Sofia to Thessaloniki to Litochoro

Picking up where the Bulgaria post left off, Sara and I headed off in our rental car toward Litochoro, a beautiful mountainside city to which ancient Pimpleians relocated after the Enipeas river flooded their original settlement. It was a center for the worship of the nine Muses, with views of the home of the gods: Mount Olympus. At almost 3,000 meters, it was the highest point ancient Greeks could access and therefore the closest to the gods (of the non-underworld variety).

We strolled along the main road, stopping in shops along the way. Souvenirs seemed to relate to two main subjects: 1) Greek mythology and 2) cats.

Soon, however, it was time to head back to the hotel and rest up before a single-day push to the home of the gods.

The Hike

There are many routes to the summit of Olympus with varying levels of popularity. The most common is an out-and-back passing by Spilios Agapitos (Refuge A), which makes for a great stop along the ascent and/or descent and sleeps up to 110 people. Another common path follows the Plateau of the Muses, home of the goddesses of the arts, with a possible overnight stay at Christos Kakalos or Giosos Apostolidis (at 2,697 meters, the highest manned refuge in the Balkans). For logistical and safety reasons, we ultimately settled on taking the most popular route out-and-back without the overnight stay.

Our starting point was a large parking lot in Prionia, a half-hour drive up from Litochoro. We set off from the hotel just before sunrise. The road quickly gains elevation, with views opening over the nearby sea. We made a quick stop just as sunrise colors peaked, followed by another unplanned stop to befriend a parking lot dog. The day was off to a great start!

Just before 7am, we started along the well-marked path. Given the day (Sunday), season (summer), weather forecast (perfectly clear), and popularity of the trail (fully booked huts), we were surprised to come across very few people. This was probably due to our choice to do this as a day hike, as I’m sure many others were higher up on the mountain, already starting their summit pushes from the hut.

Knowing we had a long day ahead and a clear forecast, we took our time with plenty of snack and water breaks. The first was just under an hour in, at this lovely picnic spot:

The path continued under tree cover for a bit longer. Then, wider views!

The AllTrails map is a bit deceiving. We were looking for another snack spot, but the map made it seem like the hut was just around the bend. That last section seemed to go on forever! There was a bit of snow to cross, so I wondered if any remained further up on the trail. Musala, just two days before, still had a decent amount, and we’d be reaching a similar elevation.

There had been droppings along the trail in parts, and our final approach to the hut revealed the source: mules. There is no helicopter landing pad for this refuge, so the mules are responsible for transporting supplies up. The hut had some of the best food (and definitely most options) of any I’d ever visited. Since we still had the more strenuous part ahead, I went with a Greek salad for lunch. I also grabbed a few gluten-free protein bars for the road!

Sara rented a helmet at the hut, we used the (non-Western) toilets, and then we continued onward and upward. There was an hour or so of simple switchbacks before the much steeper scree path started. This took longer than expected and was worse than it looked from afar.

The altitude up here didn’t help, but the views did. Clouds were rolling in, however, and the summit had been enshrouded most of the way up. This didn’t inspire a lot of optimism about summit views, and it was getting chillier.

Finally, we made it to Skala!

It was windy, foggy, and cold. I needed all of my layers on to stay warm for our snack break, despite the heatwave at sea level. We shared the summit with a few people from Moldova. We asked if they’d been to Mytikas and one encouraged us that it was an easy 20 minutes away. On the way up the scree, a Slovenian group had just told us they found it harder than Triglav. Earlier, just after the hut, a Greek man had assured us that it was very safe and that there had never been accidents on the Skala to Mytikas scramble. Not exactly consistent assessments! We decided to set off and see how it felt, given that it was an out-and-back. The first markings were pointing us straight down a thick patch of snow, so we already had to go a bit off-route.

We started skirting around the snow on loose rock. An Irish couple emerged from the fog. The man informed us it gets even sketchier, and the woman said she was scared nearly the whole time. Sara and I were feeling a bit sketched out, and we had the whole descent still ahead of us. Hanging about in this loose section was not the move, so we made a quick plan. I felt like I was still comfortable enough doing and reversing the next few visible moves, so I’d continue as long as I still felt secure. Sara is not working toward the Crown of Europe (just came along for fun post-Musala) and chose to turn back. I remember saying I felt barely 20% confident about summiting and only wanted to see if the scramble looked completely out of my comfort zone, to assess whether I’d be able to complete the Crown at all. It became less of a summit push and more of a “how bad does this get” discovery mission.

It was 1pm. We agreed that once Sara was safely back on Skala, I’d continue as far as I felt comfortable with a planned return time of 2pm, and if I wasn’t back by then (or if she got cold waiting), she’d head down to the hut to wait. Phone signal was spotty, so we couldn’t rely on that. I still could barely see 10 meters ahead, with no idea what lay ahead on the route nor how far the summit was.

The initial Skala descent ended on a narrow pass that continued up again, per the red dots. That was the most difficult section for me, as so much unknown still lay ahead, and the fog and quiet made for an eerie atmosphere. A final traverse led to the steepest slope so far. Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds. I shed a few layers, saw a guided group descending, and suddenly flipped my estimate from 20/80 to 80/20 for a summit. It’s amazing what sun and other people can do to reset the mood up there! The guide commented to his clients that I was brave for heading up unroped. I don’t fully understand what the rope would have done on that terrain in that moment, not secured to anything. Holds were horrible. One person’s slip would likely rip the others off the mountain. Then you’re also managing slack or tugs in the rope when the pacing of the group doesn’t perfectly match. I see the benefit in certain sections secured by bolts (if the guide chooses to use them), but this wasn’t like Gerlach or the Tête Rousse to Goûter scramble on Mont Blanc where there are plenty of natural features for makeshift anchors. A lot of it is just exposed and pretty smooth. Holds are generally flat, thin ledges, not rocky outcroppings. I’d recommend a guide if you’re already comfortable on Class 1 and 2 scrambles, as this is Class 3, but I wouldn’t rock up to this one as a first-ever scramble, guide or not.

What I didn’t know at the time was that Skala had become visible behind me, which meant that Sara could see me! She even made a reel with a short clip that got quite a bit of attention (with a maybe-predictable dose of sexist comments).

It was around 1:30pm when the summit came into view. It looked doable within 10 minutes, and a man was passing by at that time. I asked him to get a message to Sara on Skala, as he was moving quite quickly. I’d likely be around 30 minutes behind schedule, I said. This message never got to her and proved unnecessary, as the neon green AACR flag was a faster messenger! See the Greece Instagram highlights for this clip.

There were two other women on the summit at the time, and they helped take my summit photos with the flag. (:

Unfortunately, I forgot to sign the summit book.

After a few more photos and videos, it was time to head back to Skala, which took about the same amount of time (there is ascent and descent in both directions, and the descent from Mytikas can be even sketchier than the Skala one in parts and more sustained).

It still felt a bit less ominous, as the fog was generally clearing up. I also knew there would be no more surprises.

The final challenge was heading back up the loose bit next to the snow. A woman was perched up there looking out into the fog. She asked if I’d seen her partner, and given that there were <10 people I came across, I had. He had seemed fine and was moving well. I started down from Skala to see if I could see Sara, and sure enough, she was just down the scree! I did a little jog to catch up, saving my knees a bit in the process. That section is not fun in either direction.

The first thing I said to her was “you made the right choice, I’m never doing that again.” At the start of the scramble, I had been right on the edge of freezing up, and Sara had crossed over, which makes for a dangerous (and definitely not fun) time. I’ve been there on other scrambles…it worsens balance, makes legs shaky, and just generally adds tangible risk. Most people who spend time on exposed scrambles with a fear of heights understand that it’s not really “in your head”; the fear is a practical warning. Sometimes your body and/or brain decides it just isn’t the day. It’s best not to tell those who don’t summit that they “could have done it”, as it suggests that ability or confidence is the reason. In reality, there are many factors: fatigue on the day, training leading up to it, familiarity with the route, and even just goals/motivations. We had differences in each of these areas that led to our different choices. Sara made a post about hers, and this deservedly got more empathy and support.

We kept descending, and before long, the hut came into view. Bolognese time!

Sara had the classic spaghetti bolognese the hut is known for, while I had a gluten-free version with potatoes. Refuge A was definitely a highlight of the hike, between that and the Greek salad earlier. My summit friends caught up and we chatted for a bit before Sara and I started our final descent.

Along the way, we caught up with a group of Romanians and all proceeded down pretty quickly together. It had been a 10+ hour day at this point, with an early wake-up, so they provided enough entertainment to get through the endless final bit. As did the goats!

When we arrived in the parking lot, the dog (per some Instagram comments, possibly Marko?) was there to greet Sara again. We’d officially wrapped up the two highest peaks in the Balkans, and it was time for some rest by the beach in Paralia an hour away.

Paralia

We stayed at John & Eve Hotel, a short walk from the beach. We arrived there as it was getting dark, so our first stop was a smoothie place across the street. The next morning, we had some time before our flight to check out the town of Paralia, which exceeded expectations!

We had some amazing Greek froyo, but the beach itself was way too crowded to chill there. We found a cafe overlooking the water and stopped in there. Then, we headed back to the airport to return the car and fly home. PSA: the rental car lot has no toilet and involves a shuttle to the airport…small bladders, don’t risk not stopping somewhere first.

THANK YOU ❤

Thanks for reading my twenty-seventh Crown of Cureope blog post! At the time I stood on Mytikas, we had raised $2,975 for the American Association for Cancer Research to fund lifesaving discoveries. As of publishing this post, we are at $3,160 raised. With some of the bigger peaks still remaining in this challenge, I’m hoping we can hit 5 figures!! Thank you so much to everyone who’s donated and spread the word to help hit the fundraising goal, and to fellow hikers for tips and company along the way to these summits. An unexpected peak, Grauspitz in Liechtenstein, is up next! (: