I left Vasiliki at 4.00 am [13sept 2024] and drove to the top of the island, to the town of Lefkada I parked the car at the marina and walked a short distance to the town square.
I had the course loaded into my watch, it's not a waymarked so some local knowledge OR the course on a phone/Watch is vital.
I set off at 5.00 am with the intention of getting to the lighthouse before the sun went down,
Lefkada- Nikiana the first few ks out of town were flat and easy...a nice warm-up. Semi-rural roads led to narrower paths and then single track up to the lower coastal peaks. The trail down to the first town of Nikiana was a welcome relief to have something to eat and refill with water at a tap.
Nikiana-Karya rolling hills agricultural land with ruins of churches and the "Old towns" demolished by the earthquake in the 90s [food and water available]
Karya- Eglouvi A bit more remote. crops farming turns to sheep and goats and eventually mining works, the church of the Profit Ilias is the highpoint, a big storm rolled through, cold and wet for an hour or so
Eglouvi-Syvros is the highest part of the route. about the halfway mark, started to battery problems [nite core power bank had died. I had to conserve the phone for Navigation only, nav by instinct is not a thing lol. I stopped at Syvros for an hour or so to charge up my phone and watch, and had coffee coke, and some fries at the town square cafe. [food and water available]
Syvros- Agios Petros has some easy downhill and flowy roads amongst the olive groves. [This was my bail-out point back to Vasiliki]. a steady climb up to Agios Petros, water refill, and keep going to the end
Agios Petros -lighthouse. one last climb then generally flat or downhill for the last 20 km, it was going to be pretty tight to get there before dark, my reasons were twofold, 1 just because 2. to increase my chance of hitching a lift back to town. as I was running down the road a steady stream of cars were leaving after watching the sunset. I arrived at last light, with 1 car left in the car park, a minivan with 8 Romanians, I told them about my day and they rearranged the car and squeezed me in. They dropped me back in Vas at my doorstep, perfect end to an epic day
Strava comments
Lefkada trail. A new trail put together by the locals. Linking all the peaks and villages from the town square at the top of the island to the lighthouse at the bottom...just made it before it got dark... Hitched a ride back to Town ( would have been an extra 15 km ... great day
Solo, self-supported
Yesterday at 5.00am I set off from the town square, lefkada with the intention to get to the lighthouse before the sun went down...I missed it by half an hour. I had the most amazing day. Pouring rain beautiful sunshine and some very forgiving cloud cover. Thanks to everyone who has made this trail possible. It's a wonderful selection of local trails paths and roads that make a very memorable journey from one end of the island to the other
A few stats
86km covered...inc a few extra bits
3400m climbing
2 cafe stops
8 litres water (3x.5l flasks refilled as req)
Lots of snacks
1 lost toenail
Gear...
Trail shoes Hoka tecton
Carbon poles
Rain jacket and buff (I used both)
Garmin inreach
Garmin Fenix 5 with map loaded
Phone with Gaia maps and GPX route
Head torch
Spare battery with cords
First aid.
A lot of trail and multiday experience