Turkey’s abode of snow: the Kaçkar Mountains

In Hills' day the lofty Kaçkar range, tucked away in the far northeast of the country beyond the Black Sea port of Trabzon (ancient Trebizond) was remote and few people, apart from herdsmen and their families, ventured into its high valleys -- and then only in the fleeting summer season. Today though, an ever-increasing number of walkers, trekkers and climbers head to the Kaçkar to enjoy Turkey's most spectacular mountains. The highest peak, Mount Kaçkar, at an elevation of 3,916 meters, boasts its own glacier but is non-technical and accessible to reasonably fit and experienced hikers, and there are many more peaks for determined walkers to summit if they are so inclined. The real joy of the Kaçkar, however, is to trek from valley to valley, crossing dramatic high passes, striding through meadows ablaze with alpine blooms and set up camp by glittering blue snow-ringed lakes. Hills' climbing partner was a tough Turkish soldier, Muzaffer. Used to the oft-barren peaks of the Anatolian plateau and upper reaches of the Toros, he couldn't believe the Kaçkar's alpine splendor and commented, “Why go to Switzerland when we have all this on our doorstep?”

As well as approaching the range from north (Trabzon/Ardeşen/Çamlıhemşin/Ayder) as Hills did, it is also possible to access the Kaçkar from the south, usually via Erzurum/Yusufeli/Barhal and Yaylalar. The advantage of the latter is that the southern side of the range is generally drier and less subject to the sudden mists which can (and often do!) roll in from the Black Sea to envelop the peaks up to 3,000 meters in an impenetrable cloud blanket. Given the changeable nature of the weather, the changes in altitude involved and the rudimentary mountain rescue service services available, you should only consider trekking here under your own steam if you are an experienced walker. That said, there are several companies which organize supported treks in the range for the less-experienced and/or those who prefer a mule to carry their equipment, a cook to provide all the food and a guide to make sure they don't go astray.

Of course the Kaçkar experience is not just about enjoying the natural beauty of the stunning granite peaks. This remote and mountainous corner of Turkey has a history and culture which makes it quite distinct from the rest of the country. The northern foothills of the Kaçkar are home to the Laz, a Caucasian people who traditionally speak a language related to Georgian. An ancient people, they adopted Christianity in the sixth century A.D. before becoming Muslim following the Ottoman conquest around a thousand years later. Inhabiting the higher, lush and rain-soaked slopes of the Kaçkar are their neighbors the Hemşinli, a people of Armenian origin who only converted to Islam as late as the 19th century and whose language is, not surprisingly, closely related to Armenian. Across the watershed on the Anatolian plateau side of the range are the descendants of the Georgians, who ruled the region in the Middle Ages and whose ruined churches still dot the valleys. Like the Laz and Hemşinli, the Georgians also converted to Islam, so it is fitting that the fine 10th century church at Barhal is now a mosque.

Then, of course, there's the timeless way of life in these mountains. Whatever their ethnic origin, the inhabitants of the Kaçkar traditionally pack up their homes in their villages in the foothills in the late spring or early summer and drive their cattle up to the high alpine pastures (yayla in Turkish). After a frenzied bout of spring cleaning they move back into their summer yayla residences (usually wood-built on the more densely forested northern slopes, stone-built on the treeless southern side of the range) and engage in a long round of yoghurt and cheese production until the threat of winter snows drives them back down the mountains in September or October. It is a way of life under threat as the younger generation drifts away to the towns and cities, and although there are still plenty of functioning yayla in the Kaçkar, an increasing number are either deserted and falling into ruin or are being revitalized as the summer homes of émigrés returning to their native land from distant İstanbul or even more-distant Germany.

The name Kaçkar itself is controversial. According to some it is a minor contraction the Turkish “Kaç kar?” or “How much snow?”; according to others it derives from the Armenian word “khackar,” the ornately relief-carved stone crosses found all over eastern Anatolia. Whatever the origin, there is still, despite global warming, permanent snow in the mountains even in summer, and the range is ideal for those seeking to flee the summer heat and humidity of other parts of Turkey. You don't need to be a hardened trekker to enjoy the cool alpine pastures and dense fir forests of Ayder, and there's plenty of accommodation and enough passable restaurants to make a stay here most enjoyable even for those whose idea of a walk is to the local shop to pick up a newspaper. There's even a spotless thermal baths complex where you can wallow in naturally heated pools -- especially wonderful on those days when a clammy mist floods the town and reduces the visibility and temperature in equal measure. The more adventurous can head out to the Georgian churches such as Barhal, or to the medieval castles which guarded the (very tricky) passes over the mountains -- notably Zil on the Black Sea side of the range.

Hills commented on the trout abounding in the tumbling rivers and streams of the northern slopes, and today there are a number of delightful trout restaurants (unfortunately serving up farmed fish) all the way down the Fırtına Valley. Up at the yaylas dairy produce prevails, and a few local restaurants on both sides of the range dish up traditional dishes such as muhlama, a delicious fondue-style dish of melted cheese mixed with butter and corn flour. Laz böreği (Laz pie) is a sweet-custard style pastry that makes a welcome change from baklava. The ascetic Hills and his companion would have scorned such offerings. At the base-camp for Mount Kaçkar Muzaffer turned down tea proffered by a local herdsman as “a drug,” and neither of them had eaten more than a little “soggy maize bread” prior to their summit attempt.

Anyone with even a passing interest in wildflowers, shrubs and trees will find the Kaçkar a delight, as a combination of a powerful sun and bounteous precipitation have endowed it with a rich, varied and often rare vegetation. The high valleys are home to veronicas, muscari, colchicum, gentians and numerous other alpine plants, whilst rhododendron and azalea flourish lower down. Below this zone, spruce and pine eventually give way to mixed deciduous forest where oak, chestnut and hornbeam thrive alongside numerous other species. The area is rich in birdlife, too, with vultures, eagles and alpine choughs circling the higher crags, the cry of the snowcock ringing out from the high passes and the verdant forest alive with the chatter of finches and warblers and the hollow “tap-tap” of woodpeckers. There are still bears in sufficient numbers to force local villagers to set-up booming sound deterrents to protect their crops from night raids.

Although an increasing number of visitors, both domestic and foreign, are penetrating its heights, compared to similar environments elsewhere in the world (such as the Alps), the Kaçkar remain virtually untrodden. Unique in Turkey, and without doubt one of its most beautiful and distinctive regions, the Kaçkar Mountains are one of the nation's best kept secrets -- for now.

Meadow at Dilberduzu

Crossing the bridge in Apivanak

Georgian church in Barhal

Traditional houses in the foothills

Deniz Gölü below Kaçkar peak

Kavron Geçidi with flowers

Further information

“The Kaçkar: Trekking in Turkey’s Black Sea Mountains” by Kate Clow and Terry Richardson. A comprehensive guide to the major, and many minor, hiking routes in the Kaçkar, complete with a map and a wealth of background information. See www.trekkinginturkey.com for more details.

“Kaçkar Dağları” by Tunç Fındık. A guide (in Turkish) to the main climbing routes in the range, complete with sketch plans.

“My Travels in Turkey” by Denis Cecil Hills (out of print). An engaging account of a pioneering climber/walker in 1960s Turkey, Hills taught English in Ankara for many years.

Trekking agencies

www.middleearthtravel.com

www.explorer.com.tr