almost looks artificial. Nobody around, no information, no sign of recent occupation. We photographed it and walked on, which felt like the appropriate response.

The dirt path curving in from the right, the dry stone wall, the forest pressing in from behind — the composition was already there. The overcast sky kept everything even and saturated, that particular shade of spring green that only happens when the light is soft and the rain has been recent.

No idea what the building is. Didn’t need to know.