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Hikiing in Agrafa region (Central Greece) - Papadimitri - Pouli - Svoni
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Almost at the end of the eleventh month of the year and this time, we have decided to visit one of our favourite regions of Greece and specifically the Agrafa mountains. The route we have decided to do is the following: Karoplesi village – Papadimitri Peak (1.930 m) – Pouli Peak (1.846 m.) – Svoni Peak (2.042 m) – Saika Village, all situated in the Agrafa region of Karditsa. Agrafa is a mountainous region in Evrytania and Karditsa regional units in mainland Greece, consisting mainly of small villages. It is the southernmost part of the Pindus range. The Agrafa region is famous for its complete autonomy throughout the entire 400 years of Ottoman Turkish occupation of Greece. The word agrafa literally translates to unwritten which means unregistered or uncharted; because the Ottomans were unable to conquer this region, the area and its population were not recorded in the Sultan’s tax register. As a result the people were usually free to conduct their business and customs as they pleased without Ottoman influence. See full Hiking Adventure here: https://olympusmountaineering.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/agrafa-svoni-pouli-papadimitri/  It was early morning hours and still dark outside our tents. We got up around 5.45 in the morning, prepared morning coffee, packed our backpacks and at 6.30 we were ready to depart from Karoplesi. Karoplesi is a very beautiful area very near Plastiras Lake, south of Kastania. The green Itamos, the mountaintops og “Koimomeni” (sleeping lady) and the formations of the rivers crossing the area create an extremely beautiful landscape, a huge ecological park with many changes, abundance of vegetation and rich flora. Our route starts from the central square of the Karoplesi village. The first part of the trail is on a dirt road that is used by the locals in order to reach their farms higher on the mountain.    Once we reached Papadimitri peak, we took a short break from a quick snack, but most of all in order to enjoy the stunning view. From there we could see many other peaks, such as Five Towers, Flitzani, Svoni, Itamos and of course Pouli peak that was out next destination point. From Papadimitri peak, we can continue to the top of Pouli peak. We descend towards the ridge, located to our west. Down-climb is very easy. Next, we faithfully follow the ridge until we reach the bottom of the Pouli peak. The route here is beautiful and the visitor has the opportunity to see southern, eastern and western Agrafa at the same time. The last piece is a bit steep, but not dangerous.   As soon we have reached Pouli peak, the wind was blowing so hard that we have decided to not stay for long on that peak and to move fast towards the highest point of our hike, Svoni peak 2.042 meters above sea level. Svoni is the highest mountain of East Agrafa range. It is located in the center of mountain range of Agraga villages. The easiest path for the peak starts from the villages of Agrafa and Vragiana. Svoni has a low degree of difficulty, since climbing from the col between the Pouli and Svoni peak is easy. Of course one can climb from the other sides of the mountain, which are quite steep. Especially in the winter months, the snow covers the whole mountain and therefore prior winter mountaineering experience is needed.   
 See full Hiking Adventure here: https://olympusmountaineering.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/agrafa-svoni-pouli-papadimitri/ . |
