Central Pelion

Makrinitsa
West bivouac
Pouri

The Makrinitsa-Pouri route via the Western bivouac was one of the pathways converging to the major mountain passage through Pourianos Stavros.

This route is the least known of the four old connections between Makrinitsa and Pouri. The path was mapped, cleaned and marked by the "caretaker" of the paths of Pelion, Kyriakos Stathakis.

This long route has similar physical condition and supplies requirements to the other three parallel routes from Makrinitsa to Pouri.

The trail starts from the town square of Makrinitsa (church of Agios Ioannis and memorial fountain) and climbs on cobbled paths through the settlement. We pass in front of two fountains and come out on a dirt road, which leads us to the old monastery of Agia Paraskevi, where we can rest under the shade of a large Plane tree, beside the Katholicon and a nice stone-built fountain.

We continue for a while on the dirt road and after a maneuver we enter the path. After a while we come out onto another dirt road, which we leave to enter a cobblestone path. We go uphill in a chestnut forest and come out on a dirt road, which we follow until the Kaliakouda ravine (or Xerias stream), which we cross with the help of the single arch bridge of Karya, built in 1934. Shortly after the Karya bridge, we leave the main dirt road and go uphill on a smaller forest road. Near the end of this road, we find the signs that lead into the beech forest. At the beginning, the path is clear, but in many places has been covered by branches and other remnants of the logging. Higher up, when we leave the logging zone, the path becomes clearer and climbs with maneuvers until it emerges on the Kapsales ridge. Up to this point, following the course is greatly facilitated by the dense red markings on the trees. From Kapsales, we continue on a good path on the ridge, always with the help of the dense markings. With a succession of clearings and dense stands of trees, we reach a dirt road. We follow it to the left and soon we reach the Western bivouac of Mt Pelion. The building was in excellent condition, however the is no furniture or equipement, except for a large fireplace and stone benches around the walls, where one can sleep.
From the shelter, we descend a dirt road, which gradually becomes narrower, so that at the end it is more like a wide, wooded path. Just before the end of this alley, we find on the left the signs for the path to Lagonika and follow it until the fork to Pouri. Here we take the path to Pouri and descend towards the stream of Lagonika. After the crossroad, we follow a combination of abandoned dirt roads. From there to the Agia Marina chapel we will walk on a dirt road. Next to the chapel there is a large water tank.
After Agia Marina, the path is broken up by a long concrete aqueduct and splitted by the alleys serving the chestnut plantations. We reach a dry water tank and continue for a while on a dirt road and enter a better path. With a succession of dirt roads and paths, in some places relatively clear. We cross or follow a paved groove and we reach a dirt road, a bit north of the chapel of Profitis Ilias.
We continue on dirt roads and with a short section of path we reach the paved streets of the village and end up on the main asphalt road in Pouri.

Text and photos: T. Adamakopoulos