Getting to Mount Olympus

Greece has many interesting places to visit, but I was most excited to hike Mount Olympus. I spent the weekend there with two of my friends I met in my study abroad program. We traveled there by train, which has become my favorite means of transportation in Europe. Once we arrived, we started making food for the hike the next day; we planned on making it up and down the entire mountain in one day. After making about 15 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we were ready to go.

The Hike

We woke up at 5:30 am on the day of the hike. We had a cab pick us up from the Airbnb and take us to the trailhead at 6:00. By the time we got to the mountain and started hiking, it was around 6:45 and still dark outside. However, we got to see the beautiful sunrise while on the mountain. It took us about 2 and a half hours to reach the refuge. There, we all drank hot tea and enjoyed the view while we rested our legs for about an hour. We were told that it would only take about 2 more hours to reach the first peak, so we figured the rest of the hike would be a breeze. Boy were we wrong.

The next section of the hike was brutal. The trail was steep and made of loose gravel, so we stopped to take breaks quite often. Eventually we could seek the peak, but no matter how long we hiked, it did not appear to get any closer. Finally, at hour 7, we reached the peak. The real summit, however, was a semi-technical scramble away. This was the only part of the hike that I was nervous about. I have done a lot of climbing before, but this was without any rope or safety gear. It took about an hour of climbing to reach the summit, but we finally did it. I got to write my name in a book that they keep at the summit, so my name is there for everyone to see.

The hike down was a lot quicker, but a lot harder on the knees. By then the adrenaline had worn off, and we were starting to get tired. The loose gravel made it very difficult to get down without slipping. It took us 12 hours to get up and down the mountain. By the time we got all the way down, it was dark again, but our cab driver was waiting for us.

The Recovery Meal

We asked our cab driver to take us to the best Greek restaurant in town, and he did not disappoint. My friends and I were so hungry after hiking 17 miles, so we ate a lot of food. That meal was probably the best one I have had in Greece so far. After that, we went back to the Airbnb, and I had the best night of sleep in my life.