We are not needing to meet for the boat until nearly 12 noon so last night some of us decided to do a short walk – Walk 1 from the book. We agreed to bring our stuff down to breakfast and go straight away. So this walk was only about 5km but the virtue and purpose of including it was that as four women we managed to stay together and chat as we went round!
The village of Loutro stretches round the bay and we go along to one end where we will later catch our boat and take a steep path up, having walked past a plant which has attracted hundreds of bees. It’s already quite warm and I’m pleased that there are no aches from my previous excursions. We can soon look back but also out across the Libyan Sea which lies between Crete and Africa. As I looked back over to the mountain behind Loutro it was strange to think I had been up and over that mountain the previous day and I almost felt I could see a trace of a path that should have led across and out of ‘Wood gorge’.
Sadly none of the immaculately kept chapels have been unlocked to see inside but their white paint does give them a very striking appearance. This isn’t a difficult path but still rocky and uneven.
As we have gone round the headland we can see over to Mataram Beach where some had gone the previous day and to the bay which seemed very popular with the Phoenix that I had found my way to a couple of days before. As we get nearer habitation and before we start to cross the plateau above Loutro there are several plants of interest and of course a cat!
We climb up from this bay taking a slightly different path from last time I was on this side of the hill and a different way that Jane had got to the top. We can look back and see the faint trace of a path around the coast that some of the group had taken and also the plateau on the cliff top that had been my easier route.
A short but enjoyable walk , a great way to start our day and we still got back with plenty of time for Carol to have a swim.
As we set off on the boat for Chora Sfakion and lunch it was good to look back and see the mountain I had ventured up and over the previous day. The col I had crossed can be spotted about a tenth in from the right and the village is still hidden!
Marion's 50 Walk Challenge 