- Helm's
Deep
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Today was one of the highlights: The Samaria Gorge. This
"cut" into the southwest Crete is known as one of the longest
gorges
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in Europe, if not the longest. Though not as grandiose as the Grand
Canyon, it has it's own beauty and features. Following the
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trail is sepia tone upright walls of boulders and layers of stone from
many ages. Shots of color come everywhere with light red
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and white oleanders intermixed with low level purple scrub.
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This is a fun hike - one way from the starting point of 4,000+ feet above
sea level to the actual sea level beach. Total length is
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about 12 miles through the main national park area and another 2 miles to
the beach and assortment of small hotels and travernas.
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Planning is required due to the logistics - Starting point is at the dead
end of a main road with no roads coming the end of the trail.
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So, bus into the start and boat out at the end. There are only
3 scheduled bus routes in the morning. So, we selected our Chaina
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city hotel based on proximity of the main regional bus station - just 2
blocks away. Purchased round trip tickets and departed from
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station at 08:30 AM. Buses are modern, comfortable, and have sizable
windows.
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After an hour and half, the bus completed the task of leaving north side
sea level Chania and traversing the White Mountains to arrive
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at the trailhead. A small warden station collects the entry fee (5
Euros) which includes a second receipt to be handed to the warden
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station at the end of the trail. "And so it begins" the
descent into this resemblance of Helm's Deep.
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Clambering through pine woods at the beginning, we started to arrive at
dry river beds. Somewhat of a "hop scotch" approach
to
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uses the larger boulders versus sinking in the smaller pebbles.
Rest areas (with WCs) are well laid out with most having natural
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spring water spigots to refill water bottles.
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Signs of previous dwellers started to appear - the very small St. Nicolas
church located in a small cypress forest and then the actual
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town of Samaria. When the Gorge became a National Park in 1962, all
residents were relocated. So, the town Samaria is mostly
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a ghostly remnant of it's past. One or two buildings are maintained
for the park wardens. Ancient olive trees with gnarled bark
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showing it's years surrounded the town.
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One of the largest challenges with so much pine and cypress with endless
dry periods is fire. The majority of the trail has a main
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water line escorting it with hose connections at strategic
locations. Bright red fire extinguisher boxes were tossed along the
trail.
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Additional back up included stone huts with bags of sand.
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The end was near was when we reached the "Iron Gates" - the
trail proceeds through a 9 foot wide opening flanked by 2,000 feet high
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walls. Next 4 mile hike was end of the Park, through some snack
shops, and finishing at a small beach side town. We purchased our
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boat tickets and filled the 3 hour wait with a much appreciated lunch
overlooking the beach.
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We arrived to Chora Sfakion - 1 1/2 hour long boat ride - in time for the
return bus ride. Our driver did not waste any time and an
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hour later, we were walking to the hotel. Dinner was at another
Harbor side restaurant . The next two days was the infamous
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"downhill hiking" leg soreness. And
so it ends.
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