I’ve been working on a variation of this high route for a while. I think that I came up with a friendly runner/scrambler way to go. I like this route because of its altitude, never going below 9,477 ft and to a high point of 13,053 ft in 20 miles. It has about 9,900 ft of ascent and 9,900 of descent. I also like the start and stop point being the east entrance to Yosemite National Park at 9,943 ft completing a full loop and that half the route is in the park. It involves all kinds of terrain, hiking trails, climbers trails, off trail running, rock scrambling, snow, gravel and talus.

This is one of the most amazing crossings of Crete from coast to coast, south to north, from Agios Pavlos to Chania, through the wildest parts of the White Mountains. For logistical reasons (the last village reached by the asphalt road), the route starts in the village of Agios Ioannis and initially leads down to the coast, to later cross the entire White Mountains range through the Eligia Gorge, the Katsieveli Shelter, the Spathi peak to the village of Kambi, where it ends dirt path, and the remaining 20 km to Chania is an asphalt road.