A hike over the Menalon mountains among the pine trees today.
I walked to the village square for my breakfast. The lady at the bakery broke off planting flowers to serve me a cappuccino and a spiral of flaky pastry with feta cheese inside. It was Sunday. As I sipped my coffee I could hear the service being sung inside the church opposite. In some way the Orthodox tradition sounds much more holy and religious than the Church of England. Older ladies in black periodically crossed the square and entered the church.
On checking out of my accommodation (Hotel Sinoi, a sponsor of the E4 in the Peloponnese), I was given a cheese and ham sandwich for my lunch, which was thoughtful. Leaving Vytina (initially on the wrong road despite the clear waymarks) I passed an arboretum with 16 different types of pine. Then it was uphill through the pine forest on a well waymarked path. Apparently the hiking club of Tripoli had cleared and marked the path not so long ago, for which I was very thankful. Marking was with yellow squares (and later orange squares). I had to concentrate on spotting the next square as the path did not always go where I expected it to. The pine forest on the mountains with its occasional flatter grassy areas was very different from the scenery of the last few days.
After a steep climb the path crossed a ridge and lost height but before too long I was climbing uphill again. Although the total ascent today was under a thousand metres it felt like more due to the steep gradients in places. The path eventually peaked, as the trees began to thin out, by a ski tow and a partially collapsed building. There were still chairs outside so I sat on one and ate my sandwich, but a cold wind was blowing so I didn't stay long. Going downhill I passed through a more functional ski area; such places always look a bit desolate out of season. There were a few people about today, walking the paths and parked at the ski area.
The final section was downhill through the trees close to a road. It might have been easier to walk on the road as in places the path had a tenuous hold on the side of the mountain.
I am now at the Ostra Menalon Luxury Suites, and very nice it is too. They have left me provisions to make my own breakfast, there is plenty of food as they thought there were two of me (a common problem I find when booking online). As both tavernas in the village were closed the extra food was fortunate, allowing me to cook an omelette (with cheese) for my dinner which I ate watching some English language news on the TV (although sadly not the BBC).
16.7 kilometres walked today with a total ascent of 900 metres.
I walked to the village square for my breakfast. The lady at the bakery broke off planting flowers to serve me a cappuccino and a spiral of flaky pastry with feta cheese inside. It was Sunday. As I sipped my coffee I could hear the service being sung inside the church opposite. In some way the Orthodox tradition sounds much more holy and religious than the Church of England. Older ladies in black periodically crossed the square and entered the church.
On checking out of my accommodation (Hotel Sinoi, a sponsor of the E4 in the Peloponnese), I was given a cheese and ham sandwich for my lunch, which was thoughtful. Leaving Vytina (initially on the wrong road despite the clear waymarks) I passed an arboretum with 16 different types of pine. Then it was uphill through the pine forest on a well waymarked path. Apparently the hiking club of Tripoli had cleared and marked the path not so long ago, for which I was very thankful. Marking was with yellow squares (and later orange squares). I had to concentrate on spotting the next square as the path did not always go where I expected it to. The pine forest on the mountains with its occasional flatter grassy areas was very different from the scenery of the last few days.
After a steep climb the path crossed a ridge and lost height but before too long I was climbing uphill again. Although the total ascent today was under a thousand metres it felt like more due to the steep gradients in places. The path eventually peaked, as the trees began to thin out, by a ski tow and a partially collapsed building. There were still chairs outside so I sat on one and ate my sandwich, but a cold wind was blowing so I didn't stay long. Going downhill I passed through a more functional ski area; such places always look a bit desolate out of season. There were a few people about today, walking the paths and parked at the ski area.
The final section was downhill through the trees close to a road. It might have been easier to walk on the road as in places the path had a tenuous hold on the side of the mountain.
I am now at the Ostra Menalon Luxury Suites, and very nice it is too. They have left me provisions to make my own breakfast, there is plenty of food as they thought there were two of me (a common problem I find when booking online). As both tavernas in the village were closed the extra food was fortunate, allowing me to cook an omelette (with cheese) for my dinner which I ate watching some English language news on the TV (although sadly not the BBC).
16.7 kilometres walked today with a total ascent of 900 metres.
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| A walk through the pine trees |
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| Final climb up to the pass, note the old ski tow on the left |
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