Mali i Kërçinit

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Palmtreeproduction

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Trail stats

Distance: 4.08 mi
Elevation gain: 4,816 ft
Technical difficulty: Moderate
Elevation loss: 20 ft
Max elevation: 7,683 ft
TrailRank: 55 5
Min elevation: 2,858 ft
Trail type: One Way

Time: 5 hours 26 minutes
Coordinates: 492
Uploaded: October 6, 2013
Recorded: October 2013

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near Kërçishti i Epërm, Dibër (Albania)

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Itinerary description

Mali i Kërçinit, or Kërçin, is one of the outstanding highpoints on the range separating Albania from Macedonia. With 2342 Meter altitude, it is some 20 Meter lower than neighboring Velivar (see wikiloc # 5228374), but the ascent is way more demanding. Your most likely trailhead is in Kërçisht Siperme, at 870 Meter altitude, thus requiring an elevation gain of close to 1500 Meter - about the same you need to climb Korab. Kërcin has been our climb with the most elevation gain done in one day - more than was needed for giants such as Tomorri or Nemercke.

Kërçisht is easily reached, even without 4WD, from Maqellare. There is a comfortable and good-value-for money hotel at the Lazri fuel station. Kërçisht also has some old churches on the list of the Ministry of Tourism, though they were locked and having returned from one of the longest climbs we ever did in Albania, we didn't have the energy to look for the person with the key.

October seems to be a perfect day to climb Kërçin. A very dry day, with zero degree at the trailhead at 7 am and quite cold all the way up, we had one of the best views across Albania and Macedonia ever. To the north were Korab and Tito Vrh, the Albanian Alps gleamed in the sun, and in the far distance we thought we saw Rumija in Montenegro. More close-by were the Lure Mountains and Mali i Dejes, and to the south the Shebenik-Jablanica National Park.

The trail mostly follows mule trails, except for the piece from the summit ridge to the summit. On the summit ridge are some faint markers painted by Macedonian mountaineers. Overall, there is no difficulty. We would have rated the trail as easy, wouldn't it have been for the big elevation gain.

For the return, we followed the summit ridge down until waypoint 11, from where a sort of path leads to the more visible paths near the Stan.

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