Zallit Të Korres or Gryka e Murdharit, a canyon that is very complete, fun and scenically spectacular, less than 40 minutes from Tirana, the capital of Albania.
There is no doubt that it is a canyon that we need to schedule only when the canyoning season starts, since it is important that it carries a lot of water, so we must visit it if we are in the area, because it is the most fun, except for some details that we will explain below.
ZALLIT TË KORRËS CANYON GPS TRACK
ZALLIT TË KORRËS CANYON’S TOPO
You will find this canyon in the books described in the canyon data sheet below.
Them are drawn only in the book by Guillaume Coquin and the booklet published on the occasion of the 1st canyoning meeting in Albania.
GRYKA E MURDHARIT – ZALLIT TË KORRËS CANYON DATA
Activity: Canyoning in Albania
Other toponyms: Gryka e Murdarit – Siri i Cyclopit
Starting point: Landings under hydroelectric plant
Nearest town: Tirana for services
Car combination: possible through Pëllumbas, but not worth it
Approach time: 1h
Descent time: 2h 30′
Return time: 5′
Difficulty: v3a3II
Longest abseil: 12 mts.
Rope: 2×20
Cartography:
Soviet Military ~ 1980 – 1: 50,000 (Via Russian Topomaps APP)
Bibliography:
Canyonisme en Albanie – Guillaume Coquin
Albania Canyoning – Pascal Van Duin
Observations: Provide replacement material to install, just in case.
ACCESS AND APPROACH TO ZALLIT TË KORRËS CANYON IN ALBANIA
From Tirana we will take the A3 highway towards Elbasan and exit in the direction of Pëllumbas and Krrabë on the SH3, later, we will take the SH48 in the direction of Krrabë crossing under the highway. The road descends into the valley making several sharp curves. We’ll keep an eye out for the first detour just past two sheds and a curve to the left, we’ll take the turn to the left and soon we’ll find ourselves driving up the river along its left bank. Finally, we will cross the river by a bridge in the direction of the hydroelectric power station, under which we will leave the car.
Below the hydroelectric power plant we will find a path that is very worn at the beginning but that will gradually open up and allow us to enjoy this fantastic valley. In general, the path is quite defined in this first section, until we reach the bed of the river right at the place where we can observe a huge landslide that has covered a large part of the canyon. Carefully, we will cross the stream looking for the other side of the canyon (hydrographic left) and climb up the landslide to reach it (be careful, unstable blocks).
We will now continue along the left bank of the canyon until we come across a typical Albanian footbridge, four trunks, and a rope still new enough to allow us to cross to the other side of the stream (watch out, time and lack of renewal can make this step infeasible!)
After this original Albanès bridge, the path climbs back and reaches a tiny plateau where the path is more confusing, you have to turn left, and immediately we will make a tight turn to continue climbing and then maintain the height and progress until observing some meadows where the canyon has not yet been swallowed up by the narrows that make up the descent.
You must not be in a hurry to go down to the river bed, we will wait for the forest to open up, and following the line of trees we will descend through fields full of ferns. When the vegetation sweeps our way, we will turn to the right, following the line of the stream, entering the forest again and looking for the best way to get down to the river among the undergrowth that guards it.
We will arrive right at the entrance of the gorge, where we can comfortably equip ourselves in the Sun.
ZALLIT TË KORRËS CANYONING DESCENT
We will start the canyon walking towards the gorge that demands us incessantly while we equip ourselves, and immediately we will reach the first bumps and notice the marked aquatic character of the canyon, being able to do some somersaults, and also observing how the canyon is perfectly formed and boxed without no truce
A wide variety of steps, narrows, roofs and various obstacles lead us, always in a fascinating and completely aquatic environment, to the first major obstacle.
As until now, totally blown away, we reach the top of a first jump towards a large pool in a huge room. Unfortunately, the jump we got there can’t be repeated, but if we help each other, we can jump again from the ledge in front of the first jump. A pleasure for the senses, and why not, also for the child inside us, so we relax in the jumps and the beauty of the place.
Unfortunately, the beauty is interrupted immediately, as leaving this beautiful room, after a left turn, a siphon produces an accumulation of vegetable waste and a large amount of plastics that is a little annoying. The siphon, we will overcome it by climbing the big block on the right, and overcoming other big blocks we can jump and swim under a huge block. The water has regained its turquoise color.
Leaving the water, it is best to climb to the left and leave the course of the river, since we are just before the big landslide, which by blocking or slowing down the passage of the water, has caused a worrying accumulation of mud, point where some companions get stuck and require ropes to get out. So as we said, the best thing is to go out on the left and go up until you find the landslide, and as we did in the approach, but in reverse, cross to the right bank of the river to continue with our progression .
After overcoming the landslide, the canyon opens up, but it offers us a lower passage that does not get siphoned off, but which gets quite dark.
We will continue along an open section until we find a new and small corridor where there is another rappel of about ten meters, from which we leave to continue looking for fun steps, small spaces between embedded blocks like the next rappel, which descends a chaos of large blocks messy
We descend further and reach another abseil which, deceptively, could look like a jump, but which must be done with a rope, as there are blocks hidden at the reception and we could get hurt. We will identify the place because on the left we can access a huge rock on top of which we can walk until we can take photos in front of the rappel. Be careful, by the way, with the abseil, because it ends up collapsed and friction occurs.
We will continue to reach a very, very aesthetic rappel, which goes into a gorge below a huge embedded block and at the base of which the water turns almost 90 degrees to the right through a corridor, again, very aesthetic and shady .
We continue, we will do jumps, climbs, the canyon will open again and we will observe an old bridge of which only the bases on both sides of the canyon and the cables that joined them remain.
The interest of the canyon is over, all that remains is for us to continue progressing, until we see what looks like an old mine mouth on the left, to, a little further on, find the abandoned buildings on the left of the canyon, where it is better not to go up, and follow the river, because the whole complex on the left looks like an old mining complex, or perhaps a military one, which is still guarded today, since from a distance a man has seen us in the canyon, and without to articulate a word, but with a clear enough gesture, has invited us to continue downstream and not go up to gossip.
After passing all the buildings, the first ones, and further down some others that a path leads us to by mistake, we will take another short stretch of open river, and when we hear the roar of the hydroelectric plant we will keep an eye on the right to find the path in our way back.
HOW TO RETURN FROM ZALLIT TË KORRËS CANYON
Once the return path has been identified, we will follow it to the track, and turn right towards the power station, finding our vehicles earlier.