From Therisso to Agia Roumeli, trekking the Lefka Ori

Hi folks,

The hillside above Therisso is well fed with springs, which is quite unusual in the Lefka Ori range. There are three of them on the old transhumance trail to Kolokithas valley. Nowadays, sheperdhing activities still exist on this northern side of the mountains. I have met shepherds and herds on my way to Kolokithas, as far as Tria Matia pass.

Kolokithas probably was an important place long ago, there is a large mitato complex there, suggesting people did operate in the valley. From Kolokithas, it is possible to go to Livada and Pirou Mitato. These routes offer access respectively, to Livada and Potamos valley. They are disused however, and have been for quite some time. There are no real paths to be found (few segments here and there). The way to Kolokithas itself from Therisso is not well defined, and there are no waymarks. Last august, I had the opportunity to walk the trail, starting from Therisso to Agia Roumeli on the South coast.

I started from Therisso at 2PM the first day and slept at the third spring. Next day, I walked to Kolokithas valley, Pirou Mitato, and slept at Potamos. On my third day, I climbed to Zaranokefala and headed towards Agios Ioannis. I slept at Sellouda. Finally, the last day, I walked the south coast to Agia Roumeli.

Day one

I started from the village square with a statue of Venizelos. I followed the asphalt road towards Drakona and Keramia. There is a junction just after the village. Right is for Zourva while left is the good direction. After 1-2 kilometers, I turned right on a dirt track heading south through the hillside. After about 1h45 minutes, I passed a parking lot on my left. This marks the location of Alyakes spring. To find the spring, turn right just after the parking lot. There is a sheep through and a pipe that brings water from the spring. Beyond, a footpath extends to Zourva. After a short rest, I continued my way southward on the dirt track. After 1h15 minutes, I crossed a junction. The correct way is on the left. I could not find it but it seems that Mono Scarfidi spring is located just before the junction.

Few minutes after the road fork, a wooden pole, on the left, heralds the start of a footpath. The path climbs uphill eastward and then turns south, parallel to the road below. One hour after I left the dirt track, I arrived at the third spring: Selya. As usual, there is a sheep trough and also a mitato. Unfortunately, I found the ground there was very rocky and I could not find a suitable place to pitch my tent. Therefore, I slept inside the mitato. There was a sleeping mattress with blankets, a table with a bottle of whiskey. What a cheerful welcome! Of course, I did not drink from the bottle. The night was beautiful, clear but a bit windy. The views from Selya are astounding, and after I admired the sunset, I was rewarded with city lights from Chania.

Day two

I woke up at 7am. Half an hour later, I was almost ready to go. I was filling my bottles with water, when I was greeted by a shepherd. He asked me something which I did not quite understand. I think he asked if I slept in the mitato. I answered positively and told him I was leaving soon. He went back after his goats seemingly satisfied. It took 2 hours to reach the next spring: Kapsekas. The path, from Selya, is going gently uphill, and soon levels out, running parallel to the dirt track far below. At times, the footpath was very faint, and I had to go up and down, looking for its continuation. Finally, the path engaged into a wide reentrant. On the south side of the reentrant, there is an area of flat rocks. The Kapsekas spring is located there and the path leads to it. Unfortunately, at the end of august, there was no water. After I left the reentrant, I could see my next objective on the skyline: Tria matia. This saddle, at 1800 meters, marks the entrance to kolokithas valley.

After 45 minutes, I was standing on the rim of the valley. I have to admit, I found the place grim-looking. A wide depression, surrounded by summits over 2000m such as Mavri, Ornio. Sink holes, sandy basins and rocky hills - from where I stood it seemed to announce a difficult progression. I could figure a rough direction to Livada thanks to the summit of Grias Soros to the east. However, Livada was not my destination, I would have to turn south at some point to reach Pirou mitato. From the saddle, I made my way to the valley floor, heading for the nearest hill. After one short hour, I reached the top of that hill and found Kolokithas Mitato. It's quite large but disused nowadays. From there, I took a course south-east, to reach the south slope of the next big hill (with a pimp at the top). After I passed that hill, I worked my way southward, on the left side of the valley.

There is an exit for Livada, but if you don't know you may not find it

• From the south slope of the hill with a pimp at the top, keep walking eastward to reach a saddle. This gives access to a valley that leads to Pirgos Mitato, above Livada.

After some time, I could see mount Svourichti above a saddle on the left side of the valley. This is a way for Katsiveli and Livada, there is a distinct path going that way. My progression became very tiring, ridges after ridges, saddles after saddles on very rough ground. It was a relief to reach Pirou mitato, some 2h30 minutes after I left Kolokithas mitato. From Pirou, I took the E4 trail southwards towards Potamos valley. Some 30 minutes later I stood at the northern rim of Potamos. Another 40 minutes and I stopped at Potamos cistern, my place for the night. The night was chilly and I quickly crept into my sleeping bag. I was a bit disappointed because the sky was not very spectacular, the moon was to its first (or third?) quarter and hid most of the milky way.

Day three

I got up at 7h30 and quickly made my pack. I took 1 liter and a half water from the cistern. My plans were to get water at Zaranokefala spring. Soon, I was walking down the valley towards its end where it evolves into the Eligias gorge. There are blue waymarks indicating the way through the gorge, that you can follow for some time. Soon, I noticed the path for Zaranokefala, climbing up the left slopes of Potamos. Few minutes before, I passed the remains of a belgium jet fighter (Mirage 5) that crashed here. Another Mirage V crashed in the area while flying over the crash site. Unfortunately, I do not know where exactly it is now. Back to the walk.

After I left Potamos, the path began to climb quite steeply on a scree slope, in a long run of short zigzags. Finally, it left the scree slope and engaged into a wide reentrant. I was now walking quite high above the Eligias gorge and the path, whilst still going up, was not so steep. After I left the reentrant, the landscape changed quite a bit. It became very tormented, with lots of crevices and black or grey rocks. It looked a lot like the area between Kastro and Grias Soros. The Zaranokefala crag was now clearly in sight. At an altitude of 1800, I reached the last saddle (1800m) before the crag. It is possible to reach Pachnes from there (I did few weeks later), it's not easy though. The path to Agios Ioannis doesn't climb to the summit of Zaranokefala, instead, it runs along the base of its crag at about 1900 meters high. There are some overhangs that can be used as shelters. One of them seems to be suitable for an overnight stay. There is also a spring and a cistern hidden under rocks. In the end, it took me three hours to reach Zaranokefala from Potamos.

After the spring, the path turns east on the southern slopes of the Lefka Ori and the horizon widens quite a bit. The open sea and Agios Ioannis forested hillside, far below, are a very attractive and impressive backdrop. My next objective was to reach a place called Kroussia. The path was clearly visible but quite steep. As a result, the walk down to Kroussia, which lasted more than two hours, was quite exhausting. Besides, as I began to loose altitude, temperatures kept rising and I began to sweat heavily. At Kroussia, there are several open cisterns but water seems to be only suitable for animals. There is also a dirt track that goes to Agios Ioannis. Looking at the map, it seemed to be a long way, with many zigzags. So I decided to walk the shortcut path to Agios Ioannis that is noted on the Anavasi map. I think I found the start of the path but then I lost it, or it has become so overgrown that it simply doesn't exist anymore. I spent the next hour walking down a steep and slippery hillside only to reach the dirt track again. Still looking at the map, I walked the road down for a few minutes until I found what seemed to be a path going down into the pinewood. I followed this until it crossed the rocky bed of a small ravine.

From there, after just a few minutes, I finally arrived at Agios Ioannis. Agios Ioannis is a small village that is almost uninhabited. There may be few residents but I'm not sure. The place seems desert. At the time I reached Agios Ioannis, I was pretty exhausted, but I wanted to sleep at Sellouda. So I gathered what strength I had left and headed for the Asphalt road that goes to Anopoli. When I left the village, I passed a chapel and turned right on a footpath. It is a pleasant path, between two low walls. After half an hour, it meets a dirt track and but continues southward going gently uphill until you reach Sellouda. Sellouda is a belvedere above Agia Roumeli bay. The views are marvellous and inspiring. This is a really good place to wath the sunset. From here, the path makes its way down, steeply through the cliffs, to Agios pavlos chapel on the seashore. That's some 600m below!

Day four

I woke up late and was ready to go by 10am. Just before I left, I was surprised by five gryffon vultures flying fast few meters above me. No time to grab my camera though... It didn't take long before they were too high for me to take a good shot. I followed the path down to Agios Pavlos. Near Sellouda, there is a fine example of Kalderimi, the old mule tracks that once linked the villages and grazing areas. 1h30 later, I was at Agios Pavlos. There's a nice beach with grey sand and pebbles, that features a chapel dedicated to Saint Paul. There is also a bar where I rested for some time before setting off. I walked westward along the shore for 1h15 and arrived at my final destination: Agia Roumeli. I had plenty of time to enjoy a well-deserved bath there before I took the ferry to Sfakia.

Timings

• Therisso to Alyakes spring: 1h45
• to Mono scarfidi: 1h15
• to Selya: 1h15
• to Kapsekas: 2h
• to Tria Matia: 0h45
• to Kolokithas mitato: 1h
• to Pirou mitato: 2h30
• to Potamos north: 0h30
• to Potamos mitato: 0h40
• to Zaranokefala: 3h15
• to Kroussia: 2h20
• to Agios Ioannis: 1h15
• to Sellouda: 0h45
• to Agios Pavlos: 1h30
• to Agia Roumeli: 1h15

This crossing of the mountains takes the best of what mountains can offer here. The scenery is great as you walk across areas with varied landscapes. Icing on the cake, you end your journey in the beautiful Agia Roumeli bay, between sea and mountains. In my next post, I'll write about the E4 trail that links Kambi village to Livada valley. I will also cover different approach path to Pachnes summit.

Until then, see you!