Route type: Two-way
Difficulty: 1/5 (Easy)
Χρόνος πορείας: 3h 15min
Length: 7km
Equivalent length: 17km
Ascent: 1001m
Descent: 29m
Maximum altitude: 2379m
Minimum altitude: 1390m
Drinking water: No
In the wider region of Mt Grammos one can find many sub-alpine lakes, decorating the wild and rough landscape like turquoise jewelry. Among them, one is the most well-known and most frequently visited. This is Gistova lake, the highest in elevation lake of Greece, located at 2350m, at the northernmost edge of the ridge on the borders with Albania.
The ascent to the lake starts from the village of Grammosta and follows a sequence of livestock farming paths on the open and wavy landscape of meadows. After we cross a plateau with smaller alpine lakes, we continue on another hardly clear trail section heading towards the ridge.
In order to reach the basin of the lake we need to walk shortly downwards. From the slopes around us, we can enjoy the majestic view to the Albanian countryside but also to the northernmost mountains of Ipirus, ie Mt Smolikas and Mt Gamila.
Route walkability
Distribution over
altitudinal zones
Elevation profile
Starting – ending point and maximum elevation
Tips
We follow a clear trail section for almost the entire length of the route. It is clear and visible in some places while it can be more difficult to spot it in others, where the cattle erode the ground. We will also find a few wooden poles from a previous marking attempt which don’t make our navigation substantially easier. The scattered red marks on the rocks are much more helpful and we try not to miss them.
Comments
There is only one fountain which can be difficult to find. It is located at the left hand side of our ascent to the lake and more specifically, at the first natural “step” after we pass the plateau of the alpine lakes. The small creeks which we find along the trail can be partially damaged by the cattle.