“I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o'er vales and hills...”
I am thinking a lot to myself that the realisation of how much you love something is when you meet the opposite and are instantly vexed by it. I am not a city person, and this past ten years has shown this to me. Driving back to Thessaloniki yesterday afternoon was only filled with thoughts of the atrocious concrete jungle, the noise, the inhumanity and pending daily grind of modern living. But unlike the immediate reading of Wordsworth’s words, the loneliness of the mountain is not a negative isolation for that which has made mankind, but instead a pure bonding and love for the natural awe that presents itself in front of us.
This last weekend was a ten year anniversary of a journey that I started in 2006. Little did I know then that it would stretch so long, have so many wonderful moments, so many fellow travellers, also become a life changing event to make me realise that there is truly something greater than the small, insignificance of our rat-race we call humanity. If you have never done this type of adventure then maybe these words will not mean much to you, but I have tried over the years to encourage people to partake in the elixir that is mountain life. So far I don’t feel that I have had a single complaint, and quite the opposite. I have created stronger bonds with old friends, made new friends and generally had only good experiences.
Even thought this is a ten year anniversary recap, I will not talk of past walks. I have too many tales to tell that this would become a book to recount all the wonderful happenings. This last three days became even more special for two big reasons. One, and vastly important was it was shared with many of my previous fellow travellers, and secondly it encapsulated the entire Enipeas Gorge. I finally managed to travel across the Plateau of the Muses and down and across “Lemos” to return to the Gortsias Car Park. Not sure if the three days were made special because of the anniversary, but the simple truth is we stayed in two of the best hostels on the mountain, surrounded by great people, and a better air of contentment.
The first trip and the thirty-fourth trip (10 years)
Much has changed over the years. We have all gotten older, the hostels have been modified, and the faces in their numerous guises have all weathered or changed to make each and every trip a new experience. People ask me constantly; “why do you keep returning to Olympus.” The simple answer is I really can’t explain; it’s a feeling. I can’t go as far as saying that it’s like the “la petite mort”, but as soon as I get out of the car park at Prionia and see the vastness of green, then all my worries disperse, all my pains disappear, and I become fearless.
Not to expand too much on all the events, I will share one photo that made it all clear to me. And even more significant due to all the events that occurred in the previous week. Many a night on the mountain can be long, cold and sleepless. I accept this as it’s part of the life. One of the exhilarating aspects of the exhaustion is to rise early in the morning and watch the rising sun. This trip was no different. The first sunrise on saturday morning, was eerily like my first ever sunrise ten years ago, with a blanket of cloud only just allowing the sun to penetrate it’s mass. But this year my second sunrise on the Sunday morning spoke volumes of my current philosophy on life; that we are all here together. That nature is a whole. No one thing should be lower, disrespected, forgotten or ignored over another. And this occurred and can be seen in this photo.
We all stood there at 6.15 looking east, in the windy, cold of the plateau. All grasping a cup of hot beverages, to gain some warmth from somewhere. Waiting for the moment of gold light to poke it’s head from over the horizon. And I guess like the ancient beliefs of the pagan followers we saw the sun as an important part of this mountain life. Then, literally two minutes before the golden disk emerged one of the stray dogs that wanders the mountains joined us. Not looking for friendship, food or attention, but sitting with his back to us, looking at the horizon. He stayed there, like the picture shows, for the sunrise and no longer. He was then off and curled up and returned to his slumber. To me it was the crowning moment of the trip. A glorifying sign of this total connection of nature! Something many of us humans ignore or forget.
Mike Styllas on the left! Manager at Kakalos
Like many good things, this trip had to come to an end. But with the company and the paths and the warm hotels we stayed in, it has to be counted as one of the best trips. For me it was a sad return in some respects, as it marked a ten year journey that has encompassed many things that have gone to shape the person I am today. I only hope that my fellow travellers also saw the beauty, wonder and total awe in the mountain the way I do, and at least I hope they had a good time. I want to thank Maria Zolota for putting up with me over the years, and for becoming a good friend on the mountain. I would also like to thank Mike Styllas (manager at Kakalos) for maintaining a tight, and friendly place where you can sit and literally have your breathe taken away!!! Above all, I would like to thank all the people have come with me; too many to mention individually, and the people I have encountered on the many paths. I have hit the summit three times, but after thirty-four visits, and been filled with more than a mountain of happiness that makes me content, and happy to know that even though my years roll on, I will do my best to return again!!
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