Even the beaches provide little relief for the July and August heat. Tepid waves lap at the edges of a sandy furnace too hot to walk on, but what alternative is there at weekends, after a steamy week spent in a dusty city? Walking then would seem to be out of the question.
It certainly would be if you stuck to the lowlands. But high up on the Troodos Massif, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (C.T.O.) has provided some fine – and col – nature trails. Here, at nearly 2000 m. above sea level, the air is cooler and the cedars and black pines give welcoming shade.
These trails vary in length, but are beautifully graded and looked after, and there is nothing to daunt even the most timid of tourists. The start if each walk is indicated on the map, but what is described here is a full circuit of Chionistra (Mount Olympus) combining the long route to Chromion from Troodos Post Office with parts of the high level route that passes over the ski-slopes of the North Face. To connect these two it is only necessary to leave the prepared trails for a couple of short stretches and nowhere is the terrain difficult.
Start at the C.T.O hut opposite the Post Office, Each kilometer is marked with a post, and for the first two kms. The trail contours round the spurs and valleys overlooking the Tourist Pavilion and the main road leading up from Platres. You pass through open black-pine woodland with cedars, mountain oak and berberis growing amongst red weathered rocks that by rights belong to an oceanic crust. You see outcrops of hartzbergite and gabbro veined with lighter green and blue serpentine.
The exotic sequona gigantean planted near the start of the walk is dwarfed at present by the massive hunched black pines that are indigenous to the summit area. But give it another thousand years. Soon after the three kilometers mark there is a cool spring, but do not depend on it. This is a fifteen-kilometer circuit so you will need to carry at least something to drink, if not a picnic.
Still, this is good drinking water, and there are a couple of seats where you can enjoy the shade of the denser foliage that has been fostered by the seeping water in the ghyll. You continue contouring round spurs populated by pines and skeletal junipers that strike grotesque postures along the sides of the graded track. The flattened crowns of the pines bear witness to the weight of the snow that falls in such quantities during the winter months.
The road and nearby signs of civilization are now far behind you, though there are views out over the chalk lands to the sea and to the villages in the foothills. You come to a deeply eroded valley with impressive rock outcrops and on its lower slopes, dense forest. Ravens croak above and you may see a goldfinch or a jay. The place is wild, remote, isolated.
There is an old chromium mine, its adit entrance supported by rotting timbers. Cold air seeps out of the tunnel, and doves will shock you as they make their noisy escape if you venture too near. On the spoil heaps you might find traces of the yellow and black speckled ores of Chromium (leopard ore) that used to be extracted here. In stands of junipers opposite small birds move restlessly about and at certain times millions of ladybirds gather on their branches and trunks.
The next signpost carries disillusionment; you have walked so far 5 km. you know it from the guideposts, but now a signpost indicated Troodos only 4 km. Panic not, the next marker will show 6 km.walked. Large crystals shine in the ground among the red rocks, showing their deep crustal origin.
Soon after the 7 km. mark you will round a spur that gives fine views out to Stavros, Kykko and the tomb of Makarios on its distant mountaintop. Nearer, in the middle-distance, the vast old Berengaria Hotel has more the look of a monastery than of a hostelry. By this time you are moving onto the more northerly facing slopes with their denser vegetation that includes whitebeam and cotoneaster.
There is a quarry near the 9-kilometer marker. After this the trail becomes a forest road with a steep wooded slope up to the right. Continue along this until the slope becomes gentler. From here the upper circuit of the mountain can be reached by climbing diagonally through the trees for a couple of hundred meters. A short walk from here takes you to the ski-slopes of the North Face, whose jagged surface looks impossible in summer, but cover them in two or three meters of snow.
And you will see ski tracks everywhere. The giant ‘golf balls’ of the radar station appear as you tackle the only bit of climbing on the higher bit of the face. A little further on, the gentler slopes of the Hera tow are reached. Here there are seats with fine views over the Mesagoia and out to Morphou Bay.
On a clear day the Kyrenia Ranges and even the Taurus and the Turkish mainland may be seen. About a kilometer further on you reach the end, and the beginning of the high level path, where it joins the road leading up to the ski club. A wooden C.T.O shelter marks the spot. From here the road can be followed down left to Troodos, but to avoid traffic, take the rough washed out track that leads down into the valley to the left of the nature trail.
As you descend the going soon becomes less steep and the ground is littered with pinecones which turn out to make surprisingly easy walking. For a short distance the valley runs quite near to the road, but stay in or near the stream bed and in less than twenty minutes you will rejoin the track you started on four or five hours earlier near the Jubilee Hotel.
All that remains is the short stroll back to Troodos Square. The C.T.O publish a pamphlet describing features of interest that are indicated by markers along the nature trail. This is sure to get the best out of these walks it is advisable to get a copy of the pamphlet from one of the Cyprus Tourism Organization offices in town.