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

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FOR KOUSTOYERAKO VIA STRIFOMADI SUMMIT

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After passing through the pinnacles and a spectacular rock arch, the footpath gains height again for Linoseli spring, where there is a concrete tank surrounded by a thicket of spiny burnet, together with two stainless steel troughs and a drinking water tap. The footpath continues from the spring, zigzagging up the firmer side of the scree, alongside crags and boulders.

The saddle, a pleasant place to be on a fine settled day, thinly divides the Samaria and Tripiti gorges. Over to the east, the red-roofed Kallergi mountain refuge has been in view for some time with Melendaou behind, its huge stratified cliff forming the northeast rim of the gorge.

Lammergeiers (bearded vultures), identifiable by their diamond-shaped tails, often soar above at midday. The largest birds in Europe, they roost on inaccessible crags of the Tripiti Gorge, which is now in view. At any time elsewhere in the mountains these huge birds may be seen gliding by on a foraging trip.