Читать книгу The High Mountains of Crete. The White Mountains, Psiloritis and Lassithi Mountains онлайн

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Losing height from the saddle at first, this route then climbs to the top of the thin ridge above the great scree slope. From there it gains more height, undulating across scree, crags, and two sections of bare rock, one a vertical (steep) section, one horizontal. Steel wire handrails fixed across the bare rock have suffered storm damage. The wire across a steep sloping rock is no longer in the best position. The highest point of the route is reached on the spine of a wide, shallow spur descending from the Strifomadi summit area. Beyond that, the path loses height to negotiate a re-entrant (several sections are eroded and loose) before climbing again to reach the rim of the west side of the gorge. In the spring a last snowdrift may block the path in this re-entrant. If so there is a steep, but safe, escape route up the shallow spur to the summit, which is almost in sight not far beyond the skyline.

Beyond the western rim of the gorge – in sight whether you have reached it by walking along the summit ridge or via the E4 ‘shortcut ’ – the route continues to the southwest down a bare hillside to trees seen at the foot of a snowmelt watercourse. Beyond, an isolated bare ridge runs east–west above the Achlada valley.