Mount Olympus National Park
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
Late Sunday afternoon, the weather cleared… time to venture out for a walk on the outskirts of Litochoro. Uphill through the trees, on the path from Agia Paraskevi church, there is one of those little shrines you can see all over Greece. Many are located roadside, it is true, in remembrance of a traffic accident victim. However, they can be erected to publicly thank a Saint for lives saved. Through an opening glass door you will see an oil lamp burning, faded photos, images of Saints and other religious paraphernalia. Just a short distance further, standing in a clearing, there is a small church… such a peaceful place.
Monday and the Gods brought sunshine. Molly, the resident cat where I’m staying was making the most of it. On the other hand, I had some serious hiking to do.
Most of the trails in the Mount Olympus National Park are listed as being anything from “medium difficulty” to “dangerous route”. I chose to walk from Litochoro to the Golna peak… at an altitude of more than 1000m, it is listed as an “easy route”. From the top you can look down on the Enipea Canyon and across to the highest misty peaks of Mount Olympus. If you wish, you can descend to the Kastanas Spring near where the trail intersects with the E4, between Prionia and Litochoro. I chose to play it safe and return via the same path by which I had ascended and believe me, it most definitely was NOT an “easy route”.
This particular hike takes you through an area of mainly broad leaved evergreen forest, but Olympus is characterised by a wide variety of vegetation types. There are more than 1,700 plant species, representing 25% of all Greek flora. Add to this, 150+ species of birds, 40+ species of mammals including the brown bear and wolf, 34+ species of amphibians and reptiles including snakes (I only saw a dead one) and numerous invertebrates including 155 species of butterflies. And, what did I see? Tortoises, lizards and a brown coloured animal which moved so fast through the trees, I couldn’t identify it.
There were also very few humans in the area although I had a lovely conversation with Vangelis at the Golna shelter. He had walked up behind me with his wee dog, 2 year old Loulou. I found it incredible that she could do this but apparently she loves such adventures.
I carried on for about another kilometer until I reached the point where the path began to descend… it was time to turn around. On the way back down, I stopped to sit on the one and only bench seat provided, with a view, to eat my lunch. You cannot imagine how wonderful a banana and chunk of bread can taste!
Tuesday, persistent rain… I’m in recuperation mode with feet up, doing very little and I would like to think I have earned it!
