Kourtellorotsos

  • Kourtellorotsos
  • 1266 m.
  • Primary factor 170 m.
  • Cyprus
  • Location: North 34.97123 East 033.03396 (GPS at the summit)
  • Difficulty: (YDS) class 2.
  • Climbed December 15. 2012.

Information:

How to get there:
There are several possibilities, this detailed description is a nice route, it also helps describing the route to the other peaks I climbed this day.
From motorway A1 in Limassol, most signs says Lemesos, take exit number 27. In the traffic circle follow signs for E-110, direction to Palodia and Gerasa. Measure from this traffic circle. At kilometer 5.3, you are in Palodia, go straight and stay on E-110. Around kilometer 13.3, you will pass by the nice village of Geresa (on your left), continue on E-110. At kilometer 19.9, turn right in order to stay on E-110 (a bit later there is a left curve, stay on E-110). Then, at kilometer 22.4, turn sharply right and leave E-110, the new road is F-139. Shortly after, at 22.6, go straight ahead. At kilometer 29.2, fork right (uphill), there is a sign here saying Troodos 43. Finally, at kilometer 32.0, you reach a main col, this is the trailhead for Papoutsa. Turn left at this intersection and continue to follow the main road until kilometer 39.7, where you turn sharply right (uphill) onto a smaller road. Continue to kilometer 42.2, you are now at a nice 4-way intersection on top of the main crest. (From here a short road leads to the trailhead for Madari.)
Start a new measurement from here (in case you drove here by a different route.) Take the road that heads downhill to the north side of the main crest. A sign on the top says "Polystopos 5", in this direction. At kilometer 1.9, keep right. You are going downhill and enter a village. At kilometer 3.8, go sharply left, this is in the middle of the village. Then at kilometer 5.6, just as you leave another small village, leave the main road and go left up a hill. Shortly, at km 5.7, turn right. Then at km 6.5, continue straight ahead. Finally, at kilometer 7.1, turn slightly left (uphill), then go straight at the fork that follows immediately. Continue along the road until it hits a col at kilometer 8.2, with parking on the left. There is a sign informing that you are at the E-4 hiking trail. This is the trailhead and parking, location N34.96106, E033.02228, elevation about 1125 meter.
Route description:
The trail is E-4 going right as viewed when approaching the trailhead by car. There is a large sign on the very first little knoll. The trail runs along the ridge and descends to a local saddle at location N34.96496, E033.02422, elevation approximately 1092 meter. From here, the trail ascends and eventually crosses the crest (from right to left), this place has a nice wooden bench for resting. From here, there are two choices. Option 1 is to leave the trail here and hike uphill along the main ridge. There is one small dip along the way, but the terrain is pretty easy to walk. Option 2 is to continue along E-4 until it reaches a shoulder that extends north-west from the summit. Then turn right and climb from there. The highest point is marked with a small cairn.
Comments:
Here is a Google map documenting my hikes on Cyprus.
The final climb on this trip, was the north ridge of Papoutsa.
I started at 1220 and left the trail at the crest with the bench, then continued along the ridge to the summit, arriving there at 1255. A pretty good view all the way to Nicosia. I believed the E-4 trail was pretty close to the summit and started scrambling down the loose, scree slope. Minor mistake, a better option would have been to go north-west. In this way, I ended up going downhill in unpleasant terrain to the very lowest point of the E-4 trail. The rest was easy, I followed the trail back to the bench, then onwards to the trailhead, arriving back at the car around 1335.

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