Area: Pindos, Greece
Into the Tymfi range this morning, in many ways the focal point of the wider Zagori. Astraka is one of the most notable mountains and, like the rest of the range, has a slightly unusual structure: huge limestone walls forming impressive escarpments to the north, with the ground sloping far more gently to the south. After breakfast in Metsovo, I left with some regret and drove via Ioannina to the famed Zagori villages with their stone roofs and quaint alleyways. I had a coffee in Kalpaki which was much needed for the rigours ahead. I parked outside Mikro Papigo and then started the walk-in to the Astraka hut with three days worth of kit, under the midday sun! Needless to say, this was hard work: only 6k or so but over a 1000m vertical interval. I took it steady, with the towers of Astraka on the right and the huge cleft of the Vikos Gorge beyond. I'm no stranger to these kinds of hut plods, and there is a technique to making it bearable and even enjoyable I always think. Still, it was a relief to get to the refuge, where I left most of my kit. I wasn't sure whether I would have the energy for Astraka, but after a short rest I thought I might as well go for it given my varied objectives for the three days. The hut, named after the peak, is superbly positioned on a high col, but this means an annoying descent down to the (seasonal) lake of Xerolimni (just a dusty depression in July). Then came a rocky section below the most impressive section of Astraka's Towers, soaring vertically up to the right. Above, the ground levels off into meadows some of which were grazed by cows, and then close to the Robozi lake before cutting westwards and climbing steeply through a gap to an upper cwm. The very vague path weaves through this until it eventually gains the main plateau and gently sloping summit area. Again, no path but there were a few cairns as I weaved north-westwards towards the escarpment and, eventually the true summit. This is in a spectacular position above the cliffs with tremendous views over Gamila (wedge-shaped from this angle, and the objective for tomorrow), as well as Smolikas beyond. Behind, the top of the Vikos Gorge. It had clouded over a little but the karst scenery was still superb. I decided to continue the traverse rather than return the same way as it seemed similar in terms of energy expenditure. This was a great decision, over a secondary summit and some huge gullies to the broad western ridge with tremendous views down to the Zagori villages. This trended south-west past lots of Balkan chamois (I saw at least 40 today, a substantial proportion of the 1500 left in the wild). Lower down it became classic limestone pavement interspersed with sinkholes (some huge caves here) and other tricky karst features. Another peak called Kalogeros marked the end of this section, just the top of a spur really, and then the ridge kinked north and became rocky and even a little narrow in places. This was unexpected but a little tiring as the terrain was steep - I could see the hut path below and, after much weaving and height loss I eventually reached it (superb red-backed shrike here). The climb back up to the hut up the steepest part of the hut walk was very tiring as I was now on 2000m elevation for the day, but there is a natural spring half way up which helped! Local bean soup with bread, and mountain tea with honey was nice but probably not calorific enough (a very unusual error for me!) and I was in the top bunk of the dorm without a guard rail: great views down to the villages 1300m below but not conducive to a good night's sleep.
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