Grand tour to Guri i Kuq

Another long and challenging hike to my list. It's the first time total elevation gain is more than the max elevation! This hike I put together through recorded trails, other map apps and visually through satellite map view. It's a crazy but a good one!

But wow, did this leave me breathless! I had been around Gjeravica doing the Peaks of the Balkans and this was a nice addition to that trek. I thoroughly enjoyed this hike in spite its difficulty.

I started from Peja which was easy enough to get out of the town. Most of the paths I took were either marked or on a trail. There were some parts that had none of this.

On the way up, it's all trails and well marked. I met a couple of locals putting up a sign post about a km after I reached the first sign post and they directed me on the right path (trail that goes southwest). This trail eventually joins a mule trail and you stay on that trail for a while until you reach the wooden cabins. On a recording I was looking at, the trail continued and flanked the nearby peak to then, continue westward to the gorgeous massif. I did not follow the trail but went west to try to shortcut over a pass. I had a hard time finding the road I saw on the satellite image but found it and continued through to the pass with ease. Trail going up towards the pass had markings but slight or no trail. Once at the pass, witness Gjeravica and the mountains next to it and to your immediate right, the gorgeous limestone (I believe) massif. There was no trail going down the slope but found the trail that turns into a dirt road.

Nothing difficult after this other than when you get to the next pass, you can see part of Guri i Kuq and it can look intimidating to try to go up but it's not too bad. And it's a nice view. You go down to the valley on a road on a ridge and start following the main Peaks of the Balkans trail up the pass. Then you start going west but this part is difficult as there is no trail and sometimes you see markings. You essentially have to go up a rocky path until you reach the base of the summit.There, no trail again so had to go up the very steep west side to summit. Excruciating at times but the top was worth it. Took 7.5 hrs to summit (with a break in between).

To get down, you follow the ridge down and when you see an opening, you can find a semi trail that takes you to a pass. Once there, you have to try to get down to the next pass via a rarely used trail that can be slippery. Good news is you can still see traces of it so you always know where you have to go. The recorded trail I was following went up the hill you see in front of you to end up near Drelaj village. But then I saw the Peaks of the Balkans main trail again and made my way down to it via the pass and going east. This was not a trail but it's a gentle descent other than a small portion where you have to climb down 5 meters or so. You then go southeast a bit and try to go down via some rocks. Here you see a trail that appears and disappears but if you follow it, it will eventually meet the Peaks of the Balkans trail.

The Peaks of the Balkans trail to the road is a gradual decline and nicely marked. I got confused at some point where there were lots of dirt roads crossing your path. But eventually I found a trail that met the main path. It was fine other than the end, not really cleared and had thorny bushes.

After getting to the main road, you have a perfect spot to hitch a ride back to Peja :)