Mt. Olympus, South side

When you sleep in one of the most magical places in Mt. Olympus, Olympus Lodge and you wake up right in the heart of Mt. Olympus South Side, you know that the day is going to be unique and unforgettable !

From Olympus Lodge, Sykaminea we drive to the next little village Karya ( which is only 5 min driving). Continuing the road above the village we head northeast following the dirt road on the right, that leads to the chapel of Agia Triada and then we choose the left dirt road going up the mountain further until snow cover stops us. The road reaches up to about 1700 m without snow cover.

The view of the peaks while driving up hill with the car.

The dirt road from Karya to the mountain

GPS application and map helped us understand exactly where we were and how we should move around with the skins.

From the car to the summit

The starting point depends on the snow coverage. On an another visit it is very likely that the conditions will be completely different and the snow will start from much lower, completely changing that way the starting point and of course the duration of the ascent or difficulty.

The ascent with the skins

Our ascent started taught for the first hour.

With a lot of breaks ...... !!!

But above the clouds overlooking Kissavos and Pelion!

Until we reached the ridge. The view from the ridge is mythical... and gives you the courage to continue to the top.

To the left you can see Nine Towers, Kakavrakas and Metamorphosis peaks. A little higher Frangou Aloni peak.

Passing by the top of Frangou Aloni

Continue uphill we reach a small plateau. To our right is the ridge above Leptokarya.

The world is covered with clouds. We staring the rise of Kissavos, Pelion and Parnassos in the background. Far but clearly the Pindos mountain range and Athos on our right.

Continuing the ascent we decide to reach the end of the mountain between Kalogeros and Pagos at an altitude of 2700.

From here we see Profitis Ilias, the refuge of Apostolides and Kakalos, Toumba, Mytikas, Scolio, Agios Antonis ... Only white peaks and the clouds ... and those who travel between them ...

Pagos Summit

After a short break at the top, we prepare the equipment and start the descent. We decide to go down the left of the route we took because it leads to the dirt road in order to explore the place more.

We arrived in the car sliding down the snow-covered dirt road at the time the sun sets .... !!!

Many thanks to our guide for this journey Mr. Thanasis Karelas of Trekking Hellas mt. Olympus & the photographer Mr Yanni Barb.