Alltata

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Beautiful Lake Alltata and Mal Zajs

Summary: Not very high-altitude, but a hike in very unspoilt environment with some challenging bits. From the reservoir of the village Fushas near Baldushk the trail it climbs to the highpoint of the area, Mal Zajs. Mal Zajs is heavily wooded, and the summit has no views, so you may as well skip it. But then, when will you be as close to it again? We tried two ways to the highest point (waypoints summit 1 and summit 2), and the difference in altitude was one meter. Perhaps you may want to just bushwhack from one to the other, and you may find another point that is yet another meter higher.

From the summit area, the trail makes a big loop to descend to beautiful Lake Alltata (also a reservoir). When you think you are done, you have to climb another 100 meter or more, in an large circle, to finally descend to where you came from.

The Hike:

Maximum altitude:	471 meter
Minimum altitude:	169 meter
Cumulative height:	478 meter
Cumulative length:	10.88 kilometers
Difficulty	moderate
Time:	5 hours
Date of this record	March 2012
Download GPS info:	Alltata

General location and approach: The hike is very close to Tirana and Petrelë, and starts at the reservoir of the village Fushas near Baldushk.

Other Information: There is the possibility to shorten the hike. Having descended from the summit pyramid and passed our cautionary waypoints, you arrive on a sort of pass with cross-roads. A wide mule-trail descends to the right, leading back to the reservoir and Fushas. This is the old road connecting Fushas and Pezë, but it is no longer suitable for any vehicle.

The hike, while generally easy, passes some serious drops, mainly due to erosion. Especially the descend from Mal Zajs leads through steeply eroded terrain (see waypoints 'caution'), and the trail is not immediately visible all the time. This makes the hike unsuitable for children.

When reviewing the hike at home on google earth, we saw a possible alternative to the trail sections marked with caution. From the summit area of Mal Zajs, go south-west, until you reach a wider path which you take to the right. It will join the GPS trail below the caution-bit. But we haven't done it, and you should check it out on google first.

The reservoir near Fushas, where the hike starts and ends

Much of the trail leads through high-grown shrubs, which is a bit unusual for hikes near Tirana, but a welcome alternative.

Erosion, and the efforts of the farmers to eke out a living

Mal Zajs in the distance. Hard to believe that you went there and came back

GPS and trailmaps: The map and trailinformation is generated by www.wikiloc.org, based on GPS information collected from the actual hike. Waypoints can be downloaded to a GPS device from Wikiloc. If necessary, use GPSBabel to convert GPS data to different formats. For more hike descriptions by Palmtreetreeproduction, browse this website or visit Wikiloc and search for "Palmtreeproduction". You may also find nearby trails from other authors.

Google Earth: You may also view the trail in 3D by clicking "view in Google Earth" when on Wikiloc. You need to have Google Earth installed on your computer.