The second day of a four-day trek by KE Adventure Travel on the Olympos Massif, Macedonia, Northern Greece.

From Spilios Agapitos Refuge (Refuge 'A') at 2060m, to the minor peak of Skala 2866m/40m.

The strong wind had prevented anyone from summitting Mytikas on the previous day, but the forecast for today was set fair. Zeus was smiling on us.

We set off from Refuge 'A' after a light breakfast in the cool of the morning, and an extra layer was needed to keep warm. As the sun rose higher and hotter, my windshirt was soon back in my rucksack.

The trail headed south at first to gain the crest of the Chondromesorachi ridge. The forest was soon left behind, giving way to a zone of dwarf pines. The trail then followed this ridge east, now above even where dwarf pines could grow, into dry bare limestone terrain. We were now in the high montane zone, with wide views and rugged scenery.

Eventually we reached a path junction. Our route turned north-west to climb the south-east ridge of Skala. This was hard work in the heat, at a steep gradient all the way, and over loose ground of rock and scree.

Eventually we reached the summit of Skala, revealing fine views of the two highest peaks in the range (and in all Greece) - Skolio 2911m/101m to the west and Mytikas 2918.8m/2355m to the north-east. The latter, my next objective, looked rather daunting to my limited scrambling and rock-climbing abilities.