Ever since I first learned about ancient Greek history in seventh grade I was fascinated by it. So naturally I felt a strong attraction to the Olympus Mountain - the place where the Gods live. I wanted to climb it, experience its magic and maybe get a glance at Zeus and friends.

We camped near the parking area where the hike up to the Olymp started and began our hike around nine in the morning. Our phones where dead as we'd been wild camping for a while and no opportunity to charge them, so we didn't have an alarm clock. Otherwise we would have started the hike earlier in the morning which I'd recommend to everyone.

The Olymp is not actually a single mountain (I thought so - oops), but a mountain chain with several summits. The hike up there was great with the mountain peeks ahead and the sea beneath. A perfect combination.

If you look closely you can see the ocean in the background.

They almost ran me over! Mules are used to provide the refuges with everything they need. Not very animal-friendly I suppose, but I was impressed how easily the mules managed on the small paths with deadly abysses to either side.

Chamois on the horizon.

And chamois up close. I just love animals. It is always a highlight for me to see wild animals when I'm in nature.

This is the "Plateau of Muses". Rational-thinking people hike up here, sleep in a refuge and try to reach the summit the next day early in the morning. Because every day clouds form before noon and cover the summits in fog. However, we'd only planned to be one day at the Olymp and wanted to do everything in that time. Let me tell you, not a good idea.

These are the summits. The highest one is called "Mytikas". Supposedly, it is possible to reach the very top despite what it looks like.

This was the highest we got which was only a little bit underneath the actual summit. I really, really wanted to reach the top (I have never before failed at reaching my mountain goal). But it was foggy as we were inside the cloud you can see two pictures above. Also, there were signs remembering the people who have died trying to climb the mountain and my legs were heavy from the 2000 meters / 6500 ft of altitude we'd already tackled. Additionally, the last part really seemed terrifying and dangerous. Still, I think I'll come back one day - better prepared and with more courage!

The Olymp is absolutely beautiful nevertheless and the views totally made up for any disappointment! I was also a little bit proud of hiking a distance of more than 30 Kilometers / 18.5 Miles in addition to the altitude in one day.

One little anecdote: As we were almost back at the parking area where the hike had started, a guy approached us. At this point it was already getting dark and the guy was just in shorts and flip-flops. He asked us if we knew where the "Plateau of Muses" were and if it was close. He thought he'd do a little stroll up there (after sunset) and wanted to know if it was worth it. I told him that it really was worth it, but that'd take him around six or seven hours. He was a little surprised and said that he didn't bring a flashlight, so he turned back. Moral of the story was that it doesn't matter how completely unprepared I am, there is always going to be someone even worse prepared!

So after all, I can't tell you about Greek Gods, but I don't mind that much. Their mystery is still unsolved for me and I like that. As I was attempting to climb to the summit, surrounded by fog, with a fatal drop beneath my feet and trembling knees, I felt as Zeus maybe just didn't want me up there and I had to accept that.

Stay tuned for my next post and follow me @earthlingvera

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Check out my precious posts about my travels in Greece:
Athens
Island of Milos
Cliff Diving on Ios
Meteora