Evaluation:
This hike is one of the longest you can make on the island of Andros; it
traverses the entire island by following the highest short-cut.
Hike [9],
traversing the island from Ano Aprovátou via Pitrofós to Strapouriés and
definitely the hike from Stavropéda to Messariá follow routes that are
situated quite a bit lower. This is really a great way to explore the
higher interior of Andros and enjoy the views from the mountain side of
the Profítis Ilías. The mountain village of Arni and many of the
trajectories of the trail are absolutely worthwhile.
Therefore, the hike
deserves the maximum evaluation of ****.
[Update by Raymond on April 30th
, 2015 and on April 23rd , 2019.]
[The translation of this
walk was made with some help of Google translate - so, please, do not
mind the mistakes...]
[Pay attention:
during several years, until 2014, the first few
minutes of the path
starting from the tavern
O Vráchos
were difficult, if not impassable as the path was
completely obstructed by vegetation.
Since 2015, the passage is possible again; if in the future, there would
be problems again, you could start a little
further: one should therefore follow the
asphalt road for 1
kilometer, and a few hundred
meters beyond the sharp left
turn and the road to
Achla (road sign),
there is a small rocky gravel
road that goes up to the left. You have to take
this road, you pass under
a power line
and a little later, after
a total of 2 minutes,
you will see on the right the
trailhead [12] - see below
at the point (0h15).]
Estimated time:
This
hike
- with a total distance of 15,4 km - falls
apart in a few pieces: to get from Vourkotí to the
Profítis Ilías is a climb of about 1 hour. It will then take you 1h20 to
the church of Arni, 1h05 until the church of Agii Anárgyri in Katákilos
and after 25 more minutes you will get to the square of Káto Katákilos.
Finally, it will cost you 1h10 to the beach of Batsí. This means that
the total actual walking time is 5 hours– we hiked from 10am to 7pm.
Route description:
[To start this hike, you better take a car or motor bike to the village
of Vourkotí. You can then park close to the tavern O Vráchos. Once or
twice a week there is also an early bus.
In theory, it is possible to first make the hike from Chóra to Vourkotí,
but this means that for the entire trajectory you should count on an
extra 2h20 actual walking time. This would then really become a very
tough, even impossibly long, hike!]
(0h00) To the left of the
tavern 0 Vráchos, there is a white-painted staircase that goes up –
there is a hiking sign [12] Profítis Ilías 4 km / Agii Saránta 7,4 km /
Arní 7,1 km. The concrete or rocky steps climb fast; after 2 minutes,
there is a wooden gate and then you follow a rocky trail that continues
more or less flat. The trail veers right and after 4 minutes, there is a
gate in reinforcing steel.

The beginning of your walk, next to the tavern O
Vráchos.

A little bit further, a beautiful path starts.
Soon, the narrow path
is sometimes narrow because of ferns, you still veer to the right [12]
and after 8 minutes you go down into a small valley with again a wooden
gate, made of pallets. A rocky little road goes up (hiking picket [12])
and further, you arrive at a stony gravel road that continues to the
left of the old rocky path [12]. You still continue 2 minutes, then you
discover a trail that climbs to the left, just before a power line –
there is on the left side an obvious arrow and a [12] which clearly mark
the path.

The path goes up on the ridge to the
Profítis Ilías.
(0h15) You thus are going up
to the left following goat paths, but after 2 minutes, you come against
a wall [12]. You follow it for about 6 minutes on goat paths that
sometimes deflect from it for a while, and after 9 minutes, you reach a
false flat, where you keep to the right [12] in the direction of a
gravel road that goes up.
(0h24) You thus move away from
the wall and so you head more to the middle of the ridge (hiking picket
[12]). You climb gradually and so you
pass to the right of a striking rock, which consists of two parts that
are detached (see photo); in a depression, you see
the old path coming from the left and you continue to climb.

The old path
passed to the left of the rocks...
(0h36) The ridge
becomes wider again [12] and you go up gradually passing some heights; the road
turns left and right and eventually you reach the first height, with to the
right the first geodesic pole, indicating a height of 949 meters.
(0h51) The road goes down, then goes
up again on a steep slope to the next hill;
halfway, after 2 minutes, a picket sends you obliquely to the right, and so you
pass on a path below the height of 972 meters (marked by a small square post).
When sitting on the rocks at the hill top you have a magnificent view of
the northern half of
Andros, with on the right the bay of Achla and on the left the coast and the
little islands in front of the harbour of Gávrio. In that direction, so to the
northwest, you can also see the enormous boulder with the little chapel of
Profítis Ilías. In front of you there is the round top of the Profítis Ilías;
997 meters high; you
go first towards the slight
depression and the road, but 70 meters before reaching this road, you have to go
obliquely to the RIGHT, near a rock (with a red mark).

In front of you lies the round summit of the Profítis
Ilías.
[It is of course
tempting to keep following the hill ridge, first to the Profítis Ilías,
the highest point of the island, then further on the hill crest of the
Kouvára to the little chapel of Agii Saránta (990 m), but today there is
not enough time for such an excursion. See the hike Vourkotí – Profítis
Ilías – Agii Saránta.]
(1h01)
The trail is sometimes
steep, but obvious - it is well marked with [12] and red marks.
After 4-5 minutes, you begin to climb a little, but after
a few minutes, you descend again slowly, on a grassy slope and strewn
with stones, towards the base of the double rock.
Near a rock [12], you veer to the right and you descend now fast towards
the base of the big rock.

The enormous boulder with the little chapel of
Profítis Ilías.
You arrive in this way
after 17 minutes next to the base of the rock and near the simple chapel
of Profítis Ilías (hiking sign [12] Vourkotí 4 km / Arní 3,1 km).
In
front of you there is a deep valley with the church of Arni and you have
a truly amazing view on the route you are about to follow and on the
gulf of Gávrio beyond.
(1h18)
You take the gravel road leaving from the base of the rock and going to
the left. This road describes a large curve above
the valley of Arní.
After some 13 minutes the descending road passes deep underneath the
large boulder where you were just a few minutes ago.
About 7 minutes
further down you have to watch out: when you get to a few large rocks on
your left you notice a narrow trail going into the valley on the left,
between 2 rocks (hiking picket [12]).
(1h38)
You descend quickly now, first straight towards the red church of
Arni and the stony
path is very obvious.

The path descending to the valley of Arni.
The trail then curves
more to the right and it first runs less steep, then horizontally,
between the vegetation. After 10-11 minutes, it curves to the left
again, on a small and green plateau and more in the direction of the
dispersed houses of Arni – which, all of a sudden, seems much closer as
well. After some very difficult minutes on a steep and stony path, you
get to a side-trail.
(1h56) You take a left here,
you cross a little valley and finally you go down, sharply to the right
and to an asphalt road.
(2h00) You take a left again
[12] and when it gets to a dead end, you descend the concrete staircase
(hiking sign Arní 0,95 km) and you thus reach a well and a small pond
(date 1955). On the well you see the inscription "Syllogos Arnis
Evangelistria 2001".
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(2h04)
You proceed to the left of the pond on the trail that continues
straight. After
2 minutes, you go up
a staircase while keeping to the left and you continue on a flat trail.
A little further you go down alongside a house and you cross a little
bridge, keeping to the left and midst the vegetation. You walk in this
way on the left of a few large rocks and then you describe a large curve
above the village, by walking on a concrete path or on steps – the
village is actually hidden between the green.
Halfway, you still cross a
small concrete bridge - there is water everywhere, an idyllic picture if
there wasn’t so much plastic in the valleys...
After 9-10
minutes you keep to the left on a side-trail [12]; you pass another well
and then you have to watch out again: at the large house,
you continue to the left of
it and go straight on the dirt path [12] which further veers left - but
afterwards, in a valley with a lot of water, it goes
to the far right and passes on a small bridge.
Later, you descend a concrete staircase, to the right of
an old house, and so you get to the asphalt road, where you take a left.
This road ends near the church and a small school - a
staircase goes down to the side of the school, where there is a table
and a bench - a nice place to picnic ...

The church of Arni.
Beside the church,
you see an information panel [11] and [12], and above the school there
is a hiking sign [11] Pigí Mazáni - Katákilos 3,6 km / Ano Katákilos 4,5
km / Batsí 7,5 km - from here onwards, the hike is marked with signs [11
].
(2h20) You thus continue straight on the gravel road ([11] on a
pole), then you descend a staircase on the right (hiking picket [13] and
[11]). You arrive at a grassy path and then descend another staircase to
a small little road, which becomes concrete behind a gate [11]. You pass
by a house, then between some buildings [11]; you veer right and down on
a staircase next to a rocky bed - the source Mazáni is on the other
side.
(2h25) You continue to descend under a beautiful plane tree, you
cross the water and, after another gate in reinforcing steel, you
continue on a grassy trail [11]. After 2 minutes, near a small building,
you keep to the right [11] and shortly after, you descend to the right
again [11]. You descend to the right and the left, you pass through a
gate in reinforcing steel and
a little further again through a gate. You arrive in this way
underneath the chapel of Agios Módestos, where you go RIGHT UNDER the
stairs ([11] on a picket).
(2h30) You arrive immediately between two other small chapels, where
the hike [13] goes right (sign Léfka 8,3 km) - you continue straight
(sign Ano Katákilos 2,9 km and Agii Anárgyri / Katákilos 4 km). You thus
go straight on, to the left of the church, and you descend now on a
pleasant forest path; a little further, you keep to the left [11], you
go up and down, you descend to the right [11] and you still pass by a
gate.
(2h35) You will now go around
the deep valley to the church you already see in front of you. You
descend quickly, you pass after 2 minutes through another gate. Further
on, you arrive by steps in the deep valley, where you cross the water on
a small wooden bridge, in the middle of a real chaos of big rocks and
under plane trees.
(2h39) You go up again on a beautiful forest path and you arrive
between a wall and some trees. After 2 minutes, you first take a left at
a junction, and you arrive via a paved staircase between 2 chapels - on
the right at the bottom there are picnic tables.
[In the inscription on the lower chapel
of Agios Ioannis and Agia Irini, you can read that the place is called
Politéï, a village that was founded in the late 1000s; the church dates
from the 11th century and was restored towards the end of the 18th
century and again in 2013.]

Your monopáti between Arni and Katákilos.
(2h42) You return to the main path and continue to the left; you
keep to the right at the fork (a [11] further on), but a little later,
you go to the left again [11]. You veer right, with a splendid view over
the wooded valley and with to the right and above always the village of
Arní. You go down again, sometimes on steps, and you thus arrive in the
very rocky bed of a second lateral valley.
(2h47)
You turn right, but keep to the left a little later at a bifurcation
[11] you go up quickly and you cross a third bed with a lot of water and
even a few small waterfalls on the right. A little further up, you turn
right again [11] and finally follow a beautiful path on the left slope
of the valley: at first, you climb slowly for 4-5 minutes, then you go
down gradually – and after 2 minutes, you arrive first along a fence in
reinforcing steel and then next to a new house with an old reservoir of
water, but eventually you go down to a dirt road that ends here [11].
(3h01) You will now follow this road for 22 minutes: it rises
slightly most of the time, but it is quite pleasant because of the
magnificent view over the wide valley. After a while you see below the
sharp tower of Evangelístria, a hamlet of Rémata - this is where the
hike [13] to Léfka begins.
(3h23)
At the end of the road (hiking sign Arní 3,4 km), there is a crossroads
where you continue straight on the asphalt, toward s the chapel that you
see in front of you [11]. In the following bend - where you could go up
to the right towards the chapel of Agii Anárgyri - you follow for a few
meters the small dirt road that continues straight [11], but you take
almost immediately the path on the left (sign square Katákilos 1,1 km /
Batsí 5,1 km).

The chapel high above the village of Katákilos.
(3h24)
The rocky path descends quickly between walls and becomes after 4
minutes a nice path, to the left of a large field with flowers. You wind
to the left and to the right, until down in a valley, and there you
continue to the left [11]. You continue your descent and you follow the
valley while winding, then you arrive between walls. You pass between a
few houses and farther, you go sharply to the left on a cross-trail -
and you descend on a staircase to an asphalt road.
(3h36) Just opposite, you continue down on a nice path; after a few
turns, you arrive near a small metal gate, where you turn sharply to the
right on a cross-path (a [11] only much further). You arrive on concrete
steps, you meander left and right [11], just beside the road, and you
descend again on a ruined staircase.
(3h44) After a long and difficult descent, you arrive again on a
nice path between walls and below holm oaks. Near a chapel, you cross a
gate in reinforcing steel and you get to a small asphalt road which
descends quickly until a wider road (hiking sign [11] school Arní 4,5
km).

The path between Katákilos and Káto Katákilos.
(3h49) You go to the left (hiking sign [11] Batsí 4 km) and you
arrive at the square of Káto Katákilos.
[Before the bridge, there is on the left
a spring with drinking water, and after the bridge, on the square,
there were once two taverns, O
Grégos and To Stéki - but they disappeared.]
(3h50) You go for a few moments to the right, but immediately you
take the concrete road that climbs quickly to the right of the old
tavern To Stéki (road sign 10%). The concrete becomes asphalt, after 4
minutes you continue straight and after a little more than 5 minutes,
you get to another asphalt road, where you go LEFT (hiking picket [11]).
After a little less than 2 minutes, you
climb the first dirt road to the right, the Odós Olandoú ([11] on a pole
and traffic mirror). You go up quickly, to the right of some houses.
(4h02) After 12 minutes since Katákilos, you keep of course to the
right [11] and shortly after, you arrive at the top; the road goes down
a little, you see a big bend to the left [11], you go up and down a
little, and then, suddenly, there is a path that goes up to the RIGHT
(hiking picket [11]).
(4h10) You climb quickly, for 13 minutes, sometimes along a wall -
and you arrive in this way at the top, near the chapel of Agia Anna.
There is a dirt road that follows the ridge (hiking picket [11]).
(4h23) You take the other road, obliquely to the left / opposite
(hiking picket), you cross a wide gate in reinforcing steel and then,
suddenly, you discover the sea and Batsí in the distance in front of
you! You continue straight and after 2 minutes, the road becomes a path;
another 2 minutes later, there is still a gate in reinforcing steel.
(4h29) Still 2 minutes later, you continue between walls, while
keeping to the left [11]; after another 3 minutes, there is a fork,
where you still keep to the left [11].
(4h34) You reach the crossroads of the paths [11] and [11a], where
you descend to the right on a paved path (hiking sign [11] Arní 6,9 km /
[11a] Ano Aprovátou - walk [9] 3,4 km). You take a left on a
cross-trail, you descend diagonally to the right [11] near a small
stable, after a beautiful flat stretch you go again to the right [11]
and close to a gate, you veer to left, right and left, sometimes on
large slabs.
(4h44) You thus arrive at a gravel road: you go there to the right
for a few moments, but immediately, you go left on a path [11]; this
path turns right to a dirt road, you go again to the left and after 10
meters, right and down [11] – and now you go down for a long time, still
on the remains of an old paved path.
(4h50) You arrive in the bend of a gravel road, but there is a path
that continues just opposite, to the right of a wall [11]. After a nice
paved stretch, you go down to the asphalt road (hiking sign Batsí 800 m
/ Katákilos 3,1 km / Arní 7,7 km).
You go to the left, but – pay attention –
after 2 minutes and just before the sign Batsí, you descend to the right
(hiking picket); you pass a gate, you cross a small road and you still
cross a gate. Below, you continue to descend to the left; the grassy
path turns left and finally meanders down to the main road that bypasses
Batsí (hiking sign).
Just opposite, there is a cemented alley
that goes down; you go to the left in a cross-street [11] and after 6
minutes, near a pole, you go down to the right to the sea. Still to the
right and to the left, and you reach the beach. The center and the bus
station are to the left. (5h00)
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