Argalasti – Lefokastro – Kalamos
Distance: 8,6 km
Duration: 2 hours and 45 minutes (mixed, with stops)
Marking: red signs
Maximum altitude: 255 m. (Argalasti Square)
Drinking water on the route: yes (Lefokastro)
This is one of the most beautiful routes of South Pelion, which descends from Argalasti to the seaside settlement of Lefokastro and from there it takes us to the seaside village of Kalamos. From Kalamos we can return to Argalasti (see route Argalasti-Kalamos) completing the cycle with a total mixed duration of about 4 hours, or if we are in the mood and have a little more stamina, we can continue along the coast to Pau and from there return to Argalasti with a total duration of about 5 hours with stops (see route Kalamos-Pau eve-Argalasti).
Starting from the square of Argalasti, from the corner of the pharmacy, we follow the narrow concrete road that leads west and passes in front of the post office. We arrive at a junction, where on the corner on the left is the renovated stone building of the old nursery school. Straight ahead of us the cobbled road continues to Kalamos. We turn right, also following a cobbled road heading north. The cobbled road below breaks down for thirty metres and becomes like a wide groove in stony ground.
Walking then on a nice cobbled road, we cross the small stream of Pneimatiko by a bridge, cross a dirt road and after a while we come out on a second dirt road, where we go downhill to the left. In the road we see the cobbled path, which after fifty metres comes out diagonally to the right of the road and we follow it. We pass by an electricity pylon and in a short while we reach the beautiful stone arched bridge of Rodia.
After the stream of Rodia, the cobbled road goes uphill and finally comes out on the asphalt road that goes to Lefokastro, at the point where the dirt road to Kalamos leaves on the left. At the crossroads there is a sign and a shrine. We follow the asphalt road for a kilometre, after the cobbled road has been covered and then, taking care on our left, we find the continuation of the cobbled road that descends between terraces of dry stone. Below we meet the asphalt road, cross it and after a while we meet it again. It took us a little less than an hour and a half to get here, for a distance of 4.8 km. If we follow the asphalt road to the right, we will reach the main beach of Lefokastro in three hundred meters.
To go now to Kalamos, we continue on the cobbled road going downhill passing by an old fountain dated 1777 that has good water. In a few minutes we reach a nice sandy beach.
At the other end of the beach we climb for a few meters on a path and exit on a narrow dirt road. Below us is the water pipeline from the Panagiotiko dam. Unfortunately, the pipeline construction work has destroyed the nice path with small sections of cobblestone path that existed here previously.
So we walk on the road and immediately there is a junction with a road on the left that goes uphill. We go straight ahead without moving away from the sea that is on our right. Eventually the road comes out vertically on another dirt road and ends, go left uphill for ten metres and immediately turn right into a farm, jumping over a low fence at the entrance. The path, which has red marks like the whole route, continues for a while inside the estate, then we have another property with a fence on our right, then we descend towards the sea and soon we come out on the small beach of Agios Sostis.
At the edge of the beach a rural road passes and we follow it for ten minutes to the south. Where the main road turns smoothly to the left, we leave it and continue straight ahead to the right on a narrow, slightly downhill road, which eventually becomes a path and takes us to the northern edge of Kalamos beach.
We walk for a while on the beach and where it seems to end, we go a few meters to the left and then right on a cemented narrow road parallel to the sea. We cross a footbridge over the stream of Rodia and soon we come back to the beach. Just before the middle of the beach, where there is a sign for mountaineering nailed to a PPC pole, we meet the cobbled road that goes uphill to Argalasti.
