There’s something about a mountain. We do not quite know what, but there is something mysterious about mountains that never cease to amaze. Maybe it is the awe one feels when looking at them, or maybe it is the sense of wonder standing on top of one looking down. Mount Olympus is such a mountain – mythical in more than one sense of the word.

Mount Olympus, Greece’s highest peak at 2918 metres above sea level, has been popularised by the mythical Greek god Zeus, who is believed to be residing on the summit somewhere. Whilst we did not find him there, we nevertheless were certainly mythically intrigued by climbing it.

Located in Northern Greece, 100 kilometres south of Thessaloniki and 5 kilometres east of the Aegean Sea, the climb makes its way up on part of the E4 European Long Distance Trail.

This trail starts in the classical Eastern European town of Litochoro at 240m, making its way up to Prionia, the traditional starting point at 1060m, and past Refuge A at 2100m.

From Refuge A it was a steep climb to the summit, but not before we navigated some precarious rock scrambling with some serious drop off’s enroute to Mytikas summit from Skala point.

The inevitable question “why am I doing this?” starts to go through our minds…

We recognised that our 2014 mountain trail preparation is coming in handy.

Mytikas summit – some scrambling required.

Mytikas, 2918m, Greece’s highest point – Mt Olympus.

We descended the same route we ascended, except ending at Prionia due to daylight coming to an end. Total distance was 33 kilometres with an accumulative ascent of 3192m which took us just under 16 hours to complete.

So, what is it about mountains? Maybe it is just because they are there…!

Mt Olympus was a good introduction to Europe’s mountains and trails.

Sojourning so far.