In the Blezenckë we are attracted mainly by the most attractive waterfall that falls into the river Osumi, also known among rafting workers as Waterfall of Love, a beautiful 40-meter waterfall that is incorporated by the left bank in Osumi Canyon.
The only “but” we can put in this descent is that it carried little water, leaving some interest in the ravine, as it is listed as “a4”!
However, if you have a strong flow, be careful, because it slips a lot, and you have some steps that can become delicate.
GPS TRACK FROM BLEZENCKË CANYON
BLEZENCKË CANYON’S TOPO
You will find topographies in the books described in the canyon data sheet below.
BLEZENCKË CANYON DATA
Activity: Canyoning in Albania
Other toponyms: Waterfall of Love – Prishtes
Starting point: Road SH72 – Rafting Federation Base
Nearest town: Çorovodë
Car combination: Not very useful
Approach time: 20 ‘
Descent time: 1h20 ‘(including the stretch along the Osumi River)
Return time: 20 ‘
Difficulty: v4a4III
Longest abseil: 40 mts.
Rope: 2×50
Cartography:
Soviet Military ~ 1980 – 1: 50,000 (Via Russian Topomaps APP)
Bibliography:
Canyonisme en Albanie – Guillaume Coquin
Albania Canyoning – Pascal Van Duin
Observations: Provide replacement material to install, just in case.
Access and approach to Blezenckë canyon in Albania
We can share access and parking for the Bigas, combining both descents in one morning.
From the beautiful city of Berat we will head to Bogovë and then to the Soviet village of Çorovode. We will follow the SH72 road until, before crossing the ravine, we find a turnoff to the left, which leads us to the base of the Albania Rafting Group company, where they kindly let us park the van and spend the night.
We will walk south along the road, crossing the Bigas ravine, and we will find a turnoff to the right towards Blezencke that crosses the Osumi by an imposing iron and wooden bridge.
The trail will soon take the direction of the Osumi River, and we will find a turnoff, which we will take to the right, downstream. After a few minutes of walking we will reach the bridge that crosses the torrent of the Blezenckë ravine.
BLEZENCKË CANYON DESCENT
The ravine develops rapidly, finding the first ledge under the bridge, and a small waterfall equipped with a roof or visor raised to the left and a single bolt.
We will continue progressing through a corridor that is not too deep or excessively narrow and that opens progressively, to find in a rocky strip on the left an anchorage on a natural one to go down the next 8 meters and entering fully into a gorge of medium dimensions.
Only a couple of unimportant bumps that we can do carefully and as slides already separate us from the vertical head of the Blezencke, known by Albanians as “Waterfall of Love” or others also call it the waterfall of lovers.
We will look for the installation to go down the first section of the vertical on the left, on a rocky shelf with good access. We will go down these first 25 meters to find ourselves in the next installation, which we will find on the right.
This last abseil is beautiful, and a great way to access the Osumi River, with its 40 meters on days of high flow can be quite a challenge. So be careful with the amount of water, as Zamo, from the Albanian Rafting Group, showed us photos from 10 days ago with a very, very important jet of water.
HOW TO RETURN FROM BLEZENCKË CANYON
Once on the Osumi River, we will follow its waters by swimming and walking, as the flow and the stretch of river allow us, first about 300 meters, to make a small curve to the left, we will see some tributaries on the right, and a little to little will intuit a good step to the right where there are some trees, always good to walk. We will be careful to find the beginning of the path, very obvious that it goes back to the road by the right bank of the river, taking a direction upstream, towards the viewpoint where the Bride’s Hole is.
Once on the road we will only have to follow it to the car.