Anydri Gorge

The early morning passed as normal with the Early Walk, run, Pilates and cycle to Paleochora which included a visit to the post office to collect a parcel. It was Ursula’s birthday present which arrived safe and sound. We had breakfast in the company of Luis and Other Dog who was tied up near Eleanor’s cabin. Luis wanted to ‘meet’ Other Dog but not necessarily on friendly terms. We made an arrangement where Luis quietened down and I stopped getting on his case. Luis behaved pretty well from then on. He can be a bit aggressive towards new dogs.

The plan for the day was to walk the Anydri Gorge from Gialiscari Beach. I proposed that we park up a couple of km short of the Gorge entrance and walk the E4 coastal path. Luis and Obi were detailed to accompany us and I carried 3l of water and a jumper as well as my phone etc. The final route included the coastal path, ascending the Gorge, and eating at the restaurant before descending from Anydri back to the car.

The Coastal Path runs much of the south coast of Crete and is very popular at this time of year. Lots of people were heading west as we went east. In the Gorge, nearly everyone was going down from Anydri.

It was a warm but not hot day so I was concerned that perhaps Luis wouldn’t make it to the end. His legs are short and his belly big! There was plenty of huffing and puffing and stops in the shade. The route is well marked and, apart from a couple of places, straightforward to navigate. Luis managed with a couple of helps at the difficult bits.

We reached the village around 15:15 and waited for Ursula and Tony to arrive. There was a huge meal making the descent slightly more demanding. Luis and Obi were going full speed right to the end. Eleanor returned to the camping in Ursula’s car.

Dimitris and Maria were moving tables and chairs back from the storeroom to the bar when we arrived. I walked the dogs while Eleanor walked Other Dog. I was soon in bed at just before 21:00. I’d done quite a bit during the day: Early Dog walk, 6km run, 9km cycle, Anydri Gorge Walk 7.6km. This all equated to 6,578KJ energy, 28,379 steps, 21.31km for the day.