A massive amount of climbing to reach Timos Stavros, the highest summit in the Psiloritis range and at 2456 metres the highest point in Crete, snow added to the difficulties.
The "Windy Place" taverna kindly made me an early breakfast at 6:45 am, so I could make a start on today's enormous climb in the cool of the morning. Being west facing the mountainside was also in shade as I started, so I made a good start on the 2000 metre or so to the summit, before the sun heated things up. Early on I missed a few turnings on the dirt tracks I was following, as I watched the sun colour the mountain of Kedros on the other side of the valley.
After olive trees, gates and herds of goats on terraced pasture my route headed up a path which rose steeply through stony ground with scattered thorny oaks. I met the Austrian party among the oaks. They pointed out a path to the last spring this side of the summit, where I went to top up my bottle, admiring the views on the way. Not long after we met again at the (locked) mountain refuge. After that it was a steep climb over rocks with the usual low thorny bushes, releasing aromas of thyme and sage as I walked. Waymarking on this popular section was very good, which helped to pick the correct path among the many created by sheep and goats. Patches of snow interrupted my passage, not so easy to negotiate on steep slopes. Most I could walk around. On one large patch, someone had laid out a lengthy fixed rope over the snow, with loops so you had something to hang on to if you slipped. Eventually I arrived at the summit of Timos Stavros, where a small chapel has been built out of the loose stone covering the mountain. I was fortunate there was no cloud, unlike yesterday, so I could see the sea both north and south of Crete, the White mountains to the west, and the remainder of the Psiloritis mountain range to the east. Too hazy though to shoot decent photographs.
Coming down after some lunch and admiring the view, I was following a different path that would take me the length of the mountain range. This traversed the very steep northern slope of the adjacent mountain, called Angathias, and unfortunately the northern side of the mountain was completely covered with snow, despite it being June. It would be far too hazardous to cross. Instead a couple coming from that direction told me they had avoided it by climbing up and down Angathias on snow free areas. So I headed up towards the summit of Angathias and worked my way around to find a snow free ridge down. Not easy as snow often lay out of sight hidden by the convexity of the slope. I continued over higher ground rather than attempt the alternative route down a snow filled valley. I had to cross a few patches of snow but none where the slope was steep. On some patches of snow there were pieces of rock covered with lady birds, their presence here was a bit of a mystery to me. I passed a "mitata", a hut made entirely of loose stone found on the mountain, once used to make cheese by shepherds as it kept longer than milk so allowing time for it to be transported to market, although the hut seem rather small for this purpose.
My legs were tired and I started thinking of where to camp. The Cretan Way guidebook suggests using a certain sheep fold, but it was off my route, and from a distance (and in my mind giving the likely amount of sheep excrement) it did not look appealing. Instead I headed a little way down the valley I would be following tomorrow. Like the rest of the mountain it was not very suitable for camping. Even if I could find a flat area large enough for my small tent numerous rocks and / or thorn bushes prevented me pitching it. Instead (after due consideration of avalanche risks) I flattened a suitable piece of snow and camped on that.
I walked 18.9 kilometres today, not always by the most direct route due to the snow, and climbed an amazing 2245 metres.
The "Windy Place" taverna kindly made me an early breakfast at 6:45 am, so I could make a start on today's enormous climb in the cool of the morning. Being west facing the mountainside was also in shade as I started, so I made a good start on the 2000 metre or so to the summit, before the sun heated things up. Early on I missed a few turnings on the dirt tracks I was following, as I watched the sun colour the mountain of Kedros on the other side of the valley.
After olive trees, gates and herds of goats on terraced pasture my route headed up a path which rose steeply through stony ground with scattered thorny oaks. I met the Austrian party among the oaks. They pointed out a path to the last spring this side of the summit, where I went to top up my bottle, admiring the views on the way. Not long after we met again at the (locked) mountain refuge. After that it was a steep climb over rocks with the usual low thorny bushes, releasing aromas of thyme and sage as I walked. Waymarking on this popular section was very good, which helped to pick the correct path among the many created by sheep and goats. Patches of snow interrupted my passage, not so easy to negotiate on steep slopes. Most I could walk around. On one large patch, someone had laid out a lengthy fixed rope over the snow, with loops so you had something to hang on to if you slipped. Eventually I arrived at the summit of Timos Stavros, where a small chapel has been built out of the loose stone covering the mountain. I was fortunate there was no cloud, unlike yesterday, so I could see the sea both north and south of Crete, the White mountains to the west, and the remainder of the Psiloritis mountain range to the east. Too hazy though to shoot decent photographs.
Coming down after some lunch and admiring the view, I was following a different path that would take me the length of the mountain range. This traversed the very steep northern slope of the adjacent mountain, called Angathias, and unfortunately the northern side of the mountain was completely covered with snow, despite it being June. It would be far too hazardous to cross. Instead a couple coming from that direction told me they had avoided it by climbing up and down Angathias on snow free areas. So I headed up towards the summit of Angathias and worked my way around to find a snow free ridge down. Not easy as snow often lay out of sight hidden by the convexity of the slope. I continued over higher ground rather than attempt the alternative route down a snow filled valley. I had to cross a few patches of snow but none where the slope was steep. On some patches of snow there were pieces of rock covered with lady birds, their presence here was a bit of a mystery to me. I passed a "mitata", a hut made entirely of loose stone found on the mountain, once used to make cheese by shepherds as it kept longer than milk so allowing time for it to be transported to market, although the hut seem rather small for this purpose.
My legs were tired and I started thinking of where to camp. The Cretan Way guidebook suggests using a certain sheep fold, but it was off my route, and from a distance (and in my mind giving the likely amount of sheep excrement) it did not look appealing. Instead I headed a little way down the valley I would be following tomorrow. Like the rest of the mountain it was not very suitable for camping. Even if I could find a flat area large enough for my small tent numerous rocks and / or thorn bushes prevented me pitching it. Instead (after due consideration of avalanche risks) I flattened a suitable piece of snow and camped on that.
I walked 18.9 kilometres today, not always by the most direct route due to the snow, and climbed an amazing 2245 metres.
 |
| Path up Psiloritis range to the highest peak of Timos Stavros |
 |
| Chapel on top of Timos Stavros, the highest point on Crete |
 |
| Sheep on the snow |
 |
| Camping on the snow (in June), at least it has no thorns |
No comments:
Post a Comment