On the miners track

 Saturday 12th November 

So last night, all was quiet, so I am putting to bed the idea of a rodent infestation. Today is a cloudier and a windy day, tomorrow is promised to be better, so I am going to give the car a rest. Last night, I made a nice four portions of salmon in a tomato sauce. So the freezer is nearly full again. I have some chick pea stew, in there, I might have that on Sunday as it’s a traditional Sunday Sifnos meal. ( I am on Serifos though!)

The walk I am going to do, starts and finishes at Hora. I prefer to do the walk starting on the miners track, built by iron ore miners, to help them walk from the mine to cheaper houses. ( the mine owner was a bit ruthless) The mine closed in the sixties, the path was built many years before then. 

The path is marked at various places as number two. Along the walk there are red and white flashes of paint on stones. The places where the track is wide is probably where the route was most dangerous for the miners, in places where the path is flat, they haven’t built up a wide path. It’s amazing what a difference the rain has made. Skeletal bushes are starting to green up,  seedlings are appearing and there are bulbs growing. There were loads of the crocus flowering, in the path, so I tried to be careful not to read on them. As I started I could hear goats, with their bells clanging. 

It did not take long to reach the wide part of the path, there was a strange rock with a hole in it, I got a fairly decent photo. 

The path looks quite magnificent when you realise where you have come along, or are going to, depending on which way you are doing this walk.

As the route flattens out, the path goes back to a stony track. This reaches the church. It’s called St George.

After the church, there are small fields, separated by stone walls and ruined buildings that might have been used by goat herdsmen years ago. Again loads of the crocus. Suddenly there was a flock of birds swooping about in the winds. In the distance, I saw a tree, which had been bent over at ninety degrees with the prevailing wind. Eventually we meet a track which goes to the heliport, used for medical evacuations. Here we turn right and have a walk downhill on a road towards Hora. This might seem a bit boring, but there are amazing views to behold. There is hardly any cars on the roads. By the side of the road, were cyclamen among the crocus. In the distance you can see roads to Panagia, the Monastery and more. I went past a farm where there was a big flock of hens, and the farmer and his wife, were outside doing various jobs.

There are a multitude of churches on the island, and as I think I have mentioned before, as I see each I am marking them off on my map. On the walk I  saw sugar cube ones, and others that have the curved blue roofs. Around one acute bend in the road was a little oasis, with some produce being grown, and I could see a pond which must have been filled up after the recent rain.  I then got an amazing view of Hora, Livadi,  the reservoir and the coastline. The photo doesn’t do it justice.

This road is quite new, I think it was built in the nineties. Before then it was a dirt track road.  It’s not a long walk, I might have a couple of beers in Vasileas bar tonight.