Pleasant paths, tracks and some road walking through pines, prickly Holm oak and flower filled meadows.
Today began with a steep climb out of the village up a grassy hill to the road. Then a bit of walking on tarmac before a path through pine trees. These trees were much smaller than those I was recently walking among in the Pindus mountains. Ahead of me, above the trees, were snowy peaks but although today's walk had a lot of climbing, it also had descents so I never approached the snow. At the top of the path there was an isolated church, a service in progress, well attended judging by the number of cars and a coach on parked on the road.
I headed on down to the village of Kato Louiso. As its cafe was closed I kept going. The path lead through meadows with at times more flowers than grass; yellow, pink and violet. More than once I lost the correct path, heading off on one of the many goat tracks among the small, thorny oaks and rocks, and needed by GPS to bring me back onto the correct route.
I crossed a stream and its associated boulder field and climbed up through bushy Holm oaks on a clear path that went around the hillside eventually delivering me to Planitero. I went up into the village in search of a cafe, but that was a mistake. In the valley below there was a taverna, some stalls selling honey and herbs, two coaches, many cars and crowds of people. The attraction here is supposedly the river coming out of the ground. Maybe I missed where this happens, certainly there was a lot of water flowing among the plane trees, but it was not as impressive as similar occurrences I had seen on the E4 in Serbia.
The taverna's kitchen was somewhat overloaded by the many people wanting lunch, staff hurried back and forth laden with food, so I had to wait a little while to order. Soon after though I was working my way through two trout, a pile of boiled "mountain greens" (spring vegetables) and a large plate of chips. A bit more than I expected but not more than could handle!
Leaving Planitero up a path through the oak bushes, a bit heavier than before, I met two Russians walking the E4, although in the opposite direction to myself. We exchanged news of the trail while one of them filmed me, at least his camera was pointing at me. They had met several walkers like me heading south on the E4 in the Peloponnese whereas they were the only ones I had met since I entered Greece!
A little way after the village of Agios Nikolaos I followed the path through bushes up a steep hill and pitched my tent on a flat area of grass at the pass where the path crossed the ridge. The grass extended down the hill a little on some ancient man-made terraces. I was very pleased with the quality of the paths and waymarking today, much better than in the Pindus mountains where I was walking the E4 a few days ago. There was evidence of recent maintenance with freshly cut branches on the ground. Much of the credit for the good quality of the E4 in the Peloponnese goes to voluntary efforts, particularly by Rolf, an expatriate Swiss living in Greece, and George, a Greek mountain guide. I am very grateful to such people who make hiking much more enjoyable.
Hidden in my tent as the light was beginning to fade, calling home, I became aware of goat bells. Furious barking then erupted outside while I stayed firmly inside. Before making camp I had checked the area for buildings etc. and as far as I could see I was alone, miles from anyone. Clearly I was mistaken, the goatherder called the dogs off and the goats were taken to somewhere not so far away. I could hear their bells jingling late into the night...
27.2 kilometres walked today and an ascent of 1390 metres.
Today began with a steep climb out of the village up a grassy hill to the road. Then a bit of walking on tarmac before a path through pine trees. These trees were much smaller than those I was recently walking among in the Pindus mountains. Ahead of me, above the trees, were snowy peaks but although today's walk had a lot of climbing, it also had descents so I never approached the snow. At the top of the path there was an isolated church, a service in progress, well attended judging by the number of cars and a coach on parked on the road.
I headed on down to the village of Kato Louiso. As its cafe was closed I kept going. The path lead through meadows with at times more flowers than grass; yellow, pink and violet. More than once I lost the correct path, heading off on one of the many goat tracks among the small, thorny oaks and rocks, and needed by GPS to bring me back onto the correct route.
I crossed a stream and its associated boulder field and climbed up through bushy Holm oaks on a clear path that went around the hillside eventually delivering me to Planitero. I went up into the village in search of a cafe, but that was a mistake. In the valley below there was a taverna, some stalls selling honey and herbs, two coaches, many cars and crowds of people. The attraction here is supposedly the river coming out of the ground. Maybe I missed where this happens, certainly there was a lot of water flowing among the plane trees, but it was not as impressive as similar occurrences I had seen on the E4 in Serbia.
The taverna's kitchen was somewhat overloaded by the many people wanting lunch, staff hurried back and forth laden with food, so I had to wait a little while to order. Soon after though I was working my way through two trout, a pile of boiled "mountain greens" (spring vegetables) and a large plate of chips. A bit more than I expected but not more than could handle!
Leaving Planitero up a path through the oak bushes, a bit heavier than before, I met two Russians walking the E4, although in the opposite direction to myself. We exchanged news of the trail while one of them filmed me, at least his camera was pointing at me. They had met several walkers like me heading south on the E4 in the Peloponnese whereas they were the only ones I had met since I entered Greece!
A little way after the village of Agios Nikolaos I followed the path through bushes up a steep hill and pitched my tent on a flat area of grass at the pass where the path crossed the ridge. The grass extended down the hill a little on some ancient man-made terraces. I was very pleased with the quality of the paths and waymarking today, much better than in the Pindus mountains where I was walking the E4 a few days ago. There was evidence of recent maintenance with freshly cut branches on the ground. Much of the credit for the good quality of the E4 in the Peloponnese goes to voluntary efforts, particularly by Rolf, an expatriate Swiss living in Greece, and George, a Greek mountain guide. I am very grateful to such people who make hiking much more enjoyable.
Hidden in my tent as the light was beginning to fade, calling home, I became aware of goat bells. Furious barking then erupted outside while I stayed firmly inside. Before making camp I had checked the area for buildings etc. and as far as I could see I was alone, miles from anyone. Clearly I was mistaken, the goatherder called the dogs off and the goats were taken to somewhere not so far away. I could hear their bells jingling late into the night...
27.2 kilometres walked today and an ascent of 1390 metres.
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| Stalls and taverna by a river source below Planitero. |
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| Low mountains and broad flat valleys characterise this part of the Peloponnese, note the lack of tall trees. |
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