Most visitors to Crete prefer to enjoy the beautiful beaches and relax under the warm sun. However, there are places, impressive and majestic, such as the White Mountains, that show the wild side of Crete.
Lefka Ori, or Madares occupy a large area in western Crete, 25 km wide and 40 km long. Due to their large volume, they receive large annual rainfall (over 2000 mm) and they are covered with snow until the end of March, which is why they are called the White Mountains. There are several chonoures, patches of snow that remain, even until mid-July. With two plateaus, Omalos and Askifos, 50 gorges, the most famous of which are the gorges of Samaria, Imbros, Aradena, Agia Irini, etc., with countless ravines, chasms, and rifts and with five of the ten deepest explored caves in Greece (see Liontari and Gourgouthakas at -1,100 m), the White Mountains are a natural treasure. There are a total of 58 peaks with an altitude of over 2000 meters. The highest peak is Pachnes at 2453 m.
There is an internal plateau around Pachnes, at 2000 m., which is surrounded by a sea of peaks. 50 bare cone-shaped peaks form the Mountain Desert, a bare, lunar landscape, unique in the entire Northern Hemisphere. The mountains have a 30-degree slope. At the base of the peaks, dolines, hollow, karst formations in the shape of basins, or inverted cones, are formed. The image of the wild, treeless mountains forms mysterious and eerie images and create an unforgettable feeling in anyone who sees them. One way to admire the grandeur of these mountains is to reach Sfakia and from there to the Anopolis Plateau. Following the bad dirt road towards the mountain and after about 2 hours, and where the road ends, you see dozens of emerging peaks 400-500 meters high. To reach Pachnes, it takes another 2-3 hours of walking on a path. The climb is quite strenuous with a steep incline and one needs to be quite experienced, well-prepared, have a perfect sense of orientation and be in excellent physical condition.
The mountains are full of unique, endemic plants that have adapted to the wild environment. Madares is home to 650 species of plants, 100 of which are endemic to Crete and 25 only in this area, such as the bluebell (Anchusa caespitosa), the wild carnation (Dianthuus sphaciotera), the bellflower (Campanula Cretia), etc. 200 species of birds appear in the area, golden eagles, falcons, black-footed boobies and the griffon vulture, one of the rarest birds in Greece and Europe. All this, together with the endemic amphibians, such as the endemic Cretan frog, reptiles, such as the endemic Cretan lizard and mammals, such as the Cretan chamois (apra aegagrus subsp. cretica), a rare subspecies of wildcat (felis sylvestris subsp. cretensis) and the Cretan blind mouse (crocidura zimmermani) have attracted the interest of scientists from all over the world.
The White Mountains are very impressive, special, majestic with a unique natural landscape, a real gem for Crete.
(More articles about Crete on www.gomega.gr)
