Mt. Olympus: Mytikas Peak (2918 m)
As we reached Skala Peak, Mt. Olympus’s 4th highest, we only had in mind one thing: the Nose! (Mytikas peak, Greece’s highest point, named after our olfactory organ) First we had to descend a little, according to the tourist path (which we followed religiously all the way to the top in order to avoid any accidents – because the path wasn’t only steep, but small little rocks were making the whole terrain slippery and insecure). The path towards Mytikas is called “the broken steps” because they are like actual steps but the only difference is you can’t climb them like normal ones, because you have to hold on to dear life with your hands in the process.
the first few steps – scary at first!
The path, though a little scary at first, turned out to be one of the greatest adventures of my life! Although this is not a route for beginner hikers, my mind never bothered to think about the fact that something bad could actually happen to me! I just shut the thought out completely and enjoyed the ride. Although I am mostly panicky in such situations (did I tell you that I have a fear of heights and am absolutely terrified to climb up to a church’s bell tower even? –yeah, Mytikas was THE accomplishment for me), I managed to keep calm, only look down when I stopped and focused on the right path which I needed to follow…
800 meters of nothing
the broken steps
up..up..
…and away!
short break when the sun came out for a second
the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen
happy to be at this amazing place
at the top of Greece!
descending from Mytikas..creepy, extremely steep & slippery
at Zeus’s waterfall where he bathed with the nimfas..sitting with trembling legs because of exhaustion
All in all, Mytikas was one of the greatest experiences of my life so far! Although at the end of the day every bit of my body was hurting because of the muscle-strain and the great effort that my body had accomplished in a mere twelve hours’ time, I can tell you it was worth every sweat!
Logistics:
Price: 42 euros for the Fiat Panda we rented (split into 4) + the cost of the sandwiches and water we took with us from Leptokarya
Duration: 12 hours! 7 up, 5 downwards
Difficulty: easy up to Skala & Skolio, from Skala to Mytikas: YDS class 3 rock scramble
Height: from 1100 meters to 2918 meters = 1818 meters
Note: the blurry/foggy photos are because of the clouds that were following us all the way; the photos with the awesome quality were made by our friends whom we climbed with 🙂
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gratula :*
kosziii :*