Kaçkar Dağlari, North Eastern Anatolia

Kaçkar Dağlari, North Eastern Anatolia
A hiking trip

I never thought I would be standing at the top of a mountain, beside a muleteer and his mule, laden with the baggage we could not carry, but I was lucky enough to have this experience in August 2007.

How did I get to this point?

Day 1 – Our Arrival
It has long been an ambition of mine to hike in the Black Sea Mountains. The description and the photos I have seen of Trabzon and the tea plantations compelled me. And of course, since I have been a member of the TC forum, I now realise what a mountainous country Turkey is, and so undiscovered.

After a conversation with a Turkish friend about the mountains, I was posed with
“Why don’t you come hiking with us?”
and after the conversation,
“are you serious, do you really mean that”?
I put the details of the expedition to my husband who answered with a resounding “Yes” and the plan was put into place.

We arrived at Ankara airport, about 4:00am on Monday 20th August, 29 hours later than scheduled due to a catalogue of British Airways problems, not able to spend our first day as planned, shopping for food and checking equipment. Our friends had to organise the food out, as we could not bring food from the UK.

We were collected from the airport at about 05:00am and began an incredible journey by car, from Ankara, across Turkey, to Samsun and via the Black Sea Coast to Hopa. The sun was just beginning to rise, rising above the horizon as we travelled, gradually lighting up the landscape. Having not slept all night, we were both shattered. The heat of the sun, and with drone of the car, I struggled to stay awake so as not to miss anything, but my husband succumbed to tiredness and was soon asleep.

We drove along the coast, but I struggle to remember much, as we drove through towns, with the Black Sea to our left and an ever-changing landscape to our right. My eyes were constantly closing, fighting with tiredness.

We stopped for lunch in Giresun, at our friends relatives, and were treated to a fabulous Oxtail stew, something we used to eat in the UK, but so now. After a break, we continued our journey towards the Kaçkar Dağlari, our destination. We were quite unaware how long a journey we still had to make – it does not look that far on a map! Because of the delayed flight, we had to make the journey in one day, which really should have taken two.

We steadily made progress along the coast of the Black Sea, through tunnels, and we were intrigued by what the women were doing on the side of the road. They had sheets laid out on the road side and what looked like earth on them. We later discovered that these were hazelnuts being sorted and bagged. All along the road side were fruit and nut sellers.

Before long we had reached Trabzon, so not much further to go – or so I thought! We headed on towards the Georgian border, and then to Artvin, where we had arranged to leave the car and transfer to a taxi. We arrived there around 7:00pm after 14 hours on the road, with still maybe another 5 hours as we drove into the mountains. We loaded all our bags and food into the taxi and set off. It was soon dark, so I have no idea where we were going, but I do remember a diversion because of the damns that are being constructed.

The taxi wound its way into the mountains, higher and higher and I am quite pleased I could not see the drop from the road. We stopped a couple of times for a break and an Efes, eventually finding our way to Yusufeli. By this time it was around midnight, and the Taxi driver was unsure where we were, and we pulled up at someone’s’ home (a polythene constructed hut) and woke the occupier to ask directions. He came to the door, sleepily and warily, waved his hand in the direction we should be heading. That was either left or right, having come from the right, we had to head left.

A steep climb back to the road, and the load in the car made it impossible for the taxi to move, so out we got and pushed the taxi onto the road, at past midnight!! I call this a road, but really it was a track.

Fortunately we were heading in the right direction, the only direction and shortly we came across our pension – Pansiyon Karahan at about 1:00am – 20 hours after leaving Ankara. The taxi dropped us off and left for his return journey – a crazy idea!

The pension was some 100 meters up the mountain and to get out bags up there was a pulley system. We loaded our stuff onto the little platform and up it went. We wearily clambered up the path, were greeted by the owners, showed our rooms and “hit the sack”. I was so tired that I struggled to sleep, but managed a few hours.

Day 2 – The Hike
It did not seem so long before there was a knock on the door and it was breakfast time. At breakfast we met another member of our hiking group, who had arrived the day before.

Sitting on the terrace, with cypress clad mountains around us and the sound of a tirade of the Çoruh River’s water rushing to reach the sea, at a tremendous speed, breakfast was laid on the table and the wasps were keen to get to the honey. I can honestly say, I have never eaten breakfast in such beautiful surroundings.

I must say that I felt quite ill from tiredness having not slept or eaten properly for nearly 3 days and I tried to eat some breakfast. I was conscious that we had a long hike that day, and needed all the food I could manage. Some grapes that we had left from the journey saved the day. I was also feeling a bit worried about the amount of stuff we had to carry. I knew I could carry around 12kg, 15kg at a push, and looking at the pile of equipment and food, I was glad when a mule and muleteer was organised.

With everything organised, we began our hike, turning right up the mountain road, stopping occasionally to take photo’s and admire the view, or to discuss why there was a pile of bricks on the side of the road. We were so lucky with the weather, it being a beautiful sunny day, and a bit cooler than it would be on the coast.

I am not sure from here how to describe the hike, as it was a case of hiking up the mountain road, admiring the views, taking a rest and drink now and again, and picking wild fruit from the mountain side. And of course taking photos. Ahead of us was the magnificent view of the Altiparmak ridge, which is like a serious of fingers protruding into the skyline encased in blue sky.

I love the mountains so I am generally lost in the beauty, the magnificence and the peacefulness, which reaches into my soul, but fully aware of the danger and the control nature has over us mortals. The Kaçkar Mountains, located between North Eastern Anatolia and the Black Sea plateau make a formidable barrier and is a popular trekking area. The highest summit reaches 3972m, but we were heading for the peaks that reached around 3300m. I have read that the mountains were formed in the last Ice Age and we saw some of the glaciers left.

Our muleteer with the mule came past us at some point, and there we are dressed for hiking, with big walking boots, and there he is in a jacket, trousers and what appeared to be a pair of black plastic shoes. This man’s life was the mountains, and he had that rugged weather beaten look. It was hard to guess his age, but I would say he was in his 60’s but was strong and nimble like a much younger man. He told us he was Georgian by descent, there were many Georgians living in this area, being only a few kilometres away.

We made out way towards our destination for lunch, a small house nestling on the mountain side. These mountains were much greener than I expected and were carpeted with cypress trees, which again I did not expect. I thought it would be more barren than this. There were a number of streams and water falls cascading down the mountain side, often being fed into pipes and troughs. Again I was amazed that the water was pure enough to drink. While we ate our lunch, we basked in the hot sun, shaded from any wind. I laid back and could have gone to sleep, but no, it was time to move again.

As we climbed up and up, we were caught up again by the muleteer and we had a choice – carry on with the muleteer to our evening camp or leave our back packs for him to take, and go to the lake. Of course we decided on the later and made our way to the lake, Karagöl, which involved what can only be described as a grade 3 scramble! It was cold at the lake, and much to cold for a swim, however inviting it looked and with the sun going down, we needed to get to our camp.

We finally arrived at our camp at Satie meadow, around 7:30 pm, 10 hours after we set out that morning, weary and ready for food. We had a pleasant surprise to find that our tents had been put up too! What a man our muleteer was. After our Turkish dinner, we sat and drank tea, and looked at the stars; it was such a clear night. My husband saw some shooting stars, every time I turned a different direction; consequently I missed every single one. We climbed into our sleeping bags, I wondered about the bears, what would happen if they came in the night, but I was soon asleep. I was woken by a noise and it was the mule running around his stake and rolling in the grass. I think I did hear a bear growling too..................................................


Day 2 – The Hike
Before long it was daybreak, the sun rising above the meadow and the warmth creeping into our tent; it was time for breakfast. I was amazed the next morning, I could walk, I was not stiff nor did I have aching legs and after breakfast and the dismantling of the tents we set of for another days hike. This time we were walking along a bear path, through the forest and the views again across the valley were awesome. We came across abandoned houses and then to my delight, I found bear droppings on our track and had to take photo much to everyone’s amusement.

We came to an abandoned village and stopped for a rest, taking on water and eating some unripe apples. The houses were padlocked and looked quite new in fact. I wonder where these people would have gone. How could they have sustained themselves, so far from any towns? At this point we were joined by another hiking group, but these were with an organised tour and not independent like us. We passed the time of day, and chatted for a few minutes. They were walking the same route as us.

As we were walking along the mountain road, a Dolmuş appeared like an apparition. Driving along these precarious roads, no four wheel drive vehicles, like people in the UK feel it is necessary to drive, just to take children to school. Then we came to a water fall, cascading down onto our path and we decided to climb up to the top, (not up the waterfall!) and take a dip in the cold clean water pool. It was a perilous climb up and down and involved hanging onto branches of bushes and weeds; the water was like ice, but it was well worth it and a lot of fun.

We wound our way down the mountain road, searching for what ever shade we could, as it was a hot day, and carrying 12kg /15kg added to that. Coming to a fast flowing river, we had to cross and that gave us a problem. There appeared to be no other way to cross apart from wading through knee deep water, or climbing over some boulders. My husband tried the latter and fell – yep, he did hurt himself, but we had to get across. Some workmen, who were clearing the river, used their digger to lift our backs packs across and we waded through to the other side.

I think at this point, we may have taken the wrong route and across the river we followed, we saw the other group. We exchanged some communication - nothing I understood but I guessed we were being told which way we should have come. We stopped for some lunch at a bridge crossing the river, and after a short sleep in the sun (me that is!!) we were on our way again. Our task master cracking the whip J J and his wife hiking like a mountain goat – a joke that endured the trip!

What seemed like hours later we crossed a glacier and climbed a steep track, and wow, there was our camp for the night, the other party already in situ, with the kettle on and tea brewing. We were so grateful for the hospitality of the group, they had their own chef and he was cooking something wonderful, but sadly we were assigned to our tents L. It was a freezing cold night outside, wind howling, we sustained ourselves on mostly soup and I must admit to being asleep by 8:00pm, after another 10 hours hiking day.


Day 3 – The Hike
Waking early next morning, stepping out side the tent, we were greeted with one of the most amazing views! My photo of this is on the site. It was incredible how far we had trekked in two days. We ate breakfast and packed up early, leaving the camp by 07:30am, there was a big climb ahead of us, to cross the pass before the weather broke. The sun rising above the mountains warmed everyone, but it was quite apparent that cloud had started to bubble up on the ridge.

The path was steep and hard work, the hardest so far, and I was feeling the shortness of breath, living at sea level, we were hiking at around 3000m. I am sure this had a bearing on breathing, as I am generally fit from running. But again, it was beautiful and we stopped to admire the views, and Liber Lake. We had now walked above the tree line, the flora had changed from grassland to scrub and the terrain was rockier but small rocks.

The cloud was building and becoming grey, a few spots of rain could be felt and it was getting colder. We reached the pass just as it started to rain, which was the intention and out came the wet gear, all of us ending up looking like something from an alien world, as we scrambled down the mountainside. Incredibly, we met several young Israeli hikers with enormous back packs, climbing up the path we were descending. I did not envy them as the route was difficult. At one point the mule even slipped and the muleteer hung onto him for all he was worth.

The visibility was only 100m or so, thick rain clouds engulfed us which was contrary to the previous two days hiking in beautiful sun with clear blue skies above us, allowing the incredible views. Sadly the views had gone, and we could only follow the path. But is some ways, this too was beautiful.

We encountered a herd of curious cows with calves, and at one point we had to move off the path to allow the calf to rejoin its mother. It would not walk past us, but then I don’t think I would have walked past us either, without some suspicion.

Suddenly buildings appeared and children were playing in the rain, laughing at us. We stopped to exchange a few words, and they thought my attempt to say hello was hilarious – but at least I tried. Strangely they had mobile phones, with no signal, but insisted on taking pictures of us. But when I tried to take their picture, the girls ran off. It was strange, how they were so curious about us, and after my photography attempt they warily returned to be with their younger siblings.

We walked into a village and were ushered into hut, which we assumed was like the village social club, with roaring wood burning stove. I must say that this was one of the highlights of the trip.

Already in that hut was another group or two; I could not work it out, or what nationality they were. I guessed some where Turkish and some Israeli hikers. Villagers were in and out of the hut with tea, yoghurt and wood for the fire. I think they were a little intrigued by the English people and soon there were several children playing outside. One little boy was learning to whistle through his fingers and he soon became a source of amusement for my husband who remembered the whistle we had.

The little boys soon realised we were there for their entertainment, and most probably ignored by their families most of the time. So this new attention was greatly received. They hung around for the rest of the day, until they must have been called in by their mothers.

Soon everyone left the hut and we were left to our own devices. With a huge pile of wood to keep the fire going, we began to arrange the tables and cook our dinner. I young man, who seemed to be jack of all trades, entered with some more wood. Soon he returned with a dish of potato and onions, which was delicious. Someone else had been with fresh yoghurt and endless tea. We all tucked into our dinner with hardly a word spoken. Then it was time for washing up, which was an outside tap and concrete sink beside someone’s house.

The roof of the hut was nothing more than sheets of plastic tarpaulin and soon had pools of water hovering ominously above our heads. There was torrential rain outside and howling wind. It was not long either when the water started to run through the walls and the floor, so we quickly rearranged the room and settled down for the night.

That evening we were able to sleep in the hut and our friends erected their tent inside and we slept on the benches. Thank goodness for that, the weather was atrocious, howling wind and driving rain. I suppose some would call us fair weather campers. And sure as “eggs is eggs”, the water came through with a hefty gust of wind and soaked my husband and rudely awoke me! Next thing I remember was the calling of the Mosque at about 5:30 am, and we started to stir.

Day 4 – Rest Day and Travelling
Breakfast was soon assembled; we were getting used to the format by now, and were greeted by the villagers and more tea. The boys appeared outside, playing and trying to attract our attention, and the village puppy, that insisted on biting everyone that passed it. He was such a playful thing and took delight in his new found friends, nipping ankles and bottoms at will. It was so relaxing to rest here. Everyone in the village had their role, from small children with their mothers, hitting the bottoms of the cows as they were herded back to the mountains. The older men seemed to be in charge of hospitality, with the older women most probably prepared any food require. The young boys did what young boys do; play football, whistle, throw an old tennis ball, and just generally mess around.

We packed up all our belongings and restored the tables and chairs inside the hut to their original position. We sat out side, watching the boys play and trying to stop the naughty village puppy from biting! The puppy was a delight – he wanted to play just like a child, I don’t think he was used to all the attention and was revelling in it.

Before long, the Dolmuş arrived, with the front panel lifted to stop the engine from over heating. One thing we did not know, due to the cloud, was how far up the mountain we still was or how steep and precarious the journey down was. We loaded out bags and jumped on the bus, a young boy hung to the side and the boys we played with were waving to us, as we began the next leg of our journey to Çamlıhemşın and the Otel Doğa.

We loaded ourselves onto the bus, and off we went. A most precarious journey one could describe, but a wonderful one at that. I keep saying about the scenery, but unless you see it for yourself it is very difficult to describe to give it the emphasis on it beauty that it deserves. And besides, it would make this essay even longer. It is suffice to say, would mountain side, cascading water falls, awe inspiring beauty!

After some time we reached Ayder, the modern beginning for the seasoned hike, with a few shops, cafes and a completing different atmosphere to the village we had just left high above us. In the Rough Guide is tells you that this is the highest permanently inhabited settlement in the Hemşin valley. It is no longer a genuine yayla (village), but revels in commercialism that comes with the hiking tourists. Despite this slightly negative side it was a welcome site, to see the Efes signs hanging from the cafes. But our journey was not over yet, and we reached our destination, Çamlıhemşın and the Otel Doğa, in a short time with the Dolmuş driver taking us to the “doorstep” for a small fee. The Otel Doğa is described in the Rough Guide as “rambling and somewhat institutional”, well rambling I can confirm, with something like gords growing all over the bank of the river and washing hanging trying to dry in the spray. But institutional, not really, but I considered it to be friendly and welcoming and we were able to make the terrace over looking the river “ours”!

Unloading our bags we were greeted by the Turkish owner, proficient in French and English. Tea arrived and we rested for a short time and then shown our rooms. Basic in UK terms, but all the more welcoming, with shower and bed! What more could a weary travelled want. The water of a fast flowing rive, similar to the Çoruh River, was rushing past us at an alarming rate, which was just a few steps from our rooms. We soon found our way to the rivers edge and the little sandy beaches. Out comes the medieval fishing rod (a stick with a bit of line and hook) and an attempt to catch dinner was now being undertaken. The fishing being rather unsuccessful, a trip to the local fish farm was the order of the day.

We spent the evening on our self-styled outdoor eating area, and soon ate our dinner including a bottle of raki, and time for bed and the beginning of a long journey home.

Day 5 – Travelling, the long journey to Ankara
We woke quite early next morning, to the sound of the river and set about getting our breakfast ready. It seemed rather subdued that morning, as we really would have liked a few more days hiking and the days had gone so quickly. But soon we were laughing, and reminiscing so soon. After a short clamber over the rocks of the river and a little exploring and one pair of wet shorts later (yes I nearly fell into the river!), we made our way back to the Otel. The time had come to load the car, and begin the journey. Five adults and five back packs etc packed into a car, as we would say, “no room to swing a cat”. A quick stop in Çamlıhemşın we were again on our way. In the rough guide it tells you about the two dozen or so graceful bridges. We call them hump back bridges in the UK, but they are built spectacularly and are a regional speciality, many dating back to the 18th Centuary being attributed to Armenian craftsmen.

We followed a tributory coming from Ayder and finishing in the mouth of Fırtına Çayi in the Black Sea, all along the river were white water rafting signs. How I would have loved to raft down this river, although it did not seem to be full flowing, but then I guess it would in the spring after the snow melts in the mountains. Reaching the road adjacent to the Black Sea, we made steady progress to our lunch time stop at Trabzon.

Before we reached Trabzon, we stopped at a small beach, with a very steep road leading to it, a mosque situated at the top. We got out of the car at the topof the hill, and made our way down on foot, and to my delight, there were wild fig trees growing. We started picking the ripe figs and with the hazlenuts we had bought, sat at the beach and had a feast! We sat and quietly took in the views and the peavefulness. On the way up we noticed the remains of a Goergian church. The houses in this area were of very fine architecture and I guess they were old Georgian style houses. They were in very bad repair and some were three or four stories high, and uninhabited. If anyone knows where I am taking about, I would love to hear as we are unsure where we stopped, but it was a little east of Trabzon.

I am not sure what it is when in Turkey, you seem to get a tremendous thirst for Efes! So having reached Trabzon, a port of call was lunch and then a beer in the Efes bar, over looking the main street. I am intrigued by the number of Dolmuş baying for position in the street, horns honking continuously. I was also quite surprised at how modern the town was. I had seen photos which does not do the town justice. A flying visit and we are on our way again, dropping one of our passengers off to catch his plane back to Istanbul.

On our way again, we took the old road as opposed to the new tunnels and once again the views were breath taking. Mountains rising high above us to the left and the Black Sea coasts meandering along with us to the right. It was difficult to keep my eyes open, with the motion of the car and the heat. My husband was asleep most of the journey!

By evening we reached Giresun and were invited to a beach barbeque. And a feast was once again laid on. Again the hospitality was much more than could be expected and we enjoyed our beach barbeque. We checked into a hotel and a good nights sleep ready for what tomorrow may bring.

After breakfast, we took a trip to the castle with the magnificent views over Giresun and the mountains beyond, then to the boat yard. There we hired a boat complete with sailor to take us to Giresun Adası, the only major Island in the Black Sea and located about one nautical mile from the coast. This island has plenty of mystery and history in equal measures. From pre-Christian times to Jason and the Argonauts to fertility rituals still taking place on May 20th each year. We landed on a concrete landing as was greeted by the present day owner of the island. He lead us up the steps and we walked around the island, coming across derelict walls, wine barrels (empty sadly!) which were part of a monastery at some point, old signs, and old bench which no one would dare to be seated. Then coming out of the wooded island onto the rocky promontory, there is the huge Hamza Stone, which seems to be balancing precariously. It is also said to bring youth to the old and fertility to the childless if you touch it.

After a brief swim in the sea we were soon on our way again, collecting our bags from the hotel, we carried on with our journey, along the Black Sea coast, turning off at Samsun, and heading inland towards Ankara. With night falling it seemed like an endless journey, sleep was difficult to keep at bay. Finally we saw the lights of Ankara in the distance, and our journey was over.

How do I finish this except to say, I want to do it all again!