University - Windmills - AnoKastritsi - University, 31k +1550m, Patra 20140706
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 19.3 mi
- Elevation gain
- 5,417 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 5,417 ft
- Max elevation
- 5,183 ft
- TrailRank
- 70
- Min elevation
- 293 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Time
- 5 hours 45 minutes
- Coordinates
- 4656
- Uploaded
- July 8, 2014
- Recorded
- July 2014
near Káto Kastrítsion, West Greece (Greece)
Viewed 2260 times, downloaded 9 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Long mountain run to Windmill Park of Panachaiko (largest in Greece). Total distance of 31k with elevation gain of about +1550m. Done with great company of trail runners from Patras!
0,0k at 100m - University of Patras, parking outside of basketball court. First part of the run goes parallel to the Charadros river (at that time of year mostly dry). It's fairly industrial area, no much to see :-/
3,5k at 325m - small path. Just 300m after the main asphalt road makes a u-turn, there is a small path leaving the road to the right and up. Much nicer path, offering some shadow follows up with quite a demanding ascent. After about 1.3k path finds bigger dirt road and continues with much easier climb.
6,3k at 685m - panoramic view. Still following dirt roads, very soon we got first panoramic views to Patras and the gulf, on one of the bends of the road. Quick photo session :-P and we continued the ascent with dirt roads. Above altitude of 1000m we started to make some cuts through the forest, but it is possible to go all the way with roads.
10,9k at 1150m - Small lake. There is a hidden tiny lake next to some huts in the forest. It offers some great views just at the edge of forest. At this time of year there is very little water though. After another quick stop for photos, we refueled our water supplies at the huts and continued up through the forest to reach open grassland starting with final climb to the peak.
11,6k at 1250m - Toughest climb. Probably the most demanding section! We already felt some fatigue climbing 1000m+ and this climb was by far the most difficult. With grade averaging about 30%, no shadow and no clear path. Luckly it was only about 20min and very soon we reached the top (it is pretty cool effort for preparing for Aristarchos Skyrace in Sept!)
12,3k at 1485m - Peak. We enjoyed amazong view from the top and took some time to cool down. Next short section was fairly flat so we restored running cadence.
13,7k at 1580m - Windmill park / Highest point of the route. After tiny climb we reached first windmills of the Windmill Park of Achaea. Still offering panoramic views of course. From this point, only descent ahead of us.
14,4k at 1440m - Steap downhill. Only descent, but the first part was pretty difficult and still tiring! Again with steap slope, not clear path and no shadow. Also it was getting late and temperature started to bother. Knowing we will get to spring in Ano Kastritsi, we didnt have to worry that much about water though.
16,1k at 1200m - Cutting the bends. With road going plenty of zig-zag, we were cutting some of them to shorten the distance and practice some more difficult downhills - good fun.
23,1k at 600m - Spring in Ano Kastritsi. At this point we were all very much looking forward to this stop. Number one reason was of course the water, but also first shadow for a long way and finally some rest - fatigue was high at this point.
24,7k at 460m - Through cemetary. Cutting as much as we could through the village to avoid asphalt (trail running shoes are not the most comfotable ones on asphalt, specially my very minimalistic ones!). Also we decided to do thw downhill from Ano Kastritsi to University by dirt road instead of shorter version on asphalt.
28,3k at 165m - Crossing the river (dry). We crossed dry river to enter University's park area and cut some distance to the parking. Heat was bothering us more and more and combined with fatigue of 5hrs+ running started to lower morale :-P
31,1k at 100m - Finish at the parking. Huge relief but even bigger satisfaction. Pretty cool view to where we have just been! Bravo!
I give it difficult level for several factors: overall distance, overall elevation gain (both the most I have done so far), pretty demanding climb section and difficult downhill from the windmills. Also even though we started at 6AM, after 4hrs of running (around 10AM) it started to get pretty hot with very few shadow available on our route. The run was great with great company and awesome views all the way (see photos).
0,0k at 100m - University of Patras, parking outside of basketball court. First part of the run goes parallel to the Charadros river (at that time of year mostly dry). It's fairly industrial area, no much to see :-/
3,5k at 325m - small path. Just 300m after the main asphalt road makes a u-turn, there is a small path leaving the road to the right and up. Much nicer path, offering some shadow follows up with quite a demanding ascent. After about 1.3k path finds bigger dirt road and continues with much easier climb.
6,3k at 685m - panoramic view. Still following dirt roads, very soon we got first panoramic views to Patras and the gulf, on one of the bends of the road. Quick photo session :-P and we continued the ascent with dirt roads. Above altitude of 1000m we started to make some cuts through the forest, but it is possible to go all the way with roads.
10,9k at 1150m - Small lake. There is a hidden tiny lake next to some huts in the forest. It offers some great views just at the edge of forest. At this time of year there is very little water though. After another quick stop for photos, we refueled our water supplies at the huts and continued up through the forest to reach open grassland starting with final climb to the peak.
11,6k at 1250m - Toughest climb. Probably the most demanding section! We already felt some fatigue climbing 1000m+ and this climb was by far the most difficult. With grade averaging about 30%, no shadow and no clear path. Luckly it was only about 20min and very soon we reached the top (it is pretty cool effort for preparing for Aristarchos Skyrace in Sept!)
12,3k at 1485m - Peak. We enjoyed amazong view from the top and took some time to cool down. Next short section was fairly flat so we restored running cadence.
13,7k at 1580m - Windmill park / Highest point of the route. After tiny climb we reached first windmills of the Windmill Park of Achaea. Still offering panoramic views of course. From this point, only descent ahead of us.
14,4k at 1440m - Steap downhill. Only descent, but the first part was pretty difficult and still tiring! Again with steap slope, not clear path and no shadow. Also it was getting late and temperature started to bother. Knowing we will get to spring in Ano Kastritsi, we didnt have to worry that much about water though.
16,1k at 1200m - Cutting the bends. With road going plenty of zig-zag, we were cutting some of them to shorten the distance and practice some more difficult downhills - good fun.
23,1k at 600m - Spring in Ano Kastritsi. At this point we were all very much looking forward to this stop. Number one reason was of course the water, but also first shadow for a long way and finally some rest - fatigue was high at this point.
24,7k at 460m - Through cemetary. Cutting as much as we could through the village to avoid asphalt (trail running shoes are not the most comfotable ones on asphalt, specially my very minimalistic ones!). Also we decided to do thw downhill from Ano Kastritsi to University by dirt road instead of shorter version on asphalt.
28,3k at 165m - Crossing the river (dry). We crossed dry river to enter University's park area and cut some distance to the parking. Heat was bothering us more and more and combined with fatigue of 5hrs+ running started to lower morale :-P
31,1k at 100m - Finish at the parking. Huge relief but even bigger satisfaction. Pretty cool view to where we have just been! Bravo!
I give it difficult level for several factors: overall distance, overall elevation gain (both the most I have done so far), pretty demanding climb section and difficult downhill from the windmills. Also even though we started at 6AM, after 4hrs of running (around 10AM) it started to get pretty hot with very few shadow available on our route. The run was great with great company and awesome views all the way (see photos).
Waypoints
Waypoint
333 ft
Panorama
Lake
Summit
Fountain
River
Comments (1)
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Thanks for everything Adam, we all had a great time, see u soon :)