An enjoyable walk in the hills, only disturbed by barking dogs. At 48 kilometres (and a 1280 metre total ascent) a bit on the long side, it gives me a chance of reaching Meteora tomorrow.
Overnight a cold front came in with a stiff breeze, marking the start of cooler weather. My tent (a Terra Nova Laser Competition) was designed to be lightweight rather than able to handle high winds. The main pole was being bent back and fore, the flysheet was flapping wildly against the inner tent as the wind hit the tent broadside. I feared the pegs coming loose, the pole breaking or a small tear at the apex of the tent, created on my last trip, ripping open. Fortunately none of it happened I just had to be careful as I decamped at 6:00 am that the tent did not blow away.
Setting off down the track through the woods in the light of the settling moon, the eyes of some small wild animal reflected the light of my head torch for a few moments before it disappeared. I disturbed someone sitting in his van, a hunter I assume as he was in a camouflage jacket and did not reply to my cheery "kalimera", just flashed his headlights. Does it attract animals? As the village of Livadero came into view the sun was rising in the east, the moon was large as it sank into distant haze ahead of me, conjuring up poetic thoughts.
At Livadero I stopped for a breakfast coffee. Not seeing many British tourists in town, or indeed any one with a rucksack, I was of great interest to the customers and the lady serving. They were curious as to what I was doing. One of the men paid for my coffee and the lady serving gave me some extra biscuits. They tried to insist on driving me to Deskati but I had to insist on walking. Very kind people who must have considered me strange indeed. At the earlier village of Livadi they had heard of the E4 (or epsilon tesera) and were familiar with the idea of walking it, but not here. At the entrance to Livadero a yellow sign said "E4 Descati 5hr 30", the timing was about right but as it was pointed in the opposite direction to Descati, I ignored it. Following my planned route out of town I found an E4 waymark indicating I was going the right direction, and on the dirt tracks I followed to Descati there were enough E4 waymarks to show I had picked the correct route.
The track weaved its way through the hilly landscape, by small farms, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill. On less steep ground the hay had been gathered into barns and flocks of sheep were eating up anything left in the fields monitored by their shepherds. Beyond the fields there was rougher grassland dotted with small holm oak trees and some larger oak trees of the type common in Britain. Occasional fields of cut maize or a rare small vineyard were the only other crops in evidence. On steeper slopes and higher up the valley sides the oaks formed forests of small trees.
As I neared Descati I climbed up to the ridge of the Kamvounia mountains. The small trees were now the fluffy, dwarf evergreens common in suburban gardens. Views each side of the ridge were opening out, although Descati remained hidden until I was nearly there. Although the town's website boasted two hotels, I was unable to contact either, nor did I see much sign of the one that was meant to be by the town's centre. So I had a good lunch (meatballs with yoghurt and tomato dips) and set off towards Meteora and the town of Kalampaka. The waiter was concerned that it was cold, and indeed it was cold compared with previous days, overcast with dark clouds since this morning but no rain as yet. He felt I should catch the bus.
As I recall, the Greek mountain society also suggested a bus between Descati and Kastraki, and there was no sign of the E4 on the 1:230000 Anavasi map between the two towns. I had assumed no route had been created between these two towns and planned a fairly direct one for myself. Consequently I was surprised to see E4 waymarks on the edge of town pointing east and a sign implying in a vague way an E4 route well to the east of the one I had chosen. It was too late to re-plan my route and since I knew I could not rely on the waymarks, I stuck to my planned itinerary, somewhat annoyed. Feeling rather full after lunch and my belly complaining I walked quickly south to the next range of hills where I am camped among oak trees listening to the crickets.
A GPS file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com, or can be viewed on your smartphone from ViewRanger, shortcode johnpon0039.
Overnight a cold front came in with a stiff breeze, marking the start of cooler weather. My tent (a Terra Nova Laser Competition) was designed to be lightweight rather than able to handle high winds. The main pole was being bent back and fore, the flysheet was flapping wildly against the inner tent as the wind hit the tent broadside. I feared the pegs coming loose, the pole breaking or a small tear at the apex of the tent, created on my last trip, ripping open. Fortunately none of it happened I just had to be careful as I decamped at 6:00 am that the tent did not blow away.
Setting off down the track through the woods in the light of the settling moon, the eyes of some small wild animal reflected the light of my head torch for a few moments before it disappeared. I disturbed someone sitting in his van, a hunter I assume as he was in a camouflage jacket and did not reply to my cheery "kalimera", just flashed his headlights. Does it attract animals? As the village of Livadero came into view the sun was rising in the east, the moon was large as it sank into distant haze ahead of me, conjuring up poetic thoughts.
At Livadero I stopped for a breakfast coffee. Not seeing many British tourists in town, or indeed any one with a rucksack, I was of great interest to the customers and the lady serving. They were curious as to what I was doing. One of the men paid for my coffee and the lady serving gave me some extra biscuits. They tried to insist on driving me to Deskati but I had to insist on walking. Very kind people who must have considered me strange indeed. At the earlier village of Livadi they had heard of the E4 (or epsilon tesera) and were familiar with the idea of walking it, but not here. At the entrance to Livadero a yellow sign said "E4 Descati 5hr 30", the timing was about right but as it was pointed in the opposite direction to Descati, I ignored it. Following my planned route out of town I found an E4 waymark indicating I was going the right direction, and on the dirt tracks I followed to Descati there were enough E4 waymarks to show I had picked the correct route.
The track weaved its way through the hilly landscape, by small farms, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill. On less steep ground the hay had been gathered into barns and flocks of sheep were eating up anything left in the fields monitored by their shepherds. Beyond the fields there was rougher grassland dotted with small holm oak trees and some larger oak trees of the type common in Britain. Occasional fields of cut maize or a rare small vineyard were the only other crops in evidence. On steeper slopes and higher up the valley sides the oaks formed forests of small trees.
As I neared Descati I climbed up to the ridge of the Kamvounia mountains. The small trees were now the fluffy, dwarf evergreens common in suburban gardens. Views each side of the ridge were opening out, although Descati remained hidden until I was nearly there. Although the town's website boasted two hotels, I was unable to contact either, nor did I see much sign of the one that was meant to be by the town's centre. So I had a good lunch (meatballs with yoghurt and tomato dips) and set off towards Meteora and the town of Kalampaka. The waiter was concerned that it was cold, and indeed it was cold compared with previous days, overcast with dark clouds since this morning but no rain as yet. He felt I should catch the bus.
As I recall, the Greek mountain society also suggested a bus between Descati and Kastraki, and there was no sign of the E4 on the 1:230000 Anavasi map between the two towns. I had assumed no route had been created between these two towns and planned a fairly direct one for myself. Consequently I was surprised to see E4 waymarks on the edge of town pointing east and a sign implying in a vague way an E4 route well to the east of the one I had chosen. It was too late to re-plan my route and since I knew I could not rely on the waymarks, I stuck to my planned itinerary, somewhat annoyed. Feeling rather full after lunch and my belly complaining I walked quickly south to the next range of hills where I am camped among oak trees listening to the crickets.
A GPS file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com, or can be viewed on your smartphone from ViewRanger, shortcode johnpon0039.
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| Moon rise in the morning |
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| Typical countryside after Livadero, the track on the photo is the one I was following |
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