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| Backpack | 14.91 Miles |
7,533 AEG |
| | Backpack | 14.91 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 7,533 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | When Melody and I decided to go to Greece this summer, I started looking for some hiking opportunities. I was immediately intrigued by the idea of summiting one of the most recognizable peaks in the world: Olympus. The highest point on the massif is called "Mytikas," and is a technical climb most months of the year. I was really hoping for some serious snow melt by early June.
After spending seven days hopping around some Greek islands, we met up with our friend, Megan, and made our way to the more mountainous parts of Greece. We spent the night in the mountain village of Litochoro and then woke up early the next morning to drive to the Gortsia trailhead. The plan was to complete a one-way horse-shoe shaped track, ascending the north side to the Plateau of Muses where we would spend the night at Refuge Apostolidos (a staffed hikers hut), then summit early the next morning and descend by the more popular southern trail.
As we began our ascent through the forest, I could not help but think of how much this reminded me of the classic hikes in the Swiss & French Alps and the Pyrenees: well marked trails, friendly hikers, and beautiful forests leading to alpine experiences. We passed the first refuge in a couple hours, took a short break, and powered on up the trail to the tree line. The trail up to this point had been easy to follow, but now we were running into some snow and route finding became a little more difficult. In what felt like no time at all, we arrived at our refuge for the night. The hut is staffed year round - winter for mountaineers and backcountry skiers; summer for hikers and climbers. We had a delicious meal of beef stew and "mountain rice" with beer.
At first light, we were on the trail, or what was once a trail. At this elevation, there was still a lot of snow left over from the spring. We followed a visible foot track that had been used a few days prior. This led us below the main summer route and off-trail to a crux in the climb where you gain the top of a ridgeline. We were now back on a dry and visible trail. However, this was badly eroded and we took our time making our way towards a marked route for the summit.
There are two non-technical summit routes. The first approaches from the south and is the most popular. It is well marked with red dots and easy to follow, even in the densest fog. The second approaches from the east and is much steeper and is marked by blue dots. The plan was to not do any backtracking, so we would ascend the blue route and descend the red. We quickly realized that the blue route would be much more challenging than anticipated due to lingering ice and snow. Megan led the way and shouted down foot holds to us as we took our time on the ascent. There's really not much info on the internet about this climb, in English. But one thing I have read is that there are a couple class IV moves prior to the true summit. Going over those rocks was a bit scary, but manageable.
The clouds broke as we summited, and we had excellent views of the Aegean Sea and the entire Olympus Massif.
The descent was easy, by comparison to the ascent. We made good time to the refuge on the southeast side of the mountain, then slowed down a bit as we made our way through the forest. It was refreshing to have new views and terrain to cover on the hike down, since we opted for the shuttled hike over an out-and-back. Oh, and we saw an endangered Greek Ibex!
Once at the Prionia trailhead, we took off our shoes and went swimming in the ice cold creek that flows out of a glacier. I hitchhiked with a nice Russian hiker back to the Gortsia TH to pickup our car.
This was an exhausting and rewarding hike, with enough challenge to leave a lasting impression. It felt amazing to summit THE Mount Olympus. Souvlaki and beer followed. |
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| - there's nothing like finding Water in the Desert - |
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