Delphi, and the Hike!

Friday afternoon, about half of the group and Dr. Krentz hiked up one of the Delphic mountains to a small hut, or lookout on the very top. Our hotel was on the lowest street in Delphi, so before we even started the hike we climbed the public stairs on the hill Delphi is built on. We then climbed the mountain, and this was one of the most fun hikes I have ever been on. We were surrounded by mountains and water, and the view was amazing. I hiked most of the way with Bryce and Liz, and as we “neared” the top we increasingly felt that we were not heading towards the lookout. We were still on a trail, and at a critical turn the trail markers directed us right. Therefore we turned right. Little did we know, the lookout was only a short distance to the left. We ended up far off any trail with no idea how to get to the lookout. We just headed in the direction we thought the hut to be, and I eventually spotted it in the distance. To get there, we bushwhacked, trespassed, followed the goat trails, climbed over recently exposed rocks and even over a low barbed wire fence. It was quite an experience, and we got tired and DIRTY! I was so glad to get to the hut safely and without any broken ankles. After marveling at the scenery, we followed the trail down the mountain and quickly saw the point where we turned awry. We soon met Dr. Krentz and Jensen who were waiting for us on the trail. On the way down, Liz and Bryce talked about how our experience was similar to that of Ephialtes in the movie “300” (which I haven’t seen).

On Saturday, we visited the Delphi Museum and the site of the Delphic oracle. This was fascinating since the Delphic oracle is one of the most famous sites we will see this trip. It was pouring rain on Saturday, but still great to be there. We saw the site of the oracle, the Athenian treasury, the remains of the Siphnian treasury, and the theatre. Unfortunately the site closed earlier than we had thought, and we were not allowed to continue to the race-track. We returned on Sunday morning to see the stadium and race-track. I loved seeing the race-track, and I especially loved the long, cold, early morning uphill climb that we had to take to get there. I definitely understand how that wakes one up.