When the mythical apple mythically fell on Isaac Newton’s head, he formulated the Law of Gravitation, hypothesizing that not only did the apple descend to his head but that the earth on which he was sitting, rose up to meet the apple, albeit immeasurably slightly.  The incident sparked a thought of genius.

When I slipped and fell on my first afternoon on Nisyros, stripping a layer of skin off my forearm and embedding a quantity of black volcanic grit in it, the incident sparked a more mundane conclusion, formulated as Barry’s Second Hypothesis (Barry’s First Hypothesis is to do with politics and I won’t bore you with that).

The Second Hypothesis states that if you do dangerous stuff (white water kayaking, climbing, paragliding, skiing, tree felling …..), or use sharp things (chainsaws, axes, power tools ….. ) then at some point you are going to get hurt. The second part of the hypothesis states that this is most likely to happen when you have done the really dangerous bit and lose focus, albeit momentarily.  This second part is writ large in my experience. – I shot Bala Mill Falls on the Tryweryn and capsized in the pool below, skied down a difficult run (for me) and then went base-over-apex on the glide down Easy Street to the lodge, dislocating my shoulder. And many more.

I arrived on Nisyros in time to dump my stuff in the hotel, change and catch the midday bus to Emborios on the caldera rim for the pleasant and in places very spectacular walk back to Mandraki (Walk 1 on the Greek Island Walks page of the blog).  Like some of the other paths on Nisyros, this one has degenerated significantly in recent years, with some sections potentially dangerous, especially high up near the village. The kalderimi is supported by high stone walls and increasing number of collapses and landslides threaten an uncontrolled descent of ten or more feet on loose soil and gravel.  I originally graded this section of the walk as ‘Moderate’ but it is now ‘Difficult”.  The old adage “if you want to look at the view, stop”, is never truer than here.  Given that my balance has deteriorated from what it used to be, I was well pleased to get past the whole of the difficult part, and took a break in the shade at the Evangelistria monastery.

A brief siesta, piece of nutbar and swig of water, and I was set for the easy 45-minute walk down to Mandraki and a welcome beer. I categorised this section of the route as ‘Easy’ but, to put it in context, that’s not easy like a Sunday afternoon walk in the park, it’s ‘easy’ for those used to walking in the mountains.

The early part of the summer on Symi and Nisyros had been unusually cool (see), and I returned home at the end of the UK heatwave in time for the dire weather of July and August.  First day back in Greece and it was properly hot.  I took account of this and paced myself, so swung out confidently on this final downhill stretch. Dropping nearly vertically from the road to the first section of path has become a little more awkward and potentially difficult because of a fallen fig tree, but focus and caution got me down safely onto the loose pumice of the path.  No problem.

In the last few years, an injection of private capital into some of the islands – Symi and Nisyros certainly – has seen a number of formerly derelict houses renovated to a high standard, some as second homes, some as Airbandb rentals. A handful of these are adjacent to the path I was on though relatively close to the road and parking places.  A couple of them have improved the path from the road to the house, given that it is loose and steep and couldn’t take the extra and more frequent foot-traffic. But the occupants of one such house have simply tied a bit of rope between trees at the side, bypassing the loose pumice and creating a new line, now over-used.  

Greek mythology has it that those who display hubris incur the displeasure of the gods and suffer for it.  I displayed an excess of confidence. Hubris. The difficult part of the route behind me, I spurned the rope, I wasn’t some namby-pamby townie.  Nothing to do with mythological gods, all to do with not concentrating.  My feet slipped on the loose soil/volcanic grit, I put my right hand down behind me, my feet continued to slide and my forearm ground into the grit.  It dug deeply into my palm, stripped the skin off the arm from elbow to wrist and embedded itself in flesh.

I carry a pretty comprehensive first aid kit and when I reached the sanctuary of a lump of rock some metres further down, cleaned up the mess, applied dressings, and continued to the harbour.

I sat in the taverna in Heroes Square looking out to sea, feeling both sorry for myself and angry at myself for being so careless.  This was the third minor accident in not much more than a month. It was there I formulated Barry’s Second Hypothesis.

I tell myself, and tell others, about the need to beware of losing focus on the easy bit near the end of any trip. But what now finally crept to the front of my consciousness, albeit somewhat late in life, is that there is an inevitability about it.  If you do this stuff, at some point it will bite back. It doesn’t mean that you stop doing it, you try harder to maintain focus, especially when you are tempted to relax.  And you put up with the consequences if it goes wrong.

I continued trekking around the mountains on Nisyros for two weeks and then on Symi for another three weeks.  My confidence had been damaged, I was more cautious than usual, but I went out every day in the mountains, including three or four ‘finishes’ down the same section of path.  By the end my arm had scabbed over and was healing. I’m left with a 6 inch (15 cm) scar as a reminder.

A blog post isn’t complete without photos of the great landscapes I walk through.  So, after the cautionary tale and the exposition of Barry’s Second Hypothesis , here are some images of a great walk around the caldera rim from Nikia, Walk 6 on the Greek Island Walks page..

Any walk from Nikia, perched high on the rim of the caldera, isn’t complete unless it starts with a frappe or fresh orange juice in the square at the top of the village.

The route passes through an abandoned village …

follows the caldera rim with spectacular views down into the craters …..

views back towards Nikia  …..

partly on a stone-paved kalderimi …..

and as it rises up from the low point in a col, along the 3 kilometres of the caldera to Emborios, the other village on the rim at the far end ….

until it reaches Stavros monastery, the last point with views into the craters and the first and last place to find any shade  ….