How can I possibly begin to describe the amazing
adventure that was climbing Mt. Olympus last weekend? The words would turn to dust on my
tongue due to their horrid inadequacy.
Let me try anyway.
For starters, we were horribly misinformed with regards to our bus ride there. I walked onto the bus ready for a nice 3 hour drive spent reading a book on my kindle, maybe doing homework if I was feeling particularly productive. It turns out the mountain was much farther away than any of us had anticipated. Seven hours I spent on that bus. I got a few good naps in and made pretty good progress on my book (I almost finished it right then and there). But oh how stiff we were getting off that bus!
Then came the 3 hour long hike to the shelter. And since we were a group of young and spry college students, we made the trek in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Go us! I wish we would have had those extra 20 minutes on the trail, however. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous! In the beginning of the trail (once we got past the awful mule poo smell) there were pines and moss covered stones on both sides of us. It was like we weren’t in Greece anymore; that kind of image just doesn’t pop into your head when you think of the Mediterranean.
The scenery was exactly how I pictured the woods
in one of my novel ideas to look and, for half a second, I expected one of my
characters to simply slide out from behind a tree. The entire hike was uphill
as is to be expected when climbing a mountain. My legs felt perfectly fine
afterwards, if not a bit chilly from the mountain breeze. It was a very good
cardio workout indeed.
Once we got to the shelter, we had to take off our shoes and place them in these cupboards. The shelter provided slippers for us except by the time I got to the crate, the only thing left was a pair of giant flip flops, far too big for my size 6 feet. Then came for what we were all waiting for: food.
I shared a large plate of pasta and a bowl of soup with Rebekah. The soup left something to be desired but the pasta was delicious simply in its familiarity. The shelter even had hot chocolate. That was by far the best part of the dinner right there. I’ve missed the feeling of warm ceramic heating your palms while the dark, sweet liquid heats your soul. Things got a little crazy when Jake spilled wine all over me as we were actually talking about libations and whether or not we should do some in hope that we would be favored the next day. That is how I became the divine instrument of the gods. I receive visions and Megan, acting as my Cybil, interprets them. Just a day in the life I guess.
Then we went outside to look at the stars.
The night sky was completely breathtaking. You could see the Milky Way so clearly. The amount of shooting stars we saw was so numerous that it was hard keeping count. We went back outside after 10:00 when the generator was turned off and saw even more stars. It was truly incredible. I also caught a glimpse of a blood moon trying its hardest to catch up to our altitude. My group of friends and I huddled together in a giant cornucopia of warmth, craning our necks, for quite some time.
The sleeping arrangements at the shelter were another thing entirely. Essentially, there were two long wooden benches with mattresses placed on top. All 26 of us (4 guys included) had to sleep right next to one another, basically cuddling to stay warm. At least that was the plan. I still froze throughout the night. Some people only slept a few hours.
I began Saturday with a nice breakfast of bread and cheese and another mug of glorious hot chocolate. Then we were off! This leg of our journey up to 200 m away from the highest peak, known as the Throne of Zeus (the last 200 m were a climb/scrabble on a 60 degree cliff face) was a lot harder than the trek to the shelter. There were times when the incline was almost too intense for my ankles to bear. I definitely got a good cardio workout. The view, though, was phenomenal! I took so many pictures.
One we reached the top (or as high as we went), I
stopped to just soak it all in; the mountains below and across from us, the
tiny stretch of city we could barely make out as it boarded a body of water,
the crisp mountain air stirring my curls. I couldn’t believe that I had just
climbed up a mountain. Not just any mountain, mind you, but Mt. Olympus! The Mt. Olympus! The gods of old were
just 200 m away from me! The rush that that thought alone sent rushing through
my veins was more than enough to make me giddy as we began our trek back to the
shelter for lunch (and my last steaming mug of hot chocolate) and again down
through the forest of my dreams to the bus.
Ending the whole experience with another seven hour bus ride was not the ideal conclusion at all, but it gave plenty of time to reflect on the experience as a whole…
…also for some endorphin-fueled shenanigans along the way as we danced to our music in the very back of the bus while everyone else was trying to sleep.
For starters, we were horribly misinformed with regards to our bus ride there. I walked onto the bus ready for a nice 3 hour drive spent reading a book on my kindle, maybe doing homework if I was feeling particularly productive. It turns out the mountain was much farther away than any of us had anticipated. Seven hours I spent on that bus. I got a few good naps in and made pretty good progress on my book (I almost finished it right then and there). But oh how stiff we were getting off that bus!
Then came the 3 hour long hike to the shelter. And since we were a group of young and spry college students, we made the trek in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Go us! I wish we would have had those extra 20 minutes on the trail, however. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous! In the beginning of the trail (once we got past the awful mule poo smell) there were pines and moss covered stones on both sides of us. It was like we weren’t in Greece anymore; that kind of image just doesn’t pop into your head when you think of the Mediterranean.
The scenery was exactly how I pictured the woods
in one of my novel ideas to look and, for half a second, I expected one of my
characters to simply slide out from behind a tree. The entire hike was uphill
as is to be expected when climbing a mountain. My legs felt perfectly fine
afterwards, if not a bit chilly from the mountain breeze. It was a very good
cardio workout indeed. Once we got to the shelter, we had to take off our shoes and place them in these cupboards. The shelter provided slippers for us except by the time I got to the crate, the only thing left was a pair of giant flip flops, far too big for my size 6 feet. Then came for what we were all waiting for: food.
I shared a large plate of pasta and a bowl of soup with Rebekah. The soup left something to be desired but the pasta was delicious simply in its familiarity. The shelter even had hot chocolate. That was by far the best part of the dinner right there. I’ve missed the feeling of warm ceramic heating your palms while the dark, sweet liquid heats your soul. Things got a little crazy when Jake spilled wine all over me as we were actually talking about libations and whether or not we should do some in hope that we would be favored the next day. That is how I became the divine instrument of the gods. I receive visions and Megan, acting as my Cybil, interprets them. Just a day in the life I guess.
Then we went outside to look at the stars.
The night sky was completely breathtaking. You could see the Milky Way so clearly. The amount of shooting stars we saw was so numerous that it was hard keeping count. We went back outside after 10:00 when the generator was turned off and saw even more stars. It was truly incredible. I also caught a glimpse of a blood moon trying its hardest to catch up to our altitude. My group of friends and I huddled together in a giant cornucopia of warmth, craning our necks, for quite some time.
 |
| This is only one part of the long bed. |
The sleeping arrangements at the shelter were another thing entirely. Essentially, there were two long wooden benches with mattresses placed on top. All 26 of us (4 guys included) had to sleep right next to one another, basically cuddling to stay warm. At least that was the plan. I still froze throughout the night. Some people only slept a few hours.
I began Saturday with a nice breakfast of bread and cheese and another mug of glorious hot chocolate. Then we were off! This leg of our journey up to 200 m away from the highest peak, known as the Throne of Zeus (the last 200 m were a climb/scrabble on a 60 degree cliff face) was a lot harder than the trek to the shelter. There were times when the incline was almost too intense for my ankles to bear. I definitely got a good cardio workout. The view, though, was phenomenal! I took so many pictures.
 |
| The Throne of Zeus from our highest point. |
Ending the whole experience with another seven hour bus ride was not the ideal conclusion at all, but it gave plenty of time to reflect on the experience as a whole…
…also for some endorphin-fueled shenanigans along the way as we danced to our music in the very back of the bus while everyone else was trying to sleep.
 |
| The view. |
 |
| Of course, I had to get my cliff shot! |
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