June 28, 2010
Movie night at the villa went swimmingly last night. After my Koroni morning shift I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon scouring the mini markets from Katelios to Skala for popcorn kernels. I finally struck pay dirt at the Galaxy mini mart in Skala, the self ascribed "Best mini market in the galaxy."
Caroline and I had selected seven titles from the movies my Dad had digitized from our old VHS collection and saved and my laptop.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade won out in a vote over the likes of
There's Something About Mary, another Harrison Ford vehicle
The Fugitive, a cautionary tale about the conservation
Star Trek IV, Maverick, another cautionary tale about conservation
Aliens, and
Top Gun. Manu and Fiona brought over their projector and speakers so we all wouldn't have to squeeze in around the ten inch laptop screen. I popped up loads of popcorn experimenting with a garlic and curry flavored batches. They were interesting... It's unfortunate my brother, Paul, wasn't around to take charge of popcorn duties.
The film started rolling just after ten and though they were a bit fuzzy and their movements a little jerky Indiana Jones and his father, Henry Jones, managed to thwart the plans of the Nazis, escape death on numerous occasions and find the Holy Grail.
Today was my day off. In typical sadomasochistic fashion I decided to take the opportunity to cycle to highest point on Kefalonia. Mount Ainos towers some 1600 meters (5000 feet) above sea level. Considering the villa is at 150 feet or so above sea level that's a pretty good climb.
I had planned to start around six but as movie night ran late I didn't get going until just before seven. Provisioned with two liters of water, a hummus and cucumber sandwich, an orange, trail mix and armed with my multipurpose utility tool I set off. Leaving the villa I ran into Peter who was still for some crazy reason still awake after a night watch on the beach. He asked me where I was going and I responded cryptically that I didn't know yet but I'd probably make it back. Still feeling groggy after four or five hours of sleep and somewhat ill from indulging in too much curry popcorn I wasn't sure I could make the summit.
I headed through up the hill and began began winding my way through upper Ratzakli. The four white apartment blocks in center of the picture are the volunteers' villa.
Currently, the Katelios Group has three semi functional bikes in its fleet. Leopard 1 (as I've designated it) has a broken chain. Leopard 2 is missing most of one of its pedals. I decided to take our third and probably best bicycle. A volunteer apparently rode "The Red Bike" from Athens last year and left it with the group. It relatively good in that it is completely intact, the brakes work and it can shift gears without guiding the chain with your foot.
About forty five minutes into my ride the back tire began rubbing again the frame. I dismounted and found the cones loose. Luckily, my multipurpose tool includes a pair of pliers which I used to secure the nuts. It seemed to hold well enough.
At a quarter past eight things were going smoothly. I was cruising on the tarmac surface. Then I turned off on a dirt/gravel road and found this vehicle graveyard. It would be a good six hours before I would see pavement again.
The road was relatively smooth and the grade not so bad. I came up on a herd of goats and suddenly found a black and white sheep (or I guess goat) dog charging toward me snarling. I scrambled off my bike and tried to keep it between me and the animal. I crouched down and grabbed some rocks. The herd was now moving away and the dog slunk backwards keeping a close eye on me. I stowed the rocks in my pocket for safe keeping and slowly walked the bike along until the dog was out of eye sight.
I reached the edge of Ainos National Forest at a quarter past ten. Note the change in foliage. The upper portion of the mountain is covered in a species of fir tree unique to the island. The area is a micro climate that hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna not found anywhere else on the island including foxes, tortoises and some semi-wild ponies which are supposedly offspring of some of Alexander the Great's steeds.
The road had become progressively rougher and the gravel less packed. That paired with the burning sensation in my thighs and tenderness in my hindquarters led me to adopt a hike/bike approach.
A quarter to noon I found an promising looking a sign and and a rough trail heading up into forest. Securing the bike to the post I headed up.
Just before noon I reach the summit of Mega Soros. I looked through the log book to find the entries of the other volunteers who had already scaled it this summer (Ueli, Elina, and James) but I guess they missed it. The last entry was two days ago and the very first entry in the book was dated May 2009 so either several people miss or the peak is not oft traveled.
I scrambled along the ridge for a while snapping pictures and being serenaded by the clamor of goat bells. My map showed a cave being somewhere near the top but I was unable to find it. I had lunch and headed back down to the bike.
Initially I found the ride down more jarring and painful then enjoyable. I left the park from the opposite side at three in the afternoon.
Finally, I found the pavement and it was smooth sailing. Four or five hours of grueling uphill makes for some good cruising. That is until the cones on your bike come loose and your back wheel starts rubbing the frame.
I limped through Vlachata past St. Gerasimos' Church (more on Gerasimos if I get around to it). Every time I cranked on an uphill it would pull the rear tire into contact with the frame and occasionally bring me to a sudden stop. I would roll off the bike, realign the tire, tighten the cones walk the bike to the top of the incline and continue riding. I guessed that I wasn't able to clamp it down hard enough with my needle nose pliers.
After about an hour and half I finally seemed to get it working and I was back to cruising. Extremely weary, saddle sore, and caked in salt I rolled back into Ratzakli at six in the evening.
One last look at Mount Ainos before turning for home.
Comments