Climbing Mount Olympus (2918, Greece) In One Day

I cannot remember which year exactly I went on this trip. All I know is that it was in the early 2000s, and that I was still taking pictures with film. I recently set up my film scanning setup, so I am gradually reviving my old adventures.

During my tourism management studies, I spent some time working for a travel agency, and at the end of my time there, I flew to Greece for a week. I had no money, but I was pretty fit and was looking for adventure within nature.

I took a late-afternoon flight to Thessaloniki in the North of Greece, shouldered my rucksack and made my way by train to a little place called Litochoro. I arrived there late in the evening and couldn't see anything in the darkness. I was so tired that I just lay on the ground and cought a few hours of sleep.

In the early morning, I was rewarded by this beautiful sunrise that you can see on the second photo. I packed my things, shouldered my heavy rucksack and started my longest day hike ever. Starting from sea level, I was going to walk up to the summit of Mount Olympus within one day, almost 3000 m of altitude difference.

I started walking up towards the back end of Litochoro. As this is a popular hike, it was very well sign-posted. I was feeling very calm. I had spent the previous years hiking and climbing a lot, and I was not worried about the hike being too long. If I wasn't going to make it, I would just camp wherever I'd feel tired.

The only issue was that I was seriously under-funded. I brought just enough food for the day, and lots of gummi bears for the night. I had my trusty little cooking stove which had followed me around the world, and some cheap pasta from the supermarket.

I had no worries whatsoever, I enjoyed travelling alone, everything felt very serene. It was a beautiful spring day in May, and the huts were still closed. That's why there wasn't anyone around. It was very quiet, and I silently hiked up the mountain.

After the village, the broad path slowly went deeper into the valley at the bottom of Mount Olympus. I was taking in the view of the forest all around me and climbing across some trees which had fallen over during the previous winter.

I honestly felt like everything was perfect. I had just spent a few weeks working in an office, and needed a lot of freedom and fresh air. My legs felt strong, and I enjoyed the challenge. I was very fearless at the time. In hindsight, I wonder if I was maybe not just brave, but a little bit careless. Even though I did have a lot of experience in the mountains, I should maybe have been a little bit better prepared.

But then again, I might never have had this beautiful adventure...

At some point, I could hear music playing in the forest. I was surprised as I had not seen anyone around. I soon walked past a monastery called Old Holy Monastery of Saint Dionysios of Olympus. Someone, presumably a monk, was playing the flute outside the building. I didn't want to disturb him, so I quietly walked past and went deeper into the forest.

The day was slowly getting older, the hours passed by, and soon it was midday. It never got too warm or cool and I didn't feel tired. It was as if I was granted a full energy tank for the day.

So I kept hiking up the mountain. The minutes became hours, and it all felt like a dream.

Towards the end of the afternoon, I arrived at a mountain hut which was still closed. I think it was called Spilios Agapitos (Zolotas) Refuge, around 2100 m high. I put up my tent next to the hut and left most of my heavy items there.

As it was getting seriously late in the afternoon, I quickly carried on. Soon, the forest gave way to open mountain landscapes. The broad path changed into a smaller rocky trail.

I was starting to feel the fatigue now, but strong emotions were literally carrying me up the mountain. I could feel that I wasn't far from the summit now.

Soon, the last snow of the season was in front of me. I could tell that I was alone up there because the were no tracks in the snow. I slowly made my way up the last hundreds of meters to the highest point of the mountain.

Then, I realised that it didn't look like I was going to end up at the real top of Mount Olympus. The summit area of this mountain is split into several summits. I think that the highest one is called Skala.

Finally I reached the summit. Probably not the highest point of Mount Olympus. I think that I reached the point called Skala, which is a few meters lower than the point called Mytikas.

But it didn't matter. I hadn't done this hike in order to tick off the name of a mountain. All that counted for me was the experience, and I loved being up there late in the day. The sun was starting to go down, and the landscape looked absolutely amazing.

I had been feeling very excited during the whole day.

But suddenly, a cold wind started blowing and I lost a bit of my drive. There was a definite chill in the air and my legs were suddenly feeling very heavy. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination, but I thought that I could see wolved sitting on top of some of the lower mountains, and I thought I could hear them communicate by howling into the wind. Whatever it was, it suddenly felt quite spooky up there and I quickly started running down the mountain, gliding down the snow in my old foot steps.

I soon stopped thinking about the (imaginary?) wolves that I had spotted. Now I was feeling very hungry. I had barely eaten anything during the day, and it was time to get back to my tent.

As I was running down the mountain, I reflected that this had been my longest hike in the mountains. Around 15-16 hours of walking for no other reason than a personal challenge.

I soon arrived back at the hut where I realised that my energy was definitely gone. You can see on the second picture that I look less than fresh...

The only thing I can remember is that I ate a whole packet of gummi bears and then somehow managed to fall asleep. My legs were hurting from too much exercise, and my head was full of memories. It was hard to process it all.

The next morning, the sun rose in the east, just the same way it had done 24 hours earlier. Only that today, I was not lying next to the sea, but high up in the mountains.

I slowly packed up my tent and put everything back into my old worn-out rucksack. Today, there wasn't much of yesterday's energy left. My legs felt stiff and I didn't feel like hiking. Halfway down the mountain, I got very lucky because I met a couple of nice Greek tourists. They had driven halfway up the mountain and offered to give me a lift down back to Litochoro.

Needless to say that I accepted. Later in the day, I was back on the train towards Thessaloniki where I was going to spend a few more days along the coast of Northern Greece.

But that's a story for another day...