Maja e Luces 1833m Hike

Mount Lucë is located at the northern end of the Delvina basin (Saranda district), on the border with the district of Gjirokastra, with one of the highest peaks (1833 m) of the southwestern parts of Albania. The pyramidal peak of Luca dominates the surrounding hills, covered with snow until the beginning of summer. At the western-eastern foot emerge the biggest Tatzat spring, the main one of the Kalasa river. The sides of Luca are lined with medium bushes on the lower part and partly with spruce on the other side. There are rich pastures. The trail starts from Fushe-Bardhe, a small village. The road to reach the starting point is paved so you can reach it also with a small car. At the first part for around 3-4 km, you get only 200m of altitude, but this part in some places is covered by small and medium bushes, better to have with you small scythe to open the trail. Also, along the trail you will face an abyss in the right part of the trail so you have to be careful not to slip. At a certain point you will face a tunnel entrance that is the only way to continue the trail. After passing the tunnel for 100 m you will catch the valley and the only way is to continue walking along the river bed. At a certain point you have to deviate to the right and throw up a rocky and pebble terrain and enter the forest. In the Forest there is not a trail so you have to continue to find the better way to go up until you will face a rocky face. You should have some climbing skills to pass it. You need to be very careful because the rock in this part is not stable. After passing this you will catch the neck of the mountain and you should continue until the peak of Luca 1833m. The view from the top is amazing. We decided to descend from the other part from the crest that is much easier to follow the trail. Do not go without a GPS device because it is not easy to find the right path. The total length of the trail is 16.6 km and the elevation gain is 1400m.