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Mali i Veles, Chapel and Weatherstation

Summary: Mali i Veles, while not memorably high in real terms (only 1150 Meter), is an impressive but often overlooked mountain. It lies behind the town of Lezha, on its eastern side, while the gaze of most travellers goes to the west with its beaches. Once Veles has attracted interest, its west face looks almost impossible to climb, with what appears to be an almost sheer drop from the summit. There is a marked trail up to the secondary summit, with its intriguing chapel and weatherstation, though markings are scant on the upper reaches. The map and GPS coordinates for this trail were created by CAI-Valleroveto, who rated the trail as difficult. We tend to agree, as there are some spots that require some experience and a head for heights.

The picture gallery also shows some images from our (unsuccesful) attempt to climb Velese from the nort-east.

Maximum altitude:	1150  meter
Minimum altitude:	78 meter
Cumulative height:	1070 meter
Cumulative length:	7.4 kilometers, one way
Difficulty	difficult
Time:	4.5 hours
Date of this record	October 2011
Download GPS info:	Veles Weatherstation

General location and approach: Veles lies east of Lezha, which is about one hour drive north of Tirana. Continue through Lezha to the village of Rraboshite.

Other Information: The first 2 kilometers or so follow a small and narrow road, to some houses. In theory, this could be done by car. However, the road was beginning to erode at several places, and the car would have to be narrow to pass safely. We recommend to park the car near the asphalt road and walk from there.

Note that the trail starts almost at sea level - this is a long and quite demanding hike!

The trail is on the western side of the mountain, and catches the heat of the day. We did it in October, during a cold spell, and were fine. Wind can be strong on the mountain.

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