One of the most used pieces of gear I own is an exceptional duffle bag from Marmot. I have used this duffle bag on multiple occasions and for various reasons. First and foremost, the Marmot Long Hauler Duffel Bag, at home, is used as a storage for various pieces of mountaineering equipment and gear. I have also used it for transporting my mountaineering equipment from location A to location B, via car, airplane or train. Of course, it can also be used for other purposes too, such as a gym bag.
Tymfi is a mountain in the northern Pindus mountain range, northwestern Greece. It is part of the regional unit of Ioannina and lies in the region of Zagori, just a few metres south of the 40° parallel. Tymfi forms a massif with its highest peak, Gamila, at 2,497 m (8,192 ft), being the sixth highest in Greece.
The massif of Tymfi includes in its southern part the Vikos Gorge, while they both form part of the Vikos–Aoös National Park which accepts over 100,000 visitors per year. The former municipality of the same name owed its name to the mountain. It also gave its name to the ancient land known as Tymphaea and to the Tymphaeans, one of the tribes in Ancient Epirus.
Continue reading “Mount Tymfi Expedition Preparation – Summer 2017”
Following up our trip to Agrafa and our ascent to the Five Towers peaks we decided to have a through-hike to the Voutsikaki mountain which is above the lake Plastira. Voutsikaki mountain is one of the highest peaks of the Agrafa region, in fact is 2.154 meters high.
Continue reading “Through-Hike in Voutsikaki – Agrafa Mountains”
This past winter I was searching for a backpack that I could use it for 2 days (one night) trips to the mountain. This new backpack I wanted to have several features for winter mountaineering and to be within my budget. The previous years, for such excursions I was using the Lowe Alpine Cholatse II 55-65 lt backpack. This backpack was great, though the 55-65 litres where never filled up and therefore I did not want to carry extra weight and volume on my back.
Erymanthos is a mountain range in the southern part of Achaea and the northeastern part of Elis. With an elevation of 2,224 meters, it is the fourth-tallest mountain in the Peloponnese peninsula. The summit is located on the boundary of Achaea and Elis. Historically, Mount Erymanthos was part of northwestern Arcadia, where it was the second-tallest mountain range. The northern portion belonged to the historic Achaea.
An early Sunday morning of mid May was the perfect call for climbing once again the Ortholithi mountain. Previously we had ascent this same mountain on early spring and we had done it from a different route.
Continue reading “Quechua TECHFRESH 50 Men’s Hiking T-Shirt Review”
Our last visit to the most visited mountain of Greece (next to Olympus) was during winter time. It was a beautiful but relatively easy ascent. This time, we have decided to visit the famous climbing rout of Parnitha, the Flabouri Ridge.
It was end of November when we last visited the peak of Mount Kyllini (Ziria). That was our first winter mountaineering ascent for the 2016-1027 season. Now, end of April, and following up our ascent to Doussias peak of the so called “small” Mount Ziria, we decided to reach the second higher peak of Peloponnese.
End of April in Greece, usually is not just spring weather, but we are entering the “summer” temperatures. Though, this year, on the 22nd of April we had one more and perhaps the last snowfall for this season. Due to the weather conditions, we took the chance to hit the road and travel towards Mount Kyllini.
Continue reading “Spring Ascent on small Mount Kyllini (Ziria)”
Olympus Mountaineering 