Throne of Gods—climbing Mt. Olympus

In Greece everything is wrapped in myth and Mt. Olympus is no exception (known as the ‘throne of Gods,’ from where Zeus ruled the world). On a clear day, to the south of Thessaloniki across the Mediterranean Sea, the massif of Mt. Olympus is clearly visible as an upturned bowl suspended unbelievably above the mist below. The range has many peaks and Mytikas, which I climbed recently, is the highest (2918 metres). The 90 kilometre drive from Thessaloniki to the base town of Litochoro (City of Gods) took barely an hour (the Greeks drive like men possessed) and from there a winding mountain road overlooking Enipeas Gorge got us to Pironia (1000 metres) where we parked and hit the lovely E4 trail through a thick black conifer forest.

Within three hours we reached Refuge A at 2100 metres for the night’s halt. We checked in and I gathered necessary information from the refuge manager. I was delighted to know he had been to India. Next day we gained ground steeply till we came to a fork (2480 metres) from where the trail to the right leads to Zonaria and the one on the left to Skala. Here my friend decided to quit and I pushed on ahead on my own, heading for Skala. The day was sunny but cold due to the wind-chill. It was a beautiful barren alpine panorama: the views to the East unfurled majestically as the sun rose above the Mediterranean. Soon I had to get rid of my layers, climbing only in my tees and crossed a herd of Balkan Chamois who continued to graze peacefully oblivious to my presence.

Shortly I reached point Skala (2860 metres) and looked across the maze of rock gullies and steps leading to Mytikas that looked tantalizingly close. I stared down at the exposed rock and then plunged through a narrow gully grazing myself on the reddish stone. After going down using my hands and legs for about 10 metres, I found the red markings pointing the trail to Mytikas. It’s an easy scramble though the exposure is considerable and a tumble would surely be nasty if not fatal and I wouldn’t advise this section to anyone alone. At places I found wire ropes for ease of climbing. The last 20 metres over rock steps (Kakoskala) was exhilarating as it goes up vertically in one sweep and I literally ran up the face to reach the top. The panorama was spectacular and after scribing my name in the climbing log, I descended through the Louki trail on the other side following a narrow gully skirted by a continuous rock fall. I didn’t have a helmet and I was lucky to escape with minor bruises. Many climbers have died or met with severe accidents in Louki.

Literally sliding and slithering I reached the base of the trail and then headed left, skirting the bottom of the Mt. Olympus massif to reach Muses Plateau. Within an hour I reached Refuge Christos Kakalos (2650 metres) where I had lunch and caught up with my friend who was waiting for me at the refuge. Muses Plateau is vast and easily houses a village with sharp drops on all sides.

We roamed around a bit and then descended through the Kofto trail, which is a short cut to Refuge A. The trail was rather steep and rocky with countless twists and turns and natural steps, finally emerging into the pine forests and then to the refuge. I had been moving for more than 10 hours and had managed to pull off a traverse of the massif. And as the evening sun dipped behind the mountains I thanked Zeus for being so benign to have granted an audience and for keeping me out of harm’s way.