Mali i Munellës from the South
near Solloman, Lezhë (Albania)
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Trail photos
Itinerary description
From the distance, Mali i Munellës looks like a giant tooth, like a molar sticking out of the gums. That is, of course, if you know where Munelle is, and from where to look for it.
Munelle is the highest point of Lezhe Region. It sits between Fushe Arrëz and the new Autobahn connecting Rreshen and Kukes. As the highway runs close to the Fan river in the valley, and everybody is rushing to break another speed record, hardly anyone will afford the one or two glimpses to be had of Munelle (to the left of the highway if you are going to Kukes).
Even if you go to Gjegjan and on to Fushe Arrëz, you may only have one or two more sights of Munelle.
In fact the best view of Munelle, albeit from the distance, is from Burrel. From there, Munelle appears to be what it is: a single isolated mountain with a seemingly flat summit plateau.
While Munelle seems to be hiding from everyone's view, it affords great vistas to the mountains all around (and can as easily be made out from these mountains, too). Provided, of course, that the weather is fine. When we climbed it, haze obscured the Albanian Alps, which otherwise would have seemed very close.
To keep with the tooth analogy, Munelle would require many fillings. The summit plateau is strewn with deep dolines (craters), making movement less than straight forward. Neither google earth nor any map gives an idea of the many summits and deep holes of the Munelle plateau.
Among all of this up and down, Munelle has two rather distinct summits. The higher is shown on some maps as Maja e Kryqit.
The trail from the south may not be the shortest trail to (either of) the summits, and possibly not the easiest. We heard that there was a more "regular" trail from the east, and people from Fushe Arrëz and Puka thought that a trail exists from the North. Having surveyed the summit plateau, we neither found another evident trail nor another obvious route.
The trailhead starts at a logging road (see separate wikiloc 4WD trail to the start of this hike, #3532481. Also check out other access routes, from Rreps and Fushe Arrez, #3532926). A few hundred meters along the road, before the trailhead, there is a shepherd's hut, with water. The hut was vacated the same morning for the winter, and we camped there.
The trail is not very long (roundtrip 8.4 kilometers), and elevation gain is modest (769 Meter for the return trip), but route finding might be problematic when visibility is poor. The ascent from the trailhead to the ridge is very steep, and is best undertaken in dry weather.
Note that the trail is marked as a ballon hike (the return trip involves going back a part of the trail that you started on), and the distances and elevation gain for the return trip is more than shown in the wikiloc table.
Munelle is the highest point of Lezhe Region. It sits between Fushe Arrëz and the new Autobahn connecting Rreshen and Kukes. As the highway runs close to the Fan river in the valley, and everybody is rushing to break another speed record, hardly anyone will afford the one or two glimpses to be had of Munelle (to the left of the highway if you are going to Kukes).
Even if you go to Gjegjan and on to Fushe Arrëz, you may only have one or two more sights of Munelle.
In fact the best view of Munelle, albeit from the distance, is from Burrel. From there, Munelle appears to be what it is: a single isolated mountain with a seemingly flat summit plateau.
While Munelle seems to be hiding from everyone's view, it affords great vistas to the mountains all around (and can as easily be made out from these mountains, too). Provided, of course, that the weather is fine. When we climbed it, haze obscured the Albanian Alps, which otherwise would have seemed very close.
To keep with the tooth analogy, Munelle would require many fillings. The summit plateau is strewn with deep dolines (craters), making movement less than straight forward. Neither google earth nor any map gives an idea of the many summits and deep holes of the Munelle plateau.
Among all of this up and down, Munelle has two rather distinct summits. The higher is shown on some maps as Maja e Kryqit.
The trail from the south may not be the shortest trail to (either of) the summits, and possibly not the easiest. We heard that there was a more "regular" trail from the east, and people from Fushe Arrëz and Puka thought that a trail exists from the North. Having surveyed the summit plateau, we neither found another evident trail nor another obvious route.
The trailhead starts at a logging road (see separate wikiloc 4WD trail to the start of this hike, #3532481. Also check out other access routes, from Rreps and Fushe Arrez, #3532926). A few hundred meters along the road, before the trailhead, there is a shepherd's hut, with water. The hut was vacated the same morning for the winter, and we camped there.
The trail is not very long (roundtrip 8.4 kilometers), and elevation gain is modest (769 Meter for the return trip), but route finding might be problematic when visibility is poor. The ascent from the trailhead to the ridge is very steep, and is best undertaken in dry weather.
Note that the trail is marked as a ballon hike (the return trip involves going back a part of the trail that you started on), and the distances and elevation gain for the return trip is more than shown in the wikiloc table.
Waypoints
Campsite
4,610 ft
WP1-Shepherd Hut
A Shepherd's hut, which is attended in summer. In the cold season, it may be empty. The door is not locked, and the hut mayprovide shelter for the night
Summit
6,522 ft
WP4-Munelle Summit (1)
This is the summit seen from south, from Gjegjan, and Fushe Arrëz
Summit
6,529 ft
WP6-lesser summit (ii)
26-OCT-12 12:08:54
Comments (2)
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Information
Easy to follow
Scenery
Moderate
Having seen Munella prominent in snow during some north-bound winter flights from Tirana, the wish to climb it is easily understood. Munella also features prominently in a picture book of the Lezha District, as the backdrop to forests and idyllic meadows.
The entrance route from the shepherd's high plateau through the steep slopes would be sought in vain without the co-ordinates. No natural ascent offers itself, while boulders obscure the view. Once up on the top plateau it's easier, just tricky to know which one of at least four or five candidates is the real, the highest summit.
amazing.
https://www.wikiloc.com/outdoor-trails/mali-i-munelles-from-the-south-3531588#wp-3531589/photo-1583145