Trail of Upper Halari / Ano Halari in Ikaria Greece
Οur walk starts from Profitis Elias and inicially we walk through a forest of pines, strawberry trees, oak trees and heather bushes, until we reach the secondary river of Chalaris where there are more plane and black alder trees. Before reaching the riverbed, we pass near an old watermill that is now in ruins and then we continue lower into the canyon.
Our first stop will be at Raxounia waterfall, where during the winter and the spring there’s plenty of water which diminishes during the summer months. From the top of the waterfall we can see a big part of the Chalaris canyon that endsat the beach of Nas.
After another 15 minutes of descending, if our hike takes place during a time where the waterfall still has plenty of water, we’ll make a small detour to see the waterfall from below and to fill up our water bottles.
After that we get back to the point we left the main footpath and continue descending for approximately another 20 minutes, till we reach Dipotama, where the secondary and the main Chalaris river meet. After Raxounia the trail is steeper and the vegetation gets thinner and is replaced by an amazing landscape of rock constellations that look like totems. Reaching Dipotama there are many pools and smaller waterfalls and a refreshing swim is a must, especially during the summer months.
From Dipotama there is an option to walk and climb to one more big waterfall, Ratsos, that never dries out, since it is on the main river, Chalaris. Ratsos is in a magical place, that is worth the effort to get there, although it’s a little bit more tiresome than the rest of the hike.
The waterfall consists of three levels and a magnificent pool, where it’s worth to have one more swim. Till we reach Ratsos there is several more pools and lakes suitable for swimming. Free the otter from inside you!
From Ratsos we return to Dipotama and from there on we start going up towards Christos on a trail that isn’t even half as steep as the one we descended. On this part of the trail we meet mostly oak trees and myrtle bushes and there is again a bigger tensity of plants and trees.
Before reaching Christos, we pass near the little church of St.John, where on the 24th of June there is a festival in which around midnight they light big fires to burn the flower wreaths of the 1st of May and whoever wants can jump over the fire.
Notes: To participate on this hike a good physical condition is required. Sore knees or fear of heights would make the participation particularly difficult, because of the great steepness of some parts of the footpath.
Necessary equipment:
Good hiking shoes, a hat and a thin long sleeved shirt especially for summer months
Sufficient water or isotonic solution for months after May
Α towel for after swimming
A small quantity of food and some fresh fruit will also be useful
