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From Potámos Valley to Anopolis Plateau

This trek is along an ancient connection between the Anopolis plain (namely the village of Agios Ioannis which is situated in the western part of this plain at an altitude of about 770m) and pastures in the heart of Levka Ori. The beginning of the trek in mountains is in the Potámos valley (which is a continuation of the upper part of the Eligias gorge running from the sea-shore) just in front of the Potámos mitato. The well distinct path ascends a stony slope marked by cairns here and there. After about 100m the slope gets steeper and winds as a mule-track supported by stone walls which are destroyed in the substantial rate now. When the footpath climbs the first rocky spur, levels out a little bit and becomes better. One can see a nice panorama of the opposite side of the Eligias gorge (creating a barrier separating the Eligias gorge from the more known The (Samaria) Gorge westwards) behind which a range of Volakias and Gigilos summits appear more and more, but also ranges around the Melindanou summit and next ridges westward from them are in sight. The very important peak of Zaranokefala, under whose crags the path is running too, starts coming up. For now, the footpath always ascends in quite an easy gradient and it crosses also some gullies falling down into the Eligias gorge. Very old trees of juniper are within sight here and there. After crossing the last gully (in time when I was there – the end of May 2012 - the gully was full of snowdrift), the path zig-zags the slope up supported by remains of stone walls as far as on the quite flat part above some cliffs. It continues across platey rocks here and the sea is in view for the first time. This very easy flat part ends by a short descent on other rocky plates which are quite dark creating a rather gloomy impression. The pathway here is not well obvious, indeed, more cairns are here but pointing to various directions. However, the main landmark for the best orientation is the Zaranokefala summit towering in front of a hiker. The last and short winding of the path follows then to get on the spur just under Zaranokefala crags near a small cave with a lower barrier made of bigger stones. The levelled track copies heels of crags with more caves suitable for bivouacking, if necessary. Under these crags, there is also a shallow spring working year-round. The spring is covered by stones and timbers to impede goats to contaminate water. Next part of the footpath is almost like a sightseeing way with wide sights southward on the sea, westward over the Eligias gorge to the Volakias-Gigilos range and northward on the panorama of the Melindanou-Mavri range. As well from this spot the sea is possible to see. One, who has good eyesight (or by using the zoom of a camera), can make out the Kallerghi refuge (NW) with its red roof sitting the top of a spur to the right from Gigilos. The path starts to descend gradually as far as a saddle from which roofs of Agios Ioannis houses deeply down are visible. The footpath from this saddle is very unpleasant because it is not well distinct (only some small cairns and sporadic small red marks on stones point direction) and it is running on the quite steep slope with rough gravel underfoot which is slippery. After a while, two rather thick black pipes appear and run beside and sometimes across the way. As soon as the path comes between pines, it levels out and becomes a good forest pathway which ends at the end of a gravel road coming from Agios Ioannis. Next way is along this road winding in big loops to the village deeply down. When the track gets almost flat, near to it there is a large rectangular water reservoir (well visible from high of the beginning of the road) which is fenced all around. The dirt road goes among pines then always slightly declining as far as the first houses where it turns in a bitumen one. Now the way is along this road and at the second crossroad (better bitumen surface) it is necessary to turn left. Following around two or three hundred meters one gets to a small church (with a cemetery) on left (a tap with water in the cemetery) and farther to a house with a high stone terrace under which there is a gate across the road. Behind the gate, a map table is just next to the road on the left. A fork of roads is near. Now it is necessary to go to the right road running down and work down from it on the footpath following this road parallel. This old path is marked by white-red marks and heads down between stone walls. To follow it, one can get after about 3kms on the spot (near a goats' or sheep shed) called Sellouda which is the beginning of the steep descent for about 600 altitudinal meters on the coastal E4 route which connects Chóra Sfakia on the east with Palaiohora westwards.

The trek starts at an altitude of about 1550m in the Potámos valley and ends on the shore. Its highest point is at an altitude of about 1900m under crags of Zaranokefála. The whole trek is possible to overcome (from the mountain to the coast) for about 7 hrs including several pauses for rest, for taking photos, for small refreshment and for enjoying views. I think it is better to hike from the mountains down than in opposite direction. If one goes from the sea-shore, a huge rise must be overpowered whereas if one walks from the Potámos valley, this rise (I mean, the ascent) makes a couple of hundreds of meters only.

 

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