Krevatia → Mastorouli → Petrostrouga → Skourta → Laimos → Apostolidis

Distance: 20 km
Ascent: +2,400 m
Time: 9–10.5 h
Start elevation: 1,004 m

Tap or click a waypoint for its name and elevation; arrows show the direction of travel. The waypoint table below carries the same points, with elevations and cumulative distances.

Elevation profile

Climbs from 1,004 m to 2,697 m over 20 km. Elevations are smoothed DEM samples — hover or drag the profile for a reading.

Why choose this route

Solitude, running water and old forest on the wild north side, joining the classic route at Petrostrouga for the alpine half — and two contrasting refuge nights. It is the connoisseur's approach to the plateau.

The route, stage by stage

Stage lengths are measured along the mapped track. The split times share the published 9–10.5 h out between the stages by distance and climb — scree, scrambling and route-finding take longer than that arithmetic suggests, so read the splits as a rhythm rather than a schedule, and add your own stops.

Climbs 940 m over 12.6 km to Petrostrouga refuge (1,940 m) — 12.6 km from the trailhead, about 6 h 10 min of walking.
72 beds, run by the Hellenic Rescue Team and open more or less year-round. Drinks and water are sold here. Published elevations range 1,919–1,950 m.
Climbs 540 m over 2.6 km to Skourta peak (2,476 m) — 15.2 km from the trailhead, about 2 h 10 min of walking.
Where the alpine zone and the 360° views begin. Height given as 2,476 m (OSM) or 2,485 m depending on source.
Contours 0.7 km, near enough level, to Laimos ridge (2,500 m) — 15.9 km from the trailhead, about 15 min of walking.
The "neck" between the Enipeas gorge and the Papa Rema drops — a wide path along a narrow crest, airy rather than technical in summer.
Climbs 70 m over 0.7 km to Giosos Pass (2,568 m) — 16.6 km from the trailhead, about 25 min of walking.
Πέρασμα Γιώσου — short rocky step onto the plateau rim; fixed rope when snowed. Greek guidebooks also call it the Step (Σκαλιά) of Giosos. Tagged in OpenStreetMap as a saddle at 2,568 m.
Climbs 130 m over 1.4 km to Giosos Apostolidis refuge (2,697 m) — 18 km from the trailhead, about 45 min of walking.
The goal — highest staffed refuge in the Balkans, run by SEO Thessaloniki, open June–October with 66–80 beds and a glass emergency room that is always unlocked. Tap water is melted snow and not potable; bottled water is sold. OSM tags 2,690 m against the refuge's own 2,697 m.

Getting back to your car

Out-and-back, which is the natural choice here.
Descending to Gortsia or Prionia instead strands you a long taxi ride from the car, right around the mountain to Vrontou.

Things to know

Three waypoints on the lower leg have no published coordinates and so are not mapped: the Papa Rema stream crossing at about 1,000 m, the Mastorouli spring 30 m off-trail at about 1,130 m, and the signed Elatos clearing at about 1,400 m.
The dirt road up to Krevatia needs dry conditions.
A harder, exposed direct variant climbs the Barbala ridge from Krevatia to the plateau in about 7 h — experienced parties only.
Confirm that the Krevatia refuge is open if you plan to sleep there.
The Krevatia–Petrostrouga leg alone is 14.3 km with +1,565/−615 m, which is why the route is normally split over two days with a night at Petrostrouga.

Conditions

Water: The opposite of Gortsia: abundant on the lower leg, with the Papa Rema stream and the Mastorouli spring, then dry above Petrostrouga.
Exposure: None at all until Laimos, which is as on the Gortsia route.
Season: The lower leg is walkable almost year-round; the upper leg follows the Gortsia route's window of mid-June to October.
Crowding: You will likely be alone until Petrostrouga.

Waypoints

Waypoint	Elevation	Cumulative
Krevatia refugeΚαταφύγιο Κρεβάτια	1,004 m	0 km
Petrostrouga refugeΚαταφύγιο Πετρόστρουγκα	1,940 m	12.6 km
Skourta peakΣκούρτα	2,476 m	15.2 km
Laimos ridgeΛαιμός	2,500 m	15.9 km
Giosos PassΠέρασμα Γιώσου	2,568 m	16.6 km
Giosos Apostolidis refugeΚαταφύγιο Γιόσος Αποστολίδης	2,697 m	18 km