We had spent a quiet New Years Eve in the parking lot of the Polylimnio Waterfalls. There was one other van there, also with a Germany licence plate.
On the first day of 2022, we were on the trail by 10:00am to the waterfalls. I hadn't actually done a lot of research, other than knowing that the trail was about 3 kms (1.9 miles) long, and that there were a series of different waterfalls.
When we got down to the start of the trail beside the river, there was a sign showing that you could go either left or right. We chose right, and headed upstream.
Ruth, crossing the river.
But it wasn't much of a trail, and the rocks were wet and really quite slippery. We even hesitated about going further, but we decided to just take our time.
Pretty iris of some kind.
Eventually we made it up to one of the larger waterfalls. It was really pretty, and there was a sign saying there were more waterfalls further on. But it was not easy going. Eventually we got to a part of the trail where you had to hang onto ropes and they had put steel rod supports into the rock for your feet. We weren't expecting this!
It was kind of fun, although we were a little worried about going back down. Really steep trails are always easier going up than down.
Me!
Ruth, on one of the steep sections.
Heading higher!
Another pretty waterfall.
I took a short video for you...
But then things got a little more difficult...
Yikes!
Yes, my feet were about to get wet.
Around that corner were some more steel supports wedged into the rock.
Can you see Ruth down below?
Here she comes!
But then we kind of got stuck. I didn't take another photo because it took the two of us helping each other to get across! There was a section of the river that I just barely made it across, and there was no way Ruth would make it. I ended up stepping right in the middle of the river to give her some support to get across. And then there was a metal stairway that led us to the top.
The only problem now was getting back down!
I checked the maps.me app, and it showed a trail that went to another parking area where we could access the road, and we walked back to Max on the road.
Back at Max, the other van had disappeared, but another one had showed up, this one with Austrian plates. Nobody else was around, but then we didn't figure the bad guys would be out on New Years Day morning. So, the entire hike we didn't see another person.
Then we set off to Ancient Messene, a ruins site about 25 kms inland.
Snow on the mountains in the distance.
Scenery along the way.
We arrived at the parking area at Ancient Messene. I had read that you could overnight there, and sure enough that would have been fine. But, we had no cell signal. So I checked around, and we found a beautiful spot a few kms higher up the road. It overlooked the entire valley.
The view out our side entrance door.
Max, parked at GPS 37.184719, 21.908435
Perfect.
Zoomed in on the modern day village of Messene.
We hadn't originally planned on coming here, but the first Sunday of every month the archeological sites in Greece are free entry. We were close enough to Messene that we figured we would take advantage of that! So here we are. We will head down to the ruins site this morning and check things out for a couple of hours before carrying on to our next destination.
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That trail....yikes is right! You are much braver thn I am, I'd have turned back at the first metal spike! But the falls are beautiful! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteIf I could do it, it couldn't have been too bad because I chicken out on steep narrow stuff. It really made a difference having the ropes and hand/foot holds and there were only a couple of sections that were steep, plus we were taking our time and watching our footing. It really was a fun hike and I have to admit that I was happy not to have to go back the same way we came. The falls were pretty and it was nice having them to ourselves, apparently this place gets really busy in the summer time.
DeleteI dont need to see waterfalls that badly to risk an injury. You are braver than us.
ReplyDeleteWe know our limits, especially me! If I don't think I can do something then I don't do it, especially when it comes to steep and narrow. Luckily there were only a couple of sections like that tand the ropes and foot/hand holds made a huge difference, I won't have done it otherwise. It was also a bonus that we were able to do a loop instead of having to return the same way. We actually like hikes like this, we have done several that have been similar over the years. :-)
DeleteI, like you would have pressed on. The old risk/reward factor. Beautiful
ReplyDeleteGood for you Lorne! It was definitely a fun hike, you just need to take your time and watch your footing. The waterfalls were beautiful and we were glad to have them all to ourselves. :-)
DeleteThat hike looked like a blast and very rewarding with scenery, but I don't blame you for looping around so you didn't have to go back the way you came. Glad you had that option. Good for you two for being so adventurous!
ReplyDeleteWe definitely had a lot of fun and laughs as we were doing certain sections of the trail, and yes it was worth work. I was definitely glad that we didn't have to go back the same way, I know that I could have done it if I had to but is was better taking the easy way back, although by doing that we missed what would have been further downstream because we didn't want to go back to the start of the trail and take the left, where we first took the right. We are glad that we are adventurous too and that we still have the ability to do that kind of stuff. :-)
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