On 15th me and my brother took the extreme hike in the Crete and that was longest gorge in Europe, the Samaria.
We paid a trip which included the buss drive to the starting point, hike, ferry from Agia Rouméli to Sougia and buss ride back to Stalós where the buss picked up in the first place.
Our walk started at 7.45am and our group was almost the first in the gorge, so not too much traffic there. We had nice pace during the day and only few people passed us during the walk. Samaria is 14km long and then you have to walk to Agia Rouméli for two kilometers, so total is 16km. First we walked downhill almost two kilometers and that was very hard for the thighs.
All the time I scanned the sky, cause my main reason to go there was to see Lammergeir. I knew that people had seen those from the starting point, but there was no change to leave there.
We were already like 3km from the start when I found a adult bird flying quite far a way, but it was really easy to id! I told my brother that there it is and soon bird disappeared behind the mountain. Never saw it again, but there it was, my dream bird in the most amazing place. I felt light and rest of the hike was much easier.
Here is a big set of photos from the gorge.
From the narrowest point it was only some kilometers more and the gorge ended. Place was full of Painted Lady butterflies, Chaffinches and we also saw few Wrens, Pallid Swifts, Alpine Swifts, Grey Wagtail, Cretan wild Goat at the midway point and few Common Buzzards. At the end I also saw two light colored raptors and I´m sure that one was Lammergeir and other one was possibly too, but the place was so far from the high peaks that it felt weird. Anyway I counted two from there and I was happy.
After the gorge we went to the city to have well deserved food (gyros) and few beers.
Ferry lasted about an hour and then long buss drive from Sougia to Stalós. This was real full day adventure, so thanks to Sanni for taking care of the kids that time. few days after the hike my legs were in severe pain and I barely walked.. Like our guide said, a little souvenir from Samaria.
-Tom
We paid a trip which included the buss drive to the starting point, hike, ferry from Agia Rouméli to Sougia and buss ride back to Stalós where the buss picked up in the first place.
Our walk started at 7.45am and our group was almost the first in the gorge, so not too much traffic there. We had nice pace during the day and only few people passed us during the walk. Samaria is 14km long and then you have to walk to Agia Rouméli for two kilometers, so total is 16km. First we walked downhill almost two kilometers and that was very hard for the thighs.
All the time I scanned the sky, cause my main reason to go there was to see Lammergeir. I knew that people had seen those from the starting point, but there was no change to leave there.
We were already like 3km from the start when I found a adult bird flying quite far a way, but it was really easy to id! I told my brother that there it is and soon bird disappeared behind the mountain. Never saw it again, but there it was, my dream bird in the most amazing place. I felt light and rest of the hike was much easier.
Here is a big set of photos from the gorge.
 |
| Simply amazing. |
 |
| Near the start there was little groups of people, but it was not a problem. |
 |
| Over that mountain I saw the Lammergeir. What a place. |
 |
| Road in the woods. |
 |
| When you go lower and lower the area turns to a big forest. |
 |
| The Road. |
 |
| This stream followed us all the time and we crossed it like thousand times. |
 |
| At this point the gorge started to be little narrower. |
 |
| The narrowest point "the hell gate" only 3.5m wide. |
 |
| Many Griffon Vultures in the area. Mostly seen like this. |
 |
| Craig Martin and the nest. |
 |
| Lizzard sp. |
 |
| Eurasian Jay. |
 |
| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Oenanthe Melanoleuca. |
From the narrowest point it was only some kilometers more and the gorge ended. Place was full of Painted Lady butterflies, Chaffinches and we also saw few Wrens, Pallid Swifts, Alpine Swifts, Grey Wagtail, Cretan wild Goat at the midway point and few Common Buzzards. At the end I also saw two light colored raptors and I´m sure that one was Lammergeir and other one was possibly too, but the place was so far from the high peaks that it felt weird. Anyway I counted two from there and I was happy.
After the gorge we went to the city to have well deserved food (gyros) and few beers.
Ferry lasted about an hour and then long buss drive from Sougia to Stalós. This was real full day adventure, so thanks to Sanni for taking care of the kids that time. few days after the hike my legs were in severe pain and I barely walked.. Like our guide said, a little souvenir from Samaria.
-Tom
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti