After a quick rest in the early afternoon, we made it to our pick up spot in Syntagma square for an all evening trip. We had pre booked the trip on Viator. It was a bus with 20+ people being picked up at various hotels. It was a long drive to the tip of the land to see this temple.
We stopped by at a lake of sorts which was also an expensive club where folks came to spend an afternoon swimming in this lake. It was a quick rest stop. Then we kept driving to Sounion, where this temple sits on a hill.
There was some story about divers going into the cave and never returning.. over 100 of them over the years apparently..
There was one more stop, thanks to a pregnant lady on our bus who was sick because of the windy uphill road. We all got to take more pictures while the poor woman was throwing up!
The kids put their feet in water to check the temperature..apparently cold!
Once we were at the stop, there is a short hike to the top.. the sun already starts setting.. so the orange hues are inviting..
My recommendation is for folks to not stop and take pictures on the way up once you are at the temple!
There is a long line at the top as you have to buy tickets to get to the site! The line for the credit card counter is long and slow! The people might wait for you, but the sun won't!!! The guide gave us till 20 minutes past sunset to show up down to get back on the bus.
We did get to see a glorious sunset with all the little islands jutting out in the water. It was amazing. Have never seen a large crowd clap for a sunset!
Just got goosebumps watching the sunset through the columns. Imagined people watching the same sunset 2000 years ago. How magnificent it would have been with the statues all intact, the roof still intact, the colors on the pillars! What it must have taken them to build this without advanced technology and why would anyone desecrate a temple like that in the name of war? A lot of questions with not so great answers.. but thoroughly enjoyed that evening.
A short video clip..
Then we made a long drive back to the hotel. There is nothing to eat at this place. So you are better off packing some snacks or dinner that you can eat on the bus. We were starving when we got back to our rooms and thankfully, there was Maggi noodles to the rescue!
The next day was another all day Viator prepaid trip around Athens with a focus on the Acropolis..
My wife, by default can convince me that everything she asks me to do, is going to be good for me.. and fun!
Usually she is right. It just takes me some time after I have done what she has asked me to do.. to realize that it was good and fun.
This weekend has witnessed yet another such event.
We hiked Rose Peak on what was supposed to be a cold cloudy Saturday. We usually hear horror stories from people who have tried this hike. Exhaustion, dehydration, injuries, folks being air lifted by helicoper etc. etc.
It is a very difficult hike with lots of ups and downs and paths where the trail has been cut through by running water (easy to twist ankle or fall) and 90% of it is open with no trees or cover. Doing this in summer would be really tough. That was one reason for jumping at the chance. There are the cows in the early part of the trail. The land has been leased for grazing. Invariably you have to hike around the cows, especially if there is a bull on the path. We encountered two and walked around.
We have been postponing this hike for some time now, trying to wait for right conditions. Our friends wanted to do this hike with us and the weather report suggested a near perfect day for this hike, and before we knew it, there we were packing the hiking backpacks.
When we parked our cars at the trailhead, it started drizzling. Showing me the weather forecast saying "see, there is no rain in the forecast", doesn't make it better when it is actually raining! The forecast was shown as proof that the rain at the start was some kind of anomaly. The rain gods however didn't seem to have gotten the memo from the Weather app folks.
Initially you walk along the creek. We did not see much water but what appeared to be ice or salt on the rocks in the middle of where the creek would be. Being curious, we went down to the middle of the dry creek to check it out. Turns out, this is wood debris that has been mushed to a pulp. This settles and wraps on the rocks like a mesh cloth. Guess this must be how the Egyptians discovered Papyrus!
The early part of this trail we have already been through.. on our way back from the Little Yosemite trail. We got to see the "W" tree again!
This should have been an under 8 hour hike by our usual standards.
Cloudy conditions are always good. We took 2 1/2 liters of water each and drank only a liter or liter and a half. Please note, there is no drinking water available on the trail anywhere!
However, we took 10 1/2 hours!
The big reason was that it was raining for a good hour on our way up. I was wearing cotton track pants (most synthetics give me allergic reaction) and the wet pants made it very difficult.
For the most part we walked the Ohlone Wilderness trail. We have passed by Hawk's nest on our previous way back on Little Yosemite but could not get a "bench photo" because an old couple were having their lunch on the bench. At least that is what I remember... this time we got the photo.
The 32 degrees inshirt from Costco may keep you warm, but is not waterproof either..
Then the rain stopped, but we walked up through the rain clouds and ended up above the clouds. As we walked through the clouds, the visibility was very poor, so we had to walk as a group so no one takes a wrong turn. During this time moisture kept condensing on our face and running into our clothes which was also an interesting challenge.
If you do this hike on a cloudy rainy day, wear all waterproof gear! We saw only two people on the 18+ mile trip. A guy who caught up with us 4 miles in and decided to turn back. He asked us "why would you want to go to the peak in this weather?".. we answered "so we can say we hiked it!'.. He shook his head in disbelief. When we reached the top, a girl ran in. She had come up in half the time and was planning to go down in half the time as well.
At the top, we not find the geological survey marker to take a picture. There was very poor visibility as well. We did sign the six peaks book to show date and time we made it. Had chai and packed sandwiches standing up (no place to even sit as everything was wet and slushy) and started the hike back. Hot chai never tasted so good ! My fingers were freezing and were numb when we got to the top!
It was going to be a race against time as sunset was 4:45 PM and we started at 2PM. Our original plan was to be make it back by 5 latest. However given the ups and downs, we found it difficult enough to come down. We were doing 25 minute miles for the first 5 instead of 15 minute miles like we expected.
One of our friends had just bought new shoes in REI to check them out for a later hike. Turns out the shoe was too loose as well as heel heavy, and it ended up being very painful. She had to use all her will power to walk the last 5 miles. My clothes were still wet. Guess cotton takes a long time to dry, if at all. To top things off, twisted my ankle trying to speed up. Fortunately San had two advil's in her backpack. Took that and kept walking. Trying to compensate for hurting ankle, my hamstrings and ITB pulled up. When 2/4 people in the group can walk only slowly, we knew it was going to be a difficult few hours.
We were treated to a glorious sunset, but didn't stop to take too many pictures. We were really scared of walking downhill in slippery conditions in the dark. Walked as fast as we could.
There was some light till 5:10. The last hour and 20 minutes we walked 3 miles in the dark, with a flashlight and the light in my headband. We managed to avoid stepping on all the lizards and salamanders, as well as frogs and bats on the floor! That also slowed us down.
Did take video clips almost every mile on the way up and down. Here is the compilation..
We were just glad this hike was behind us!
That said, I would like to do this hike again, on a not a partly couldy, cool non rainy day so we can get the views and walk faster. Now that we know the terrain and what it takes, we might do a better job!
For now, I am taking advil regularly and resting to get back to the normal routine.
This post titled Mt. El Sombroso, captured our previous hike at the same place last year. It was the hardest local hike we had tried.
This year we went there again on a cooler day. The added bonus was the sun rays coming through the clouds. It was just a spectacular sunrise. We started hiking very early and were back after a chai break at the top by 1PM. It was still a hard hike even if the weather was better.
Here are some pictures.
Chaifie at the summit
These days I sweat so much that there is a change of clothing at the summit. Find it easier to walk back in fresh clothes!
Now the skies..
If you need a prep hike for any all day hikes in Yosemite, look no further.. this is the best option!
Something tells me we might even do this trail again in a few years!
