Conquering Olympus



Tegelikult tahtsin seda meeliülendavat kogemust jagada nii ruttu kui võimalik, aga nagu ikka viis üks asi teiseni ja siin ma olen, nädal hiljem, nendest kõige värskematest emotsioonidest ilma jäänud, aga vähemalt on neist näha selles vlogis SIIN ja parem kirjutada ülejäänut hiljem kui mitte kunagi! Lisan SIIA ka ühe illustreeriva kaardi, kust on hea kõiki  jutus tulevaid kohti jälgida. 

Niisiis sai meie teekond alguse 22. oktoobril umbes kell 4 hommikul, kui ma peale väga elavat ja rahutut und voodist välja ronisin, kuskil kella 5.30-6.00 aeg sai rendiautode lepingutega kõik korda ning kella 7.30 olime ilma suuremate viperusteta, kõigest veidike ära eksimisi ja iiveldama ajavaid teid mööda sõitmist, oma esimeses sihtkohas Prionias (1100 m). 

Ausalt öeldes olid esimesed sammud päris rasked ning vaid peale poole tunnist jalutamist polnud ma tipu vallutamises enam nii kindel, õnneks paistsid ka teised veidi väsinud olevat. Tee kuni esimese ööbimispaigani (2100 m) oli mõnusalt värviline ning esimest korda sellel aastal tundsin tõeliselt sügise kohalolu, niimoodi oli kohe lust matkata ja lühikesi puhkepause teha. Peale 2,5-3 tundi rahulikku matkamist ja kerget ronimist olimegi vallutanud pool teest ehk jõudnud refuge A-ni e esimese võimaliku ööbimispaigani, andsime endale umbes pool tundi puhkukust enne pikka ja rasket teekonda ülesse. Puhkepausil nägime teisi matkajaid ning viimast plaani paika pannes kuulsime õudusjutte kõige kõrgema tipu (Mytikas, 2918 m) kohta- soovitatav oleks sinna minna korraliku varustusega, eriti korralike saabastega, mida meist keegi ei omanud; tee sinna on järsk, nõuab jõudu ning üks vale samm võib anda matkale väga koleda lõpu, jah, juttude kohaselt jätab sinna igal aastal vähemalt üks inimene oma elu (enamsti tänu valele ilmale). Olime nendest hoiatusest kergelt ehmunud, kuid otsustasime siiksi lõpp-plaanid lahtiseks jätta ning esmalt vallutada Skala tipp (2866 m), kust jaguneb tee kaheks kõrgeima tipu Mytikase (2918 m) ja kõrguselt teise tipu Skolio (2911) vahel. 

Tee sinna oli ausalt öeldes ropp, kuna tegemist oli mu esimese mäega, siis millegiga mul seda võrrelda ei ole, kuid mulle kui algajale oli see ikka paras proovikivi. Esiteks lagunes meie kümnene grupp sellel teekõigul väga kiiresti väikesteks gruppideks, kus mina domineerisin vahelduva eduga esimeses kolmeses grupis, kuid kõige raskem osa tuli mul siiski nö liidrite järel üksi läbi elada. Ühel hetkel, (umbes eelviimase pildi juures) tabas mind peale kahte tundi matkamist (loe: 10 sammu üles ja 10 sekundit puhkust režiimis) täielik vaimne murdumine, ma istusin maha ja lihtsalt nutsin, sest ma ei saanud enam aru miks ma seal mäel olen ja mida ma tahan ja olgem ausad, see vaade oli ka päris aukartust ja hirmu äratav, seda enam, et eelneval öösel olin näinud õudusunenägusid kaljuserval alla kukkumisest. Seega võtsin endale pikema pausi, einestasin, harjusin vaatega ja tegin endale selgeks kui vähe mul tegelikult lõpuni minna on, veel üks tund toreda 10 sammu ja 10 sekundi süsteemi koos mõne teise Erasmuse sooja sõnaga (tol päeval oli mäel väga palju Erasmuseid erinevatest gruppidest) ja lubadusega, et Skalast ma kaugemale ei liigu ning oligi raske (arvatavasti kõrguselt neljas) tipp vallutatud! 

Peale pikemat puhkepausi oli selge, et kõige kõrgemasse tippu ma ei roni, kuigi tee tundus lihtsam kui juttude kohaselt, oli soov tervelt koju jõuda siiski suurem. Ka ülejäänud meie grupiliikmed leppisid seekord Skala või Skolio vallutamisega- kellel jäi lihtsalt aega väheseks, kellel ei jagunud jaksu ja kes polnud endas kindel, sest tee Mytikasse on kohati väga järsk, näiteks juttude järgi tuleb mõnel teelõigul läbida mitme meetrine rada vaid imepisikesel pinnal lihtsalt hoides seinast kinni ja seda kõike ilma varustuseta, samuti tundus tee sinna otsa paras turnimine ja üks libastumine võib juba karmilt kätte maksta. Seega panen tulevastele ronijatele (just algajatele) südamele, kaaluda mitu korda Mytikasse ronimist, kaaluge oma oskusi, jõudu, keha ja tahet, sest teid oodatakse koju ja ma usun, et keegi meist ei taha kuskil kuristikus lõpetada, samas, kui usud, et saad füüsiliselt sellega hakkama ja varustus on ka hea, siis anna minna! Niisiis suundusin mina Mytikase asemele 8 meetrit madalale ja tunduvalt ohutuma teega Skolio tippu, mille vallutamine võttis umbes pool tundi aega ja kust avanes veidi võimsam vaade kui Skalat, ausalt öeldes oli ikka päris uhke tunne, et ma selle lõpuks ära tegin, minule kui maksimalistile torkis veidike vallutamata jäänud kõrgeim tipp ikka hinge, aga ausalt, ma olen enda üle väga uhke, et ma nii kaugele jõudsin!

Alla tulemine oli muidugi samuti omamoodi teema, millest vist tavaliselt eriti ei räägita, kokku võttis see meil umbes 4 tundi koos tunnise pausiga, millest mina ja üks teine Erasmus veetsime 20 minutit pimedas metsas/matkarajal kõndides. Kuna mägi oli sandistanud nii mõnegi meie liikme, siis kõige nõrgematel tuli pimedas metsas kõndida lausa tund aega, kõige kiiremad jõudsid algpunkti just päikeseloojanuks. Kuigi tee oli allamäge ja võttis tunduvalt vähem aega, siis ei tasuks seda alahinnata, sest eriti tipust alla tulles kukkusid meist pea kõik või vähemalt komistasid mitmeid ja mitmeid kordi, minul andsid tunda eelkõige põlved ning kohapeal seistes tekkis jalgades   kontrollimatu värin, õhtu lõpuks olid kõik ikka omadega täitsa läbi. 

Hoolimata pea 12 tunnisest matkast (üles ja alla), vaimsest murdepunktist, lugematul korral komistamisest ja peaaegu enda vigaseks kukkumisest ning järgmistel päevadel oi kui kangetest jalgadest oli kogu matk seda väärt, sest peale imelise vaate õppisin ma ka ennast uuest küljest tundma ning avastain, milleks ma võimeline olen. Nüüd tagasi vaadates oli see ikka üks vägev teraapia ja proovilepanek!
Cheers! 
  
Actually I wanted to write about this experience as soon as possible, but as most of the time one thing went to another and here I am, a week later, lost all the fresh emotions, at least you can watch some of them from my vlog in HERE and the rest of the emotions I will try to tell you right now! I am adding HERE also one map, where is written all those places, which I will talk about, so now we can start!

For me our trip started in October 22, around 4 in the morning when after a couple of hour sleeping with a bad dreams I got out from the bed, around 5.30 am- 6.00 am we finally managed all the things with rental cars and around 7.30 am, after some small adventures on the wrong roads and on the mountain roads (where I got sick), we finally arrived to the first destination point called Prionia (1100).

Honesty, the first step were pretty hard for me, only an half of hour hiking and I wasn't sure will I go until to the end, luckily the others were also tired. Until to the first refuge (2100 m) the road was so colorful, in the first time of this year I really felt autumn, so in one point I started to enjoy this hike with the short breaks. After 2,5-3 hiking and easy climbing we finally arrived to the refuge A, which should be the first place where is possible to have an accommodation. In there we had an half of hour break before the second part of the road, we knew that this will not be so easy one. While having a break we saw some other hikers, who told us the horror stories about the highest peak (Mytikas, 2918 m)- it is recommended to go there with the proper equipment, at least with proper boots, which we didn't had; the road to there is steep and requires some strength, one wrong step and this hike could end in very bad way, yes, there's stories that each year some people are not coming back home (mostly thanks to the wrong weather). After these kind of stories we were a bit scared and confused what to do, so we decided to climb first to the top of the Skala peak (2866 m), where to road is going to two different directions- one to the top of Mytikas (2918 m) and one to the top of the second highest peak Skolio (2911 m).

The second part of the hike was hard, as it was my first mountain, then I don't have anything to compere with it, but for the beginners I would say it is doable, but it's not easy for sure. On that road our 10-people-group fall very quickly to smaller groups, where time to time I was in the first group with two other people, but in the hardest parts I was completely alone. In one moment (around that time when I made the photo before the last one), after two hours of hiking (read: taking 10 steps and then resting for 10 seconds tempo) I had total mental break down, I just sat and cried, because I didn't understand why I am there and what I want to do, also the view was awesome but a bit scary, so thanks to my horror dreams in previous night (I saw how I am falling from the cliff) I was a bit scared, too. I took a one longer paus, ate, got used with the view and encouraged my-self to go until to the end, because I was so close, so one more hour with 10 steps/10 seconds system and some good words from other Esramus people (there were a lot of different Eramus people groups on that day) I finally reached to the top of Skala, which should be the forth highest peak! 

After the long pause in top of the Skala it was clear that I will not go to the highest peak, although it seemed easier then I though, it was still too difficult for me and I really wanted to go back home in one piece. Also the rest of our group made the same desision- some of them didn't had enough time, some of them were tired or not sure about they physical condition. As I heard the way to Mytikas is in very steep and in some point there is a few meters long road which are very tiny, so you basically just need to hold on from the cliff wall to not fall down and all of this is happening without the equipment, also in some points it seemed a real challenge to climb up, as I said, one wrong step and you may not go back home. So if you ever want to go to Olympus, then I really ask you to consider about to not go to Mytikas, think about your physical shape and skills and if you are not ready or you have some doubts then better don't go  there, because I believe that all of us whats to go back home, but if you feel great about it then go for it! So instead of Mytikas I went to Skolio, which is 8 meters lower and the way to there is much more safe, it took around 30 minutes and the view was a bit better then it was from Skala. Although my maximalist side poke my soul because of not going to Mytikas, I was still very very proud and happy that I was in top of Olympus!  

Coming down from the top is also a but challenging, but I guess people don't talk so much about it because it easier than going up. For us it took 4 hours (including 1 hour break) to get back to the cars. The last 20 minutes me and one other Erasmus were walking in the dark forest/hiking road, the fastest got out from the woods around the sun set time, but as Olympus injured some people then they walked on the dark road around an hour. Although coming down takes less time, then for sure don't underestimate it, because I guess almost all our members fall at least one time and there were a lot of moment where I almost fall, especially near of the top, my knees started to hurt and when I just standed my legs were shaking so badly- in the end of the evening we all were just so tired. 

Despite of almost 12 hours long hiking (up and back down), metal break down, almost falling moments and the aching muscles, which in the next days were so bad, I am still so freaking happy that it did it, besides of amazing view I learned new things about myself, I saw how much I can do! Now looking back to this event, I am feeling that it was an awesome therapy and challenge! I am just so proud!
Cheers!

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