102. Petrohori to Drigies Walk and Cycle in Crete
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102. Petrohori to Drigies
Five kilometres of track and paths with two steep climbs and one steep descent.
Leave Petrohori by the track that heads south past a small church and graveyard.
2 min. This then turns sharply left round the end of a ridge to drop to a junction on the bend of a concrete track. Cyclists should turn left, but then keep right on tracks round the base of the hill. Walkers turn right.
4 min. The track curves round a small cultivated valley before climbing gently towards the south-east.
15 min. The track continues to climb gently past a patch of oak scrub in huge limestone boulders on the edge of a ridge.
20 min. As the track turns a sharp right up the ridge to the west, you follow an old path straight on to the south.
25 min. Ano Meros is visible to the south as the path crosses the ridge and starts to hairpin down into olive groves.
30 min. Below the hairpins the path heads down beside a long wall toward the south-west but then becomes obscure. Make your way down through the olive groves to the track below.
40 min. Rejoin the cyclists and turn right, heading west on a track that drops gently between old olive groves.
45 min. The track reaches the stream at a concrete bridge with an old arched stone bridge 100 metres upstream.
55 min. Follow the south bank of the stream up to another concrete bridge. We had hoped to find a way up through the gorge ahead but found it all very overgrown and with a torrent boiling through the rocks in May abandoned our exploration.
Turn left at this second concrete bridge onto the track which climbs gently south away from the stream before turning and climbing west.
1 hr 5 min. Follow this track as it turns south again and climbs more steeply.
1 hr 15 min. When the track forks beneath a large oak tree, take the right fork to the west and continue to climb gently through olive groves with some immense trees.
1 hr 23 min. A group of ruined buildings and a church sit beside the track. From the church an old path climbs more steeply up to Drigies. The track leads to the same destination but takes slightly longer.
1 hr 40 min. Drigies.
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Copyright Peter Thomson 2012-May-20