Hiking up Mount Olympus in Greece was a big deal for us. It was our first overnight hike as well as a first real mountain hike. We consider ourselves to be in a good condition and semi-experienced hikers but as we never had any real experience hiking on a mountain, there were a couple of surprises awaiting for us! It was a fantastic experience we will definitely do again - fortunately with a couple of new tricks up our sleeves!
We teamed up with our guide Nikos from Hikes4All (www.hikes4all.gr) who planned our hike beforehand, gave us some great advice on how to prepare for the trip and took great care of us during the two day hike.
We decided to hire a guide for two reasons;
- We didn't know what to expect (schedule, weather, gear, techniques)
- We wanted to be safe and not end up making rookie mistakes. It's a mountain, after all.
It was a great decision. First of all, we learned a lot about hiking in the mountains and how to plan the trip. Secondly, Nikos was great help for us as he knew the trails and the people we needed to know to make the trip fun and efficient. What we also loved was that it was just the three of us so no waiting for others, no queuing, no constant babbling.
Mount Olympus is a very popular hiking destination and you will see many fellow hikers on the way. Most of them hike to the Spilios Agapitos refuge located in the middle of the ascent half way to the Scolio peak, some of them leave the same day and some stay the night at the cabin. About one third of hikers make it further to one of the peaks. Another interesting observation was that you really see people of all ages hiking up there, kids, elderly folks, everyone is represented!
We started the hike with a little warm-up as we had requested adding some extra kilometers to the first day. It was a great idea and we got to see some more of the beautiful Greek nature. After a two hour stroll Nikos drove us to the starting point of the trail to Prioni from where we started the ascent towards refuge Spilios Agapitos. Light lunch and off we went.
The 1st ascent was enjoyable although it did contain lots of man-made wooden stairs. It was a combination of a trail and stairs. We kept it somewhat slow as we needed to spare energy for the 2nd ascent and more importantly, also the descent the next day. Weather was beautiful, sunny and hot. The trees offered some shade but a hat would have helped better.
We arrived to the refuge right on time for sunset. We were greeted by the three lovely and friendly dogs belonging to the family who runs the place and after getting our three-people room with bunk beds we were ready to relax and enjoy the nature. It's quite a unique experience to spend a night up in the mountains looking up to the stars and down to the sea. We had a nutritious dinner with some great wine while enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. The lights were turned off at 22.00. You still had some people walking around in the area but basically it was time to sleep!
I guess normally it gets chilly during the night. This time it was very warm and it didn't get much below 18C. However, the weather can change fast. As it was a much hotter night than usual, we didn't get a very good night sleep. It was way too hot during the night as we didn't realize to open the window, also we had too many clothes on as we were prepared for a cold night.
Waking up at dawn is surprisingly easy when you're surrounded by nature and fresh air! We got up before sunrise, had a tasty breakfast and prepared for the day. The plan was to hike up to Scolio and down almost immediately, take a break to get some lunch and continue all the way down. It started to get busier by the minute as we were gathering our stuff, some were getting ready to go up, some prepared for their journey down and some were staying.
We had another kilometer to hike up, which was the same distance we did on the first day. Here it got a little more rough yet also the view got better. We were accompanied by one of the dogs who followed us almost the whole way up to Scolio and also showed us where the wild goats were. What a fantastic friend we made!
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| First steps of our journey |
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| Going up! |
We decided to hire a guide for two reasons;
- We didn't know what to expect (schedule, weather, gear, techniques)
- We wanted to be safe and not end up making rookie mistakes. It's a mountain, after all.
It was a great decision. First of all, we learned a lot about hiking in the mountains and how to plan the trip. Secondly, Nikos was great help for us as he knew the trails and the people we needed to know to make the trip fun and efficient. What we also loved was that it was just the three of us so no waiting for others, no queuing, no constant babbling.
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| Donkeys carrying goods down from the mountain |
We started the hike with a little warm-up as we had requested adding some extra kilometers to the first day. It was a great idea and we got to see some more of the beautiful Greek nature. After a two hour stroll Nikos drove us to the starting point of the trail to Prioni from where we started the ascent towards refuge Spilios Agapitos. Light lunch and off we went.
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| ..and sometimes we all need to rest! |
We arrived to the refuge right on time for sunset. We were greeted by the three lovely and friendly dogs belonging to the family who runs the place and after getting our three-people room with bunk beds we were ready to relax and enjoy the nature. It's quite a unique experience to spend a night up in the mountains looking up to the stars and down to the sea. We had a nutritious dinner with some great wine while enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. The lights were turned off at 22.00. You still had some people walking around in the area but basically it was time to sleep!
I guess normally it gets chilly during the night. This time it was very warm and it didn't get much below 18C. However, the weather can change fast. As it was a much hotter night than usual, we didn't get a very good night sleep. It was way too hot during the night as we didn't realize to open the window, also we had too many clothes on as we were prepared for a cold night.
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| Toni settling in for the night |
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| Evening at the Spilios Agapitos Refuge |
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| One of our friendly four-legged companions |
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| Hiking up to Aghios Antonios |
The scenery changed quite a bit and there were less trees and more pebbles. The weather was great but as we were almost in 3000m it was also very windy and somewhat chilly. Hiking up wasn't particularly difficult. It was more slippery than the day before, as the pebbles were constantly moving under our feet. At this stage we realized the importance of four items; sunscreen, a hat, windproof jacket and hiking sticks. Generally we prefer hiking without sticks but on a terrain like this they are irreplaceable! Nikos gave his sticks to me (Kris) which helped tremendously!
Reaching the Scolio peak was fantastic! It was a true accomplishment and such a priceless experience! After enjoying the view for a good fifteen minutes or so, sipping some water and resting our legs, it was time to start the most difficult part - descent. Remember the pebbles I've been talking about for a few times before? It really didn't get any easier at this point. We followed Nikos' example and walked very slowly planning every step carefully. Looking down to the potential slide was terrifying and the amount of energy we had to use to concentrate felt like a heavy burden on our shoulders. It was also the most time consuming part of the hike as it wasn't exhausting only physically but also mentally.
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| Kris and Nikos at Scolio, 2911m |
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| We made it! |
Reaching the Scolio peak was fantastic! It was a true accomplishment and such a priceless experience! After enjoying the view for a good fifteen minutes or so, sipping some water and resting our legs, it was time to start the most difficult part - descent. Remember the pebbles I've been talking about for a few times before? It really didn't get any easier at this point. We followed Nikos' example and walked very slowly planning every step carefully. Looking down to the potential slide was terrifying and the amount of energy we had to use to concentrate felt like a heavy burden on our shoulders. It was also the most time consuming part of the hike as it wasn't exhausting only physically but also mentally.
The descent got a little easier the closer we were to the refuge and after the lunch we returned to the area with more trees and a solid ground. Being exhausted from the 1st and 2nd part of the day, the 3rd wasn't easy either. It didn't require as much energy but not having much left only made it harder. Luckily the trail got easier and the forest thicker. We made it down around 17.00, exhausted and feeling totally accomplished!
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| This is how steep it was! |
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| Rise and shine, the mountain awaits and Nikos is leading the way! |
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