Safe Return Doubtful

It is good to be back in the mountains again after my self imposed exile of two weeks. It was getting to the stage when I was getting withdrawal symptoms.

I had thought Cape Kitries was a good stopover, but there was a lot of litter and rubbish around, and just after midnight a crowd of youngsters in their fast and noisy cars arrived. Fortunately there was no loud music, and their conversation lasted just an hour. Throw into the quandary a scourge of mosquitos attracted by the humidity and filth no doubt, and my yearning for the mountains was made complete.

Up here the weather is set fair, no rain now for a week or so, and none in the forecast. In previous years there has been snow here before now. There’s a greater range of temperature here as one would expect, here at 800 metres above sea level. a high of about 15C and a low of around zero. It’s calm and excellent conditions.

My objective was the Pan Trail, one of a series of trails that make up a new network of hiking and MTB tracks called the Apollo Trails.

Bordering on the provinces of Arcadia, Ilia and Messinia, with the village of Abeliona as its epicenter, the network traverses the region between the Temple of Apollo Epicurus, the Mount Lykaion, and the River Neda.
Historic Arcadia was home of ancient god Pan, patron of the farmers. The trails were founded in 2013, and now have a smart website (https://apollotrails.com/en/home/) and infrastructure in the villages to cope with the visitors it attracts. Though there are pretty much none at this time of year.

Initially (yesterday, Saturday) I headed for Abeliona, but couldn’t find anywhere appealing to park the van up. I got talking to some young builders, renovating a property. One of them recommended Neda, a neighbouring village across the valley, and told me where he thought would be a good pull up. And that there was a good and welcoming Taverna as well.

He was spot on. Neda is also ideally situated for the section of the trail that goes to the ruin of the Temple of Pan, and the high pasture and church that lies just above it. From there, it’s just another 500 metres or so, and 100 metres up, to the top of Likeo mountain, which provides a spectacular viewpoint of the whole area.

Before arriving at Abeliona, I had planned to visit the Temple of Apollo Epicurus, which is just off the road, at 1150 metres asl. It is one of the best-preserved monuments of classical antiquity in the world, built in 400BC, a UNESCO World Heritage site, but unfortunately now covered in plastic and closed, as it is being renovated.

This morning Roja and I took the Pan Trail to the Temple, and Agios Athanasios above it. It was a round trip of about 10 kilometres, and as I mentioned earlier, perfect conditions. Compared to the Temple of Apollo, the ruin of Pan in rather more underwhelming. What remains is a ruined chapel and architectural blocks from a the sanctuary. Illegal excavations in the late 1800s brought to the art market a series of bronze figurines of Pan. The site was then excavated by legally in 1902, finding more. dedications to Pan and an altar, thought to date back to 420BC.

According to mythology, the God Pan was born in Mount Lycaeus and is considered a patron of any breeders who have permanent residence in nature. He was a lover of the outdoors and spent hours endlessly frolicking and playing with his flute. Pan was the companion of the Nymphs and the lover of every young woman or man who visited to enjoy nature.

I’m shortly to read Arthur Machen’s book The Great God Pan, which is a horror novella about a ruined Temple dedicated to Pan in Snowdonia. I will of course post a review, that I know readers will be anxious for..

The highlight of the hike though was the viewpoint at the top of Mount Likeo.

https://videopress.com/v/sDj6QJqE?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

We were back at the van for late lunch, and with it being New Year’s Eve, consideration of a few matters I turn my attention to annually, best reading, films, TV of the year, and a selection of my best photographs, one for each month, that will form a calendar.

I should be posting the first of those later today, or tomorrow, though the images for the calendar may take a few days.

As I said in my commentary to the short video above, all the best for 2024 to all.