Miles

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Milë

Summary: Milë - or Mali i Millëtit, or Maja e Milës - is a little mountain near Butrint. Visitors to Butrint tend to admire the nearby ruins and rarely direct their gaze towards Milë Mountain, which provides the backdrop to the scenery of the Butrint Lake and the Vivari Channel.

Milë has a sharp drop towards the west, allowing marvellous views across the Butrint Lake, to Butrint itself, the marshy plains, Korfu, and towards Sarande. Hence, Milë can also be seen from Sarande harbor. Those tired of beach life, coffee and the daily xhiro (in Italy: giro - the evening walk) along the seafront promenade may be tempted to stretch their legs on Milë Mountain.

The Hike: The hike is marked as a balloon hike. It is best to start from the village of Vagalat on the east side of Milë. It might be difficult to find its beginning near the trailhead. Once you leave the built-up area and the last fences, you should be on a well visible trail.

The trail is steep at first, but levels off after a while. At waypoint 02, you meet a small old military road. At waypoint 03, you have the choice to follow a less visible but shorter trail directly to the summit, or continue on the old military path. We took the shortcut up, and the old road for our way down.

Near the summit, you meet the 4WD track that leads to the antennas on the top of Milë.

Maximum altitude:	823 meter
Minimum altitude:	166 meter
Cumulative height:	655 meter
Cumulative length:	3.9 kilometer up
Difficulty	easy
Time:	2 hours up
Date of this record	April 2014
Download GPS info:	Mile

Drive to the Trailhead of Milë: For the fastest way from Sarande to Vagalat village, take the road towards Gjirokaster. About seven kilometer out of Sarande, take the turn right (south) on the new highway towards Konispol. After almost 20 kilometer, take the turn right to Vagalat village. Follow our coordinates to the trailhead at the last house.

For the return to Sarande, leave Vagalat in the direction of Konispol and follow our trail to Butrint. At Butrint, cross the Vivari Channel on the cable raft.

When coming from Butrint, take the tour in reverse. The drive is good with a regular car.

Maximum altitude:	167 meter
Minimum altitude:	0 meter
Cumulative height:	200 meter
Cumulative length:	23 kilometer
Difficulty	easy
Time:	1 hour
Date of this record	April 2014
Download GPS info:	Vagalat

General location and approach: To the east of Butrint, about half an hour drive from Sarande. It is also possible to drive to the top of Milë with a 4WD vehicle, but hiking is healthier.

Other Information: There are several trails near Butrint, mainly to observe the birdlife in the marshlands. Visit the Butrint website, and download their leaflet with hiking trail.

Gaining altitude. Mali i Seraqinit and Mali i Shendellise (one of several of the same name) in the background.

View from the summit of Milë towards Lake Butrint and - in the distance - Korfu. Butrint is the roundish peninsula at the channel of Vivari.

Close-up of Butrint, in the upper center of the image

In spring, vegetation may obscure the trail

The shepherd on his way to set up the Stan for the summer

Congestion on a bridge, on the road to Butrint

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.