The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Hiking, Trekking, and Culture in the Caucasus, Part 1: Armenia

Although most of the nine days I spent in Armenia were comprised of hiking (three shorter day hikes and a four-day trek), at all times I felt deeply immersed in the culture, history, and religion of Armenia as we traveled from the capital of Yerevan to all corners of this fascinating country. Indeed, since becoming the first country in the world in 301 CE to adopt Christianity as its official religion, religion has never been far from any discussion of Armenia’s history.

The Caucasus is a geographic region located between the Black Sea to the West and the Caspian Sea to the East, essentially connecting eastern Europe with northwest Asia. (As such I have categorized them as both Europe and Asia for these blog posts). As can be seen in the map below, the mountains can be divided into the Greater and Lesser Caucasus. The trek and hikes in Armenia were of course in the Lesser range whereas my next blog post, from Georgia, will be in the Greater Caucasus Mountains.

Caucasus topographic map
(Bourrichon – fr:Bourrichon with English translations, additions, and corrections by Ketone16 (partly following Yuri Koryakov), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Khor Virap Monastery. One of the most famous and religiously important sites in Armenia, is in the far west of this small country, close to the border with Turkey. It was our first stop on a long day of culture and hiking.
Mount Ararat in clouds from Khor Virap Monastery. Mount Ararat has a special place in every Armenian’s heart. Although located in Turkey, many refer to that area as “Western Armenia.” In fact, at 5137m, it is the highest mountain in Turkey. Note the cloud on the left of the photo that makes Little Ararat look like it’s erupting.
Smbataberd Fortress walls, seen during our first day hike, a hill traverse, in southern Armenia. Our slow pace and numerous stops during this hike were precursors of things to come.
Norovank Monastery in Gnishik gorge. This dramatically-sited monastery on our way to Lake Sevan was my favorite.
Orbelian’s caravanserai at the Selim Pass, from the 14th century. This lodging for travelers along the silk road is the best-preserved in Armenia.
Detail of Orbelian’s caravanserai entry with high reliefs of a winged animal to the left, and a bull to the right above the lintel.
Selim Pass vista near sunset. Much driving still remained, the first of three consecutive 5+ hour days of on often-decrepit roads.
Lake Sevan Best Western Hotel from pier in early AM. Lake Sevan is the largest in the Caucasus, located at 1900m above sea level. There was a wonderful heated outdoor pool; it was a shame we had no time to enjoy the facilities.
Haghpat Monastery, seen at the start of our second day’s hike, from there to Sanahin monastery. Both are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
An unusual khachkar at Haghpat Monastery. Most of these Armenian carved cross stelæ have a variety of motifs, but do not depict Jesus.
View back towards Haghpat Monastery, showing well the landscape in the northeast of the country. According to World Atlas, Armenia is the 6th most mountainous country in the world.
Sanahin Monastery, the end of our 2nd day of hiking. It was a beautiful and peaceful location, less encumbered by tourists than many others. Afterwards, another long transfer to our lodging for the night, not aided by a road closure due to a landslide en route.
A khachkar near the start of our 3rd day of hiking, between Kobayr Monastery and Odzun Church.
Our group on the dramatic hillside traverse from the Kobayr to Odzun. This was for me the best of our day hikes, although slow hiking with many rests, a road closed from an accident, and horrendous traffic on our return to Yerevan in the evening made for another very long day.
Day 1 of our Geghama Mountains traverse trek: Sevaberd to Ajna Lake. Here a beautiful flowered meadow vista. The Geghama Mountains lie to the east of Yerevan. While they are not particularly dramatic, my enjoyment of the trek was greatly enhanced from the lack of other hikers.
Day 2 in the Geghama Mountains was the highlight of the entire trek. Here the view is back towards our camp on the far side of Ajna lake. More wonderful wildflowers! Note some snow on the left; the late winter snows had not yet completely melted.
View towards Azhdahak Peak in the middle ground, the high point of the mountain range, on Day 2. Its summit was our objective.
The Vagabond Hiker out in front of the other clients on Day 2. Our trek leader was fairly fast. Fortunately we had two guides for only 6 clients, enabling a range of hiking speeds.
Birds eye primrose (Primula farinosa)
Gerry and other clients crossing a modest snow field
Azhdahak Peak (3597m) summit crater
On the summit of Azhdahak Peak
Pyramid Bugle (Ajuga pyramidalis). Compare to Velvetbells from my Lago di Garda post last month.
One of many petroglyphs we saw in Day 3 of our trek. Unfortunately our guide wasn’t able to explain much about them.
A Lake Vank standing stone, at our Day 3 lunch stop. The lake wasn’t particularly photogenic, hence no photo.
Day 4 of our trek: a morning view from camp with a hot air balloon in the distance. Our camp was spectacularly situated on the edge of a high plateau.
A view towards the town of Garni, our destination, on Day 4. The ruins of the Havuts Tar Monastery complex are seen in the foreground.
Havuts Tar ruins
A khachkar at Havuts Tar

After the four-day Geghama Mountains trek, one other client and I decided to leave the group and spend a night in Yerevan (which we were driving past anyway) rather than continue to a camp on Mount Aragats, the highest mountain in Armenia and a further 2 hours drive to the northwest. For several reasons, the two of us did not do that final hike, to Aragats’ South summit, the lowest and easiest of its four summits. Three of the other four clients did make the ascent the following day during a weather window. The photo below was taken by one from the South summit. Congrats to them, though I had no regrets at spending my final day in Armenia relaxing in Yerevan.

Mt Aragats South summit view towards the West and North (highest) summits

Stay tuned next week for the second installment of my Caucasus blogs, from Georgia.

The Vagabond Hiker

Flowers and Ferratas (and a few hikes) around Lago di Garda

Before you shake your head at another post from Northern Italy, this last month was the earliest in the season by far that I’d been hiking and climbing there. The wildflowers were stupendous and featured many I hadn’t seen before, at least in Italy. Add in some ferratas that I hadn’t done from my last visit to Lago di Garda in 2019 and I definitely thought it was worthy of another blog post. I hope you agree.

Torrente Barbarano, seen during my approach to Via Ferrata (VF) Spigola della Bandiera. This rather short and boring ferrata was the one I climbed while I was located on the southwest side of Lago di Garda for 2 days waiting for my Arco-area apartment to be ready. (The southern 2/3rds of the lake is in Lombardy and has completely different geology from the northern third, in Trentino. Definitely stay in the north if you’re visiting the area).
The Rifugio Pirlo allo Spino above VF Spigola della Bandiera. No decent photos of the ferrata were possible as it was highly vegetated. I was the only one here as the main access road was closed much of that day due to the Giro d’Italia bike race passing through.
Torrente Toscolano, Valle delle Cartiere, near my hotel. Paper mills from this valley flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries as the major supplier of paper to Venice.
Dark Columbine (Aquilegia atrata). Absolutely stunning.
Castello d’Arco. With some friends from St George, I visited the castle as part of a day of nearby ferratas and scrambles.
Poppy field, Castello d’Arco
Burning-bush (Dictamnus albus)
The amazing “Garda View” apartment in Gavazzo (Tenno), where I stayed for 5 weeks. The upper left balcony on the near house was mine.
Riva and Lago di Garda from my balcony in the morning light
Goats on Monte Misone. The hike to the summit of this nearby peak was one of four I did as warm ups for Mount Toubkal (see my previous post).
Coral peony (Paeonia mascula)
Trumpet gentian (Gentiana acaulus). One of my faves. I’ve shared photos of this species before.
Cave Alte, Troiana. A nearby marble quarry that supplied much statuary marble. It fascinated me how they dug out these galleries from which they hauled the marble down to the valley near Arco.
Cima d’Oro, Lago di Ledro vista. Another Toubkal warmup.
World War I trench on Cima d’Oro
Alpine pasque flower (Pulsitilla alpina). I finally saw the flower! Later in the season all I ever saw were the distinctive seed pods.
Early purple orchid (Orchis mascula). First of four orchids you’ll see in this post. . .
Balm-leaved archangel (Lamium orvale). I’ve seen another species of archangel in Hastings, England.
View to the north from Croce (cross) di Ceniga, taken on another hike nearby Arco, to the summit of Monte Colt.
Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). Aptly named.
Monte Stivo summit view towards the Brenta Dolomites, with globe flowers and buttercups. Monte Stivo, northeast of Lago Garda, is a very popular hike. Even on a weekday I saw many people on my descent.
Cima di Rocca. This ferrata I did was an extended version of one my my favorites, Cima Capi, documented in my 2019 Lago di Garda post.
Part of an extensive WWI tunnel complex in Cima Rocca
Chiese di San Giovanni, on the descent from Cima Rocca. I’m not sure this church holds many services anymore.
Dane’s Blood bell-flower (Campanula glomerata). I saw many species of bell-flower this past month, but I’ve posted photos of most before, but not I think this one.
Cascata di Ballino, at the start of VF Signora delle Acque. This ferrata essentially climbs the waterfall. How cool is that?
Looking down the Cascata di Ballino, VF Signora delle Acque. Yes, I am attached to ferrata cables!
Giro di tre Cime, Monte Bondone. The three peaks are all visible here; right to left: Cornetto, dos Abramos, and Verde. The wildflowers were amazing on this hike, which started at a much higher elevation (about 1500m) than most, a wise choice on this hot day.
Fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea)
Orange lily (Lilium bulbiferum)
Paradise lily (Paradisea liliastrum). I also saw Bruno’s and St. Bernard’s lilies this past month, but they all look similar so I’m posting only this one.
Monte Cornetto on the Giro di tre Cime hike. Cornetto is Italian for croissant. I also saw signs saying “Cornet,” which is French for horn. It resembles neither a croissant nor a horn to me.
Velvetbells (Bartsia alpina)
Dos Abramos, seen from the col between that peak and Cima Verde. It transpired that to reach the summit and descend the other side required following a path with cables (i.e., a Via Ferrata). I had no gear with me, but fortunately those two short sections were not too difficult or exposed.
Globe orchid (Traunsteinera globosa). Another aptly-named orchid.
Monte Casale at dawn, from the Pietramurata parking lot where I started the VF Che Guevara. While only technically moderate, this ferrata is very long and gains about 1400m in elevation. The dawn start was essential to beat the heat as the wall faces southeast.
A view northeast towards Lago Toblino on the ascent of VF Che Guevara. I mentioned in a previous post that around Lago Toblino are found the northern-most olive trees in the world.
Monte Casale summit plateau, end point of VF Che Guevara. The vertical world I’s spent the last four hours in suddenly changed to an alpine meadow!
Cima Tosa (3,136m) and the Brenta Dolomites from Monte Casale summit plateau. I previously posted on a ferrata trip I took in the Brenta Group in 2018. This fantastic day in the mountains was a fitting culmination to my month in Italy.

Although I’m back in Windsor, England, settled into my cozy (read: small) casita, tomorrow I depart for the Causasus for three weeks, split about equally between Armenia and Georgia. One piece of luggage still hasn’t arrived from Italy, so yesterday I spent about $700 buying replacement gear. Oh, well, the price of traveling. In a month or so I’ll post some photos from hikes and treks in those two countries, long on my bucket list.

Enjoy your summer!

The Vagabond Hiker

European town & country walks (and a few hikes)

In reviewing my photos from this past summer, I realized there were quite a few that had been excluded from the limited blog topics chosen. This miscellaneous blog post is meant to remedy that shortcoming, and highlights some of the wonderful cities’ Old Towns as well as a few interesting hikes that had slipped between the cracks.

The Town Walks

There is no better way to see the Old Town of nearly any European city than simply to walk around it. Rarely have I found that a morning perambulating has not yielded great rewards. . .

Sofia, Bulgaria City Garden, near the Grand Hotel Sofia where I stayed for 3 nights waiting for my luggage. . .
Church of St. George, Sofia, the oldest building in the city, began in the 4th century as Roman baths.
The iconic St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
My favorite building in Sofia, the Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Maker
Krakow main square panorama from my breakfast table. Normally jammed, the square was nearly empty at 7:30 Sunday morning. Staying on the main square was wonderful – and quiet – since my hotel room was in the back.
Night view of St. Mary’s Basilica, Krakow, Poland
Vltava River view, Prague, with the cathedral and castle. Two mornings spent walking around Prague were very enjoyable, and being mid-week it was not as crowded as I had feared.
Astronomical clock, Prague, the oldest Astronomical clock in the world still functioning
Modern stained glass in the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague
View from the upper part of Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Town hall square, Tallinn. The city seemed almost empty.
Old town wall, Tallinn
Helsinki Cathedral, Finland. I took the 2 1/2 hour ferry from Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki. As the city was built in the 19th century from a fishing village, the town center is far more modern than most European cities.
Havis Amanda fountain, Helsinki

The Country Walks

My three days in southern Finland was for the most part spent away from Helsinki and makes a great starting point for the country walks. . .

Hotel Hanaholmen view from my window. About an hour walk from Helsinki center, but a world away.
Sculptures and the Baltic Sea, Porkkala Peninsula. I went on a guided walk in this nature reserve about 45 minutes west of Helsinki. This was part of a temporary mixed-media art exhibition.
Liesjärvi Lake, Liesjärvi National Park. Inland about 90 minutes from Helsinki I went on a second guided walk where we foraged for mushrooms.
Reindeer lichen (Cladonia rangiferina), Liesjärvi
Dutchman’s pipe (Monotropa hypopitys), Liesjärvi

In July, I took a weekend road trip from my Val d’Aosta base across the Col du Grand St Bernard to Switzerland to watch the men play tennis in Gstaad. I of course had some time for walking.

Chateau d’Oex, Switzerland. I stayed here rather than pricey, touristy Gstaad where the men’s tennis tournament was held.
Near Chateau d’Oex, a pedestrian bridge across La Sarine River
Another view of bucolic Chateau d’Oex, from my hike ascending to Pra-Perron

More Northern Italian Hikes

Apart from the Parco Nationale Gran Paradiso (PNGP) hikes (already described in an earlier blog) I returned twice to Italy between my other trekking and traveling adventures and managed to squeeze in a few more. . .

Derelict house on the south slopes of Monte Faie, near Lago Maggiore. I stayed near the southern end of the lake for 5 days between two trips.
View of Lago Maggiore from Monte Faie summit
Ragged (Seguier’s) Pink (Dianthus seguieri), seen on Monte Faie
View of Cima Sasso (1916m) view on the descent of Monte Faie
An Ibex above the Col du Grand St Bernard. While spending a week in Aosta in early September, I did a spectacular hike: 8 miles, 6 lakes, 4 passes, and 2 countries!
A zoom photo of this old male Ibex (Capra ibex)
View towards Mt Dolent (3823m, center-left and just free of clouds) from the Col des Chevaux. The tri-point border of France, Switzerland, and Italy is 100m NW of the summit.
The 3rd of the Lacs de Fenetre near the Col du Grand St Bernard
Lago Chamole, seen on the ascent of the Punta della Valletta.
View from Cresta Nera towards Mt Blanc (in clouds). My traverse of the Punta della Valletta near Aosta was another spectacular hike in early September. This point was a short diversion on the way to the summit.
View of La Grivola from Cresta Nera. The Punta Rossa della Grivola which I climbed (see earlier post) is the left-most visible peak here.
The village of Cogne from Punta della Valletta (3090m). Amazingly, from this point I could also see the city of Aosta in the main valley.
Selfie of The Vagabond Hiker on Punta della Valletta summit
View of the knife edge traverse of Punta della Valletta
A backward look at an assisted traverse, Punta della Valletta. Despite some initial misgivings, I did this without protection.

With this blog I finally conclude my Europe 2022 adventures! Planning for the summer of 2023 when I once again will return to Europe and perhaps even Central Asia has already begun. For now, though, I am busy preparing for a two week, three country trip to the Guianas on the northern coast of South America, leaving Tuesday. That last minute trip will be the focus of my next blog post.

The Vagabond Hiker

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