High Scardus Trail Stage 08 Brod - Radika

You hike up the ski slope for a short while until, in a right turn, footprints lead straight up over the meadow slope. You will reach a signpost and follow the trail towards "Shutman Lake", which leads into the valley on the right side above the valley floor at a constant altitude. Two hairpin bends bring you down just above the valley floor and you continue to follow the trail into the valley until you reach another signpost.

You will now see a large pasture house, head towards it, but leave it on the left. On the right side of the valley, a path leads further into the valley (difficult to see in the vicinity of the alpine hut, after a small field it becomes clearer again), which takes you up to Shutman Lake.

You hike along the right bank and continue to follow the trail through the shallow valley until you reach a saddle. At the far end of the saddle, vehicle tracks lead to the right: you follow these slightly uphill until you reach more vehicle tracks. Turn left here until you come to more vehicle tracks from the right. Follow these again to the left until they lead downhill to the southeast of the small peak Mramor. At this point you must not miss to leave the vehicle tracks to the left and hike pathlessly across the meadows slightly downhill across the plateau to below the prominent peak of Small Vratsa. Attention: from here to the bottom of the steep ascent to Radika Peak you are always on the trail!

You keep below the summit of the Small Vratsa to the right and traverse mostly pathless always between the steep summit ridges and a beautiful lake below you over the slopes slightly uphill (now and then also once briefly downhill) to the west. You leave the lake behind you and traverse further to below Radika Peak. A small valley brings you to the start of a climb that zigzags over a steep slope to a notch in the summit ridge. Now do not follow the trail downhill on the other side, but turn right over the crest to the 2,404 m high summit of Radika (the rocky summit structure is best bypassed to the left over a boulder field).

On the other side of the peak, go down a short steeper slope to a flat ridge with vehicle tracks. Follow these tracks along the ridge at the same altitude or slightly uphill to the west until you reach a signpost "S. Mavrovo" (here the meadow ridge ends). You now hike diagonally left downhill towards a rock, but pass it on the right. At about the height of the rock, the vehicle tracks begin again, which bring you down over meadows to the wide saddle "Kafa e Kadis".

Here you hike down the vehicle tracks to the right and reach the alpine huts in Radika across gentle meadows.