One more day hiking around the mountain of Ymittos and more than happy to share with you what my eyes harvest on this wonderful piece of nature. A bit of a struggle trying to find my way around blocked forest roads so I end up parking my car at the cemetery of Voula in order to continue walking. Here's a map if the link is not enough for you:
How can I complain anyway since it's a nice day, I got a tree to keep my car in the shade and this wonderful view right in front of me:
I pass the first bar,
and continue walking on this scenic tarmac road:
This route is heaven for your eyes. Every time I look to the right I see this:
Not a bad spot to take a break at all:
I don't need one so I continue my way up:
Those pine trees are so adorable. If only they were less flammable but...we can't have it all:
I have no idea how this door ended up like this but I'm more than happy it's one obstacle less on the way to beauty:
One more chance for a lovely break:
Still I don't need one so I carry on. I mentioned flammable trees before for a reason. Wildfires are a serious issue here almost every summer and not all firemen make it back home safe after their mission. Here's some monuments for the unlucky heroes who lost their lives at this spot trying to do the impossible for our good:
GONE
BUT NOT
FORGOTTEN
Opposite side of this monument there's much less sad things waiting for a visitor. One of them is lying behind that wooden fence:
Another is of course the view,
but let's get closer to that fence:
The reason for fencing this is that there's a cave in there:
I find this opening,
and try to get some photos as close as possible. In the next pictures you can see the huge fig tree that gave its name to the cave. Not sure it looks as huge as it really is but keep in mind that the opening of the cave is around 20x10m and the tree covers it all. It's actually the biggest fig tree I've ever seen and trust me I've seen a lot:
Sorry for the fig overload, just trying to give you all the angles possible. The cave is impossible to visit without proper equipment as you have to go down vertically with a rope. You can still enjoy the view of course:
Or those tiny cute flowers that like to grow where you least expect them:
Time to move on and cross one more bar:
In the fear of repeating myself I can't skip mentioning how lovely the view is all the way:
Unlike those gross yet necessary pillars:
I follow this gravel road,
which is also very generous view wise:
I leave it behind to follow this path,
which leads me to one more cave:
The signs say entrance is not allowed due to high risk of accident. I enter the "cage" and see why:
The access to the inside of this cave is given by this narrow strip of rock with "stairs" worn and slippery like soaped marble while left and right there's not much to hold on to and the height is enough to give you serious injuries if you fall. Me being solo doesn't help either so I pull out a rope I had with me to use just in case. I make a knot on the fence and then enter the "cage again to see how it will work:
Unfortunately it wasn't long enough to help me all the way and its length would leave me helpless at the point where I would need it the most. With a couple of friends with me I would probably risk it but solo and injured inside a cave with no cellphone signal is not the best way to spend your time especially if that's your last 🙂 As I decide to chicken I take the last shots of it till I'll be back one day more prepared:
Wish I could have a time machine to transfer me back to the 5th BC for a while when people visited this cave to worship gods and the stairs were in much better condition. For the moment let's enjoy the view from this spot:
Since I got much less from this cave than I expected I decide to hike around for a little while. One more door fallen, one more wanderer happier:
A bit of a climb won't hurt I guess:
I am a simple man. I am surrounded by trees = I am happy:
Some more climbing to get a better view might make me even happier though:
And it actually does:
Funny to see those old geotags from concrete put by the geographical department of the army poping out of nowhere in the woods:
Time to make my (alternate and long) way back to my car. As you can see it is not so bad:
Here is a video I recorded with coordinates in the description to help you if you are map curious:
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