Update May 2010 to the September 2005 edition of Walks in North Lesvos
Walk 9. Petra to the watermill valley. Para 3. I am advised by Kathryn Currey that the "donkey trek" sign has gone and fencing has made the path impossible to find. This now means you must stay on the road which climbs steeply to meet the dirt track from Petri village described in para 6. Turn left onto the track. My grateful thanks to Kathryn for this information.
Update September 2005 to the 2002 edition of Walks in North Lesvos
Area map - the following roads are now asphalt surfaced:
* The road from Petra to Petri and on to join the Stypsi road;
* The road from Stypsi to Ypsilometopo;
* The road from Petra past the lake to join the Vafios road is being prepared for paving.
The Vareltzidainas house has now been restored. Entrance was free in September 2005. Flash photography is not allowed inside.
The Anaxos to Petra petrol station is no longer Mamidakis.
In Petra the Regular Market supermarket no longer signed with this name.
Walk 1. Petra to Anaxos. Para 1. A new dirt track by the walk sign follows the coastline directly along to the first beach; it is not the one described in the book, which is now initially paved and runs parallel with this coastline track and then turns right, to the beach.
The private land of the Anaxos Hill Apartments is now marked no access on the Petra side. It is still possible to scramble over the coastal rock as described, or to go round at sea level (and get wet feet if there are any waves).
Walk 2. Ambelia beach to Anaxos. Para 2. The second gate is gone.
Walk 3. Anaxos to Megali Tsikhranda. Para 3. The dirt track goes right to the beach.
Walk 4. Anaxos to Skoutaros and return. Para 6. The trailer is gone.
Para 7. The rough track has an improved surface. At a junction, where left goes towards the main road and a house, you should go right (in an onward direction).
Para 8. The dirt track has been extended, so cross the stream bed on a concrete surface and follow the dirt track back to the left on the far side of the valley. A final onward section of walled path remained in September 2005 (but may be converted to dirt track in the future).
Walk 4a. Anaxos to 'Lafionas' path. Para 2. The path runs into a dirt track.
Para 3. follow the dirt track/concrete road across a stream bed, steeply uphill. Where the track swings right, join the path to the left.
I was unable to check further along this path in the time available, however I have received (Oct 05) the following useful information from Michael Grimwade. 'The path
that you describe at the end as having become disused has now been bulldozed
and leads right up to the forestry water tank above Lafionas. This pleased
me in one way in that I didn't have to retrace my tracks and could have a
"circular" walk. There is a gate across it in one place, of the sort which
is there to keep animals in. The new path is pretty rough in places.'
Walk 5. Anaxos to Lafionas. Para 2. The rougher track climbing off steeply to the right is now concrete-surfaced.
Walk 6. Anaxos to Agios Alexandros. Para 5. The water-fountain has been removed. The monastery site is now fenced and gated.
Walk 7. Petra via Petri to Lafionas. There are extensive changes to this walk.
Para 2. The Daba Doupa café is no longer signed as such.
Para 3. The road to Petri is now all asphalted. The little path by the bay laurel and stream no longer exists.
Para 4. The described features in the first sentence have gone or changed.
Para 4-6. After the corner where the road swings to the right, the kalderimi on the left has been replaced by an obvious concrete ramp - this becomes a dirt track. At the end of the dirt track there is a house gateway up to the left, but go on ahead. Before reaching a left-right wall, look left for the start of a path marked by a red dot on a stone (between shrubs) over which you step. Go up here, then right at a fork (with a gate to the left). The path soon becomes an obvious kalderimi, winding a little before straightening out . A section of the edge had fallen away in September 2005. Not far beyond, turn left and up between two large houses.
Para 8. The dirt road out of Petri is now surfaced, as is the onward connection to the Stypsi road.
Para 13-21. From Jimmy's café, the rough path is now a straightforward - though steep - dirt track. Go left at the bottom junction by the concrete culvert in para 21.
Alternative section to Lafionas. Para 2. The dirt track off the road is now concrete-surfaced.
Walk 8. Petra via Petri. There are extensive changes to this walk through building work.
Para 2. After the oak tree, pass a house (left) and then go left at a junction; swing right to pass houses (left, then right) and then a large walled enclosure (right). The dirt track leads to an opening through to a left-right walled path. Go left. This is the stony kalderimi in para 3.
Para 3. Where the path passes through an abandoned settlement, and climbs to cross a rocky area, read as follows:
The path emerges past the last ruin (left) to an area of sloping rock. The path does continue onward, but instead swing left after the ruin. Ahead is a more or less bare outcrop (and beyond it a telecom mast on the far ridge). Head towards the saddle immediately left of this outcrop. Go up on bare rock - between walls (left) and the outcrop (right). A little path becomes obvious in a small gully on your side of the walls. At a cross paths, just before the first tall clump of shrubs on the outcrop, turn right up a narrow natural stairway (the path left from the junction goes towards a new wall and an abandoned orange VW van). Make your way up to a view of Petri and cross the saddle ahead - though there are good views from the summit of the outcrop to the right. A path made of natural flagstones leads around on a hillside shelf - near the end of this, head up to the left to join the dirt track ahead. Follow this track leftwards to a crossroads and then go right. Follow the partly concreted road uphill, as it gradually swings left. As you near a levelling out of the track at a small plateau, look for a wooden sign 'donkey trek' in a tree to the right. Join this indicated path through to Petri village. Turn left to join the track above the village and continue with para 5.
Walk 9. Petra to Petri and the watermill valley. Para 5-6. The exit from the watermill path has been simplified. On reaching the concrete box, take a faint path to the right (not left). Swing down and left on reaching the wall of a watermill. Then back left again and out to join the dirt track. Go right on the track.
Walk 10. Petra to Mithymna. Extensive widening and culverting work in September 2005 suggested that at least the middle section dirt track of this walk (as far as the Vafios road) would soon be given an asphalt surface. One might have thought the money and effort would be more usefully employed in giving traffic-jammmed Kalloni a by-pass, rather than simply providing a parallel alternative to the existing Petra-Mithymna road, however it is probably intended to expand the area where holiday accommodations can be built.
Walk 11. Petra to Vafios. Para 2. The last sentence should read 'Go through a gate and go up to join a dirt track (right). Turn left.
Para 3. The new dirt track crosses the stream bed. Once over the stream, follow the instructions in para 3.
Walk 12. Lafionas to Agios Alexandros. Para 9. The water-fountain has been removed. The monastery site is now fenced and gated.
Walk 13. Aryenos to Mt Lepetymnos. Para 2. The road between Stypsi and Ypsilometopo is now surfaced (after a fashion).
Para 9. The pond is only seasonal and the access dirt track has overgrown. Head left of centre across the flattened area, towards the lowest skyline. Join a dirt track (to masts), and turn right to join the main dirt road coming in from the east.
Para 13. Father Ignatios is no longer at the Ypsilometopo church.
Walk 14. Ayiasos. There has apparently been considerable destruction of ancient kalderimia in the Ayiasos woodland, but I was unable to check this route in the time available. While disturbing a tiny sherd of ancient pottery is a serious criminal offence in Greece, bulldozing historic and beautifully engineered kalderimia paths that are monuments to their creators and a way of life (and would be treasured heritage anywhere else in Europe) is a perfectly acceptable activity. One is sometimes tempted to start a campaign to have the Elgin Marbles crushed to powder and then incorporated into a concrete drain cover - inscribed with the words 'Cultural Vandalism' * to be set in the roadway opposite the Greek Embassy in London...