tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40775155517800039592024-03-06T01:31:11.672+00:00E4 - a mountain walk along the spine of CreteThis is my log of the E4 long distance walk along the spine of Crete from East to West - it is intended to be a useful resource for others who are contemplating a similar walk along the E4 in Crete; it is not intended in any way to be a complete route guide.rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-23459188949690718082011-08-30T10:01:00.002+01:002013-03-05T12:56:56.027+00:00E4 - a walk through the mountains of Crete: Introduction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is my log of the <b>E4 long distance walk along the spine of Crete</b> from East to West - it is intended to be a useful resource for others who are contemplating a similar walk; it is not intended in any way to be a complete route guide. For my preparation, I read Christopher Somerville's "The Golden Step", Christopher Thorne's "Between the Seas" and Stelios Jackson's wonderful account on the Interkriti website. They are all useful in their own way and between them they give a full history of the island.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Part One of this walk along the <b>E4 in Crete</b> is from Kato Zakros on the east coast to Fourfouras in the Amari Valley. This is about 285 kilometers and took me a total of ten walking days, starting at the beginning of June 2011. I managed to reach the summit of the main ranges along the way – Thripti, Dikti and Psiloritis. Although this is above and beyond the call of the <b>official E4</b>, I felt it was in the spirit of the E4 and, in Part Two, I have also gone off-piste in the spirit of spine-walking. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Part Two of the walk is from the Amari Valley to the Chrisoskalitisa Monastery on the west coast. This is about another 170 km and took a further 8 days (including a rest day at Askyfou). This part includes the two day crossing of the White Mountains, with a trip to the summit of Pachnes to complete the set. This was done at the end of August 2011.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is the Elevation Profile for the complete 455 kilometre walk along the spine of Crete :</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have to say that, for navigation, I relied heavily on the Anavasi map on my Garmin GPS (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.toponavigator.com/el/cartography/topo-region.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-topo.tpl&product_id=88&category_id=9" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.toponavigator.com/<wbr></wbr>el/cartography/topo-region.<wbr></wbr>html?page=shop.product_<wbr></wbr>details&flypage=flypage-topo.<wbr></wbr>tpl&product_id=88&category_id=<wbr></wbr>9</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">). Reading other accounts of this sort of <b>E4 walking adventure</b>, I realised that a lot of time can be lost going round in circles and a lot of beautiful paths can be missed because often there is simply no way of knowing where the E4 is supposed to be on the ground. In conjunction with the GPS map which was very accurate, I used the three 1:100,000 Anavasi maps which cover the length of <b>Crete</b> - thereby minimising the weight and bulk of lots of more detailed paper maps.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">NB - the maps I have used at the start of each chapter are NOT Anavasi maps - they are something I found free on the internet and they are totally inaccurate. Do not rely on these maps !!</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also could not have done without Loraine Wilson's amazing guide book : </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a class="title" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/High-Mountains-Crete-Trekking-Psiloritis/dp/1852845252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312631780&sr=8-1" style="color: #004b91; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The High Mountains of Crete: A Walking and Trekking Guide: The White Mountains, Psiloritis and Lassithi Ranges (Cicerone Mountain Guide)</a>. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Both Loraine and Anavasi (Triantafyllos Adamakopoulos) were extremely supportive before and during the walk and I am grateful to them both.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As far as "kit" went, I strapped 2 Powertraveller solar panels to my Osprey (70 litre) rucksack to recharge my GPS batteries daily. This system also recharged the Powermonkey for my iPod and my mobile phone – all essential bits of kit – and it all worked extremely well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also carried a tent, camping equipment, dried food and isotonic powdered drink sachets, so with all that and the battery charger I didn’t need to leave the E4 trail at all to find overnight accommodation or fresh batteries. I just needed to pick up fresh water from time to time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My kit for the walk on the E4 in Crete<br />
- about 18 kg (including minimum 2 litres of water)</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Before embarking on the walk, I walked and trained extensively (with full pack), mainly in the Yorkshire Dales where we live. Our local hills are the Howgills and the highest point is 676 metres; the ground underfoot is springy turf.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My boots were conventional Brasher boots (at least half a size larger than I normally wear) with a good EVA cushion above the rubber tread. I wore wool socks and had an orthotic insole with some anti-pronation angle and I used this combination for a good six months, including a month in Crete both on roads and on the limestone rubble that passes for paths there.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What happened on Part One of the walk was that my feet swelled by at least a size and my little toes were squeezed under their neighbour to excruciating effect. At the same time, especially on descents, the balls of my feet got deep blisters, which I tried to manage with Compeed plasters.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For Part Two, I made the following changes :</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1. I changed to my "Keen" walking boots which have a really wide toe box and are a further full size bigger. They are not as rugged as the Brashers, and have less ankle protection, but they feel like slippers !</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. By knotting off the laces above the lowest lace point, I could stop the toes being squeezed even when the laces were pulled tight higher up.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3. I changed back to "Sole" Softec Ultra custom footbed insoles (which are a bit narrower at the toe than the Keen toebox shape) and did a bit of "art and craft"with the original Keen insoles to make sure there were no ridges inside the boots in the toe box area. These Sole insoles are stiff enough to compensate underfoot for a slightly less rugged boot and at the same time they have a wonderful depth of cushioning (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a class="title" href="http://www.amazon.com/Unisex-Softec-Insole-9-5-10-11-5-12/dp/B001N2NJQ6/ref=sr_1_3?s=shoes&ie=UTF8&qid=1316507344&sr=1-3" style="color: #004b91; font-family: arial; text-decoration: none;"><b>Sole Unisex Softec Ultra Insole</b></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">4. I also changed to "Sole" dual layer blister protection socks ("crew" length), again at least 1 size bigger than I usually take. These take up much less volume than conventional wool socks and they deservedly get good reviews for their blister protection qualities.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">5. I tucked a small pad of raw, washed, sheep's wool (inside the socks) just in front of the ball of my left foot where two toes have lost some of their natural spring and leave the ball itself vulnerable to deep blisters. The wool moulded itself to the shape that the toes should have had without ever becoming hard or uncomfortable and I expect the natural lanolin helped a bit as well.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The result was truly miraculous and I reached the end of Part Two with nothing worse than a sore little toe. What a pleasure to be able to walk pain-free through that wonderful landscape ! </span></span><br />
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rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-67482341507868800682011-08-29T10:19:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:31:58.581+01:00The E4 Trail: Kato Zakros to Zakros<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Wednesday 1st June (Chania to Kato Zakros by bus)<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">6.7 km 1.5 hrs. mov av 4.9 km/hr Height overnight 225 m<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">It all started with the 0630 bus from Chania to Heraklion ; while at the Heraklion bus station, I was accosted by Grant from Wellington, New Zealand who was here for Battle of Crete week and military history. He liked my Chaniotiko katsouna (shepherd’s crook) and wanted to get one for himself. I said that knife shops (of which there are many in Chania – I don’t know about Heraklion) usually have them.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Then the 1045 bus from Heraklion to Siteia – it paddled all thro Hersonissos and Malia and felt as if it would be very late. It left Ag. Nik. about 1230 but still managed to get into Siteia by 1410. The timetable published on the internet had suggested that there is a bus from Siteia to Kato Zakros at 2.00 pm, and I had rung to check that this bus would wait if there were people on the bus from Heraklion wanting to travel on. But .... there is no bus to Kato Zakros on a Wednesday (or a Thursday). However, the same bus was going to go on to Vai via Palaiokastro, so I stayed on till Palaiokastro and hitched with a couple of very chatty Polish blokes who took me out of their way to Zakros and I was there by 3.00 pm. Stage One had been accomplished.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">I checked into the Zakros Hotel (18 euros) and left the rucksack in my room. Marcos (who is the hotel owner and who also farms 600 olive trees) very kindly gave me a lift down to Kato Zakros. I picked up two pebbles from the beach there and got the sole of my right boot wet enough to say I had paddled in the sea. “Dead's Gorge” (sic) is an easy 1.5 hour walk back up to Zakros – even easier without a pack</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Gorge of the Dead</td></tr>
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There are plenty of day walkers in the gorge but, amazingly, these were the last walkers I would see until I got to Dikti. That evening, I investigated the E4 path out of Zakros for the following morning – it starts a short way south of Hotel Zakros on the main road and is signed up to the right along with signs for old water mills and the like. You have to poke about a bit in the upper levels of Zakros to be certain of being on the right path but upwards and westwards is the key.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-84384471457922748492011-08-28T17:25:00.000+01:002013-01-11T11:09:56.129+00:00The E4 Trail: Zakros to Vori<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">2nd June<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><b>The E4 Trail: Zakros to camp near Vori</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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24.1 km 8 hrs 40 mins. move av 4.4 km/hr Height overnight 260 m</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back over Zakros</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">This is a fabulous start to the main walk, especially the first part from Zakros to Ziros across the high plains at about 700 to 800 m. The climb up out of Zakros on the old mule track (kalderimi) is gentle even if a bit broken and a bit overgrown in places. You pass the beautiful and remote church of Aghios Georgios set in the middle of high pastures – particularly green this year because of the wet spring. There is a lovely monument here to those locals who died in the last war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aghios Georghios church and the monument to the fallen</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Somewhere in the middle of Psilo Kefali there is a stock fence with a gate for E4 walkers. If you have deviated off the path at all you will need to get back on it here in order to get through this obstacle. E4 waymark poles are few and far between, but there are a few cairns at critical points. Beware – one goat path looks much like another and so does the E4 !<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">The road walk on to Chandras is a bit tedious, but is rewarded with an excellent opportunity for refreshment at The Lemon Tree. An English couple Anita and Mark have done up this place right on the main road into Chandras. Anita had spotted the lone walker on her way home from picking the kids up in Ziros and had sent Mark (excellent chef) off to get food in anticipation. This is not an omelette and Mythos moment, it is a perfectly cooked and presented fish with Kaiser moment (15 euros). They do rooms as well, so potentially this is also somewhere to stop for the night especially if you have started the day at Kato Zakros (28430 31066 / 6978817210). (Sadly, Mark and Anita have returned to the UK for the foreseeable future as of Autumn 2012, so the Lemon Tree is unlikely to be operating except in the summer holiday months.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> <span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">There is an unofficial shortcut dirt road (shown on the map but not on the GPS) running northwest from Armeni which cuts out Etia and a corner of the main road, but once back on the main road it is a slog down to Vori (bypassing Papaghianades). I had earmarked somewhere round here for my first night of camping so I walked into Vori to top up with water for the night. Vori is several steps back in time – it reminded me of the Anatolian villages described by Geoffrey Eumenides in his book “Middlesex”. Anyway there is a village tap where everyone seems to get their water and I was welcome to use it. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campsite near Vori</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">There are lots of olive groves either side of the track running westwards along the E4 (unmarked here) down into the valley from Vori, so I found the scruffiest - and least likely to be tended in the cool of the evening - and relaxed for the night, disturbed only by the occasional barking dog and planes going into the new airport at Siteia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-30372654099310053832011-08-27T10:40:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:32:41.845+01:00The E4 Trail: Vori to Orino<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">3rd June<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">I set off next morning at 0700 after a 0545 start. Soon there are interesting variations on the E4 route. The short, direct, one marked with E4 signs ends in an olive grove with no way out ! You keep climbing on the basis that you will meet up with the Anavasi version of the route and then all of a sudden you find the dreaded stock fencing. I was lucky to find a way through (over) it, scramble up and over a ridge and see the easier, but longer, dirt road alternative on the other side of a full-flowing river. However, my choice of route seemed to be what the EOS expects you to do, as suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, there was another rare E4 sign on my side of the road on the way down to the river. I forded the river and finally joined the dirt road running north towards Kato Kria. No wonder everyone’s navigation fails on this section.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back to the South coast</td></tr>
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The dirt road leads you on an easy uphill gradient leading northwest towards Kato Kria. This is a beautiful green valley with the river below you on the left. At a certain point, with no help from signs of any sort, you have to dive down to the left to cross the river and follow a cement road up to Dafni – otherwise you end up in Kato Kria and well off the E4. If you poke about in Dafni you will find the central square with plane trees and running water – and the usual tribe of elders encouraging you to sit and hear their life story.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The E4 Trail with Thripti in the distance</td></tr>
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The high level walk from Dafni to Chrisopighi sets off on a dirt road somewhere between the square and the tarmac road and is also delightful (but completely unmarked until the right turn down to the tarmac road) and is a pleasant alternative to the main road below, which eventually you have to join anyway for the last couple of kilometers into Chrisopighi.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking into Chrisopighi</td></tr>
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Chrisopighi has a wonderful kafeneion, which Despina runs with a happy smile. Fortuitously a megaphone fruit and veg merchant was selling oranges in the square. Despina seemed happy for me to buy four oranges for her to juice for me which was an effective way of getting some fruit into me ! She made me a huge omelette and a huge salad served with Lemonita, beer and water and the bill came to 11 euros which was probably the best value on the whole trip.<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">The cross-country route from Chrisopighi to Orino, as marked on the map, is a mix of fantasy and fact – mainly fantasy. It took me 3 hours. The route has to follow the dirt road uphill rather than a mythical path along the dry riverbed that is blocked by some very robust stock fencing and a lot of undergrowth. Eventually these two routes meet anyway - somewhere near a house with uncontrolled dogs and then the path dives off, unmarked, southwestwards along a splintered path marked occasionally with red dots. Both the dots and the path peter out quite quickly and I was navigating with blind faith in the GPS up and over a rugged crag and across overgrown “meadows” until lo and behold an E4 pole came into view on the horizon. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orino with Thripti in the background</td></tr>
</tbody></table>From there it was a simple descent into Orino on the tarmac road and a bed for the night courtesy of friends from Athens with roots in this lovely high-level village running with water. There are a couple of tavernas in Orino, but no “rooms” as such - there are no obvious camping spots either so a night spent round here could be uncomfortable.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-68203880435307670952011-08-26T11:27:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:33:03.909+01:00The E4 Trail: Orino to Metochi Asari<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">4th June<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">32.2 km 11.5 hours Mov av 4.2 km/hr Height overnight 330 m. (max 1,476 m)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">There now followed two 30-plus kilometer days aggravated by the fact that I wanted to summit each range that I passed through - even though there is no strict E4 requirement to do this. So, I set off from Orino by 7.00 am on the clearly marked dirt road which is the pass through the mountains towards the village of Thripti. It did seem to take for ever to reach the turn off for the vehicle road to the summit which is clearly marked (Afendis Stavromenos), but eventually I reached it and plodded up on the basis that if I missed this summit then I might always regret it. There was a curious incident with some sheep dogs that had to be called off but I finally arrived at the summit (unscathed). It was a clear morning and the 360</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Symbol;">°</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> views were definitely worth it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOv4wUC3B55_S2kfyaxhS7YqC5G7upKfsuX_UcoeALJhbueXROYlNrTaAjokHtQZsRoR6iNnrAnrgtfcKqph9TBRlZTPbm74VQvIitCwLmrpiL1t6u-vBdqaaBogID3v-eLukas3FOy6U/s1600/DSCF0924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOv4wUC3B55_S2kfyaxhS7YqC5G7upKfsuX_UcoeALJhbueXROYlNrTaAjokHtQZsRoR6iNnrAnrgtfcKqph9TBRlZTPbm74VQvIitCwLmrpiL1t6u-vBdqaaBogID3v-eLukas3FOy6U/s320/DSCF0924.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fabulous view looking south east from the summit</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QIoB1mBoGw36Ft6WfdpukW_0_O7cNp6D1NSZX1HpqUS1MRiqSJr6s4s18m3han-dz00EdBrsWPffUX8fK0QK-GSwJUSaZsnO9J9Zi1MJGxSkusbd3_d-3V_3JM8UkVaapfxyNPhrACI/s1600/DSCF0922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QIoB1mBoGw36Ft6WfdpukW_0_O7cNp6D1NSZX1HpqUS1MRiqSJr6s4s18m3han-dz00EdBrsWPffUX8fK0QK-GSwJUSaZsnO9J9Zi1MJGxSkusbd3_d-3V_3JM8UkVaapfxyNPhrACI/s200/DSCF0922.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stone signpost for<br />
the dirt road up to Thripti<br />
(Afendis Stavromenos)</td></tr>
</tbody></table> The footpath down the north west slope, as marked on the map, seemed an impossibility – the drop is sheer and surely not even goats use this descent ? After yesterday’s cross-country experience, I thought it would be prudent to ring Triantafyllos (Anavasi maps) for confirmation – it was his map after all. From his office in Athens he was able to confirm that he could see the path on his satellite pictures and that the starting point was exactly as marked on the GPS. So down I went – a bit loose and slippery but a path nevertheless and it got me safely down to the village of Thripti where I was able to take refreshments in a slightly surly kafeneion.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60a15Em-F_9jCbp0whnGS_S-RG2Zv0NvelnHhiGMmpDw6tDsEarZQCxMzwoQqAI-8oxJoRvT4uD8M2gAXvkaCCfbba7qisiLrDUwZVRNMVuMnLMbcnwkx9G6iy4FLFhlwLAAVetuQwrg/s1600/DSCF0930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60a15Em-F_9jCbp0whnGS_S-RG2Zv0NvelnHhiGMmpDw6tDsEarZQCxMzwoQqAI-8oxJoRvT4uD8M2gAXvkaCCfbba7qisiLrDUwZVRNMVuMnLMbcnwkx9G6iy4FLFhlwLAAVetuQwrg/s320/DSCF0930.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;">Looking back at the west face of Thripti </span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;">and the (not discernible) path down<o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslbbKPa3f-75wvwwbEU2i5NVWyPopx4gRfJQGN-JtEyBXLiD4QO6df1ik2CExdfWP8iq2dlel_ujE9lvJoQrXG4zNvUwRgjSLNWrDBYPbJCesgkgQ87SDF1qXJjcs-kgM-qPywdewH64/s1600/DSCF0931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslbbKPa3f-75wvwwbEU2i5NVWyPopx4gRfJQGN-JtEyBXLiD4QO6df1ik2CExdfWP8iq2dlel_ujE9lvJoQrXG4zNvUwRgjSLNWrDBYPbJCesgkgQ87SDF1qXJjcs-kgM-qPywdewH64/s200/DSCF0931.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ha Gorge from above</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">From there, a labyrinth of dirt roads runs down the higher reaches of the Ha Gorge (some maps call it Monastiraki Gorge) through shady pine forests giving tantalising glimpses of the iconic slash in the rock wall. The signing here is intermittent but the main principle is to keep as close to the gorge as the roads permit. The GPS track is 100 % accurate here - and all the way down to Monastiraki. Eventually you are led off south westwards on a red spot marked path to gently descend the west facing rock wall before turning back north eastwards on a dirt road to Monastiraki where there is a very welcome, and welcoming, taverna.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsslsLXajDaImW1vFssVJT60m_e5magr0sd70IZ8bYele0-QNmrM9PieIJv4BSG63m7wzoOp2bu4zhhMdWZhFLK90paooh18-XD4yr5WGviqTmop0nDeH5HVOxO4aa0BvdX4qQBYJv-yI/s1600/DSCF0936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsslsLXajDaImW1vFssVJT60m_e5magr0sd70IZ8bYele0-QNmrM9PieIJv4BSG63m7wzoOp2bu4zhhMdWZhFLK90paooh18-XD4yr5WGviqTmop0nDeH5HVOxO4aa0BvdX4qQBYJv-yI/s320/DSCF0936.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beautiful Gulf of Mirabello</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">It is a short walk across the “trench” south of Pachia Ammos to Vasiliki where I took on water at the public taps in preparation for an overnight camp somewhere on the road to Meseleri. Getting out of Vasiliki on the right road was the hardest part because neither GPS nor E4 signs were going to help. I could see from the paper map that I needed to be behind the small town on the uphill side to the west. When I asked advice about the right route for Meseleri, I was constantly advised to take the main roads as if I was going by car – which most people here probably would. The lesson is to ask for places much closer to the point of departure because in the course of conversation one man told me that the dirt road (which was looking promising) went as far as Metochi Asari - which was exactly on my route – bingo ! Off I set in the late afternoon sun and after 1 km came across an E4 sign – not a lot of help for finding the way out of Vasiliki, but reassuring nevertheless. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpH6JCSVE1QOkF3PkUdSH5wAp2zfXPmmZJXdutZIyfjlk7CCZoKVaTkdE9K3r_2Kp7ET7g6aidD6qwzYMnvVlYmAr89SvXWh1fXy2FSrg7N21ox0bAr1Gz92dL9z9-MLjZMYariQbSqSA/s1600/DSCF0942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpH6JCSVE1QOkF3PkUdSH5wAp2zfXPmmZJXdutZIyfjlk7CCZoKVaTkdE9K3r_2Kp7ET7g6aidD6qwzYMnvVlYmAr89SvXWh1fXy2FSrg7N21ox0bAr1Gz92dL9z9-MLjZMYariQbSqSA/s320/DSCF0942.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back (east) towards the Ha Gorge</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">My diversion up Thripti earlier in the day meant I wasn’t going to reach my target of Meseleri before the legs gave up so I stopped just short of Asari on a flat pasture area at about 6.30 pm – my peaceful camp site for the night. (It is worth mentioning that, by and large, the locals do not seem concerned about campers in these remoter areas.) </span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwAKus18pfASKAfyoJPnxDDAzDKb869tFy7Qjmp6neUvY_9IKdu1jL9H1TZ0YZ1utMWJLaupA9pZR-QTO9UlIdSjDAqIKg9t9jS2ZgkIYLrabqkqEzWiamD0TSc2ikXvxtrGsdbmkHBQ/s1600/DSCF0945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwAKus18pfASKAfyoJPnxDDAzDKb869tFy7Qjmp6neUvY_9IKdu1jL9H1TZ0YZ1utMWJLaupA9pZR-QTO9UlIdSjDAqIKg9t9jS2ZgkIYLrabqkqEzWiamD0TSc2ikXvxtrGsdbmkHBQ/s320/DSCF0945.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My campsite near Asari</td></tr>
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</div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-91338060099756679612011-08-25T11:54:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:33:30.121+01:00The E4 Trail: Metochi Asari to Selakano<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">5<sup>th</sup> June<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><b>The E4 Trail: Metochi Asari to Selakano</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmu_hU-NRyvZOzNz-7egl2p988UpI6Eg3EzA8cwfAiRcQZb5Id9yFN-RTqjyF9YtyEKY3_lNwnN3PITKqrgdjoOQcs-Osu01d5cNdD_3Eu0vgFszY-EmjXqzO0vi4-ITEULq3Ie3PmNs/s1600/Day+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmu_hU-NRyvZOzNz-7egl2p988UpI6Eg3EzA8cwfAiRcQZb5Id9yFN-RTqjyF9YtyEKY3_lNwnN3PITKqrgdjoOQcs-Osu01d5cNdD_3Eu0vgFszY-EmjXqzO0vi4-ITEULq3Ie3PmNs/s320/Day+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">38.5 km 11.5 hours Mov av 4.7 Height overnight 887 m. (max 1,100 m)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">I was 9 km short of where I had wanted to be so I had some ground to catch up if I was going to manage Selakano that night and Dikti the following day, so I was back on the dirt road by 6.30 am. About 8.00 am I passed the monastery Panayia Vriomenou which also provided some level green areas suitable for a tent and where I had hoped to get to the night before. I was in Meseleri by 9.00 am that Sunday morning where the kafeneion was full to bursting with a 6-month memorial gathering and I seemed to be given a share of their breakfast meal without even asking.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkKO2ElmJ6ggqAsyAwlH6vavIm9aZOeBmrRzylO6QfSG34QWpymgUNqnVfMKeW2rpTyNphdd0C_hZc1QEsD7yJAzEpOCCs7WZoNhrZpVuFXf5Kk0Og24eOa3Ii1UCqvo8DDi18WxvTtM/s1600/DSCF0951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkKO2ElmJ6ggqAsyAwlH6vavIm9aZOeBmrRzylO6QfSG34QWpymgUNqnVfMKeW2rpTyNphdd0C_hZc1QEsD7yJAzEpOCCs7WZoNhrZpVuFXf5Kk0Og24eOa3Ii1UCqvo8DDi18WxvTtM/s320/DSCF0951.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">The monastery Panayia Vriomenou</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHwOmxWfp4JHtHNbvTNGvOK7Nt-fmR_d2LbQ10jsX43TvCJO1D6jmzPbzPwxxH0BtWL_2iOdi_OUsrUczjBsHDHJMw_9Sh7JmiTUrH5vAM_dwUUNT-S8y2NQZicIhvf28icBA9DlicaY/s1600/DSCF0953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHwOmxWfp4JHtHNbvTNGvOK7Nt-fmR_d2LbQ10jsX43TvCJO1D6jmzPbzPwxxH0BtWL_2iOdi_OUsrUczjBsHDHJMw_9Sh7JmiTUrH5vAM_dwUUNT-S8y2NQZicIhvf28icBA9DlicaY/s320/DSCF0953.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A familiar sight on the E4</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">It was then an asphalt road tramp via Prina to the turn off for Aghios Nikolaos church where I stopped for a breather before the slow ascent along dirt roads to 1,100 metres. This is a long but easy tramp with fabulous views down over Ierapetra and it is one of the routes into the Katharo Plain above the Lasithi plateau. The GPS certainly gave me confidence whenever I came to junctions and occasionally the fairies who put up the E4 signs reassured me as well. If ever there was a “walk of the gods” it is here, as it contours round under Chalasmeni Korfi at over 1,000 metres and becomes steadily greener and more wooded.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeTtxq01wOLcHwlj9DXn9HSNvwT3no3NDMO50PDTU-pLpVM8vBekqImFoMwXHwPgbaiQ9UYVXNQ3pBtCJa-2XHqQSq9OKLPQcL-Yi8tHh-faj9kdX4R5RFOQ06w1bMLz91SkLK_MFfnA/s1600/DSCF0957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeTtxq01wOLcHwlj9DXn9HSNvwT3no3NDMO50PDTU-pLpVM8vBekqImFoMwXHwPgbaiQ9UYVXNQ3pBtCJa-2XHqQSq9OKLPQcL-Yi8tHh-faj9kdX4R5RFOQ06w1bMLz91SkLK_MFfnA/s320/DSCF0957.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dikti in the distance and the north coast</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">It has to be said that this is a very long section of dirt road and there is no easy source of water up here – there are shepherds’ houses along the way but they didn’t seem to be obviously occupied and their dogs certainly weren’t going to let me in to fill up my bottles. However there was water eventually in the river running down the gully in the Selakano Forest and it tasted clean enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">As I hadn’t been able to contact Kyria Stella on her landline in Selakano, I wasn’t 100% sure that there was going to be a bunk there for the night.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However I had read up Loraine Wilson’s (LW) instructions for finding the start of the path off the dirt road and down through the Selakano Forest and was ready for a good beer or two at the bottom. It all looked so easy on the map. But the path sadly was not marked on the GPS and things are never quite that easy – there had been fires in the area recently and too few people had been walking the E4 path through the woods to keep it obvious on the ground. Additionally, the wet spring had led to an explosion of greenery everywhere, further obscuring clues.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsEnPhOKkwWYrVYN2CE3GrL3D26FxCW_HiOU-_fdxx009Y2zdgIjZ6OgzxVBdKGq5HcqON8hUy9f4K1vIMBOu61rAaZV0YtYlGcPcl83tMnRxN0WwqlcigKlVEksp2yDWbTB6kBJEtWg/s1600/DSCF0959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsEnPhOKkwWYrVYN2CE3GrL3D26FxCW_HiOU-_fdxx009Y2zdgIjZ6OgzxVBdKGq5HcqON8hUy9f4K1vIMBOu61rAaZV0YtYlGcPcl83tMnRxN0WwqlcigKlVEksp2yDWbTB6kBJEtWg/s320/DSCF0959.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The path becomes greener</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">So I kept to the left of the watercourse as instructed by LW and followed a line on the GPS which would get me to the dirt road which leads into Selakano. It all took much longer than I had hoped and at the end of a long day the legs were certainly tired. A volley of stones at an aggressive stray dog (I missed) helped me feel better and by 6.00 pm I was being reassured by Stella and her son Nikos that there <u>was</u> a bed for the night in the bunk room (10 euros), for which Stella has the key. There was also a super meal of goat and greens and soon the pain of nearly 40 km started to subside. (Stella’s mobile is 69457 70055.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUKBjov3JG8uIgPF2gYjBE6tHTQbdelHkCM61U84heb2-WEw0skfp0Df8ehYNigITpB4NV3syarVL1VQa9ZByfD26vOVRwq9o1MDdMgIth-8iKC28c86zT43ptvv7fFL_fRFbZJy30A0/s1600/DSCF0964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrUKBjov3JG8uIgPF2gYjBE6tHTQbdelHkCM61U84heb2-WEw0skfp0Df8ehYNigITpB4NV3syarVL1VQa9ZByfD26vOVRwq9o1MDdMgIth-8iKC28c86zT43ptvv7fFL_fRFbZJy30A0/s200/DSCF0964.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bunk room in Selakano -<br />
it can sleep six people comfortably</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyLREtKoZLyET_y-Mb1QYSLWkS6510-R8oWBDx7-5HJXGoYEjR7rGb0jfbK9CuZGCS4HyArXUuqiIyCWL1rnOwWdzoCNLBxxbDUvLXmx4WRirOCvuH0DiaJnG5b5ZT6sLFbpAEjI6eQg/s1600/DSCF0963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyLREtKoZLyET_y-Mb1QYSLWkS6510-R8oWBDx7-5HJXGoYEjR7rGb0jfbK9CuZGCS4HyArXUuqiIyCWL1rnOwWdzoCNLBxxbDUvLXmx4WRirOCvuH0DiaJnG5b5ZT6sLFbpAEjI6eQg/s320/DSCF0963.jpg" width="320" /></a> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at the descent through the Selakano Forest<br />
(top centre of picture)</td></tr>
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</div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-9914749085502659162011-08-24T12:18:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:33:51.428+01:00The E4 Trail: Selakano to Lasithi Plateau<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">6<sup>th</sup> June<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><b>The E4 Trail: Selakano via Dikti summit to Aghios Georghios (Lasithi Plateau)</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZf_qMbx5mhDm-_CPPixs6bnGXnHEEcesN3OXVa9E7Mf-QzSXZf0EFvwm8OxkgWjn201-7QQpAyACcgKmejKT2w8U04j2NHgB416IGl_stryj1sFUEtFaY2KLd4GlF3xRK4bGhf4_7B1U/s1600/Day+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZf_qMbx5mhDm-_CPPixs6bnGXnHEEcesN3OXVa9E7Mf-QzSXZf0EFvwm8OxkgWjn201-7QQpAyACcgKmejKT2w8U04j2NHgB416IGl_stryj1sFUEtFaY2KLd4GlF3xRK4bGhf4_7B1U/s320/Day+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">22.0 km 9 hours Mov av 3.4 km/hr Height overnight 824 m. (max 2,148 m)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">It was a familiar performance trying to find the right path out of Selakano. T's map v T's GPS (didn't show the start) v LW's words. Together they made no real sense, because the map was saying that the footpath ran due west out of Selakano while LW’s suggested route was taking me north. In the end good old red paint splashes got me going westwards along a concrete path (starting beside a concrete structure) not far north of the junction between the bunkhouse square and Stella’s taverna. You have to follow your nose here as the paths stop and start a bit, but the GPS did clutch in quite quickly and, as ever, was reliable.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtkKlFAsKpTrvCmuYCF9daO2tSnySfzoWlZk6oXKUGxA9P7aFRcvPUhoQZPxAnlnGX4_kpmpqfl6tL1NxIuU8ekQ-xCK9JghdXeG_3taomO3dGZOLjXjkNNS4gu09pOusv3YOPwo4bdY/s1600/DSCF0968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtkKlFAsKpTrvCmuYCF9daO2tSnySfzoWlZk6oXKUGxA9P7aFRcvPUhoQZPxAnlnGX4_kpmpqfl6tL1NxIuU8ekQ-xCK9JghdXeG_3taomO3dGZOLjXjkNNS4gu09pOusv3YOPwo4bdY/s200/DSCF0968.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFtqA5kZWTx9vC9xhQbdf5uS6kCCc22ia6Nz5ahbAjCu0LfjowhiVSVVlxU7GhCPCGNu6DdIieleNUoXul6wYPLRtcd3Lk1sunDs7aUzmn5w7cQQozgsGOgYogp5L6SWbA7QLWApA4MU/s1600/DSCF0967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFtqA5kZWTx9vC9xhQbdf5uS6kCCc22ia6Nz5ahbAjCu0LfjowhiVSVVlxU7GhCPCGNu6DdIieleNUoXul6wYPLRtcd3Lk1sunDs7aUzmn5w7cQQozgsGOgYogp5L6SWbA7QLWApA4MU/s200/DSCF0967.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">On the way, westwards, out of Selakano in the early morning light.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLy9ckbdVhK5_LGmoeRUn8hL-Vss79Crmrf-OKCDJDeOPpIksDZmO0R2KljR2zF7_NLmLsJHRLKoWJh1J_MIuJ2QwNOdi1PCMN97vXjgCNpq2Ad08HQDUJkifL1Wuow0GEQW1eAeA_Uk/s1600/DSCF0979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLy9ckbdVhK5_LGmoeRUn8hL-Vss79Crmrf-OKCDJDeOPpIksDZmO0R2KljR2zF7_NLmLsJHRLKoWJh1J_MIuJ2QwNOdi1PCMN97vXjgCNpq2Ad08HQDUJkifL1Wuow0GEQW1eAeA_Uk/s200/DSCF0979.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asfendami spring</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">It was then a long, slow but very beautiful flog up and up along different paths and dirt roads through the pine woods of Selakano forest, full of the hum of bees and bee hives, and then at last I was on the proper footpath up to the Asfendami mitato. First appeared the dog, then two shepherds who cleverly recognised my stick as Xaniotiko and who persuaded me the dog was OK – and, finally, the spring. At over 5,000 feet this gushes into a trough all year round (once you have extracted the shepherds' lastiko / hosepipe). The water is wonderfully cold, clean and clear and sufficiently reliable not to have to carry the whole day’s water requirement up from Selakano. But there is no easy water from here to Lasithi (without significant detouring) so you do need to fill up with enough here to see you through the rest of the day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrsBfuIVdhG5WqFGsBoUbA3G3jyB7qv0Nj1J0PjW_OGg3RBBD4S9r3pwLZb2WUjom028oByqBLNcsvzcweZcBzeJs3RwwKa4zhfWSi_iNjAmQxrPQ7wCUpIZ10okSziVBJsj08eDjUqM/s1600/DSCF0977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrsBfuIVdhG5WqFGsBoUbA3G3jyB7qv0Nj1J0PjW_OGg3RBBD4S9r3pwLZb2WUjom028oByqBLNcsvzcweZcBzeJs3RwwKa4zhfWSi_iNjAmQxrPQ7wCUpIZ10okSziVBJsj08eDjUqM/s320/DSCF0977.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View west towards the Avasami pass</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Route finding thereafter is very straightforward courtesy of the E4 sign providers and the GPS. I got to the Avasami pass in about four hours and made the decision to give the Dikti summit a go. My wonderful Christmas present Osprey rucksack splits into two and I took the top, tumbag, bit with me on the easy path to the summit (50 mins up and 35 back). I way-marked the hidden main bag and had no problem finding it again on the way back down. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">It was a bit of a surprise to see someone ahead of me on the way up to the summit as I hadn't seen a single walker since leaving Kato Zakros. It turned out to be Achim from Dortmund who had been granted a day's leave from his family in Malia to get some exercise. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUpFtLKoIrcy9mS4-lyXtkpVgiQz04u4DhAZLZTDBRCMAV-p9jGbCNWiDBZZYG9Ah1jE-kpy3WMbBRs9_4_oZ89n3yS2ncdVlGPKXpHJBa_OGpjekAFffRF83WsFyOk3FXU_O7B4PHXM/s1600/DSCF0982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUpFtLKoIrcy9mS4-lyXtkpVgiQz04u4DhAZLZTDBRCMAV-p9jGbCNWiDBZZYG9Ah1jE-kpy3WMbBRs9_4_oZ89n3yS2ncdVlGPKXpHJBa_OGpjekAFffRF83WsFyOk3FXU_O7B4PHXM/s320/DSCF0982.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view back southeast from the top of Dikti</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Sadly, the fair weather had produced quite a haze so the view wasn't quite as spectacular as it had been when Susa and I were last there. Nevertheless it is a stunning place to be and it was well worth the effort. Two peaks down and two to go. Regrettably the rapid descent down well-marked paths to Lasithi plateau and Aghios Georghios was blister-popping, so now I had that problem to contend with on a daily basis, just like so many cross-Crete walkers before me. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKwCPJjEWrg5v_12pysAxk3xU_KQQw9mVBB8ZUANHPLyoApFOOM-zgqAsx1c3NPEpe9hpgziEykM-BeSjRInAeTA1L_yQ72pzyR7lqG635IOJCCgP_LtFhqVTQNMfoO2TOukcjpEec1aY/s1600/DSCF0989.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKwCPJjEWrg5v_12pysAxk3xU_KQQw9mVBB8ZUANHPLyoApFOOM-zgqAsx1c3NPEpe9hpgziEykM-BeSjRInAeTA1L_yQ72pzyR7lqG635IOJCCgP_LtFhqVTQNMfoO2TOukcjpEec1aY/s200/DSCF0989.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The northwest face of Dikti</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjva-7lPOBk2_mxjQ0w5Z-ZSuI2SSGYHlN6ChMsDk8JcIEOSfl7TDPWLPjr7esQeCfIgI9S6ztzVDzBfndLAcSwn_7WaUswuzrbYI1mW08zn9fTrqIXy6q8-OoDc3sIpPEOGfrcF0kCwi8/s1600/DSCF0984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjva-7lPOBk2_mxjQ0w5Z-ZSuI2SSGYHlN6ChMsDk8JcIEOSfl7TDPWLPjr7esQeCfIgI9S6ztzVDzBfndLAcSwn_7WaUswuzrbYI1mW08zn9fTrqIXy6q8-OoDc3sIpPEOGfrcF0kCwi8/s320/DSCF0984.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The (hazy) Lasithi plateau is the reward for hard work !</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Today's walk was 9 hours including Dikti. LW has it as 8.5 without Dikti so not too bad I felt, but I had paid for it with the blisters. Hotel Dias has stopped being a hotel so I stayed at Hotel Maria for 25 euros a night which I felt was quite steep. However Dias had pastitsio on the menu so it got my custom - good to share the tourist dollar about. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anxious locals told me that it had been so wet through the spring that they were now a month late getting their potatoes out of the ground – strange weather this year, but useful local knowledge !</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe8tU_WEjxMH5qUpX4o9zGNcDxDf4s2KAqj-9zxkE9u-7UDaga_CyzL8vaQIWjOqszZ2ttz_WOLDMA4zNc-bvdAw0hx3sftQ_ZPESMbaGxBk554mjtgtlongt0f9RUHVyG4KMwxMj858/s1600/DSCF0995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe8tU_WEjxMH5qUpX4o9zGNcDxDf4s2KAqj-9zxkE9u-7UDaga_CyzL8vaQIWjOqszZ2ttz_WOLDMA4zNc-bvdAw0hx3sftQ_ZPESMbaGxBk554mjtgtlongt0f9RUHVyG4KMwxMj858/s320/DSCF0995.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dikti over the rooftops of Aghios Georghios</td></tr>
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</div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-24758078637115186202011-08-23T12:45:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:34:11.032+01:00The E4 Trail: Lasithi Plateau to Kasteli<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">7<sup>th</sup> June<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><b>The E4 Trail: Aghios Georgios (Lasithi Plateau) to Kasteli</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2eiOCpq8PyUtc5d-culgZS0QlJGPEIXR5BpXnDs1CtJP-pl4QDO_1VnAqkjS3In-jCSPeeH7Sf1NYu5T54duo4mLB1DmkJrcr80TQMONXBvj8_JKYVuRc6GpiT1BN4bXaxdpR3sniL4/s1600/Day+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2eiOCpq8PyUtc5d-culgZS0QlJGPEIXR5BpXnDs1CtJP-pl4QDO_1VnAqkjS3In-jCSPeeH7Sf1NYu5T54duo4mLB1DmkJrcr80TQMONXBvj8_JKYVuRc6GpiT1BN4bXaxdpR3sniL4/s320/Day+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">23.5 km 7 hours Mov av 4.7 km/hr Height overnight 335 m. (max 824 m)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">This was another delightful start to a day’s walking. Rather than tramping round the perimeter which is more or less where the E4 is supposed to go, it is quite possible to take a diagonal line from the south east corner to the north west corner by taking a right, then a left, then a right etc so you end up close to Kato Metochi. This way, you get to see close up the extent of the agricultural activity going on around the plateau in the morning sunshine. You also get to see the newly formed baby frogs – fresh from tadpole status – hopping happily in the sunshine in front of my big boots.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">The left turn in the top left hand corner heading west towards Kastamonitsa and past the famous Chonos (“drain hole” for the Lasithi) is pretty obvious. What is much less obvious is where the E4 path goes once the tarmac road has done a 90 degree turn to the left after about a kilometer. A small dirt road heads off in the right general direction but confusingly starts to swing right towards a small work station. The GPS immediately told me I was deviating, so back I went and followed the GPS blindly through some very long grass and straight into a stock fence. I was able to get over it (without doing any damage) and once through, it was an “open sesame” moment as I immediately stumbled onto the kalderimi which leads up to the rim of the plateau.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">At the rim there is a 2008 monument which celebrates two things: the “Minoan path” between Lyttos and Dikteo Andro cave (also described at the bottom as a Roman Aqueduct and by most as a Venetian mule track) and the Grave of Tsoulis – an evil Turk who was murdered by locals in revenge for his atrocities against Christians. All that needs to be said is that this mule track is beautifully engineered as it sweeps backwards and forwards dropping 1500 feet down the north west face away from Lasithi. This is perhaps the most impressive man made construction at this end of the island – and the views across the north coast are stunning (luckily you can’t see the reality of Hersonisos and Malia from this height).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;">At the bottom, it is a bit of a dirt road tramp along to Kastamonitsa with a welcome water tap at the road junction to Tichos and Litos. A little further on, as you come into Kastamonitsa, the road splits. Stay left here to get directly to the centre. In Kastamonitsa itself (a pretty village with lots of flowers), there is a very friendly kafeneion where I was well refreshed and entertained. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;"><br />
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</span></div>Hotel Kalliopi, as promised by other writers, does have a pool – which turned out to be full of very excited and very noisy Greek kids relaxing after a hard morning at school. However, it was a pool and it was wet and cool and blissful, even if I did feel like a fish out of water in amongst these sadly obese youngsters. I was the only paying guest (25 euros a night).<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Kasteli itself has a prosperous feel which has nothing to do with tourism and everything to do with these rich agricultural hinterlands to the south of Heraklion - and it also has a brilliant Pharmacy which is well equipped to provide the wherewithal for blister relief.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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</div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-88271575682082071812011-08-22T13:21:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:34:33.918+01:00The E4 Trail: Kasteli to Kiparisos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">9<sup>th</sup> June<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><b>The E4 Trail: Kasteli to camp near Kiparisos</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">38.5 km 11.5 hours Mov av 5.0 km/hr Height overnight 175 m. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">I rested for a day in the Kalliopi, tended to my feet as best I could and tried to “carb-load” as instructed by my tri-athlete daughter. Two days later therefore, and on to Map 2 (of 3), I was on the road by 0545 mentally prepared for a long day crossing the “Pedhiadha” – the vast agricultural plain south of Heraklion. This is not the most inspiring landscape in Crete but if you say you are going to walk from one end of Crete to the other then it has to be crossed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving Kasteli in the dawn light</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvArfTysMk76ndnyaevN7Zf4QvciFsmbCIJmTt5xHZCZs8Ps9U357ewOQ3peFDWTeqGvRQBD-JzwXoFnuvXEg6H3xUyM96-G1WMl2azH49DH73BpZnCqg92zDLubP1Y2JVB0iVXfvSaM/s1600/DSCF1029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvArfTysMk76ndnyaevN7Zf4QvciFsmbCIJmTt5xHZCZs8Ps9U357ewOQ3peFDWTeqGvRQBD-JzwXoFnuvXEg6H3xUyM96-G1WMl2azH49DH73BpZnCqg92zDLubP1Y2JVB0iVXfvSaM/s200/DSCF1029.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Straight roads and <br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> <o:p></o:p></span>I made the decision to take as direct a route as I could towards Profitis Ilias in order to make my rendez-vous with Triantafyllos at Rouvas the following evening. This meant leaving the official E4 and bypassing Archanes and Ghiouktas and all the interesting historical stuff. So the villages and towns came and went – Sklaverochi, Apostoli, Sambas, Aghies Paraskies, Aghios Vasilios, Choudetsi – until I came to the T-junction where you join quite a major north-south main road. From here on, you can see the Psiloritis massif on the horizon and the terrain starts to become more interesting.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">At the junction, I turned left and opted for the south-about dirt roads to Profitis Ilias and the impressive Temenos Fortress, crossing an amazing patchwork of fields in an undulating landscape dominated by monoliths and unlikely rock walls. It had got very hot and muggy and it was trying to rain on me so it was a strange sort of afternoon.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">If Profitis Ilias had had rooms, I think I would have given in to temptation, but there was nothing to be had so I plodded on, not at all sure that I was going to find a quiet spot to camp in. Every square inch round here is cultivated and new build is all around – not a relaxing environment even for a little tent. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temenos Fortress</td></tr>
</tbody></table>With hindsight, I should have climbed up and explored the Temenos Fortress where I think there would have been a nice breeze and a few flat areas to camp in peace and quiet (I don’t think many locals bother doing the climb).<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">However I was too tired and my pack felt heavy - and downhill felt </span>easier than uphill ! So down and on I went taking the dirt road towards Kiparisos. After about 1.5 km I did find a flat bit of earth under an olive tree reasonably hidden from the road and – despite the barking dogs up and down the valley – got a reasonable night’s rest.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A flat bit of earth under an olive tree</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-7461917225353998162011-08-21T18:30:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:34:57.147+01:00The E4 Trail: Kiparisos to Rouvas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">10<sup>th</sup> </span><span lang="EN-US">June</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><b>The E4 Trail: Camp near Kiparisos to Aghios Ioanis Rouva</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">35.8 km 13.75 hours Mov av 3.9 km/hr Height 945 m. (max 1,600 m)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">I packed up the tent early after a noisy night of competing dogs and was on the road by 0615. After 3 or 4 kilometres on a mix of dirt roads and tarmac roads, I managed to find the concrete road which is the official E4 (marked with paint on a concrete watertank) up from Pirgos and a couple of hours later I was in Venerato having a frappe in the café by the turn to Kerasia.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">My path rejoins the "official" E4 -</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">two rare markers on the way to Venerato</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Left - Venerato with the Psiloritis foothills beyond </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">and right -</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">the route going under the dual carriageway to Heraklion</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Confusingly, the Anavasi map marks a dirt road from Ano Asites in the general direction of the Prinos hut as the E4, but this is a mistake as Triantafyllos confirmed when I rang him. The primary route up into the massif is via Kato Asites - which was disappointing as it seemed that much further to walk.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">So I followed the road from Venerato through Kerasia to Ano Asites and then took the E4 dirt road to the west of Ano Asites as it wound its way gently round to Kato Asites, arriving well on the uphill side of the village. There was then a sign uphill to a taverna (whose name I forget) which provided me with an early lunch (late breakfast) and fabulous views across the valley and as far as Heraklion on the north coast. Usefully, there is an unmarked path at the back of the taverna which leads straight across to the Ghorgholaini Monastery at the start of the road up to Prinos – no unnecessary height loss – perfect.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The EOS Prinos hut from below (left) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">and looking back down from above (right)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">The next four hours were some of the toughest I have ever experienced in Crete. The dirt road to the watertank (good for topping up bottles) at the top of the road is just a foot slog at the end of which there is a chapel and, beside it, a separate room with a bed in it - ideal for half an hour’s siesta (or an overnight camp). The path from there up to the Prinos hut is pretty broken and rocky – and at the hut itself the vultures were settling down for a little hiking accident to happen. I hoped I would disappoint.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The climb to the pass below Ghiristi from Prinos is a further 500 meters – a total height gain of 1,100 meters from Ano Asites – on very steep and rubbly paths. One consolation, if you can call it that, is that this stretch is well way-marked, so in fine weather there is no danger of getting lost. As ever, these high mountain routes pass through the most beautiful landscapes and the views just got better and better.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">However, I was getting further and further behind on my schedule – my total time from the lunchtime taverna at Ano Asites to </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Aghios </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Ioannis chapel at Rouvas was 8 hours – enough for one day on its own, without the time and distance from the campsite east of Kiparisos, but I should have anticipated that better.</span> The 300 meter descent from Ghiristi to the dirt road below is just as steep and rubbly, so this part was almost as hard work as the ascent itself. From there it is a foot slog along dirt roads to Rouvas, but subsequently Triantafyllos has explored a route from the workstations on the dirt road below Ghiristi down through the Rouvas woods towards Aghios Ioannis. Although there is no formal path, this would cut out a huge corner and would probably be kinder underfoot as well. A combination of paracetamol and ibuprofen masked the pain of an incipient shinsplint on the last 6 or 7 kilometers of dirt road and I got into Rouvas at 8 pm, ten minutes ahead of Triantafyllos (in his Rav !), bringing welcome roast lamb from Anoghia.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Alas, a long day too far. Because of the deep blister in the pad of my left foot I had been walking awkwardly and by the end of this 14 hour day I had earned myself a painful shin splint which was to be something of a show-stopper.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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</div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-51565020129758281532011-08-20T01:00:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:36:58.121+01:00The E4 Trail: Three days' rest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> 11<sup>th</sup>, 12<sup>th</sup> and 13<sup>th</sup> June<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">We had made camp in the yard beside the Aghios Ioannis chapel at Rouvas but, the following morning, it was quite clear that I wasn’t going to go any further on foot until the shin splint had settled down a bit. Minor surgery on the blisters exposed the full extent of those problems and I hung them out to dry in the sun while </span><span lang="EN-US">Triantafyllos </span><span lang="EN-US">went off looking for paths to put on his maps. I think I was lucky not to get infected blisters but Betadine is a great resource which I used extensively.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Meanwhile about 300 sheep arrived noisily (the bells, the bells!) to crop the grass even shorter. Shortly after, Aristotelis the shepherd arrived and we had a long chat about this and that. The really big bells are carried by neutered billy goats who wander round with the flock and help the shepherd hear their position. He walks a daily round of 15 km keeping an eye on his sheep and moving them on. Most of his week is spent up in the Rouvas bowl based at his mitato which is near the Duo Prinoi chapel. He had already bumped into T who was out mapping. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDsEg1nOLhLqAY5E_EwN8LNbzplOxw00SnpErte68fjMUzuCzmI7QVaQhpiYPdZCibqcbbyicxcmLep4FnIUPHeVPvCxp6nis369VI-qIFzpTp6xIvhkVqOLLv5Kw1UM6IiWJMS4FV6Q/s1600/DSCF1084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDsEg1nOLhLqAY5E_EwN8LNbzplOxw00SnpErte68fjMUzuCzmI7QVaQhpiYPdZCibqcbbyicxcmLep4FnIUPHeVPvCxp6nis369VI-qIFzpTp6xIvhkVqOLLv5Kw1UM6IiWJMS4FV6Q/s320/DSCF1084.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The White Mountains from Psiloritis at sunset</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Once T was back we packed up the car and set off back up the dirt road and past the stone built follies on the rim of the Rouvas bowl. From there, it is a staggering view down to the south coast and it is only then that you realise that all this time you have been up at 3,000 ft. After mezedes at one of T’s favourite spots, T downloaded my daily tracks since Kato Zakros and we went through each day's track so he could make alterations where there had been discrepancies (not that there had been many - and none serious). We then went round exploring old roads and new, and booked T into Windy Place at Fourfouras for the following night. More track finding and then the long pull (in the car) up the shepherd's track towards the upper western slopes of Psiloritis to find a beautiful camp site for the night above Platania at 4,000 ft. . The sun was setting behind the White Mountains and it was a calm evening. I enjoyed Chicken Tikka (rehydrated) while T ate up the salami. My little Vaude tent behaved brilliantly even in quite strong winds and we were only woken next morning by the shepherd trying to drive round our tents to get to his sheep.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZ1gLZYTZjifiXqCjuhai-Mb9_d_FFt3rYzZYvLlH5fOvzJCb7_i4Fg044rY6WF3BUBYSl632rF5edJ6979U6LzT_QIiNqP8vJM1fx9AXyCpnyIIVRpQEzJKJLd09SjMlIroHl5Ks4aA/s1600/DSCF1085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZ1gLZYTZjifiXqCjuhai-Mb9_d_FFt3rYzZYvLlH5fOvzJCb7_i4Fg044rY6WF3BUBYSl632rF5edJ6979U6LzT_QIiNqP8vJM1fx9AXyCpnyIIVRpQEzJKJLd09SjMlIroHl5Ks4aA/s320/DSCF1085.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The setting sun on the summit of Psiloritis</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-9q9v1_FCYo2sC_wdafP61odBTDRBmabqK8e1q-nWPXCOJQY6OddAV0RVdwNbIPcXnaGfwoKuTeTALR03Cqybxqs6GT7IImlIw3Z11-Qj6sTelYUYgbLGDLTId6Lo8J0uMiBjhY8xLk/s1600/DSCF1082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-9q9v1_FCYo2sC_wdafP61odBTDRBmabqK8e1q-nWPXCOJQY6OddAV0RVdwNbIPcXnaGfwoKuTeTALR03Cqybxqs6GT7IImlIw3Z11-Qj6sTelYUYgbLGDLTId6Lo8J0uMiBjhY8xLk/s200/DSCF1082.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Next day (12<sup>th</sup>), T set off to find a route up the north west ridge of Psiloritis and was gone for most of the day. Meanwhile, I sat (or lay) and rested, listening to audio books and writing up the log. T got back mid afternoon, having made it to the top without finding any trace of a path going up that way, and we set off back down in the car to Fourfouras to check in at Windy Place where Yianni, Konstantina and their two delightful youngest daughters Theodosia and Alexandra gave us their by now traditional welcome. The telephone number is 28330 41000 (or 69804 51247 for Yianni’s mobile). Konstantina had been holding a plastic bag for me since May with extra supplies for the second half of the trip so I retrieved those and settled in </span>to enjoy a long-awaited hot shower and shave. </div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1w28g0dqG4l7ooOmYCU3ullP6zrPYiXZyT3afoh7zsJa_5hbwmpiSYwjmTfSiISxGO3BySLbO_vcDnpWGoCeC602xqQ03-w87CDF5grfqSRulWxcJDli_K5G9ZxtjeXqNQQayrnjyL4/s1600/DSCF1088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1w28g0dqG4l7ooOmYCU3ullP6zrPYiXZyT3afoh7zsJa_5hbwmpiSYwjmTfSiISxGO3BySLbO_vcDnpWGoCeC602xqQ03-w87CDF5grfqSRulWxcJDli_K5G9ZxtjeXqNQQayrnjyL4/s320/DSCF1088.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The campsite below Psiloritis</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">That evening, T had had a long chat with Yianni about paths in the area and next morning he set off on foot to find two old routes up to the sheep grazing area on the shelf at 4,000 ft while I drove the car up to meet him at the top. Both these paths have been recently restored with the help of European money and are delightful walking – and certainly more secure under foot than the traditional E4 path down from the Toupotos Prinos hut to Fourfouras. The saddest thing is that these newly renovated paths are not promoted, are virtually unknown and therefore virtually unused. The good news is that they will feature on future editions of Anavasi maps !<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">We went back to Windy Place for a final shower and then made our way back up to Rouvas for a night under canvas before my last two days of walking up and over Psiloritis.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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</div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-12507915490785980202011-08-19T16:30:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:37:21.829+01:00The E4 Trail: Rouvas to Nidha Plateau<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">14th June<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><b>The E4 Trail: Camp at Aghios Ioannis (Rouvas) to Nidha plateau</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSu2KAqYCuPVup9NLri9oUC5OGUUhO2dNLBvcWBkP3U-ayKMIvYsG2Zb4PD8qeLhQ1nmmHKpS7YfTA0GoHNQXepIyHIfCaek583LQwcaumFD0HFUNVggj_NT6WV75gDRvug9eNIZ3PADE/s1600/Day+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSu2KAqYCuPVup9NLri9oUC5OGUUhO2dNLBvcWBkP3U-ayKMIvYsG2Zb4PD8qeLhQ1nmmHKpS7YfTA0GoHNQXepIyHIfCaek583LQwcaumFD0HFUNVggj_NT6WV75gDRvug9eNIZ3PADE/s320/Day+10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">12.0 km 4.75 hours Mov av 3.7 km/hr Height overnight 1,360 m.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">(To Duo Prinoi chapel - 50 mins; to start of dirt road - 1 hr 30 mins; to taverna - 1 hr 40 mins)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Nidha Taverna - Stelios - 6972175014<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">I got off to an early start for this first day of two "bonus" days of walking to try and see me all the way through the Psiloritis massif. Despite LW's dire prediction of 8 hours for 12 km (pre dirt road), the walk was safely done in five hours (including stops) with everything more or less in working order. A certain amount of pain relief was needed but I felt confident about the next day’s challenge. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3BLdnkxxEr4R-amNFa-3UD7uPvwfXY25EnoxeOGFZROD7Uz6XYlr7veuocpcW0CEECiebEK84ThU5HZEgYt-vJTVh2saFTf_3lV3lG63W08qWRo9Y28iNquGdHDRnB2D4l4sz3duvso/s1600/DSCF1091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3BLdnkxxEr4R-amNFa-3UD7uPvwfXY25EnoxeOGFZROD7Uz6XYlr7veuocpcW0CEECiebEK84ThU5HZEgYt-vJTVh2saFTf_3lV3lG63W08qWRo9Y28iNquGdHDRnB2D4l4sz3duvso/s320/DSCF1091.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rouvas forest seen from the E4</td></tr>
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The walk up from Rouvas is quite straightforward; once you have walked back down the stream from the Rouvas picnic area and turned right (north) up the dry river bed for two hundred yards, you scramble up a short, easy rock section (well sign posted) before the path continues up through open oak woodland (the Rouvas Forest) heading first for the Duo Prinoi chapel, which has a water tap, and then later up and over a ridge, beyond which a small dry water course leads up a steep sided valley to the flat lands of the Nidha plateau.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_C0O8mQY7BhyphenhyphenCgkaHeG-_cLuA0BFpZE2cGqwSk9gj3IHZIDS5P85x2J-lbPZgICblMJFI-eWgBfjqgF8v2Oo8y4jCMqjaBYaeOIcUOlp0duLixvVTd-J8cpEAIPNSX3BxMcHYxXNCi8/s1600/DSCF1092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_C0O8mQY7BhyphenhyphenCgkaHeG-_cLuA0BFpZE2cGqwSk9gj3IHZIDS5P85x2J-lbPZgICblMJFI-eWgBfjqgF8v2Oo8y4jCMqjaBYaeOIcUOlp0duLixvVTd-J8cpEAIPNSX3BxMcHYxXNCi8/s320/DSCF1092.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view down on to the bowl and forest at Rouvas</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">For the most part it is all quite well marked and the path pretty obvious – LW’s book offers a good description of the general route and T’s GPS was inch perfect, which was lucky as there is one spot going over the ridge towards Ammoudhara where the signs run out completely and the path itself peters out. The trick is to get over the ridge and down into the valley bottom and then follow the gully west-north-west through, or around, the overgrown maquis looking out for the occasional cairn and red spot.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiptSk-AJ9l0HXzZlzAAum7U2xl-KttuG6Vqav5cxMh3FiXEhcmOM3CoCN0ro92KE84L2qhopzP65HKlEYhOy2Ukzix6FSB4F7lzMISrxpS33_xGT64eJAuqwaSXzhNROYBifVWMPkDkg/s1600/DSCF1097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiptSk-AJ9l0HXzZlzAAum7U2xl-KttuG6Vqav5cxMh3FiXEhcmOM3CoCN0ro92KE84L2qhopzP65HKlEYhOy2Ukzix6FSB4F7lzMISrxpS33_xGT64eJAuqwaSXzhNROYBifVWMPkDkg/s200/DSCF1097.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The path up the dry, but overgrown, gully </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">on the way to the Nidha Plateau</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhlQwYyNQRI8fHfZ-UTbpK2cmxAomjAZYvW7pq_cBcIj5F3h-tdAF7Hiskeu7RydJNIgpzRlXhcygHb-cHmfBdTsOgLI-39P6mvlACuz6dhLWBrHYwckokgMfG80ru6OfzuLlxo5zwqY/s1600/DSCF1100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhlQwYyNQRI8fHfZ-UTbpK2cmxAomjAZYvW7pq_cBcIj5F3h-tdAF7Hiskeu7RydJNIgpzRlXhcygHb-cHmfBdTsOgLI-39P6mvlACuz6dhLWBrHYwckokgMfG80ru6OfzuLlxo5zwqY/s320/DSCF1100.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tantalising views ahead to Psiloritis</td></tr>
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Once on the plateau itself the walking is flattish and easy on dirt roads which lead eventually to the decrepit, and closed-looking, Nidha Taverna. On the way, there are tantalising views ahead to the summit slopes of Psiloritis and as the morning wore on, the clouds thickened over the tops, giving me hints about the best time to be at the summit next day.<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbpHW9NFHwd8yLDzXLOLVBQEM7nYk3kuVAOVcf-6EWmUH5fIwGXgl-Z79pZ5i6_za61KDNJLwxWUpbh7K_BkZ1q1_xIo1Y6rbeGp8n_qo2HwE44U2O4tLg-JF_PnpgcgChOuLwKqLzAc/s1600/DSCF1103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbpHW9NFHwd8yLDzXLOLVBQEM7nYk3kuVAOVcf-6EWmUH5fIwGXgl-Z79pZ5i6_za61KDNJLwxWUpbh7K_BkZ1q1_xIo1Y6rbeGp8n_qo2HwE44U2O4tLg-JF_PnpgcgChOuLwKqLzAc/s320/DSCF1103.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span>I walked into the Nidha Taverna about 1130 am, relieved to see that it was indeed operating. The landline for Stelios no longer works (or at least not for him) so you now have to rely on the mobile number for future reference (see above). There are two bedrooms above the kitchen, one with three beds and one with two. The price for the room (regardless of the number of sleepers) is 25 euros and is supposed to include breakfast, but somehow I ended up paying 30. As I was planning to help myself to their wine that evening, I supposed it was all going to work out. </div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">T was going to find somewhere to camp off the plateau which is wise as there must be tens of pairs of binoculars scanning every inch of the grazing every hour. However, the Taverna is such a well-placed jumping-off point for the morning that it made sense for me to stay there. T came to join me for supper in the Taverna - it is a pre-pay DIY system in the evening as Stelios and his Romanian “assistant” disappear down to Anoyia about 6 pm.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">There is a primitive shower (with hot water from an electric water heater) and an even more primitive loo but around here these facilities are not to be sniffed at – even at this price ! And so to bed with the alarm set for 5.00 am – I had a bus to catch at 2.30 from Fourfouras the following afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-19583066319050844202011-08-18T17:01:00.000+01:002011-09-17T14:37:45.777+01:00The E4 Trail: Nidha Plateau to Fourfouras<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">15th June<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><b>The E4 Trail: Nidha plateau to Fourfouras</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">20.1 km 8 hours Mov av 3.2 Height at end 427 m. (max 2,454 m)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">And so, at 5.50 am, I set off on my last day of Part One of my Trans-Cretan Walk along the E4. The path up to the summit of Psiloritis is well-known and well-marked and does not need any further description from me. Fortunately for me, my pack was lighter by about 4 kg as I had handed over my camping equipment and extra food supplies to T who was going to catch the ferry back from Chania two days later and who could drop my gear at the flat en route.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQD1ya4mwJMU3SnlucWAZ-TtbwZsN628VBoCvOxIe6BRrQ83HYir8sea6PQQtOOpRQghMqgi8En6WG_RHL9ciz4exdbyiFg3BpAj5diYdYYYuZd8P0ewwC_VJeq2Jy7gzzomLSQtfVow/s1600/DSCF1108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNQD1ya4mwJMU3SnlucWAZ-TtbwZsN628VBoCvOxIe6BRrQ83HYir8sea6PQQtOOpRQghMqgi8En6WG_RHL9ciz4exdbyiFg3BpAj5diYdYYYuZd8P0ewwC_VJeq2Jy7gzzomLSQtfVow/s200/DSCF1108.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking southeast on the climb up out of the Plateau:<br />
the junction of the E4 from Rouvas with the main Nidha service road</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNR85dwkvb0e0KdWYXw4CfKqVOLByAtKPDFqYnAGTGO3I3YKBaivVXlsixg3GqbSX4yqhI8W9WdL7L28hSajK8pjjzU0W4-l7OnJEbzz4q7896i0kc3ucdX7ylr98r2pWcNiinbxtMmzc/s1600/DSCF1107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNR85dwkvb0e0KdWYXw4CfKqVOLByAtKPDFqYnAGTGO3I3YKBaivVXlsixg3GqbSX4yqhI8W9WdL7L28hSajK8pjjzU0W4-l7OnJEbzz4q7896i0kc3ucdX7ylr98r2pWcNiinbxtMmzc/s200/DSCF1107.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nidha Plateau at sunrise with the<br />
Nidha Taverna on the far left</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Also fortunate was the fact that two Germans, English language teachers with truly excellent English, were also making an early start for the summit (with day packs) so we paced each other along the path. They were walking faster than me but had to make regular stops to look at their map, while I had prior knowledge and could plod steadily on. There was still a lot of snow in the gullies – not surprising given the cold, wet Spring – and we had to cut steps across the snowdrift on the north eastern flank (unnecessarily as it turned out – the drift was only about ten meters high so we could have walked up and round it).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;">The Germans ahead of me on the E4 path<o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;">Long snow drift in the gully up to the northern rim<o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view south from the summit</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1sX-bFCqlcQPm12Y_DFI4pcpNldcOl2OhDaB0xI1rj6lkPiemHWxQAV-QFsuY1LJ6oiFOF8ZbfAWV9DKP3-Rdc-iqyiK6Kq9eYjS1Z1QJmVoYGyAP0Lg71C5uuoVHum2Zwgz6XUbInU/s1600/DSCF1125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1sX-bFCqlcQPm12Y_DFI4pcpNldcOl2OhDaB0xI1rj6lkPiemHWxQAV-QFsuY1LJ6oiFOF8ZbfAWV9DKP3-Rdc-iqyiK6Kq9eYjS1Z1QJmVoYGyAP0Lg71C5uuoVHum2Zwgz6XUbInU/s320/DSCF1125.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The author in front of Timios Stavros</td></tr>
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We all three made it to the top by 0930 (in 3½ hours), just before the clouds rolled in from the north, so we missed the view of the north coast but had excellent views all round from east through south to the Amari valley below us to the west.<br />
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You would not want to make the descent in thick cloud as, initially, the path which leads down to the Toupotos Prinos hut is not that easy to find in poor visibility.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cloud rolling in</td></tr>
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</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">You walk back</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> eastwards about 300 meters along the main path before there is a rash of red spots on your right (south side) marking the start of the path down to the hut. Even then, this path follows just below the ridge line for another 300 meters or so hardly losing any height before welcome E4 poles start to appear, guiding you southwards and downwards on a relatively gentle descent to Toupotos Prinos hut. </span>I passed another two Germans coming up from the direction of the hut – making a total of 5 Germans and 2 French for the entire fortnight and no-one on the long-distance trail at all. As LW describes, the Toupotos Prinos hut has a welcome covered platform where you could shelter in bad weather (or good). It also has a cistern with water but this does not look as clean as it might be. I didn’t need to take on water here, but I think I would have put a tab in to be on the safe side.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down on the Toupotos Prinos hut on the descent from Psiloritis</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally an E4 sign on the path down through the woods towards Fourfouras</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtP3o38KFII6vrT4rvbl6Wfv9SkwNenLuBOjeZX_NuflqTB2p1p1vfUuj9mJCpPoUDiimys9mm7smtW35UlXcyTLaGc7cgShUaB0yXMEJJ_b_imWbB7Wm7ibDDPym7xbSlrQc2VnEK9UI/s1600/DSCF1135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtP3o38KFII6vrT4rvbl6Wfv9SkwNenLuBOjeZX_NuflqTB2p1p1vfUuj9mJCpPoUDiimys9mm7smtW35UlXcyTLaGc7cgShUaB0yXMEJJ_b_imWbB7Wm7ibDDPym7xbSlrQc2VnEK9UI/s200/DSCF1135.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The covered platform</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Finding the start of the E4 path from the hut was the usual nightmare. I blindly followed the GPS line through thick maquis and trees until E4 signs (nailed to trees) appeared again and from there on it was easy. Susa and I had explored this path a month earlier (when leaving supplies at Windy Place) and so I knew what to expect once the descent began. The path is very steep and (if there ever had been an engineered kalderimi in the past) broken - with dry, slippery oak leaves and acorns underfoot to add to the excitement. It is not a path to be rushed even if there is a bus to be caught at the bottom. However, it is quite passable and well shaded by the open oak forest with glimpses of the Amari Valley far below to tempt you on.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWir8whZO0H092g_9nHrLgmTzoe9wybC7rUIuGOnBszSOeF0wMkxfgtQrxiN6_wuthHOx2S9gAII-GvPOeRbR2azxJRV1X8g2Ozi4VOeyVAVjADI3U-V1RgKgVLYo-YchZ2r-a-ySj7q0/s1600/DSCF1139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWir8whZO0H092g_9nHrLgmTzoe9wybC7rUIuGOnBszSOeF0wMkxfgtQrxiN6_wuthHOx2S9gAII-GvPOeRbR2azxJRV1X8g2Ozi4VOeyVAVjADI3U-V1RgKgVLYo-YchZ2r-a-ySj7q0/s200/DSCF1139.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start of the steep descent</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9StyD_qyFvRI2gktFegGh5KPGa2UtRTcK7yfYFY4LIv-TcI2B4cSZo_NXrMyMtzH_HXKdm06uVfrB_ZaNa1XHqawkGS9SBKd2ylQ1hdOjbbNeJyswgcevB9IYqD9jRbjm1yor0Ka-M8/s1600/DSCF1141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9StyD_qyFvRI2gktFegGh5KPGa2UtRTcK7yfYFY4LIv-TcI2B4cSZo_NXrMyMtzH_HXKdm06uVfrB_ZaNa1XHqawkGS9SBKd2ylQ1hdOjbbNeJyswgcevB9IYqD9jRbjm1yor0Ka-M8/s400/DSCF1141.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A welcome sight - the view northwest up the Amari valley</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">By and large, the path is well signed here. It brings you out at a trough and then, via a network of dirt roads, brings you down to the Aghios Georgios chapel just above the tarmac road into Fourfouras. Kostantina thought she would never see the last of me as I enjoyed yet another meal at Windy Place and waited for the bus. I needn’t have rushed – the bus was an hour late !<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I needed a good long rest to get over the shin splint and the blisters before embarking on Part Two: Fourfouras to the west coast via the White Mountains.</span></div><br />
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</div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-14493286576156944472011-08-16T17:51:00.002+01:002011-09-20T12:31:44.297+01:00The E4 Trail: Amari Valley to Spili<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">26th August</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b>The E4 Trail: Amari Valley to Spili</b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVD_E_UstMkImM2jUyhdb3bi-wV1kLmM66xc7AxVJZsxZAc-d9bCjCxOjZFXK0R1VWuI7bAk4S-9dRHSq_wD87ODcYzzsF2XRfet-CjJ4CgHW4QIn3oFKc8ErRPIoeFD-wpNeno9WePU/s1600/to+Spili.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVD_E_UstMkImM2jUyhdb3bi-wV1kLmM66xc7AxVJZsxZAc-d9bCjCxOjZFXK0R1VWuI7bAk4S-9dRHSq_wD87ODcYzzsF2XRfet-CjJ4CgHW4QIn3oFKc8ErRPIoeFD-wpNeno9WePU/s1600/to+Spili.png" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">20 km <o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">4 hrs 30 mins </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Mov av 4.6 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Height (start 680 m high 1050 m) overnight 402 m</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">KTEL buses and timetables are their usual mystery. The 2.30 bus from Rethymnon to Amari meets another bus at Ag Foteini - but nobody tells you this is going to happen. The first bus then goes westabout to Yerakari and Ano Meros. The other bus goes eastabout through Amari and Fourfouras to Lochria. The map said go to Yerakari which confused the driver as I had told him I wanted to go to Amari. However, the timing was perfect and it meant I could get onto the Kedros mountain paths and still get into Spili by 8.30 pm. T let me down a bit with paths which didn't exist (or went over cliffs), but otherwise it was the perfect start to Part Deux.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pcZ6-g5z2Q0XJwNXA0K9x0a6x5oJFanSL9DnjoPXh3g9Ku4gnROc15TyMxKI1fMyYE593NXtRfupFUZPXERBaRawifZgySsABnCMqYOpHFKcyuYQnJcEGNF8r368JCNYG1rX1_oIpbg/s1600/DSCF1211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pcZ6-g5z2Q0XJwNXA0K9x0a6x5oJFanSL9DnjoPXh3g9Ku4gnROc15TyMxKI1fMyYE593NXtRfupFUZPXERBaRawifZgySsABnCMqYOpHFKcyuYQnJcEGNF8r368JCNYG1rX1_oIpbg/s320/DSCF1211.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back over the Amari Valley to Psiloritis</td></tr>
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<div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">You get to see Kedros close up and enjoy fabulous views back over the Amari Valley to Psiloritis and forwards over the high, little-visited plain above Spili. Once off dirt roads, the path is generally pretty clear on the ground but as ever the GPS helped me not to stray too far. <o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">As you come up out of Yerakari on the Spili road (a tempting ten kms) you take a left just after a fresh water fountain and immediately by a large cistern. There are many distracting side roads along here but you stay with the main dirt track as it winds close under Kedros before turning west.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7S0BIMnmrVvg1e7fpIUnuRFYwh-Lil5bdbiCVppTJw8VvwO-3y99TIJHrBA6aa3GP8eSalFNbv3C9EqzbzBfkHLHBJJjDvOuojBkTHCu2i-PTGumzH6vY_nVCMi4ONDjhMuVUcncwK4Y/s1600/DSCF1212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7S0BIMnmrVvg1e7fpIUnuRFYwh-Lil5bdbiCVppTJw8VvwO-3y99TIJHrBA6aa3GP8eSalFNbv3C9EqzbzBfkHLHBJJjDvOuojBkTHCu2i-PTGumzH6vY_nVCMi4ONDjhMuVUcncwK4Y/s200/DSCF1212.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading towards Kedros</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDkm-e5PCdlPknb7Y9R5XtTTEhD9ggjPClhYYOjjO9oMa_stkM4S6YB4iK5CtaAg4819xRKW-_BaT3qSxCsIPYomz70V2AzHAjzBG8OP2B9AuMlyD2SpOgjJnK04a8VEJtGafNfQ8_MY/s1600/DSCF1216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDkm-e5PCdlPknb7Y9R5XtTTEhD9ggjPClhYYOjjO9oMa_stkM4S6YB4iK5CtaAg4819xRKW-_BaT3qSxCsIPYomz70V2AzHAjzBG8OP2B9AuMlyD2SpOgjJnK04a8VEJtGafNfQ8_MY/s200/DSCF1216.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west after leaving the dirt road</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">At a T-junction by a rocky hillock the path goes off road (still generally westwards) and contours above a shallow valley which soon opens up into the plain. You will end up going round the far end of the western ridge of Kedros which is above you on the left. The bearing from where you leave the road is roughly 285 degrees. The path ends up bending right back on itself after a couple of kilometres as it turns - almost on the ridge top - eastwards again - apparently the wrong way. But this is because the cliffs above Kissos which would be the direct line to Spili are too steep to contemplate with a heavy pack (though T or a colleague must have done it once). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseLYzaJwshKpH6BHn1ORBDRPHOix8yws6orhKbnwZJFLDh-OvSQz-fDxWblTnOJKBZwJU4NVO9yCBNA56LBbkfZTezeJmMDAsaQNmggbjMv5a6089VgupgtQUfA52B0XyTkrdFr2urP4/s1600/DSCF1222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseLYzaJwshKpH6BHn1ORBDRPHOix8yws6orhKbnwZJFLDh-OvSQz-fDxWblTnOJKBZwJU4NVO9yCBNA56LBbkfZTezeJmMDAsaQNmggbjMv5a6089VgupgtQUfA52B0XyTkrdFr2urP4/s320/DSCF1222.jpg" width="320" /></a> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cliffs above Kissos - there is supposed to be<br />
a path down these cliffs through Kissos to Spili</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, E4 signs take you down a gentler but still slippery path well east of Kissos so there is a dull but picturesque 6 km road walk on the main </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Agia Gallini </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">road through to Spili - no more than an hour which was a relief as the sun had already set.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTOOh0McScNJ3yPv_FlB7xAzRwhyphenhyphen9I0QrxcUGnfyBpKK_w64rOrgVSWEg_raJ7Js0eyTbBcyL_IlrN_mQXnImA9q4t2OWC7woCmPAsx6NcaOwBJJiTYgwkGHHxg4QLyaIz3lF3CmGqCTc/s1600/DSCF1224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTOOh0McScNJ3yPv_FlB7xAzRwhyphenhyphen9I0QrxcUGnfyBpKK_w64rOrgVSWEg_raJ7Js0eyTbBcyL_IlrN_mQXnImA9q4t2OWC7woCmPAsx6NcaOwBJJiTYgwkGHHxg4QLyaIz3lF3CmGqCTc/s320/DSCF1224.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bed for the night in Spili</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Costas had a room at €25 - clean and comfortable enough but not the friendliest of welcomes so my dinner business went elsewhere. Wi-Fi over pizza meant I could clear emails which was a bonus. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</span></div></div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-12082867079615410392011-08-15T14:08:00.001+01:002011-09-20T12:44:56.299+01:00The E4 Trail: Spili to Arghiroupoli<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">27th August<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b>E4 Trail: Spili to Arghiroupoli </b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjex5nRKB-UZTgeDG5IV2ySez93SN-qlN6cLUVwrG62gjiMgs9_kHpDZyu3xzQlGoAi-uGFQqGemVnnPvqqY7wCFpkzEIJqFcDuNkpHH1Uv3NaPeVfX8Jyv3stlfRYzF3mQ7xGsMDR3sEc/s1600/to+Arghi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjex5nRKB-UZTgeDG5IV2ySez93SN-qlN6cLUVwrG62gjiMgs9_kHpDZyu3xzQlGoAi-uGFQqGemVnnPvqqY7wCFpkzEIJqFcDuNkpHH1Uv3NaPeVfX8Jyv3stlfRYzF3mQ7xGsMDR3sEc/s400/to+Arghi.png" width="400" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Mov av 4.8 km/hr Time 8 hrs 25 mins </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">GPS reading 32.0 km </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Height overnight 272 m</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfpjjxZzIBqKuqLqpph_NCYMXfiMtZrZXbIKV9wt91m_niyAAgEXu0Y1_fLlyIOzhxrVysMqSD8kleiV8Xp8nC0aubfM7CcZnWz0muzQJhiZz-L00ItOKixOD96tGX9f1D3X398pDT5U/s1600/DSCF1225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfpjjxZzIBqKuqLqpph_NCYMXfiMtZrZXbIKV9wt91m_niyAAgEXu0Y1_fLlyIOzhxrVysMqSD8kleiV8Xp8nC0aubfM7CcZnWz0muzQJhiZz-L00ItOKixOD96tGX9f1D3X398pDT5U/s200/DSCF1225.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back to Spili</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">I set off from Spili at 0740 under a rather cloudy sky and with a cooling breeze to keep me feeling fresh. Today was always going to be a bit of a road slog and the first few kms to Mixourama was on the main road with cars flashing by. The GPS suggested that there was a road link between Koxare and Agouseliana even though there was nothing on the paper map so, after 6 or 7 kms, I cut across to Koxare. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtKn95G4w8X7O4LlyIixZh94MP_W_a-8vfUuBbh4DA_m2S3eSJUdPkXkBb7WnE6bjIyC7SPE9Q2W4LWd0IXNZmi-ISHRqTVru18LTRWspbpPXmK4nqnYVk2pJc8mzYEuW8LLgodFupck/s1600/DSCF1229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtKn95G4w8X7O4LlyIixZh94MP_W_a-8vfUuBbh4DA_m2S3eSJUdPkXkBb7WnE6bjIyC7SPE9Q2W4LWd0IXNZmi-ISHRqTVru18LTRWspbpPXmK4nqnYVk2pJc8mzYEuW8LLgodFupck/s200/DSCF1229.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">The views back towards Spili and up left to Mt Kouroupa were wonderful despite the gloomy sky. From Koxare, and now back on the official E4, I then followed a level tarmac road all the way to Agouseliana where I found a very friendly cafe which provided orange juice and frappe and some excellent route advice. This eventually proved to be the exact path of the E4 (with the odd confirmatory sign) but which is not yet on the GPS nor the 1:100,000 paper map. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">From Angouseliana, there is a delightful network of quiet roads heading generally northwest towards Arghiroupoli. It is the official E4 route passing through agricultural land and rolling landscapes.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An E4 pavilion en route, where <br />
walkers may rest in shade from the midday sun</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You do see the occasional sign</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">I declined the double gorge walk on the way into Arghiroupolis and chose the more direct route through Velenado. I was hoping to find a cafe here for a bit of a lunchstop but the first one I came to was very shut even though there were plenty of chairs and tables outside. So I sat down anyway and got my boots and socks off for a bit of fresh air on the tootsies. The dog on the other side of the road eventually got bored with barking at my every move and I was able to enjoy my dried apricots in peace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFO2FV6-Q31fp41HmQ_dxgNHniFZvN7BDrKI9JuIfJxpqCHocn5M2W2ZPc_L-YSq2Rn0rrVkNujm-pmeRQxUJE2ezwhQwND6uTwhVyAKz2z9Dgpnw-qGhyGbN-dk_Z1Orxy5zHUVkf30/s1600/DSCF1239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFO2FV6-Q31fp41HmQ_dxgNHniFZvN7BDrKI9JuIfJxpqCHocn5M2W2ZPc_L-YSq2Rn0rrVkNujm-pmeRQxUJE2ezwhQwND6uTwhVyAKz2z9Dgpnw-qGhyGbN-dk_Z1Orxy5zHUVkf30/s320/DSCF1239.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking towards Arghiroupoli over the hills in the distance</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jNBcaSDI5DTW3jDhNhoJpIujdfDyecMbm253nhMW8SjOReQOfK0Nta-v-a9ucc5llUD5WFzJGJYKfb9NEpPI7qOOre_jv7KWCcRCixlxZTIfT7Gi_OyUOaleD0do3uYb7T6Ach3MIcc/s1600/DSCF1243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jNBcaSDI5DTW3jDhNhoJpIujdfDyecMbm253nhMW8SjOReQOfK0Nta-v-a9ucc5llUD5WFzJGJYKfb9NEpPI7qOOre_jv7KWCcRCixlxZTIfT7Gi_OyUOaleD0do3uYb7T6Ach3MIcc/s320/DSCF1243.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The valley below Arghiroupoli</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a bit of a slog from there to Arghiroupolis with the views down into the valley below increasingly spectacular. My rooms research had paid off and I got a great view from the balcony down to the sea near Georghiopoli on one side and foothills of the White Mountains on the other.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZEqWSZAnWqrHyUprBRcpqoy4Mjvm11Kgi4JS1XtB46OnTihAarIHGN_uwyw5Af98rVipho5hq-dyn0U-4z6L3RkPsKIGZZhzeBJ15yUCFVx04vqN3I6Y9f_WY_We_35n-XgUDCZ5vWM/s1600/DSCF1245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZEqWSZAnWqrHyUprBRcpqoy4Mjvm11Kgi4JS1XtB46OnTihAarIHGN_uwyw5Af98rVipho5hq-dyn0U-4z6L3RkPsKIGZZhzeBJ15yUCFVx04vqN3I6Y9f_WY_We_35n-XgUDCZ5vWM/s200/DSCF1245.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arghiroupoli - the upper level</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3f3nP24fZlg4TIc6v8LHQ1MWvbFNP-lBmnqq7iDPuPgsvbBiSKdYIyXtJxQmHv-De2s73qm8EFGC1jPnF352WurugP2Cpz2VIzBtbb85onmmByzSsMCmNFm6ejFyJXPk2vRbwEHol3Fg/s1600/DSCF1246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3f3nP24fZlg4TIc6v8LHQ1MWvbFNP-lBmnqq7iDPuPgsvbBiSKdYIyXtJxQmHv-De2s73qm8EFGC1jPnF352WurugP2Cpz2VIzBtbb85onmmByzSsMCmNFm6ejFyJXPk2vRbwEHol3Fg/s200/DSCF1246.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church and graveyard</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"></div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-79028672881306341692011-08-14T14:41:00.026+01:002011-09-20T12:57:02.313+01:00The E4 Trail: Arghiroupoli to Askyfou (via Asi Gonia and Horeftres)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">28th August<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b>The E4 Trail: Arghiroupoli to Askyfou</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV09iYBsOcn8Mi2SC9aNq8r-hzX0pKG3AMRbGc6fMnBic2tCU389NBd7ZeoE9Al9sd_8KtVUqL1YA8UAT0VtNygAhKK-gGIJJlr2HmnNSrUKF3SWLHYihyZmm525rvWFhBZrE2Wdn-roE/s1600/to+Askyfou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV09iYBsOcn8Mi2SC9aNq8r-hzX0pKG3AMRbGc6fMnBic2tCU389NBd7ZeoE9Al9sd_8KtVUqL1YA8UAT0VtNygAhKK-gGIJJlr2HmnNSrUKF3SWLHYihyZmm525rvWFhBZrE2Wdn-roE/s320/to+Askyfou.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Mov av 3.7 km/hr Time 8 hrs 35 mins </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">GPS reading 22.4 kms </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Height overnight 714 m</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Well - that was a very interesting day. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Another 0730 start this time from Arghiroupolis dropping about 300 feet down through the town to the "waterfalls" where the fresh fish restaurants draw in the "out-of-towners" (mainly Greeks). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh fish restaurant</td></tr>
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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">It is then a very pleasant, gently uphill, road walk to Asi Gonia which I reached in about 1 1/2 hours. I enjoyed a frappe in the same cafe where we had had had such good advice in May and it was nice that I was recognised. In the process I learnt that Psychoundakis - The Cretan Runner - was a native of Asi Gonia so we had a bit of a chat about him and PL-F (who died earlier this year - 2011). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm321gLrZ7XolgjaPaTf5DlBfYDJKhHX-DoYdrfRAjHhyphenhypheneM-IbIZXA5WJYb_37Dra3H8mglQwvvm3MqZd4sRcPLmev8_g9Gy0QyrDU7Z49_jNkufD-B-7pVw9U_cpATRVNu0WBC7F-Yrc/s1600/DSCF1253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm321gLrZ7XolgjaPaTf5DlBfYDJKhHX-DoYdrfRAjHhyphenhypheneM-IbIZXA5WJYb_37Dra3H8mglQwvvm3MqZd4sRcPLmev8_g9Gy0QyrDU7Z49_jNkufD-B-7pVw9U_cpATRVNu0WBC7F-Yrc/s320/DSCF1253.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way to Asi Gonia</td></tr>
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</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Because we had researched this bit in May, it wasn't so daunting to leave the tarmac-bound E4 and to launch off uphill to make the old crossing (not yet on any map) between here and Askyfou. The first gully climb up to 3,300 ft was quite straight forward as we had done it before. Towards the top, the ground levels off somewhat and goes through a pleasantly wooded, shaded area. Here, the cairns stop and obvious sheep paths lead you onwards and upwards as this gully reaches the highest part of the crossing, above the tree line. This is where the classic karst landscape takes over and the sheep paths lead off in different directions - heading for shade or pasture. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNS8PqRmoJ1A8CNy9-ZqBldwJL6-QtIP1CEtsAvv-jaD-Pylkc28snoHLr0hM717ubxkAe0Cp5saAns6uS4d6PWRQdWC_dt4TFgAWV0tP76elYI5l0c6f3q-39CczX3o3Xs0y8sHgMvk/s1600/DSCF1257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNS8PqRmoJ1A8CNy9-ZqBldwJL6-QtIP1CEtsAvv-jaD-Pylkc28snoHLr0hM717ubxkAe0Cp5saAns6uS4d6PWRQdWC_dt4TFgAWV0tP76elYI5l0c6f3q-39CczX3o3Xs0y8sHgMvk/s200/DSCF1257.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back down the gully</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA74ujNpPNktZupQBiaMFp7DAW_606g-og99rXOAbbAR0-8QD8Llf5tWYuJufN1Rz1U49ATRRg5BL5BZrhh1xjPhtvr-bajB6ewhAaQcwxVdr4eWp1E3yC3hB0RcjafmnXmVBKgM9MXuw/s1600/DSCF1258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA74ujNpPNktZupQBiaMFp7DAW_606g-og99rXOAbbAR0-8QD8Llf5tWYuJufN1Rz1U49ATRRg5BL5BZrhh1xjPhtvr-bajB6ewhAaQcwxVdr4eWp1E3yC3hB0RcjafmnXmVBKgM9MXuw/s200/DSCF1258.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think they call this wooded area "horeftres"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjV4g2k-LOpiCz9_zBK_-7TW3jKyiHc8_Zg3LTyJ3dQx2MI_DPgCUE3oVqlUyWy9_XcQ5eA-AcMW3QKSHUVFulPS2A6bK7xNXc3qaQbvZp2ayjvEmWUBBsVqmXxl_AXQ0ZHxPOGubO1g/s1600/DSCF1259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjV4g2k-LOpiCz9_zBK_-7TW3jKyiHc8_Zg3LTyJ3dQx2MI_DPgCUE3oVqlUyWy9_XcQ5eA-AcMW3QKSHUVFulPS2A6bK7xNXc3qaQbvZp2ayjvEmWUBBsVqmXxl_AXQ0ZHxPOGubO1g/s200/DSCF1259.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheep paths</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXGI3d-9ZNpljHlJvO319psYQG9rPWd1kTZ3GcOcCfC8vMG68OQKS6Iatiyrf7eul-3nJ_jMf7V1vmXFQ7_-syX3XgqX1ElI0YEShle-ApcjI9TzO89SQrVxt1U6t7YpxAO5-iKU_KTs/s1600/DSCF1262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXGI3d-9ZNpljHlJvO319psYQG9rPWd1kTZ3GcOcCfC8vMG68OQKS6Iatiyrf7eul-3nJ_jMf7V1vmXFQ7_-syX3XgqX1ElI0YEShle-ApcjI9TzO89SQrVxt1U6t7YpxAO5-iKU_KTs/s200/DSCF1262.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A series of sinkholes stretching west</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">I was fortunate that the clouds were some way above the peaks at over 4,000 ft so at least I was enjoying good visibility. However, one limestone sink hole looks much like another and by this stage there were no cairns, no red spots, no nothing.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwvMcoesWD6iKPZl86PnrPiu_Bf8qu9O7i_gWhMesVZ_y8cXQUaZWbJkAcRrwsCLa76I6ES2Yi3xCJ37GGeDtrUWh5ORk6WNCt6VU8G5fag_VFmrGvCPFXBGzeBM-GoeJMV_DJbfPGco/s1600/DSCF1260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwvMcoesWD6iKPZl86PnrPiu_Bf8qu9O7i_gWhMesVZ_y8cXQUaZWbJkAcRrwsCLa76I6ES2Yi3xCJ37GGeDtrUWh5ORk6WNCt6VU8G5fag_VFmrGvCPFXBGzeBM-GoeJMV_DJbfPGco/s320/DSCF1260.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Difficult to see where the path might go !</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">So with some slightly crude extrapolation from the GPS coordinates (fortunately set to Greek geodesic by T) onto the map I was able to establish that I just needed to go due west. This was not as easy as it sounds as limestone escarpments kept getting in the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Somehow, before starting the day's walk, I had had a vision of open upland grazing areas where I could see the route clearly and across which I could stroll effortlessly. The opposite: as soon as I had climbed up to a ridge on the far side of a sinkhole, I was confronted with another set of sinkholes with sheep trails leading up both the north east and the north west gullies. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Think "trial and error" - in the heat of the day and with a certain amount of wasted up. There is nothing worse than wasted up. In the end I think that the route I took was probably as good an option as any and it did eventually lead me to a freshly excavated shepherd's track leading downwards and generally westwards which was a relief after visions of this game of 3-D snakes and ladders going on all afternoon. Never has the sight of the White Mountains been so beautiful - I was over the highest part of the crossing. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxpZ339apxXnagWknwKOsPTG82dcO2JpJPnJGfqqCIP10EWnFZmavHVtUNKJ1Y0OmdLLvZ5TRDoUfQZnDarGgWTW4_g0GRc7KpvBqTVn04bPo76IHKTJA5AcbzUQOlr5vDKvP_RfTCbY/s1600/DSCF1263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxpZ339apxXnagWknwKOsPTG82dcO2JpJPnJGfqqCIP10EWnFZmavHVtUNKJ1Y0OmdLLvZ5TRDoUfQZnDarGgWTW4_g0GRc7KpvBqTVn04bPo76IHKTJA5AcbzUQOlr5vDKvP_RfTCbY/s320/DSCF1263.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally, a sight of the White Mountains</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">It certainly helped that I could recognise Kastro and the start of the White Mountains massif in the far distance and the dirt road from Goni towards Asfendou closer to hand. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ6V4UZ7a5yUqZe_Cfasjo5AuxQB_25eyXrmV6qP_pAnUY6uqPaRx0eiNR5yqlfI-hXc-OvnGcnDO6oywXSkeNUTUz9UePcl0NGeNbaDG6K0DsDAofo8EFkAOkriZJ7eM7vQ12CD1I6KQ/s1600/DSCF1264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ6V4UZ7a5yUqZe_Cfasjo5AuxQB_25eyXrmV6qP_pAnUY6uqPaRx0eiNR5yqlfI-hXc-OvnGcnDO6oywXSkeNUTUz9UePcl0NGeNbaDG6K0DsDAofo8EFkAOkriZJ7eM7vQ12CD1I6KQ/s200/DSCF1264.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">I left the shepherd's track at the top of the gully leading down to Goni and found the footpath which leads down the gully - nicely waymarked and easy to follow. However I hadn't reckoned on mile upon mile of stock fence at the bottom of the path preventing me from actually joining the dirt road into Goni. After a close encounter with an untethered dog I managed to climb the final hurdle and I was free for the final sprint across Askyfou to old Ammoudhari.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNzio1KrrYT6bot-DJQG8HYk3IQg9enDlXPqvAIlSygPIILuMX0tiX2nPKp2pWMCugIf8Eyvzhyct6PJrN2lLUENADBk_f0u7XXxa3CuqjJy4fAN0Mf98rhEA63ybTNtvD8UcYKaSR_4/s1600/DSCF1266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNzio1KrrYT6bot-DJQG8HYk3IQg9enDlXPqvAIlSygPIILuMX0tiX2nPKp2pWMCugIf8Eyvzhyct6PJrN2lLUENADBk_f0u7XXxa3CuqjJy4fAN0Mf98rhEA63ybTNtvD8UcYKaSR_4/s200/DSCF1266.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across Askyfou</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The crossing from Asi Gonia to Askyfou had taken about 6 hours but it was more rewarding than the E4 road walk. However, as they say on children's TV, don't try this on your own without Anavasi maps in your pocket and on your GPS. With luck by the time you read this, this path will actually be marked on your GPS !</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">And so to "rent rooms" in Ammoudhari (Pandelis and Rita) at €25 per night, a chilled beer, an excellent salad and one of those interesting plates of lamb bones and chips, all swimming in olive oil.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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</div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-2583807572705524072011-08-13T10:16:00.000+01:002011-09-20T10:57:30.372+01:00The E4 Trail: A rest day in Askyfou<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">29th August<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">The E4 Trail: A rest day in Askyfou </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Nicholas Crane, at the beginning of his huge walk across the watershed of Europe, writes that Julius Caesar and his Roman Army probably had it right when they walked for three days and rested for one. He ignored the advice (to his regret) and so did I in Part One, but now I had learnt my lesson.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">So for my rest day, I went for a little 7 km walk around the Askyfou plateau (without a pack) and found my way up to the Turkish fort which dominates the skyline there. The path is not that easy to find - it is on the way to a stock shed (where the road is firmly barred by a locked gate) and starts at about the only place where there is a genuine gap in the stock fencing on the uphill side. You also have to battle through quite thick scrub before reaching the top where the fort itself is fenced off - so technically you can't get in. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">My plan was to have a little siesta and set off mid afternoon to the next level up at the Tavri EOS (Alpine) hut so that could be my springboard for the following day's challenge. So, with all batteries fully charged and my water "bladder" loaded, I climbed the old, familiar, path to Tavri. I was carrying 7 litres of water, mindful of Joseph's story of the 61 year old German who had got lost on Kastro a month earlier and run out of water before being rescued by helicopter in the nick of time.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgio_0KVuVjddU5lID5_2mbPvYfpW2RSl8YEnE3nEO_hyjThLFjpbNwda99SenLJOnpKOFNadUhgboSRQIRy_mEWlNUcI3k2odSunMExyvnKwTarD0lJKydYsHtbUC7UKbaO7mRpNXOKO8/s1600/DSCF1270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgio_0KVuVjddU5lID5_2mbPvYfpW2RSl8YEnE3nEO_hyjThLFjpbNwda99SenLJOnpKOFNadUhgboSRQIRy_mEWlNUcI3k2odSunMExyvnKwTarD0lJKydYsHtbUC7UKbaO7mRpNXOKO8/s200/DSCF1270.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The E4 path up to Tavri</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircwNwJo1LSWZj2kKvyJPMIHyhjxjyQAmHI6aQ6nTCmn8cc8FuLquJufhUtKVkKoi4s6_M2XJvMgeea2FKT0usrNiAAJ2_Dfeae3uYdx1n3Cav13T9xVESND41qITFcKVDynWjhr2-o8U/s1600/DSCF1271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircwNwJo1LSWZj2kKvyJPMIHyhjxjyQAmHI6aQ6nTCmn8cc8FuLquJufhUtKVkKoi4s6_M2XJvMgeea2FKT0usrNiAAJ2_Dfeae3uYdx1n3Cav13T9xVESND41qITFcKVDynWjhr2-o8U/s200/DSCF1271.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old mule track</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p>The climb up to the hut took about an hour and a half, 3.5 kms and a height gain of 550 metres - a useful saving for the next day.</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p>The hut itself is used as a summer camp for Greek kids and there was a football pitch laid out with strips of artificial grass - somewhat blown about by the winds - but there was no-one about now. So I took a strip of "grass" and put it in a sheltered part of the balcony by the climbing wall (these huts are always locked unless you are part of an organised group with the EOS). At the last minute, I decided to put the tent up to make sure I got the best night's sleep possible and set the alarm.</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tavri hut</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMr76HjbiMIgLB0sHILjUbq9-lsS0CFw2GPnq4fBew3bHEnIUT_jTw5mRgXKCgJbmWuJoCNKBnbopURUTV6lftwj6x6CPkKSKfcdvKqfeAQXiIwAJZhOyQ8f8H0XP2yVEDQq_zhlaQ40/s1600/DSCF1282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMr76HjbiMIgLB0sHILjUbq9-lsS0CFw2GPnq4fBew3bHEnIUT_jTw5mRgXKCgJbmWuJoCNKBnbopURUTV6lftwj6x6CPkKSKfcdvKqfeAQXiIwAJZhOyQ8f8H0XP2yVEDQq_zhlaQ40/s200/DSCF1282.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The climbing wall !</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A splendid view back over the "horeftres" route from Asi Gonia <br />
to Askyfou the day before. Askyfou is at the bottom of the picture.</td></tr>
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</span></div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-24848465924155872512011-08-12T10:16:00.001+01:002011-09-20T13:08:39.749+01:00The E4 Trail: Tavri to Katsiveli<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">30th August</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b>The E4 Trail: Tavri to Katsiveli </b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRevOXSLz8MZlcBRtL47bh0Ry61q-aNdmf-5-3RtrdR0Ib14yGJHQyjBPQNvomJETScSoj7nrpwE908aTqs13F9a1g_yFgsH9PaNgzIG6gRKczUjJhyUkQp5dq4IVUfg5W-CWyey-k0QU/s1600/to+Katsiveli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRevOXSLz8MZlcBRtL47bh0Ry61q-aNdmf-5-3RtrdR0Ib14yGJHQyjBPQNvomJETScSoj7nrpwE908aTqs13F9a1g_yFgsH9PaNgzIG6gRKczUjJhyUkQp5dq4IVUfg5W-CWyey-k0QU/s320/to+Katsiveli.jpg" width="262" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Mov av 2.5 km/hr Time 10 hrs 15 mins </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">GPS reading 17.0 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Height o/n 1913 m (max 2060 m)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOedBweUI_jEmmMr_5ccMp2jxesss8LKmCDvO3PlFslOpbJz0fdKcO4J36UP5Tw9KGetOk5tqzwUjVhfJMxtnJzphlGazWokHrWYsC0sBPb0_lYwDyam9iBHYRieRFEBkQR-tpYC_xfUk/s1600/DSCF1284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOedBweUI_jEmmMr_5ccMp2jxesss8LKmCDvO3PlFslOpbJz0fdKcO4J36UP5Tw9KGetOk5tqzwUjVhfJMxtnJzphlGazWokHrWYsC0sBPb0_lYwDyam9iBHYRieRFEBkQR-tpYC_xfUk/s320/DSCF1284.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">The day dawned with a cloudless blue sky. I was lucky. The route starts with a gentle two km warm up across the Niato plateau before turning more vicious. The next phase is a very steep 700 meter climb up the north east ridge of Kastro. One of the pluses is that you are doing this in the relative cool of the morning - one of the minuses is that you will probably be carrying something like five litres of water (at least three litres more than usual) in case there is a problem with supply at Katsiveli. All in all, it took me three hours to get from 1250 to 1900 metres, over a distance of about 4.5 kms. - slow going !</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start of the climb</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_0x2wsZP37gaEspXuK7cV5vGJClzowFX8tGrsCoK2r9Zjrs2PozLL9cl-a0FrIQf_cjO5JY317poSqhw0MThu-NE433l3maXkWFkWnfi9oYhPCxH1UtPHW-HG9iOsN98AeDLJd0Nzzk/s1600/DSCF1288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_0x2wsZP37gaEspXuK7cV5vGJClzowFX8tGrsCoK2r9Zjrs2PozLL9cl-a0FrIQf_cjO5JY317poSqhw0MThu-NE433l3maXkWFkWnfi9oYhPCxH1UtPHW-HG9iOsN98AeDLJd0Nzzk/s200/DSCF1288.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The path is well signed</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwD7f_60Hw7HI8IQZsJ05Pl4gS0UbQ4vzBP8SAH7ovSfi13vFEKGrJoJUlZkkK9PJBuojcAyvHKvTX3s1Hz1n6alaVSkGkGhTdq8UxkSaESaU7MeA8EevuBvVdwLmfMNg9GbUrIjXW4ZE/s1600/DSCF1295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwD7f_60Hw7HI8IQZsJ05Pl4gS0UbQ4vzBP8SAH7ovSfi13vFEKGrJoJUlZkkK9PJBuojcAyvHKvTX3s1Hz1n6alaVSkGkGhTdq8UxkSaESaU7MeA8EevuBvVdwLmfMNg9GbUrIjXW4ZE/s320/DSCF1295.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The north east ridge of Kastro</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">The next challenge is a traverse across a one km, very steep, scree slope. This is little more than a narrow, vertigo-inducing, goat path losing height gently towards a col which is the entrance to the central desert massif. It is much easier doing it this way than from west to east (gently uphill) but it is still tough on the ankles as they are twisted sideways. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view across to the Akrotiri over Souda Bay</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scree slope leading to the Koutala saddle - top left</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Full marks to the EOS in Chania for the signing all the way to Katsiveli. One of their teams has worked very hard carrying paint all the way through this tough route. Sadly, a lot of the poles which had been there three years ago, and which I had marked on the GPS, have been destroyed by the harsh weather conditions at these altitudes; it is the poles which are easiest to spot - especially on the skyline. You wonder how long these new paint marks will last. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An astonishing landscape - looking southwest</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magic views down to the north coast - looking northeast</td></tr>
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">There are few sheep and goats here as the stock stations on the Niato plateau have better grazing within easier reach. The only sign of life were four young lads out hunting with two dogs. Joseph at Kallerghi had told me, when I phoned him, to keep an eye out for a red rucksack left behind by the German walker who had got lost and run out of water a month earlier. He had been helicoptered off and was lucky not to lose his life - a salutary lesson on how to treat these mountains with huge respect.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">The path is not always obvious on the ground but Anavasi has a 1:25,000 map with the path clearly marked, so with basic navigation techniques and good visibility you can get through with the help of the E4 signs. In poor visibility there is a real risk of falling into classic limestone sink holes where you would be trapped without phone signal and little chance of being heard - a grisly end.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">After nine hours of tough terrain you are counting down the kilometres to the hut at Katsiveli. Then suddenly you are rewarded with magic views down to the north coast - Chania and the Akrotiri - as you cross the "sideroporti", below Grias Soros, on the way down to the Livada valley bottom. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way down to Livada</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The EOS hut at Katsiveli</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> </span>Then, after a final heart-breaking pull up to the saddle below Svourichti, you see the two "alpine" huts: the main one usually locked unless you coincide with a group, and the baby one, which has eight bunks but no water, a bit further down the slope.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">For the first time in my experiences up here, fresh spring water was running into the animals' drinking trough. This is water piped down from a spring high on Svourichti by way of the shepherd's hut close to the little "alpine" hut and is delicious, cool and clean. But you cannot rely on it always running - in June the spring can be covered in snow and inaccessible; by late August it can have run dry. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The small hut sits on the rocks in the centre of the photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">This was a long and tiring day - but very rewarding. I slept soundly with the alarm set for another early start next morning. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the small hut</td></tr>
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</div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-11315242621228779922011-08-11T10:58:00.011+01:002011-09-20T13:17:25.794+01:00The E4 Trail: Katsiveli to Kallerghi (via Pachnes)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">31st August</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b>The E4 Trail: Katsiveli, Pachnes to Kallerghi</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgp5vkh0Y4Vp__IL_NoDMEhPAwHdMbIFc7C2CHxYy7LY9Twvnpz63F-xn1cO0XdGmiZrRC-SEOkPzjahlkywYYWkbT-86s1X3-iNu0ewMPC-Lcm0lyAJjmAWV8GF-RPCmcD8-fogq3wx8/s1600/to+Kallerghi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgp5vkh0Y4Vp__IL_NoDMEhPAwHdMbIFc7C2CHxYy7LY9Twvnpz63F-xn1cO0XdGmiZrRC-SEOkPzjahlkywYYWkbT-86s1X3-iNu0ewMPC-Lcm0lyAJjmAWV8GF-RPCmcD8-fogq3wx8/s320/to+Kallerghi.jpg" width="262" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">(To Pachnes and back : </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">4 hrs 10 mins </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">12.1 km)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Total day (including Pachnes - 2,453 m) :<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Mov av 3.3 Time 9 hrs 30 mins </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">GPS reading 25.3 kms </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Height 1518 (Kallerghi) (max 2,453 m)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">The first time that I went up Pachnes from Katsiveli with T, the snow drift on the way to Roussies had blocked our path and we had had to climb up high to go round it, effectively climbing the height of Pachnes twice - with packs. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">This time, in August, I was able to leave the body of the pack in the hut and the path was clear. It was another spectacular clear day with just high pressure haze on the horizon. It was a two hour walk to the summit along paths that seemed like motorways compared to the day before. On the way I crossed the mule train that makes its way to the Petrade mitato to collect the cheese. It is an almost biblical sight and one which will continue as long as the dirt road is not extended beyond Roussies - three well cared for mules and the young Cretan lad in charge of them. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A clear morning on the way to Pachnes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWBe0xXtBey3pIljm0vYjeCt_fR9i6S4Nlr7Pw1Co3sKGBZcvRiAfmCvPJF5N145r3WZaAAqnl7bIlBBcvzoUhKN4cX5ewYWhIyZk03DoxmqMLF4N41zLROI-t6BNUOH4gYWaT1WXdyg/s1600/DSCF1333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWBe0xXtBey3pIljm0vYjeCt_fR9i6S4Nlr7Pw1Co3sKGBZcvRiAfmCvPJF5N145r3WZaAAqnl7bIlBBcvzoUhKN4cX5ewYWhIyZk03DoxmqMLF4N41zLROI-t6BNUOH4gYWaT1WXdyg/s200/DSCF1333.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mule train</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK4-vXGy1AFEoK2z00SKk3mAxiBZl-aI94Nr-HS8VFIgXBFsbJlpZHIFYxCpqZUJXCeqsgK0VZIjGuaNQ3qONbEpuFXDbcGJw55b-TGCP8ISKNZHg90FCX9GZbRBzthZFPebGlARtXIw/s1600/DSCF1337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK4-vXGy1AFEoK2z00SKk3mAxiBZl-aI94Nr-HS8VFIgXBFsbJlpZHIFYxCpqZUJXCeqsgK0VZIjGuaNQ3qONbEpuFXDbcGJw55b-TGCP8ISKNZHg90FCX9GZbRBzthZFPebGlARtXIw/s320/DSCF1337.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The summit of Pachnes</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">It was a good morning for photographs and I took my fill before turning back for Katsiveli hut and the rucksack. There is a more direct path back to Katsiveli (you can see the big hut from the summit) but I just didn't have the energy or the time to start exploring at this stage. It is still four or five hours on to Kallerghi so I went back the usual way via Roussies (where there is a fairly reliable cistern) and joined the two bits of the rucksack together, rested for twenty minutes and set off again on the well-trodden E4 path to Melindaou and Kallerghi. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdC8ms8TXXZQo7k15NdytIJ_eoPHuwOJgAmVv884kUJDWyIRN45zdSskED7Movbbh8qHy7ygB2ga6v2YtWxdp5P1UNa0XhTnSQSGMVaPk-MuKpsf-KSSG2W3XFy1VG-uBYK80RzoCgqSw/s1600/DSCF1343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdC8ms8TXXZQo7k15NdytIJ_eoPHuwOJgAmVv884kUJDWyIRN45zdSskED7Movbbh8qHy7ygB2ga6v2YtWxdp5P1UNa0XhTnSQSGMVaPk-MuKpsf-KSSG2W3XFy1VG-uBYK80RzoCgqSw/s320/DSCF1343.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the summit -<br />
the EOS hut is on the saddle to the left of the conical one</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">This is one of the two main routes into the heart of the White Mountains (the other being the dirt road from Anopoli to Roussies) so it is easy to follow and little time is lost on navigation. After rounding Melindaou - having stopped to admire the huge deep bowl which feeds into the Samaria Gorge - there is a simple descent to the saddle where you can see the Libyan Sea to the south (down the Gorge) and the Cretan Sea to the north. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down the Potamos valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrA9Jq0Tx28qiiOxShQBPGGesRMg53YOf1IDUHPkqfKkWLl_KJsIxykeXCWZ2t7oPh7ThwxhV5jvrXDceRkI6D_c5b16v78zY9qpjwfB_uE5LKLgXEzq5KUf_1AhtCXh2KwTSynJ5Mo8/s1600/DSCF1355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrA9Jq0Tx28qiiOxShQBPGGesRMg53YOf1IDUHPkqfKkWLl_KJsIxykeXCWZ2t7oPh7ThwxhV5jvrXDceRkI6D_c5b16v78zY9qpjwfB_uE5LKLgXEzq5KUf_1AhtCXh2KwTSynJ5Mo8/s200/DSCF1355.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cloud starting to bubble up</td></tr>
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<div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">I looked back eastwards to the vista of the White Mountains and smiled when I saw clouds bubbling up around the peaks. I had been really lucky to have had such perfect conditions for my crossing. Even though it was August, the temperature at 1,500 to 2,000 metres was cool enough to be quite comfortable. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Shortly after the pan-Cretan moment, there is quite a steep and unstable descent on tired legs down to the wooden pavilion on the dirt road to Kallerghi - still an hour's walk away, most of it uphill. Some Sixties dance oldies helped to keep the momentum going. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The western edge of the huge bowl below Melindaou -<br />
Zaranokefalo on the horizon to the left</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back down the dirt road -<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a welcome sight - the Kallerghi hut (top middle)</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Daniel, from Bulgaria, is helping Joseph do the running repairs which are needed regularly at these altitudes. He also cooks a mean spaghetti Bolgnese which is a good carb boost for the following day and breakfast whenever you want it. Bed, breakfast and a hot evening meal plus one beer and some wine came to 42 euros - well worth it at this stage of the journey !</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kallerghi hut with the Samaria Gorge falling away to the left</td></tr>
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</div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-84379669362536935182011-08-10T11:29:00.002+01:002011-09-20T13:33:18.155+01:00The E4 Trail: Kallerghi to Kandanos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">1st September</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b>The E4 Trail: Kallerghi to Kandanos</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwBK1SXrQ4Z1mfr9bOWexDHw7bH5xPIeKGsSfWL14AT0cMRT8hlNOT4Cffssvf2rxGgBW1Y2HP02KXdEiNVrptgf1o8YAxBPx-6URMc5uUSr-GOX3dz9T8Aiz0GIL5yJMvO7zQ9iALzI/s1600/to+Kandanos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwBK1SXrQ4Z1mfr9bOWexDHw7bH5xPIeKGsSfWL14AT0cMRT8hlNOT4Cffssvf2rxGgBW1Y2HP02KXdEiNVrptgf1o8YAxBPx-6URMc5uUSr-GOX3dz9T8Aiz0GIL5yJMvO7zQ9iALzI/s400/to+Kandanos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Mov av. 4.2 Time 8 hrs 20 mins </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">GPS reading 28.4 km </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Height 405 m</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">The last two days of the walk were rather low key after the drama of the White Mountains. I left Kallerghi at 0800 after a proper Austrian mountain breakfast served up by my new Bulgarian friend Daniel. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">It is about an hour down the dirt road to the Omalos plateau and half way down I realised I had left my beloved katsouna (shepherd's crook) at the hut. I couldn't bear the prospect of going all the way back up so I rang Joseph to say that I would collect it the following week. My luck was in as he had to drive down to get extra building materials so I waited half an hour at the bottom and bingo I had my stick back. I have learnt that it is now forbidden to cut sticks from the wood of the rare ambelitsia tree so mine is now a museum piece (with the distinction of having walked 450 kms across Crete). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dirt road down from Kallerghi to the Omalos Plateau</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">It's a 12 km road walk to Seli (the junction with the Chania - Souyia road) - I had decided early on that I would not follow the conventional E4 down the Irini Gorge and round the coast. In May, with Loraine's encouragement, I had explored an old mule track which leads westwards up from Petras Seli past the wind turbines and over the ridge. It contours round the north west side of the hill until Kandanos comes into view, at which point you start dropping down to meet a dirt road that takes you all the way into the town. These earlier explorations (with waymarks on the GPS for good measure) meant that I made good time as I crossed these high scrubby meadows dropping gently down the dirt road and Kandanos was getting closer all the time.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way to the saddle</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wind turbines at Petras Seli - the old mule track<br />
passes through the lowest saddle on the far ridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking west from the ridge -<br />
the west coast is almost in sight</td></tr>
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I wasn't sure, after earlier experiences, whether there would be rooms in a self-sufficient town like this. Luckily there were some rather posh apartments at €30 per night so I enjoyed the luxury and got some serious clothes washing done. These apartments are attached to a very good cafe / taverna where I had some seriously delicious food that night (η Πλατεία - Samantha (American) on 28230 22210).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">I had made good progress and was settled into my room by half past four - which was just as well since the temperature was definitely rising at these lower altitudes. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grim reminders of the Occupation of Crete</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rooms in Kandanos</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"></div></div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4077515551780003959.post-89534439961528378512011-08-09T11:51:00.003+01:002011-09-20T13:44:18.182+01:00The E4 Trail: Kandanos to Chrisoskalitissa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">2nd September</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b>Kandanos to Chrisoskalitissa</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gQFoteGZwSXsPNmZ9aIWHQ0bs-9LnVFm_frgAfUr4OadvUU7ylTPTDh4AoDmJrNKN9HxJ-kU6cbF2DJ3ypF8ZWUuhSOQ7lmrj9u2UqlzfZx7P93njsgTiHat85nFxCuUic4QnPfi3uM/s1600/to+Chrisoskalitissa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gQFoteGZwSXsPNmZ9aIWHQ0bs-9LnVFm_frgAfUr4OadvUU7ylTPTDh4AoDmJrNKN9HxJ-kU6cbF2DJ3ypF8ZWUuhSOQ7lmrj9u2UqlzfZx7P93njsgTiHat85nFxCuUic4QnPfi3uM/s400/to+Chrisoskalitissa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><b><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Mov av. 5.3 Time 7 hrs </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">GPS reading 32.3 km </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Height sea level !</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">I was up and away from Kandanos by 0650 with the intention of meeting Susa at Elos, spending the night there and dropping down to the west coast next morning. However, it is good to be flexible. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLwxCknes1PidByQsMWUJlLnhau68uN1_RjHhZW-8HQ_6m3nzKZFnPq-T3A0UpD-3qbZu9kcibc1HUkFH9tmmy9OAHxgMW6CU4RijJKmKDkmyvHn9CuxqMz3Mm4GdZuSROjbQw0X0Xe9M/s1600/DSCF1405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLwxCknes1PidByQsMWUJlLnhau68uN1_RjHhZW-8HQ_6m3nzKZFnPq-T3A0UpD-3qbZu9kcibc1HUkFH9tmmy9OAHxgMW6CU4RijJKmKDkmyvHn9CuxqMz3Mm4GdZuSROjbQw0X0Xe9M/s320/DSCF1405.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running water in August</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">The verges of the road to Elos were full of "mellow fruitfulness" - I enjoyed handfuls of blackberries and a couple of the sweetest figs I have ever tasted. The sweet chestnuts were looking good for later, but as all over Crete the grapes had been badly spoiled by a very cold wet Spring. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXmVu9Yu0LTvOMPMDjsaZtvvzPDvn9wrO9kA1raY-tbbSL61Ue5ID9LVSQFMl5nVfQiIbLMdTSovVvj65mhESfCd5iPjjaFN5bqtBT1N-USLTCsYfgFwjjZucUCfFzoKKRH74mzawYaY/s1600/DSCF1412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXmVu9Yu0LTvOMPMDjsaZtvvzPDvn9wrO9kA1raY-tbbSL61Ue5ID9LVSQFMl5nVfQiIbLMdTSovVvj65mhESfCd5iPjjaFN5bqtBT1N-USLTCsYfgFwjjZucUCfFzoKKRH74mzawYaY/s200/DSCF1412.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chestnuts looking good</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">I made good time on the tarmac roads between Kandanos and Strovles having decided against a cross-country route to Elos. Meanwhile Susa was closing in on Elos on the 0900 bus from Chania. At the last minute I realised that I could actually make it all the way through to Chrisoskalitissa that same day by 2 pm so I texted Susa to stay on the bus and get off by the monastery. A few minutes later the bus overtook me as I sweated up the hill to Elos and I waved as cheerfully as I could. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming down from Elos</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrPaN9LpOzfKrFplXwNC-5QuXv7JyR19KWEpkyT3-FB-BYdQcNMUe6o4DBVk7Vv9YD3LKfHNHfelFNs5Lc-4uxzAjSo12WMHKIi6b7YJG27tzxtHDigKZeiXFE716udeBPqiBn7DFOXXY/s1600/DSCF1419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrPaN9LpOzfKrFplXwNC-5QuXv7JyR19KWEpkyT3-FB-BYdQcNMUe6o4DBVk7Vv9YD3LKfHNHfelFNs5Lc-4uxzAjSo12WMHKIi6b7YJG27tzxtHDigKZeiXFE716udeBPqiBn7DFOXXY/s200/DSCF1419.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passing Vathi</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">It was another three hours to Chrisoskalitissa but Susa was there to cheer me home - quite an emotional moment after months of training and effort. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIpBsblmJbosV74ilXwkk15q718QnDt6NjJLXONBHjkO5cyQyJfLm16lPyDrCUYZF4OW9kBD0SDkZEMEoS7qlkynOlGtJNQSqzr1D1yOSAT1PdQL5s3DHk0zLlNGlAS48xBA2WHlRD6c/s1600/DSCF1421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIpBsblmJbosV74ilXwkk15q718QnDt6NjJLXONBHjkO5cyQyJfLm16lPyDrCUYZF4OW9kBD0SDkZEMEoS7qlkynOlGtJNQSqzr1D1yOSAT1PdQL5s3DHk0zLlNGlAS48xBA2WHlRD6c/s200/DSCF1421.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first sight of the west coast -<br />
and an E4 sign</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsTrSs4SfVlhjMgTEW-rVVqKF-pe0OJYOJGVvztWxJzX-QmtrCZf0SD8JgRTAdZdv9jl9frrlHXLpjltDEaTllMJyrMlGAZzZKlOlIC8w7Z7o37CVlSUE_7jjosmWHTyKQ8aD2Ty0xrM/s1600/DSCF1422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsTrSs4SfVlhjMgTEW-rVVqKF-pe0OJYOJGVvztWxJzX-QmtrCZf0SD8JgRTAdZdv9jl9frrlHXLpjltDEaTllMJyrMlGAZzZKlOlIC8w7Z7o37CVlSUE_7jjosmWHTyKQ8aD2Ty0xrM/s200/DSCF1422.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The monastery - middle right</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">After a beer at Stella's (just opposite the monastery), we went across and climbed the ramparts so I could throw my Kato Zakros pebble into the sea on the west coast. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDanYdg_CCUF4yqtNSuhrPav9vkaOe48t_nxUFo-d8J6IwiGtXUy-hqVoyXtPRKRRwpEsVjioarZco_YTBGLbwsTMEQATbHTxNbC6b9eN0B8tvJPYeshBulbcBu0EBWFsuD7PqD_ERViA/s1600/DSCF1424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDanYdg_CCUF4yqtNSuhrPav9vkaOe48t_nxUFo-d8J6IwiGtXUy-hqVoyXtPRKRRwpEsVjioarZco_YTBGLbwsTMEQATbHTxNbC6b9eN0B8tvJPYeshBulbcBu0EBWFsuD7PqD_ERViA/s320/DSCF1424.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pebble, the hat and the stick</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">We had a chat with Father Panayiotis and discussed relative levels of VAT and other worldly and spiritual matters before catching the Elafonisi bus back to Chania for champagne and a celebratory meal at Mesoyeiako. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkx8zvTCSRycE161xhyphenhyphen-aCOvHpNkLxoaNKi16WoawB4xCqdl7YYVYPYkfZxrIUtF5yGIQLFtnHY111-E_hLvTKxdm8q8wlIEhWS_H2IgNJN08z7jcdmfPliq-P8F1T8jBS-x_olc2tgko/s1600/DSCF1426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkx8zvTCSRycE161xhyphenhyphen-aCOvHpNkLxoaNKi16WoawB4xCqdl7YYVYPYkfZxrIUtF5yGIQLFtnHY111-E_hLvTKxdm8q8wlIEhWS_H2IgNJN08z7jcdmfPliq-P8F1T8jBS-x_olc2tgko/s320/DSCF1426.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The monastery at Chrisoskalitissa</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A suitable finish back in Chania</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">My odyssey was over - a brilliant experience and all the better for being relatively pain-free for the second half. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">I hope that my experience will be of some help to others contemplating the same sort of adventure and that you will enjoy it all as much as I have done. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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</div>rhellis10@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253092493026211585noreply@blogger.com3