Smolikas, Mountain summit in Northern Pindos, Greece.
Smolikas is a mountain in the Ioannina regional unit of northwestern Greece, reaching 2,631.397 metres. It is the highest of the Pindus Mountains and the second highest mountain in Greece after Mount Olympus. The mountain consists of ophiolite rocks, and its northern and eastern cirques and valleys were glaciated during the Pleistocene.
During the Pleistocene, glaciers carved the northern and eastern cirques and valleys of Smolikas; the last ice retreated about 11,500 years ago, as recorded in a 2006 study of Greece's last glaciers by Hughes, Woodward and Gibbard. The mountain is built of ophiolite rock, and its slopes drain south to the Vjosa and north to the Vourkopotamo, a tributary of the Sarantaporos.
The villages around Smolikas include Samarina, Smixi, Fourka, Pades, Palaioselli and Agia Paraskevi, some of the highest settlements in Greece. Many of their inhabitants are Aromanian (Vlach) speakers, who call the mountain Smolcu, and the transhumant shepherding of these communities shaped settlement on the slopes.
The usual routes to the summit start from Samarina to the east, Agia Paraskevi (Kerasovo) to the north, and Palaioselli or Pades to the south. The Greek National Road 20 (Kozani–Siatista–Konitsa–Ioannina) passes west of the mountain, and Konitsa lies 15 km southwest. No mountain refuge is documented on these routes.
Smolikas is built of ophiolite rock, and during several Pleistocene periods glaciers carved its northern and eastern cirques and valleys; the last ice retreated about 11,500 years ago. Drakolimni Smolika, the small alpine lake below the summit at roughly 2,200 m, is a product of that glacial past.
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