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Guri Gjon

Summary: Maja e Gurit Gjon is enthusiastically named a Natural Monument in the promotional picture book of the Lezha Regional Council. And when traveling the bumpy road from Rreshen towards Lure, Guri Gjon rises dramatically behind the abandoned mining town of Kurbnesh, almost like a little El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley.

Guri Gjon is not the high summit of a mountain, but the top of a cliff. Some higher summits can be climbed from Guri Gjon for those inclined.

Kurbnesh has had it heydays long time ago. Most of the old apartment blocks are only shells, with holes where there used to be windows and doors. There appears to be now future for the town, save for the small farming community.

From the town of Kurbnesh, two hikes to Guri Gjon are possible.

For our way up, we choose a trail that scales the north face of the mountain and directly up to Guri Gjon. The path seems to have been abandoned some time ago, and was heavily overgrown in July 2013. We spent a long time clearing some of the worst spots, just to squeeze through. If you plan to follow this trail, consider taking some garden scissors or an axe to clear more of the brambles and shrubs along the way.

With all this vegetation, the trail leads along steep drops and care should be taken especially where the narrow path has been eroded away. The last stretch up to the grassy slopes, and the grassy slopes leading up to ridge of Guri Gjon are very steep and without a visible path. This makes this trail not suitable for the descent, as one may find oneself at precipitous drops while on slippery ground.

For the return, we leisurely went along the ridge west of Guri Gjon, on faint shepherd paths. At its western end a more clearly visible trail emerges. The trail is rocky but provides assurance that it will lead one safely back to Kurbnesh. This trail is a very nice option for climbing Guri Gjon and returning the same way.

The Ascent (rated difficult):

Maximum altitude:	1436 meter
Minimum altitude:	768 meter
Cumulative height:	675  meter
Cumulative length:	3.2 kilometers
Difficulty	difficult
Time:	2-3 hours
Date of this record	July 2013
Download GPS info:	Guri Gjon (north)

The descent (and alternative ascent):

Maximum altitude:	1436 meter
Minimum altitude:	768 meter
Cumulative height:	681  meter
Cumulative length:	5 kilometers
Difficulty	moderate
Time:	2.5 hours
Date of this record	July 2013
Download GPS info:	Guri Gjon (ridge walk)

General location and approach: Kurbnesh is about half way between Rreshen and Lurë. From the turn off from the asphalt, about 14 kilometer from Rreshen, it is another 20 kilometer to Kurbnesh. The first part of the dirt track is in poor condition. It tunrs better later on. Also see our Lure page

Other Information: There are no facilities (except a shop with cold drinks) in Kurbnesh.

GPS and trailmaps: The map and trailinformation is generated by , 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.