Kastania to Pieria mountains on E4: Day 18

A hazardous descent to the Sfikia dam was the first big event of the day, the second was when I was briefly detained by the dam's security guard.
The Vermio and Pieria mountains are separated by a deep valley in which four dam's have been built to generate hydroelectricity. In consequence I started the day at 1000 metres, dropped to 130 metres and am now camping at 1520 metres. In total I climbed 1720 metres over the 37.7 kilometres I walked today.
Reddish bands stretched across the cloudless horizon as I emerged clumsily from my tent, a prequel to the red balloon of a sun clearing distant hills. An easy walk through scrub then took me to the village of Mikri Santa where there was little to detain me. The subsequent track was initially good although I was concerned that I had not crossed the motorway that runs down the valley, until I realised it was in a tunnel beneath me. I soon joined a section of the "official" GPS route of the E4 I had downloaded from Traildino.com, which was to take me down to the Sfikia dam. I had assumed this would mean a reasonable route although possibly overgrown as I had trouble spotting it on Google Earth, which also showed no obvious way in which it joined the road over the dam itself.
Possibly created to install some electricity pylons the track was overgrown becoming more so as it progressed, zig zagging back and forth down the steep side of the valley. At one point I met a hunter (in camouflage with his rifle in his hands). He was no doubt displeased with the noise I was making slithering over loose rocks. The most difficult bit was the last section, straight down a narrow chute of loose scree, the rocks slipping beneath my boots creating minor avalanches. I can see why this route was chosen, the surrounding, very steep slopes were covered with impenetrable vegetation, stunted trees and bushes with thorns, or else there were vertical rock faces.
On approaching the reservoir there was a terrace which I followed towards the dam through an area of rusting oil drums. I stuck to the GPS route as it followed the outside of a tall, wire fence up to where the transmission lines rose out of the site. This area was also securely fenced off due to the high voltage lines inside. The side of the valley had been cut into to make a concrete coated, near vertical face on one side of the enclosure so I had to go around the other side, where I followed a narrow ledge between the fence and a significant drop to my left. This led me to the roadway across the dam which continued around the side of the valley to where closed, electronic metal gates, fencing and a security guard prevented me from leaving the site.
Thankfully the security guard was both professional and considerate, giving me a coffee and biscuits while he made and received various phone calls and I showed him my Anavasi map with the E4 marked. After some calls he handed me the phone so I could be questioned by someone who spoke English. I explained I was walking the E4, which was marked as crossing the dam. He seemed surprised I had managed to get down to the dam from the other side and wanted to confirm where I was going next. In the end it was agreed that I would show my passport to the security guard so that my details could be recorded in what I took to be the visitor's log. The gates were opened and I left the guard dealing with a group of leather clad motor bikers who had just arrived.

Due to the hazardous descent and because there is no provision for hikers to cross the dam I do not recommend you take this route. Instead you could go via Veria which will add 42 kilometres to the walk, maybe a day and a half.

The rest of the day was a little less stressful, beginning with a climb up the road, which wound around the hills to gain height and reach the village of Sfikia. In the village was a friendly café where I had a Coke and ice cream. They kindly filled up my water bottles as I was having trouble finding springs in the last day or so, then I was waved off by a group of those at the café as I made tracks for the village of Rizomata.
Between Sfikia and Rizomata there was another gap between two of the GPS tracks I had downloaded. Google Earth showed no sign of a track through the wooded hillside in the gap. Having gained enough scratches getting down to the dam I decided on the longer but reliable  route to Rizomata along the tarmac road with an increasing number of fields of tomatoes as I approached the village.
After a good lunch in a "fast food" restaurant, and the purchase of something I randomly pointed at in the bakery for dinner (being Sunday all the other shops were closed but the door to the bakery was open, maybe because the owner was cleaning the floor).
Then it was time for a big climb. Fortunately the tracks up through the trees, clinging to the steep slope, were easy to walk on if tiring. They led me to a ski resort, closed for the summer. Shortly after I found an abandoned track with a patch of flattish ground on which to pitch my tent for the night and to eat my pastry concoction which seemed to consist of just pastry!
P.S. I did have an apple, biscuits, nuts and dried apricots to eat as well.

A GPS file of my route from the Sfikia dam can be found on wikiloc.com, or you can download it on your smartphone with ViewRanger, shortcode johnpon0038.

On the opposite side of the valley, the track I walked down to the dam on is just visible as it takes a zig-zag path, note that the last bit down loose scree looks vertical.

Sfikia Dam