Down and up - Imbross gorge and Sfakian gorge
Imbross Gorge is considered to be the second most popular gorge in Crete as being both touristically and historically interesting. The classic flow looks like that - start at Imbross, walk down the gorge use local "taxi" service to get back to starting point. This strech is about 6.5 km long and takes approximately 2 hours at leisure pace to get to gorge exit. I met around 50 people on the way.
Sfakian Gorge is longer - almost 9 km, wider in the estuary direction and not maintained like Imbross thus wilder. With altitude it gets narrower and harder to navigate. Until Aghios Pavlos chapel there is no need to follow the signs, just to look for the most approchable path. After you reach the chapel the most demanding section is starting orientation- and terrain-wise. The gorge is carved with shapes of past tributaries and treaded path does not help much. Luckily after 100 meters of ascent above the chapel the blue trail markings become more dense and helpful but still require a watchful eye. I met noone in this stretch. Once the gorge is left there is some 100 meters of ascent left in easy mountain terrain and then descent using gravel road and mountain path for some stretch until Imbross is reached.
Sunny and warm, visibility reduced due to Sahara dust
In Imbross Gorgre the path is obvious on the whole way, the interchange between gorges goes through Imbross-Hora Sfakion road and pastures marked in red dots. Once in Sfakian Gorge blue dots and squares with white borders are to be followed. For both gorges for less steep sections the path is stony footbed. The higher sections are rocky, narrow. Sfakian Gorge is wilder, path is less obvious and suprisingly easy to lose.
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Car driven and parked in front of some taverna in Imbross - easily reachable by car with a nice road connected to main Cretan National Road. There is a parking fee unless you order a meal.
Imbross entrance fee was 2 EUR, parking fee was 1 EUR. There is plenty of space to park in any local road turn, just do not follow parking sign. Keep in mind that because of uneven terrain the trip may take a bit longer as you cannot advance that fast.
A reasonable option would be to hike the trail in opposite direction. Poor trail markings are better visible from the top and navigation down the Sfakian Gorge is much easier I believe. In Imbross there is no problem with navigation what is helpful if you start later in the day (like I did) and may finish in the evening. More people in Imbross Gorge (and no dead animals) will make you feel safer during the ascent especially if you travel alone. It will also save you 2 EUR as the gorge exit check-in was closed. My direction was decided because of plenty of snow in upper parts of White Mountains and I feared that the stream in the upper part may end up in inpassable passages lower. That was completely false assumption as there was no water at all.
Uneven terrain and heat in the stony riverbed, no mobile signal coverage in gorges. In Sfakian Gorge I encountered about 15 dead animals in different stages of decomposition. Sometimes needed to pass them in range of 1 meter because of the narrow terrain
trekking poles, 20L rucksack
