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| Closing down to Milopotamos |
Distance: 11,9 km
Duration: 5 hours (walking time 4.25')
Altitude: from 380 m. (Milies) to 800 m. (max) to 0 m. (Milopotamos)
Total elevation gain: 460 m. Total elevation loss: 830 m.
Signed with red paint marks, metal signs
Start: Milies square End: Milopotamos beach
Drinking water on walk: yes (Xourichti)
Download GPS track:
from Everytrail from Wikiloc
The first part of this walk is the same as to the walk Milies-Tsagarada. Reaching the chapel of Agios Dimitrios above Xourichti, we walk down through the village and continue to the excellent beach of Milopotamos, where our walk can end with a swim at the Aegean sea. There is a restaurant at the beach, open from Easter to the end of September. We have to take into account the fact that the last part of the walk below Xourichti offers little shade from the sun. Also, below the quarry we must exercise caution climbing down the path because of many loose stones on it.
The
library building, inscripted with the words ''ΨΥΧΗΣ
ΑΚΟΣ
'' (psychis akos, “therapy for the soul”) is
found just above the square in Milies and immediately to its right
begins the kalderimi towards Labinou-Xourichti-Tsagarada. We start up
this and immediately pass a covered spring water drinking fountain on
our left. We continue straight ahead, climbing past the houses of
the village in an easterly direction. The kalderimi zigzags next to a plane tree, diagonally crosses a cement road and
continues uphill in the same easterly direction. We keep following the red
marks and ignore any downhill kalderimis or roads crossing our path.
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| Κalderimi at Milies |
A
little further on, we continue on a cement road as we leave the last
houses of the village behind us and walk between apple orchards.
At the second left hand bend, we leave the road and turn right onto a
kalderimi next to a concrete water channel and water pipe. On our right
is a row of cypress trees.
We pass a stream bed over a small concrete bridge and
continue on a lovely kalderimi/path.
We soon come to a crossing, at
which the signpost indicates that we should turn up to the left onto
a wide path, which becomes a kalderimi a little further up. We come
out at an angle onto a kalderimi/road and continue uphill. In a
short while, we meet and cross a wide earth road and continue in the same
direction between chestnut trees. Where a road comes in from the
right, we continue ahead in a northerly direction and reach a wooden
kiosk at the location called Kefalas. From here, to the right of the
kiosk, a path leads down to Labinou (see the route Milies-Labinou
beach).
We walk a bit
further on the road, which eventually ends and continues as a kalderimi
that leads into a beautiful forest with evergreen holm oaks initially, then in beech forest with some plane and chestnut trees. Moving in a
generally northerly direction we pass the Kerasorema stream bed and ascend
gently for a bit until we reach the highest point at 790
meters. This part through the forest is beautiful and evocative and
one wishes it could last forever!
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| Kalderimi in beech forest |
The kalderimi begins now to descend (we ignore two paths to our
right) and we reach a wooden bridge over the Varsami river bed.
After the bridge, we leave the forest and walk uphill on an earth
road in which sections of kalderimi are visible from time to time
until it goes off to the right of the road.
We are walking now in
maquis vegetation and pass next to a couple of orchards. The kalderimi then opens to a crossroads. We take the middle
road and in a few meters find the humble country chapel of Agios
Dimitrios, a suitable place for a stop.
We continue on the road for 150 meters and at the point where it takes a left uphill bend, we leave it to the right to find the kalderimi. After 30 meters there is a signed junction, where we go right on a wide earth path. We descend next to a water tank on our right side (the path is overgrown with grass and brumble) and then next to a house on our right. We join a cement road which goes through the village of Xourichti and soon reach the tiny square with the spring water fountain. Xourichti has always been a backward tiny village, built on rocky, infertile ground, its people struggling to earn a living.
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| Xourichti |
Reaching the church we prefer to take the kalderimi that goes off at an angle to the left, on a parallel course to the cement road. Further down we cross the road at an angle to the right, at the point where it takes a sharp bend, and continue in the same northeasterly direction on a stone paved track, passing by the chapel of Agii Pandes (All Saints). At the point where the concrete track takes a sharp left turn, we go straight ahead, entering the path again.
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| On the path leaving Xourichti |
It eventually opens to the main asphalt, on which we walk to the right and reaching the junction we take the secondary asphalt to the left, with a sign to ''Hotel Faros''. The original path runs parallel to the road on the right, but is not viable. The road takes a right turn and after 100 meters we take the earth track on the left, going down to a quarry. At the end we find the continuity of the path going down steeply for a few meters (here steps should be dug to facilitate descent).
The path descends on the ridge of the large ravine of Milopotamos which is on the left. Indeed, at some point, we walk pretty close to the edge of the cliff. To the right at the distance we can see the monastery of Labidona (see the walk Milies-Labinou-beach). On our way, we pass above deserted olive groves and notice a short section of kalderimi. Αfter the newly built small chapel of Agios Nikolaos, we walk on an earth road, which leads ultimately to hotel Faros. On a right bend of the road we take the signed path to the left and get down to the streambed of Milopotamos.
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| Crossing the stream of Milopotamos |
We pass to the other side over the bridge and climb either on the old kalderimi, or on the concrete steps, to get just below the restaurant. We continue down on the steps and finally come to the magnificent beach of Milopotamos. A swim in the crystal clear Aegean sea will make us instantly forget any difficulty we might have encountered on our way to here.
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| Milopotamos beach |
