resistance, winding up spurs and along contours, avoiding over-long or over-steep steps.
So, whenever a path is not clear and you find yourself striking straight uphill or straight downhill, pause and ask yourself: would a laden pack animal be doing this? And the answer is almost certainly: no. Goats go straight up and straight down, mules never, and their human drivers, never.
If you have been on a fairly clear path and suddenly it ceases to be clear, don’t panic. One of you should stay put and the other cast around systematically and patiently, thinking of those laden mules with a load of 100kg on their backs. Sections of path get destroyed by landslips; but entire paths seldom disappear completely. You will find the continuation.
Sleeping and eating
Country towns almost always have at least one reasonable hotel, and increasing numbers of mountain villages offer informal rooms or guesthouses – the latter at around €20–40 per room. On the Píndos Way there is no point really in trying to book ahead, except perhaps in towns like Ámfissa, Karpenísi and Métsovo. The villages you go through are not places that have outside visitors. But if you do find the inn full, someone will certainly find you an alternative place to sleep. Besides, you will have your tent or your bivvy bag: vital equipment on the Píndos Way.
The Peloponnese Way, however, is a different story. There, you will need to book ahead, if you plan to hike without camping gear, which should be possible as there is currently accommodation available at every stage. Remember that if calling a Greek number from outside Greece, you must prefix the number with the +30 international code for Greece.
Most villages do not have shops any more. What they do have is a coffee-shop-cum-general-store, the magazeé. This is the place to make for on arrival, for information about a place to sleep or eat or where to get supplies. They will always go out of their way to help. If there is a menu it will be basic – costing (with a beer) around €15–20.
Food for the road can be a problem. Special backpacking products do not exist. In general you have to make do with local fare: bread, cheese and olives, supplemented by endless tins of sardines or spam, which is all that is available in remote places.
Local produce for sale in Vitína (Peloponnese Way, Stages 5–6)
The rule has to be: whenever you hit a place with a restaurant and shops, have a blow out and stock up. Avoid things that leak and squash in rucksacks or are dry and salty – they are horrible when you are hot and thirsty. Be careful with cheeses, especially the ubiquitous feta. The dry variety is often salty, and the more edible wet one leaks. Better to go for the hard Gruyère type of cheese – graviéra or kefalotíri – if you can get it. Taste cheeses before committing yourself. Whole salamis are good, and although they sweat they keep. Halva (khalvá) is a good sugary energy-giver. Nuts, sultanas and dried fruit are readily available in the towns. Muesli is light, unmessy and quite palatable when mixed only with spring water, but unobtainable outside Athens supermarkets. Greeks eat no breakfast, so you need to bring something with you if you do not like the idea of cheese and olives first thing.
The refuge huts are really of little use to the visitor. With the exception of those on Olympus, Gamíla, Smólikas and possibly Taïgetos, they are unstaffed and locked. The palaver involved in getting and returning the keys far outweighs any benefits.
Monasteries are a better bet, if you are a man. You can always ask for food and shelter, but you have to be modestly dressed, which means no shorts. Women are not always allowed in.
Camping, on the other hand, is possible anywhere in the mountains and no one will object. As the land belongs to no one, there is no question of trespassing. You do not need a tent in summer; a bivvy bag is quite sufficient. Just be careful of sheepdogs.
Camping is possible anywhere in the mountains
Dogs
This is a serious warning. The sheepdogs – guard dogs, not collies – are the greatest danger you are likely to encounter in the mountains. It is not the little mongrels that guard some flocks that you have to worry about, but the Molóssi. They are wolf-sized, half-starved, unused to strangers and very fierce and, like the arrows of outrageous fortune, rarely come one at a time but in gangs. If at all possible, give them a very wide berth. Do not approach the flock they are minding and certainly do not walk through it. If possible attract the attention of the shepherd; he will call them off. Always carry poles or a stout stick and be aggressive. Keep them at pole’s length and throw rocks at them – with the intention of hurting them. Don’t panic. You will survive.
Getting on with people
Mountain people are extremely friendly and hospitable. It is, however, up to you, the stranger, to break the social ice by saying hello first. The simplest greetings are kaleeméra, good day, or yásoo, good health to you (yásas, if there is more than one person). That immediately dispels what can appear to be hostility, but is in reality merely polite reserve.
Do not forget that mountain people are still rather old-fashioned in their attitudes. Women, in particular, should be careful how they dress and act.
Weather and when to go
There is snow on the mountains from November to April. Quite extensive patches sometimes persist until mid June, and later on the higher and more northerly ones. The weather begins to settle in April or May, and to break again some time in October. June–September is the most settled period. It is also the hottest, but once you get into a big range like the Píndos, and high up, the heat is not too bothersome. Above 2000m the temperature rarely rises above 25° even in July and August, and at night drops to 10° or 12°. I have found my water frozen in the morning at 2000m near the Albanian border in September.
The table shows average monthly temperatures (°C) throughout the year 2016–17 in Thessaloníki (north), Yánina (mid-north in the mountains), Athens, and Sparta (close to the southernmost point of the Peloponnese Way).
Source: www.worldweatheronline.com
Certainly, the weather can be beautiful, but you should not be lulled into a false sense of security. Greek mountains behave like other mountains. Even in midsummer violent storms can blow up with little warning. Nights are cool, especially in contrast to daytime temperatures; you definitely need a fleece.
Vália Kálda in June (Píndos Way, Stage 23)
What to take
In summer conditions, you need a combination of light and warm clothing. We would recommend a hat, and shirts with collar and sleeves, if you are at all susceptible to sunburn. Take sunscreen if you have a vulnerable Anglo-Saxon nose and, especially, do not forget the backs of the knees, and the thumb and index area of the hand, one of the most exposed if you are using poles. Warm clothing (including your sleeping bag) does not need to be heavy, just enough to protect you in bad weather and against the chill of tiredness and night. Take a windproof and waterproof cagoule. A good pair of lightweight Vibram-soled boots is sufficient in the way of footwear, although consider taking hiking sandals or water shoes if you are likely to do any of the riverbed sections. Take a tent or survival/bivvy bag and basic first-aid kit, including some mosquito repellent for use in the lowlands.
If you are
