Search Results for “Sardinia”

Before you say – “oh, another post from Italy”, I should make it clear that Sardi consider themselves apart from “mainland Italians,” with their distinct culture, traditions, and language. While many tourists come to Sardinia to bask on sun-drenched beaches or to emulate the sybaritic lifestyles of the glitterati on the Costa Smeralda, there exists a completely different aspect to this island. As well as helping to preserve the traditional lifestyles of the locals, the dramatic mountains and gorges of central Sardinia make for some fantastic walking, and my KE Adventures trip highlighted some of the best easier day hikes on the island.

Our group of fourteen diverse clients included eight Americans, by far the most on any of the nearly 20 KE trips on which I’ve been. In addition to four Brits, our group also had a Belgian and a Pole to give it a bit of international flavor. This was a center-based holiday where we stayed at a charming, locally-owned hotel outside the town of Dorgali, located in the center of the island, between the east coast and the Supramonte mountains. One website’s summary I think accurately describes the latter:

The Supramonte is a vast limestone plateau that extends in the province of Nuoro within the towns of Orgosolo, Dorgali, Urzulei and Baunei. It is an immense rugged and wild massif, made up of caves, forests, canyons. . . one of the wildest areas of the island. Over 500 sq km of rocks and mountains that form vertical walls, sinkholes, caves, [and] underground rivers.
https://www.perfectsardinia.com/destination/central-sardinia/supramonte/

Below are some photos I took last month. Decide for yourself whether the central Sardinia coast and mountains live up to their billing!

View of the Laniattu Valley on the Day 1 ascent where we traversed Monte Tiscale, a rather modest peak.

The Nuragic complex of Sa Sedda e Sos Carros, a bronze age village high in the mountains. Their ancient culture was interesting, but lacking a written language means much of our knowledge of them is simply speculation.

On Day 2 our walk went from our hotel in Dorgali to Cala Ganone on the coast. Here is a view west towards Monte Corrasi (left), which would be our objective for the final day.

View of Cala Ganone and the Mediterranean Sea on Day 2.

An Autumn Crocus (*Colchicum lusitanum*). It was too late in the season for many flowers, but I’ll share photos of a couple we saw.

One of our (innumerable) group photos. I often felt apart from them as not many were regular hikers, causing excessive stops each day due to a lack of fitness for about half of them.

A gorgeous old juniper (*Juniperus phoenicia*)

Red squill (*Charybdis maritima*), whose blooms signal the end of summer

Coastal view on Day 3, where we hiked from Cala Ganone south along the coast to Cala Luna.

An ammonite fossil. The limestone which predominates on this portion of the island is fossil rich, though most are found away from the well-trod paths.

Spiaggia di Cala Fuili. Along with Cala Luna, access is only by either foot or boat. I won’t share any photos of Cala Luna. While beautiful, even mid week in September it was absolutely rammed with boat people. Perhaps 8 AM on a rainy December morning would be an ideal time to visit?

Monte Bardia from my hotel room balcony in Dorgali. This would be my objective on our mid-week off day.

View from the Parco del Carmelo towards Dorgali at the beginning of my ascent of Monte Bardia on Day 4.

Some of the numerous domestic goats we saw on the ascent. One other hiker joined me on this hike.

Another view of Dorgali from our ascent route

View from near Passo Ghenna di Silana on our Day 5 descent to the gorge known as Gola di Gorropu

Holm Oak (*Quercus ilex*) on our misty descent

With some of our group descending into the gorge

A view of Gola di Gorropu as the mist begins to clear

Entering Gola di Gorropu. There was a ticket booth as this gorge has been monetized for tourists. It provided some fun scrambling for those of us so inclined.

Day 6 was the culmination of our hiking week: the summit of Monte Corrasi, high point of the Supramonte. Here is a view of the town of Oliena on our ascent.

European yew (*Taxus baccata*), now a protected species in Sardinia

Monte Corrasi summit view east towards Dorgali and Monte Bardia (center)

The Vagabond Hiker on Monte Corrasi, view west

A summit pano from Monte Corrasi, also towards the west

I’ll leave the reader at our high point as the rest of the trip was literally and figuratively down hill. I caught a rather bad cold from a client that persisted for nearly two weeks and from which I am only now recovered back in St George Utah.

I do have some “odds and ends” photos from the Alps this past summer that are interesting enough (to me at least) that I will share them next month as a final blog post for 2022. Until then, enjoy the wonderful autumnal weather wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

The rugged peaks, dramatic gorges, and scenic coastal paths make western Crete a wonderful hiking destination. The White Mountains, (Lefka Ori in Greek), composed chiefly of limestone, are the southern-most range in Europe. Nonetheless, they’re high enough to receive snow during the winter months and hold it until early spring. Both the snow covered uplands and the blanched limestone rocks contribute to the name of the range, the largest on Crete, occupying a considerable area of the central and western portions of the island. A good introductory reference on the Lefka Ori may be found here.

My one-week trip to western Crete was, once again, with KE Adventures, whose itinerary includes descending the longest gorge in Europe, climbing the highest peak in the White Mountains, as well as scenic coastal walking. With three separate guest house bases, we were able to cover a wide range of the natural highlights of the western Crete. Enjoy the photos!

Morning view from my Hotel Exari balcony, Omalos. This mountain hamlet was our home for the first two nights.

Our first day’s hike was to the summit of Mount Gingilos. At 1980m, it is not as high as other peaks, but its relatively easy access, purported great views, and exciting trail to the summit made it a good – if a bit challenging – choice for our first hike.

The North face of Mount Gingilos from the end-of-road trailhead. Our route to its summit is from the right side up to the obvious saddle.

A natural arch on the path up Mount Gingilos

A majestic Mediterranean cypress (*Cupressus sempervirens*)

Mediterranean wild thyme (*Thymbra capitata*)

Mount Gingilos summit pole. The fog had completely obscured any view long before we reached the summit.

Three of our group of 5 descending one of the numerous scrambly bits near the summit.

A Mediterranean cypress living on the edge

Our second day’s hike, down Samaria Gorge, could not have been more different. From the same trailhead as the previous day, we descended this wildly popular gorge to the sea, about 15 km and more than 1200 meters lower. Most of the 1000 or so daily hikers came by bus from the popular tourist resorts in eastern Crete, so we had plenty of company.

A view down Samaria Gorge from near the top

A friendly wild Kri-kri goat (*Capra hircus cretica*), endemic to Crete and highly endangered

A stream flows along large parts of the gorge, including the last 10 km.

After descending the gorge, we stayed in the remote hamlet of Agia Roumeli near its base. This village is only accessible by water or foot, and was quite charming once the day-trippers from the Samaria Gorge left in late afternoon. Following a rest day, we continued our hiking week along a coastal section of the long distance E4 walking path.

Morning view from my balcony in Artemis Studios, Agia Roumeli

Our coastal hike was from Agia Roumeli to Loutro along the E4. Here is a typical view through a pine forest along the route, with the Libyan Sea to the right.

The remote (and welcoming) Agios Pavlos (Saint Paul) taverna

Coastal view with Marmara beach bottom center (not seen here)

The Marmara beach restaurant, where we had lunch. This photo was taken a couple of days later when we returned here to start our final hike.

Marmara beach and caves. The warm water and a couple of swim-through caves made our two hours relaxing here quite enjoyable. As one must either take a boat or walk, this beach was never too crowded.

Phoenician fort archaeological area near Loutro along the E4

Loutro, the end point of our lovely coastal walk. Loutro is yet another town on the south coast of Crete without direct road access.

At the conclusion of our coastal walk, we transferred about one hour by ferry to Sfakia, where we stayed for our final three nights. Despite having road access, Sfakia was charming nonetheless, with numerous harbor-side tavernas and not too much tourist kitsch. The hotel we stayed in was completely forgettable; I would recommend the Xenia Hotel instead if you’re ever in the area.

Our penultimate hike was to the summit of Mount Pachnes. We ascended a jeep road that took us 90 minutes to reach the trailhead at its terminus.

Mount Troharis (2401m) from near the trailhead. We couldn’t see our objective, hidden in the central Lefka Ori, for for the first hour or so of the hike.

Some of our group climbing towards Mount Pachnes’ summit (at right)

The Vagabond Hiker on Pachnes’ summit (2453m). While relatively warm even at that altitude, the strong winds made wearing a buff on my head seem sensible.

Summit view west towards Volakias with Gingilos behind to the right (above the white patch of scree)

Our final hike was a horseshoe from Marmara beach up the Aradena Gorge to the ancient town of Anopoli, with a descent to Loutro after lunch. The Aradena Gorge, one of more than 50 on Crete, is in many ways more spectacular than Samaria Gorge – and with far fewer people!

The entrance to Aradena Gorge behind Marmara beach

A griffon vulture over the gorge. Although we saw these majestic birds nearly every day, getting a photo of one was another thing entirely.

Lilac chastetree (*Vitex agnus-castus*), or Monk’s pepper. Along with Oleander, one of the few flowers we saw this late in the season. We also saw numerous sea onion or red squill, also common on Sardinia (see my post from last September).

A friendly goat (not wild) we saw in the Aradena Gorge. Goats are a major cause of the environmental degradation throughout the Lefka Ori.

Some hikers on a deviation to avoid rockfall in the gorge.

The Aradena bridge. At 138m, the highest in Crete.

A portion of the abandoned village of Aradena, deserted after a family feud in 1948 left multiple dead

Church of Archangel Michael near Aradena village. Mount Troharis is in the background.

View of prickly pear cactus and a cistern on the outskirts of Anopoli (literally, “high town”) where we had lunch. I ended the hike here, taking a taxi back to Sfakia while the others punished their knees in 34C heat on the 700m descent to Loutro.

I’m back in the UK for the next few days, before returning to the US on Thursday. Four days of hiking the South West Coast Path this past week provided quite a contrast to Crete, and will be the subject of my next blog post.

Now that summer’s over, get outside and enjoy the cooler weather this autumn!

The Vagabond Hiker

Search Results for: Sardinia

Sardinia Walking Week

Hiking the White Mountains of Crete

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