Mali Gjallices 2489m Hike

Gjallica is a limestone mountain at 2,487m above sea level and the highest summit in the region of Kukës County, it lies 8 km southeast of the city of Kukës, In the north-east, Gryka e Vanave separates it from the mountain of Koritnik, while the canyon of Bicaj, otherwise called "Shkalle e Keqe" where it passes, and the stream of Sheja in the south-west separates it from the mountain of Kolesjan. The mountain falls within the Balkan mixed forests and Dinaric. Mountains mixed forests terrestrial ecoregions of the Palearctic Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome. The slopes of the mountain are entirely covered with coniferous forests. Also, in the forest you can find bears, so you have to be very attention. It has thick vegetation of pines and beeches on high altitude, but sparse vegetation on the foot of the mountain due to the now closed plant that emitted harmful gases for the vegetation close to it. Gjallica appears to be very tall because the Black Drin valley to its west is only 250 m above sea level. In about 90% of the perimeter of Gjalica, the height of more than 2000 meters and the surfaces of the slopes from the base to the top can be distinguished, a phenomenon that is not found in any mountain of the Korabi range, the Albanian Alps or elsewhere. We decide to approach the summit from a small village Brekije. The street to go there is unpaved so we start the hiking from the main road and first we pass across a small village Topojan and after that to Brekije. The trail is not marked but it is easy to find with a gps device. Overall, this trail is easy but I put moderate based on the total length of 21.8km and elevation gain 1644m.