Hiking frequently is one of the advantages of rural lifestyle but not under the hot Greek summer! So today I'll share with you the story of a hike that took place in October 2018, using the #showcasesunday, an initiative of @nonameslefttouse meant to revive old posts!
You can find the original post here.
The most famous gorge of the island is of course the one at Samaria. I have already told you about it in my post Hiking through the ultimate gorge of Europe! but today I'll share with you a route equally beautiful and mostly unknown. This time, my hiking buddies and I, crossed an amazing gorge, literally in our neighborhood, that is extremely underestimated and undervalued.
For those that don't know it, I am living at the northeast side of Crete, the biggest and most fascinating from the Greek islands. The entrance of the gorge is almost at the middle of the route from "Agios Nikolaos" to "Sitia", just before the village "Sfaka" and its name is "Tsigounis". You won't find any signs so you might need some help finding your way in and probably your way out, too :)
It took us about 3,5 hours to cross the gorge and find ourselves from the attitude of 220 meters of the main road to the plateau of "Monokara" at a height of 750 meters and 2 more hours to come back through dirty roads and paths.
The gorge is dominated by a local variety of oak trees that provides thick shadow and a protected environment for the vegetation underneath. Eastern Crete is suffering from drought and it is only in gorges that we can see this kind of vegetation, in abundance. In every aspect a pleasure for all the senses!
At some point the terrain is quite rough and a little climbing is necessary. Nothing too difficult but you have to be prepared that it is more than a walk in the woods.
Exiting the gorge, the weather got foggy and we missed the amazing view from the plateau but we didn't care at all. We all agreed that it was one of the most fascinating gorges we have ever been and looking forward for an excuse to come back!
Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.
Commenting, upvoting and rebloging are highly appreciated!
is this hike leading to a nice beach and salty water?
I am afraid not, just a plateau with lots of goats :)
well maybe when you live next to a salt water you get bored and you want to see mountain goats :D
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Thank you :)
The landscapes offer the feeling of a canyon! And I love that. Seems like a great hiking choice :D
It is a very nice hike indeed!
Thank you for stopping by @gabrielatravels :)