recommended route
Stage 18
High Scardus Trail Stage 18 Stebleve - Qafa e Kryqit
High Scardus Trail Organization
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Mystic atmospheres on the way from Stebleve to Qafa e KryqitPhoto: Matthew Nelson, CC BY-ND, High Scardus Trail Organization
This stage is currently not passable due to snow conditions!
Track types
Show elevation profileStart
Turn-by-turn directions
From the ruined building, the trail leads uphill on a meadowy trail that travels southeast towards the border ridge before continuing along the ridge for about 2 km and then descending southwest. Before leaving the ridge, there is a view of Podgorechko and Labunisko glacial lakes on the Macedonian side of the border.
The descent leads to another ruined military post after roughly 1.5 km, followed by a short climb of 150 m towards the southeast. When it reaches the highest point, there is a junction where the trail on the left goes to the border with Macedonia, while the one on the right (southwest, following the trail between two big rocks), goes to the shepherds’ hut of Bilbil Biçaku. If this hut is not available for the night, there is the possibility to check the other huts in the area by crossing the field to take the dirt road and then follow it southwards. The first shepherds’ hut can be reached after about 1.5 km and the next group of huts after 3 km.
By road
From Peshkopi follow the road SH6 (and for a short time SH44) south towards Debar, but just before the border turn right towards Gjorica e Sipërme. Now follow the small road along the North Macedonian-Albanian border south to the village of Ostren e Vogël. Continue to follow the road south until Stebleve. The start of the stage is located close to Villa Mersin on the northern outskirts of the village.Parking
At a suitable place in the village.Coordinates
Book recommendations for this region:
Equipment
General- Backpack approx. 30-40 liters with hip belt
- Rain cover for the backpack
- Telescopic poles
Clothing
- Trekking shoes at least category B (preferably ankle-high for the pathless passages)
- Flipflops or similar for the accommodations
- 2 pairs of hiking socks
- underwear
- hiking pants softshell or similar (wind- and water-repellent - the High Scardus Trail runs through alpine regions)
- Hiking pants spare (also for accommodation)
- Shorts
- T-shirt quick drying
- T-shirt fast drying spare (quantity depending on the length of the tour)
- Top long first layer (e.g. Transtex-Sleeve) + replacement
- Top long second layer (e.g. sleeve made of fleece or merino wool) + replacement
- Softshell jacket or similar
- Clothing for accommodation
- rain jacket (hardshell jacket waterproof and breathable)
- umbrella if necessary
- Rain pants (hardshell pants waterproof and breathable)
- Sun protection for the head (sun hat or cap)
- Hat (can get cold even in summer!)
Hygiene/medication/personal items
- small travel towel
- personal hygiene items personal medicines (important medicines in addition to personal medicines are e.g. Imodium, charcoal tablets, Bepanthen and a painkiller like Ibuprofen or Parkemed)
- Blister plaster
- Pocket knife, small scissors
- Sunglasses (tight-fitting with 100% UV protection and tint category 3)
- Sunscreen (SPF at least 30, water/sweat resistant, broad spectrum protection, not older than 1 year)
- Lip protection (SPF at least 20)
- Outdoor first aid kitpossibly spare glasses
- small LED headlamp
- bivy sack (at least a very light one)
- Handkerchiefspassport + copycredit card/cash (at many accommodations you can only pay with cash)
- Border Crossing Permit
- Small dictionaries
Orientation
- Travel documents printout
- Orientation App (e.g. Outdooractive with Pro-Account, so you can save the map sections offline)
- if necessary additional GPS-device
- Cell phone (smartphone for orientation app) + charger
- Powerbank for cell phone (not all accommodations have sockets)
- if necessary power socket adapter
Food and drinks
- Drinking bottles (depending on temperature and personal drinking needs 1,5-3 liters; the sources are shown in the map)
- Food for the day (the respective shopping possibilities can be seen in the map)
Statistics
- 2 Waypoints
- 2 Waypoints
Questions and answers
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Rating
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