MT OLYMPUS HIKE - MYTIKAS PEAK - The TOP of GREECE!! 🇬🇷 - Australia to Scotland by road - Episode 92
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- We left the last episode with a realisation that the balmy beach weather we had envisaged for our time in Greece may not be a reality. With that in mind we ducked into a town to grab SIM cards (before the 4 hour long afternoon siesta) and changed our itinerary with a more inland approach. The first inland attraction we found on our way west was a stark contrast to relaxing on the beach in the sunshine, and that is a trek up Mt Olympus. Mt Olympus is not only the famed ‘Mountain of the God’s though also the highest peak in Greece, and Europe in terms of prominence. Up for a challenge we researched different hiking routes and road access and eventually found a little known track which leads the majority of the way up the peak. Sure maybe a little lazy though the weather window was tight and our schedule was short so this fitted perfectly! Making it to the base of the mountain at dusk we found a nice camp in a field where we unpacked all our hiking and winter gear in the shadow of the massif. Awaking to an incredible sunrise lighting up our day’s challenge we set off after a quick breakfast. Making our way through the farm lands we begun our ascent up the bumpy dirt track, from the lush lower greenery to sharp arid terrain, through the clouds, to a small unmanned unpowered refuge at 2500m. Nestled at the foot of a steep narrow valley the refuge and surrounding area provides a perfect protected camp spot. There were several other Greek teams there who had made the summit earlier that day. We got talking to one of the groups who were staying in the refuge for the night, although they had just met, coincidently all their names were Kostas (easy to remember), evidently a common Greek name. After dinner in the field watching the sunset we retreated into the warmth of the open fire in the unlit refuge. The younger ‘Kostas’ had come prepared with a full mixed spread of cheese, biscuits, and of course grappa. We shared stories, sipping the strong Greek liquor in the firelight for hours, before retiring for an early night. One result from talking to ‘the Kostos’ and their experience with Mt Olympus is that the last stretch of the hike to the summit was quite shaley and loose. With this in mind we altered our sunrise plan for a summit at a lower point leaving the more demanding section for when the sun had risen.
We left the Troopy in the dark at 6, the temps were just below zero, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The first stretch of the climb is a relatively straight forward hike up a single width track to the first ridge. We haven’t hiked in a long time so the altitude and thin cold morning air took a a few steps to adjust to. The sun peaked over the clouds on the horizon and lit up the sky in an array of pastels just as we climbed out of the valley - perfect timing. With the sun now rising the temp were too so, ditching a few layers, we continued on. The Mt Olympus massif actually has 52 peaks though the 3 highest are the ones of note differing by no greater than 40ms. Our path takes us past the second highest peak Skolio (2905m) though the ascent is no more difficult that than this current path so we skipped this one and pressed on comfortably reaching Skala at 2882m. The highest peak Mytikas (2917m) is apparently the home of the Greek Gods and evidently they’re quite well protected by a steep incline of loose shaley rock and cliffs on all directions. The traverse from Skala crosses a narrow ridge which drops off the back of the mountain vertically around 1000 feet before climbing a steep narrow loose couloir. When we looked out from Skala to the summit and assessed the route we now realised that we had fallen for an illusion and we were actually climbing a middle peak disguised by the similar coloured rock against the backdrop. The scramble up the couloir is a ‘Class III Rock Scramble’ which, in it’s description, states - “falls could easily be fatal”. Assessing the routes this is no exaggeration so we took our time navigating good footing and handholds. From the middle peak the summit is now clearly in sight, to get there though requires a vertical climb down and around a shelf with the assistance of a fixed rope before another scramble. With one final push we were there, standing on the quite busy 2917m summit.
The decision to leave later, although the much safer/smarter option allowed time for the hikers climbing from the other more popular side to summit and resultantly when we arrived at the peak there were a lot of people.
Taking some time to take in the view (and for Jolie to contain her emotions) we then made the trek back down to the Troopy. All done in time for lunch and celebratory beer.
From here we head to Central Greek and the monasteries of Meateora.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
J&M
Best program in the world! Love you guys
Glad you're enjoying following along Jason!
@@TheWayOverland ♾
Hey Jolie and Mark. Greetings from Oz. Stunning view from the top of Mount Olympus. Thanks for taking us along.
Cheers Rob, was worth the hike!
I was wrong about the past episodes, this is the best one by far. You two have a lasting partnership.
Wow, that's a big statement John! Glad you think so. 🙂
Beautiful guys, enjoy and make us too......
Guys, it was a pleasure to watch your video. I'm from Brazil and I've been to Greece twice, visiting some islands, but I wanto to go back to hike the MT Olympus and Meteora. Congrets!
Love from Sydney Australia this week. I just love your videos from the day you two started. So awesome. Love Ro
Thanks Ro
Spectacular drone footage. Well done!
Cheers!
Nice work dude! You are very lucky with weather.
Greece gonna be so much fun for sure.
Amazing footage guys! Just amazing! Thank You!
Cheers Kienny!
WOW.. epic stuff guys, I am in envy.... Bless you both....
Thanks Amad!
Gorgeous scenery! Really enjoyed it! Thanks and happy travels!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Thanx for taking us on the hike up to Mt Olympus. Absolutely amazing views along the way ( & on top ). Very inspiring, well done 👍
No worries, good to hear you enjoyed the trek too! 👍🏻
Love reading your side bar about the video first then watching the video . Wow some great view shots on that climb . Loved it ,and the views along the drive to your camping spot were very beautiful. Thanks for all the work you do to bring these beautiful videos to us all your over landing friends . Cheers from Steve Stott in Sutherlin Oregon U.S.A.:):) 🍻😁👍🏼
Cheers Steve, thanks for putting the time in to read the descriptions! 👍🏻
Epic stuff guys, thanks for sharing your exploits.
Cheers Robert
Jolie, you are quite a trooper (no pun intended) for completing the climb. keep providing great content for us, be safe.
Thanks Paul, this particular day was quite the journey! haha. It was all worth it at the end. 🙂
Congrats - that was stunning !
Thanks Simon
Excellent drone shots and a stunning drive. 😍
Cheers Seb 🙂
What a great adventure! Lucky to be you, and have the fortitude to make great things happen! Keep it up.
Cheers!
Damn beautiful.
It's a pretty special part of Greece, the landscape in the North (coming up in the a few episodes) is better again!
How hard was it to come down from Mytikas?
Absolutely amazing beautiful view video 😃
Can you guys come to visit Kuala Lumpur and explore Malaysia places please 😊
Thanks! We've been, loved the food. We'll be back though, lots of places we'd like to get to which we didn't have time for last time! 🙂
@@TheWayOverland G'day😃
Hehe....Just only asked you☺🤭 Malaysia also has many beautiful places to explore and beautiful stunning nature with extremely clear and clean Water beaches in Malaysia.
I haven't been to Greece before and want to travel there. Hope I will be there to take adventure and explore places in Greece one day. Hope you guys enjoy wonderful Greece trip there 😊 Have a lovely day
See yaa
What month did you hike ?
hahaha 90 second episode
Express episode.
Still people are praying Olympus gods?