Mt. Olympus
We arrived in Greece’s 2nd biggest city, Thessaloniki, by bus and only spent one night. Early the next day we picked up a rental car and made the 2 hour ride to Litochoro at the base of Mt Olympus. It’s a very charming little town used as a base for all things related to the mountain. Our boutique hotel had a view of the peak from our balcony, great hosts and even a complimentary spa treatment for after our climb. We loved it. After a night of rest we were ready to attempt the climb. We drove 30 minutes from town to the E4 trailhead in Priònia. It was 6 am and we had the trail to ourselves except for a convoy of donkeys heading up to the refuge camp with supplies. The weather was perfect for climbing. The first three hours of the hike was pretty easy. You begin by passing through the Enipeas Canyon with steep uphill climbs over rock covered paths. The deeper into the canyon you go the bigger the hills get and the more amazing the views become. By 9am we had reached the refuge camp and decided to take a 30 minute break and enjoy some slightly over priced but delicious homemade soups and bread that the local family living there provide. We also replenished our water supply. If you’re looking to make the climb in 2 days you can sleep at the refuge in a tent or in the dorm style beds they offer. We continued on for about another hour before reaching the tree line. Although the views kept getting better we did miss the shade from the trees. At this point the trail got steeper and became covered in loose stones making it quite a bit more difficult. The oxygen level at sea level was around 22% and at the summit it drops to 14% so we slowed our pace and made sure we paid close attention to each step so as not to make an unforgiven mistake. The last hour of the climb was extremely steep and the trail was covered in even more loose pebbles. That combined with the blazing sun and the low oxygen level made the push to the summit harder then any climb we had done before. One slow step at a time we inched our way up, stopping to catch our breath, sip water and munch on M&M’s every 10 minutes. This was the first time we ever used hiking poles and they made such a difference. We each had 2 close falls but were saved by the poles each time. Finally, after 7 hours of intense climbing we reached the Throne of Zeus, out of breath but full of life. Grinning from ear to ear we stood in awe and took in the view, speechless. We sat on top of the mountain alone at 2,917m/9,570ft for round 30 minutes congratulating each other, munching on some snacks and taking the mandatory pictures. I even flew my drone from the top of Greece. I won’t pretend it was easy or that we weren’t sore the next day but it was worth every muscle ache and stiff joint. The decent took 5 hours but it felt like only 10 minutes. We were on cloud nine so we proceeded with extra caution. At the refuge camp we met up with another traveler we saw on the way up and the three of us spent the last 2 hours telling tales of our climb as well as all our travels. It wasn’t the highest we have ever climbed (that would be Mt Fuji at 3,776 meters/12,388ft) but it was the most difficult, rated as class 4 climb. This was an accomplishment neither of us will ever forget. Next up- Mt Kilimanjaro 5,885 meters/ 19/308ft!!!!
