This is the fourth and final part of the Mount Tymfi (Pindos) Thru-Hike. In case you haven’t checked the first, second and third parts, feel free to check it out here:

Mount Tymfi (Pindos) Thru-Hike Part 1 – Kapesovo – Mezaria Gorge – Vikos Canyon – Mikro Papingo

Mount Tymfi (Pindos) Thru-Hike Part 2 – ASTRAKA REFUGE – ASTRAKA PEAK

Mount Tymfi (Pindos) Thru-Hike Part 3 – Dragon Lake (Drakolimni)

It was a wonderful morning, waking up by the first sun beams with a stunning view of Drakolimni (Dragon Lake). That was also our final and perhaps the most demanding day we had during the Thru-Hike of Mount Tymfi. On that day, we had to cover a quite large distance, with high inclines and declines. That day, besides other parts of Mount Tymfi, we have also conquered the highest peak, Gamila which is 2.497 meters above sea level.

GAMILA PEAK

The Face of Gamila, generally NE orientated, basically consists of a group of towers called (looking northwest to southeast): Lapatos, Ntavalista, Ploskos, Gamila I, Gamila II, Karteros, Prodromos, Pyrgos 2440, Teriesti.

One can approach the Face of Gamila mainly from four starting points, and more specifically from four villages, Konitsa, Vrysohori, Tsepelovo and Papigo:

• The most common approach is the path that follows the route Konitsa Village – M. Stomiou – Kopanes Village and leads to the foot of the mountain Gamilla II. It is about 6h of hiking on a well-formed path. Mules are usually used for the transport of the gear to the base of the mountain.
• Another path that can be followed is the one that goes through the villages Vrysohori – Neraidovrysi – Loutsa – Kopanes and leads to the base of Gamilla II. It is about 8h of hiking, but the path is good only until Loutsa village.
• A different option is to follow the path that passes through Tsepelovo – Kartero’s col and leads to the base of Gamilla II, after about 7h of hiking. The quality of the path until Karteros is mediocre.
• Last but not least, a well-formed path

Climbing routes are being developed in this area since 1955. The first registered climb was realized on 7-8/6/1956 by Giorgos Michailidis – Giorgos Xanthopoulos on the face of Gamila I. On the same tower, on 25-26/8/1960, Guido Magnone and Spyros Antypas climbed the central pillar. The choice of Magnone, a famous climber of the time, to open up a route at Gamila, made the field known in Greece and Italy.

GAMILA II and STOMA PEAKS

Although we had heavy loads on our backpacks, we have managed to move rather fast and we reached the peak of Mount Tymfi around 10.30 in the morning. This gave us the opportunity to go further and explore the Gamila II and Stoma peaks. In order to reach Gamila II and Stoma peaks, we had to do a traverse which I found it very interesting, especially if I consider doing the same traverse during winter with ice and snow. There is not any established trail for such traverse, but if conditions are quite, is pretty easy to take the best possible route.

HIGH PEAKS – MEGAS LAKOS – TSEPELOVO – KAPESOVO

Once we have conquered the three peaks, we have decided to go towards Loutsa Robozi. Loutsa Robozi is a lake which provides water to cows, but during this season was dry. Although our initial goal was to pass via Loutsa Robozi towards Tsepelovo, we took a small shortcut towards Megas Lakos. On that point there was another great traverse with beautiful views and sub-alpine landscapes.

 

In case you haven’t checked the first, second and third parts, feel free to check it out here:

Mount Tymfi (Pindos) Thru-Hike Part 1 – Kapesovo – Mezaria Gorge – Vikos Canyon – Mikro Papingo

Mount Tymfi (Pindos) Thru-Hike Part 2 – ASTRAKA REFUGE – ASTRAKA PEAK

Mount Tymfi (Pindos) Thru-Hike Part 3 – Dragon Lake (Drakolimni)