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The Mountain with Holes

Summary: Mali me Gropa (the mountain with holes) is a major mountain in the hinterland of Tirana. Behind Dajti mountain, there are few villages and travel is generally difficult. New asphalt roads around the mountains made travel through the mountained unncessary, and the old dirt roads are falling into disrepair. Mali me Gropa is a special mountain. It is geologically different - as can be readily seen on Google Earth - and its main characteristics are countless dolines (holes) that make Mali e Gropa the water reservoir for Tirana. Hiking Mali me Gropa has an almost eerie quality. As a bonus, Mali me Gropa is also relatively high, according good views into most directions. 

Maximum altitude:	1827  meter
Minimum altitude:	1348 meter
Cumulative height:	472 meter
Cumulative length:	2.12  kilometers
Difficulty	moderate
Time:	1.5 hours
Date of this record	April 2011
Download GPS info:	To Mali me Gropa

General location and approach: The trailhead of Mali me Gropa is on the "Qafe Mole" road, which once led to Diber and also to Elbasan (the old national road SH54). The road is in reasonable shape but high clearance is advisable. Coming from Tirana, one takes the pass between Dajti and Priske Mountain, turns left along the backside of Dajti and moves on across Qafe Mole. The trailhead is shortly after a the turn off to the left that leads to Shenmarie and Shengjergj. One can take this road for the return trip, using a newly built dirt road from Shengjergj to Dajti pass and Tirana.

Other Information: This is a rather short hike, but weather permitting one may linger on the mountain and marvel at its geological oddities. In winter, people have tried skiing on Mali me Gropa. There is a good view to be had to Mali i Snojt , near Bize, also covered on this website.

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.

Images: Click the button at the end of the page to view the slides in full screen