European mountains
Lefka Ori range, Crete, Greece

Páchnes (2453m), May 11 2010


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The route - as seen in Google Earth

The route - as seen in Google Earth
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No matter how many hikes I do for the rest of my life, I will never forget the hike to Páchnes.

After having visited Psiloritis (Crete's highest peak) as well as 3 other 2000m peaks on our first day on Crete, we went to the Gramvousa peninsula the next day. An unsuccessful scramble (we did not reach the top) up Geroskinos, was followed by a flat tyre upon returning to the trailhead. To make a long story short, we were in need of assistance, got the assistance and a new rental car as well. The new car came with a warning that small rental cars were not meant to be taken on 4WD dirt roads!

Páchnes (Crete's second highest peak) was our target on our third day, and as a significant part of the ascent involves a dirt road, Anne (Rudsengen) and me had a decision to make. Anne's point was that we should drive as far it made sense and then proceed on foot. This would also have been my view on the subject, had it not been for the flat tyre the day before. With the toolset available in the car, we would not be able to replace a flat tyre ourselves, and there was no way I would call the rental company for the second day in a row! It would (for sure) not be free service the second time around...

As none of us (at this point) really knew exactly how long the hike would be, we agreed to ascend the dirt road on foot. After a long drive from Platanias (on the northwest side of Crete) to Chora Sfakion (on the southwest side) and then up to the small village Anapoli, we drove 2,3km up to the point where the dirt road began. The time was 10:18pm when we headed out, and it was a warm and beautiful day. We had plenty of food and water and was ready for yet another long day in the Crete mountains. And after a good while, some of the Lefka Ori (white mountains) appeared in the distance.

 

Lefka Ori peaks. In the distance...

Lefka Ori peaks. In the distance...
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Anne couldn't quite shake off the fact that this was a perfectly good road to drive, but while I couldn't disagree, the decision had been made, and we just had to stick to the plan. My friend Petter hiked this mountain in 2006, and from his report, we knew that it would take us roughly 2 hours from the point where he parked his rental car (approx. 1700m) and up to the summit. 2 hours isn't a very long hike, and "all we had to do" was to follow a mountain road in order to get to his trailhead. This was the optimistic view I tried argue, but at the same time, the mountains didn't seem to get any closer...

There is only one word that describes the mountain road - endless. We were both wearing sneakers, which seemed like the best footwear for this kind of hike. We kept a good pace up the road and stopped for food and water regularly. Through monitoring our pace and hiking distance, we figured it would take us roughly 3 hours to reach Petter's trailhead at approx. 1700m. From that point - it would be roughly 900 vertical meters up to the summit. A small sigh was in order...

 

 

Pale peaks (as in white mountains) appear

Pale peaks (as in white mountains) appear
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We reached the point we figured Petter had parked at 1:40pm. We had now been walking 3h:20m, and new optimism was emerging. At best, the summit was only two hours away! As we had been walking for quite a while, we reckoned it would take us a little longer to reach the top.

We were now heading into a big valley, and assumed that Páchnes was one of the peaks up on our left-hand side. But it was difficult to say exactly which one. After a little while, another valley appeared to our left, and the mountain road led us into it. A beautiful cone-shaped peak appeared, and we were quite confident that this was our target.

 

Thinking this was Páchnes, but it was not

Thinking this was Páchnes, but it was not
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We reached the end of the mountain road (approx. 2000m) 2:52pm - approx. 4,5 hours after heading out. According to Petter's report - the summit was now only 1 hour away, and it sure wasn't the cone-shaped peak. So where was it? Another high peak (Ghavalá, as we learned later on) was just ahead of us, so now we were quite confident that the summit was in view. A point of interest was a small rental car that had made its way all the way up to 1900m. It should be noted that the road from 1600m and upwards was considerably rougher than the rest...

After a short rest, we proceeded along the mountain path, which was a bit difficult to find at first. A bit later on, we met a German couple (who had the rental car), and we asked (optimistically) if the summit in front of us was Páchnes? The answer was nein, and the word hinter was mentioned. Double-sigh! So we don't even see the summit yet?

 

Páchnes? Nein, hinter!

Páchnes? Nein, hinter!
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The German couple explained that the rest of the route was well marked. We continued up to a col (2100m), found a Páchnes signpost, turned left and after crossing a couple of humps, Páchnes appeared in front us. Glory, glory hallelujah! Anne immediately found new strengths, and turned into a Duracell rabbit...

 

The final leg to Páchnes

The final leg to Páchnes
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We reached the top of Páchnes 4:10pm - 5h:50m after heading out. It's amazing how doubts, negative thoughts, etc. can be replaced with pure joy in the fraction of a second. It felt as if we had reached a major, major mountain, yet knowing that this is a fairly mountain to reach - thanks to the mountain road. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever done a longer walk in order to reach a summit. But once the thoughts were sorted out, it was time to enjoy the views - and celebrate!

 

Anne on Páchnes summit

Anne on Páchnes summit
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Back to reality, we had roughly 4 hours left of daylight, and it was time discuss our descent route. Should we follow the mountain road or should we take the E4 trail back to the trailhead? The E4 trail would be a considerably shorter route, but given our sore feet, we might be better off on the mountain road. With some jogging pitches, we would surely be back before dark. We agreed to take the mountain road. At least there would be no surprises along the way.

We left the summit 4:25pm and followed our plan which involved occasional jogging. We had good control of the time, but at approx. 1500m, the skin under my feet started to collapse. First, the skin under my left heel cracked, and required immediate attention. Man - the pain! Furthermore, I developed blisters under under my little toes on both legs, and went from smooth jogging to serious limping. Only the nice views and the strong will to reach the trailhead made this situation somewhat tolerable...

 

Running (limping) in agony

Running (limping) in agony
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Below 1500m, we were able to do a number of shortcuts, which did us mentally good! And we were making better progress than the forecasted plan. The only thing to do was to endure. Anne had either better footwear, or a higher tolerance for dirt roads and did just fine.

We reached the trailhead 7:51pm - roughly 40 minutes before dark. We had covered roughly 42km on foot, ascended 1800 vertical meters and had (more or less) hiked fast for 9,5 hours. Being somewhat accustomed to outdoor activities, none of us were really tired, but because of the blisters, I had serious trouble walking. We still had a long drive back to Platanias, but I was just happy, happy and happy about not having to walk anymore that day. And as mentioned in the introduction - this was a hike I will never forget....

 

A Páchnes souvenir

A Páchnes souvenir
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 450D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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To Anapoli

1. Lefka Ori view 2. Lefka Ori view 3. Our new rental car 4. South coast view 5. Main junction in Anapoli

Along the mountain road

0A. Trip tracks 0B. GPS profile 6. Heading out 7. Distant mountains 8. An endless mountain road 9. Looing back on the covered distance 10. So far, so good 11. Psiloritis - already in the bag 12. Dirt road sample 13. One of many trees along the way 14. The mountains are NOT getting closer! 15. A zoom might just help... 16. View up the mountain 17. Into the main valley 18. The plateau before the main valley 19. Pale peaks all around 20. New peaks keep appearing 21. A big pale one up to our right 22. The main valley - not our route 23. The road is still endless... 24. Cool sky 25. The end of the road in view 26. A cool cone-shaped peak 27. The cone-shaped peak, zoomed in 28. Walking, walking, walking 29. Giving sore feet a short rest

To Pachnes

30. On the mountain path 31. A flower bed 32. Up to the ridge col 33. Signpost at the col 34. More peaks in view 35. Me - smelling another peak 36. Interesting rock 37. At last - Pachnes in view! 38. Heading for the summit 39. Crossing several snow fields 40. Necessary maintenance 41. The final yards 42. Time to start running 43. Yeah! What we came here for! 44. A happy dude 45. Pachnes is officially in the bag 46. The proof

Wide-angle view from Pachnes

47. Wide-angle view from Pachnes

Descent

48. Other Lefka Ori tops 49. Other Lefka Ori tops 50. Descending Pachnes 51. Nice sky 52. A running leg 53. A limping leg 54. End of the journey 55. A Pachnes souvenir

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