Hiking Mt. Olympus: From Prionia to Refuge Agapitos

On the 1st of September we got up at 5 am, had a big breakfast, packed some sandwiches, rented a Fiat Panda and headed for the mountains. We had to pass the town of Litochoro and drive up to Prionia (at 1100 m) where we put the car down and continued our journey on foot. We were a bit rusty because we haven’t been on the mountain for a while, but determined and optimistic that we would reach the peak and see some awesome sights along the way. We planned to only stop when we reached the first refuge, because we only had a day to climb Olympus and had to be back with the car by 10 pm. The road upward didn’t seem very hard because there weren’t any steep sections (yet!) but I still struggled sometimes, being out of shape (something I will never do again before climbing a high mountain..). The surroundings were absolutely gorgeous which made me quickly forget my aches and pains, and I loved the fact that you could actually see the vegetation changing around you once you got to a higher altitude.

hundred-year old trees

through the forest in the beginning

meeting mules along the way

some were guided, some roamed free..

we climbed quite a bit..

..and needed a short rest

before we knew it, rocks took over the place

The surroundings were just amazing (see the photo below)! The weather seemed to be changing every 10-15 minutes, clouds would come and go, making me dress-and undress myself two-three times every hour. The climb to refuge Agapitos (2100 m) is easy (especially compared to what’s next), we did the 1000 m-ascending in less than four hours in a very comfortable rhythm. We don’t hurry when we’re hiking, even if we’re left behind. It just isn’t right to hurry in my opinion. After a mere fifteen-minute break we headed on to the next step in conquering the Greek God’s home, a section that proved to be a bit more difficult than the first.