Gamíla (Timfi)

Overview

Gamila is the fourth highest mountain entirely located in Greece (6th overall). It is located in the heart of the Vikos-Aoos National Park, which also contains the Vikos gorge and Aoos river. The mountains two spectacular lakes at 1900m altitude are without doubt its trademark. They are called Drakolimnes (Dragon Lakes) and in the winter they freeze and get covered with snow. The only lake in higher altitude in Greece (also called Drakolimni) is on Smolikas, Gamila's neighbour mountain (and Greece's second highest).
Beside the breathtaking scenery, the area is also known for the traditional architecture of the stone built villages.
Highest peaks:
Gamila 2497m
Karteros 2478m
Mavra Litharia 2467m
Goura 2467m
Astraka 2436m
Tsouka Rossa 2377m
Ploskos 2377m

Getting There

Nearest airport: Ioannina
Nearest train station: Kalampaka (see Meteora)
From Ioannina take the road to Konitsa and follow the signs to Papigo (~60km). The main trail starts from here but you might also want to continue to Mikro Papigo (1km) and take the trail from there.

From Kalampaka (not recommended, especially in the winter) drive to Ioannina (130km) and continue as above.

Busses are frequent between towns, but from Papigo you may have to wait a lot or call for a taxi (which isn't so expensive for groups of 3-4).

Red Tape

No permits required. Gamila is in the middle of a National Park so certain restrictions apply. Making campfires, cutting plants and of course hunting are forbidden, amongst other things. So is camping, but as in all Greek mountains camping in the alpine zone is tolerated.

When To Climb

All around the year. Anyone climbing it in the winter should of course have the basic scills of moving on snow/ice.

Camping

As stated above, there is no problem camping above the tree line. There is also a mountain hut, which has been renovated recently.

Mountain Conditions

General 72hr forecast for Ioannina, the nearest city.Courtesy of the National Observatory of Athens

Literature

Anavasi Map in 1:50.000
The map from the magazine Korfes in issues 149-150 can be obtained through E.O.S.Acharnon club

External Links

• A line in the snow - Greece. Ski Mountaineering on Olympus and Timfi in a Ben Tibbetts film.
  
• Oreivatein
  One of the best sites about Greek mountains. Greek / English / German texts
  
• Climbing routes on Greek mountains
  Very good site about rock/ice/snow routes in Greece. Only in Greek, I'm afraid. I will ask the guys if they can get in the trouble of translating the texts. Untill then you can have a look at the topos and ask me to translate anything you find interesting.
  
• Gamila Refuge
  Greek National Tourism Organization's page about the refuge
  
• Pindos Trek
  Very informative web pages about the Pindos mountain range and Epiros region in general (including Gamila and the Vikos-Aoos National Park
  
• nkan's web page
  Nikos Kanellopoulos' (nkan) web page. Great photos of Gamíla and other places (in English too).
  

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Images

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