Gorgeous

I didn’t get moving too quickly this morning and it was warm enough to have breakfast on the rooftop. Yay!

I decided to do another gorge hike nearby and then check out a beachside town called Mochlos. This hike like most of the gorge hikes, would start at the highest point and descend. In the summer tours pick up hikers at the bottom so they don’t have to do the return hike under the unrelenting summer sun.

Because I do things the hard way, I went all in with committing to hiking back up the mountain. The sign said expect one hour and forty-five minites for the decsent. No estimate on the return…

I made it down in one hour thirty. This was more what I was expecting gorge hikes to be like. There were some places with ropes to cling to and lots of steps. One section had 111. That was a heart pumper on the way back!

But mostly it was a trail with minor obstacles. It was like three different experiences. During part of it, I could have been in the Princess Bride forest where Rodents Of Unusual Size could be lurking. Another section was similar to where railroad tracks cut through rock in my native Delaware. And it was also the mountain base where we used to starting backpacking in Montana.

The reason for so many different terrains and to rock types and formations on Crete and why this is part of a Unesco goepark, is due to the geological history of Crete. When Pangea broke apart and the land masses that would be Asia and Africa kept colliding with one another, the mountains of Crete were formed and then aided by some vocanic eruptions. My brother a professional amateur geologist would have never made the descent in an hour forty-five for examing all the rocks!

I got to the beach, rested for about ten minutes, and visited the green room. My friend Gayle calls it something like that. Men pull over and pee by the side of the road, so I have no issues peeing in the bushes.

I refilled my water bottle from the fountain. I brought the water bottle with a filter that I got for my trip to India but never used. So, if I get sick, the filter is a fail.

After I returned to the top a sweaty mess and very glad I did not attempt this in July, I fortunately had a change of shirt and then headed to Mochlos. It was just as cute as advertised despite being next to a huge quarry. Again not much was open and again the restiaranteurs were not very friendly or communicative so I moved on for dinner. Either they really dislike tourists in the off season or I’m giving off really bad vibes.

Fortunately at the top of the hill the “Natural tavern” was open the the proprietors were thrilled to have me and so was their tiny dog, Lupina. I ordered anothe Greek salad and small fish over potatoes and a glass of her house wine. I’m finding every cook in Crete makes Greek salad different. Some peel the cucumbers. Some cut them straight; some on the diagonal. She included sweet peppers. They all have slabs of feta and are doused in oregano though.

This excellent meal was accompanied by lovely view of the mountains and sea with the sunset fading on them. Then it was time to hustle on home for a shower and an early night!