Meeting goats at the Samaria Gorge in Crete, the largest Greek island.
Photo by tim taddiken on UnsplashI couldn’t complain about my aching legs, halfway through hiking the longest gorge in Europe, when I saw a man with one leg pass me as I rested on a nearby rock. In mid-August, hiking the Samaria Gorge, a 16 km strech from Chania region to the Libyan Sea in southern Crete, is a sheer test of the will, but it will remain one of the most sublime experiences of my life.
Hikers from all over the world flock here between the months of May and October to test their prowess across the white jagged stones as the overabundance of markers that litter the “trail” attest.
These ridiculous lopsided structures of piled rocks remain a bizarre tradition in the gorge, whose own rock village of Samaria was abandoned in 1962 to become a National Park and safe haven for endemic species like the Cretian goat.
The goats agility in jumping from cliff to cliff, at times, made me jealous during the six-hour hike. But each time that I grew tired, I turned a corner and new landscape greeted me – inspiration to keep going. One of the highlights of the gorge was reaching its narrowest part – which measures 4 meters across and rockets up 300 meters high on each side.
The best part of the hike was reaching the end and jumping into the Libyan Sea, taking underwater pictures with some new friends I met on the trail, and even catching a glimpse of northern Africa. I would pay for my fun for the next three days through, my legs were incredibly sore that I could barely walk. The drastic cooling of my leg muscles in the ocean probably didn’t help either.
For the €5 entrance fee, hiking the gorge is a treat for adventurous souls with waterproof closed-toe sandals.
Article written by Courtney Pruitt.
