While hiking the E4 across Crete, most trekkers will see the beach at Kato Zakros as the long-sought end of their trans-island adventure, the final stopping point after several weeks on foot through Crete’s varied and beautiful landscapes. For me, though? It was just the beginning.

With one last look at the crashing waves and a cursory glance at the Minoan palace just inland, I set off up the Gorge of the Dead for what I expected would be three weeks of hiking and adventure across this largest of Greece’s islands.

It is, I must admit, a beautiful start. If this were the end of my trail I might not be as impressed, but as the first of Crete’s many gorges that I would walk through it left a beautiful impression even if the weather wasn’t superb on the day I decided to walk.

Only a couple of kilometers from the trailhead at the beach, a sign pointing upwards describes an ancient fortress accessible to experienced hikers only… and of course I went for it.

From the top of the canyon was a beautiful look straight down part of Dead’s Gorge, and what I expected to be the last vista of the Libyan Sea that I expected to see for some time.

Back down on the trail, and in fact most of the way up to the village of Zakros proper, the canyon walls close in and the hike is much more about silence and solitude and macro life than it is about broad vistas.

Arriving back in Zakros (where the first bus of the day had dropped me off in the morning from Sitia), I was struck by the photogenic nature of the buildings and the cheapness of the hotels… my first night on trail ended up a warm and comfy bed in the village.