Lajthizë Plateau

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Lajthizë Plateau

Summary: When we went to climb Guri i Nuses we selected the shortest drive up to the Lajthizë plateau, which is from Reps via Orosh, and took a shortcut road from the trailhead leading into valley near Klos or Fan center. Both roads are fairly difficult. We had little doubt that easier roads exist to the plateau, and we went to find out. Here you find both the easiest way, and the long way to the plateau.

The Easy Drive: Start in Reps, into the direction of Orosh. At waypoint 02-trifork be sure to take the fork to the right. It takes you to the village of Bulshat and then Planetë, before climbing more seriously. The road has a low gradient, and is generally wide enough for two cars to pass. In theory, you may not need a 4WD, though it may come handy on the Lajthizë plateau itself.

Maximum altitude:	1364 meter
Minimum altitude:	253 meter
Cumulative height:	1321 meter
Cumulative length:	29 kilometers
Difficulty	easy
Time:	2.5 hours
Date of this record	July 2013
Download GPS info:	The easy way to Lajthizë

The Long Drive: The map and trail description is from Rreshen, via Malaj, until it meets the easy drive up to the Lajthize plateau. Note that this long drive is not easy, and that it takes time, and that it is rarely used as a through road. From Reshen to the junction with the easy road is about 20 kilometers, and another 20 kilometers to the Lajthizë. Unless you plan to stay the night on the plateau (bring your tent), this will make for a very scenic offroading experience that will take the best of the day.

Maximum altitude:	1020 meter to junction
Minimum altitude:	114 meter
Cumulative height:	987 meter
Cumulative length:	22 kilometers to junction with the easy road
Difficulty	difficult
Time:	2+ hours
Date of this record	July 2013
Download GPS info:	The long way to Lajthize

General location and approach: Rreshen and Reps are along the Tirana - Kukes highway.

Other Information: Of course you can combine any of thee drives described here with one fof the drives described under Guri i Nuses.

Lajthizë is Albanian for hazelnut. And hazelnuts do grow there.

Shortly after leaving the highway connecting Tirana with Kukes. View back on the Kastrati gas station.

Grykë Orosh is the name of the wide and wild valley where Orosh is to be found.

We liked the green hubcaps of the IFA truck

The easy way up the plateau. The road can be seen as it cuts diagonally up below the cliffs of Shentejt Mountain.

Looking back. The road, while having no difficulty whatsoever, is often exposed

The road is very scenic. Munelle mountain (across the Fan valley and the highway) is always in view.

Climbing higher onto the plateau. View back to the junction with the more difficult but shorter Orosh road, described under Guri i Nuses.

Two IFA trucks with their timber loads inching into the valley. They still have to descend for more than 1000 Meter before reaching the valley floor.

3 kilometer before Lajthizë we reached the point of (no) return. While we simply turned around and went back, the truck driver was busy dismantling the differential gear of his Mercedes for an in situ repair - which probably will take a few days.

Now the long way. Approaching Rreshen on the Tirana - Kukes autobahn. Only 43 highway kilometer left, for horse and horseman, until the Kalimash tunnel.

The long road to the Lajthizë plateau starts easy enough

Traffic is low enough to pose little risk for wildlife

Approaching Malaj village with its church

Without doubt, also Malaj has its nightlife

View back to Malaj with its characteristic rock in the middle of the village

and a close-up of the traffic on the road we came

From here, the road becomes more challenging

...with a house on the hill. The road is getting better from here

Quite unusually, the turn off to Kthellë e Sipërme is well signposted

Or was it Kthëlle eperme? A few hundred meters on from here, and you will join the easy road to Lajthizë - or return to Reps in the valley, should you have had enough.

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.