Kaçkar Dağı 3932m Trek

The Kackar national park offers a lot to explore: vast valleys, steep rocky peaks, mountain lakes, rafting, ski touring etc. Depending on the season, some of the local mountain villages are open and offer fresh food and even overnight stays. 

The route presented here was done in 4 days and 3 nights (camping) finding its start in the Ayder village (there are regular buses coming to the village from Trabzon or Rize). 

Day 1: Hiking up the road from Ayder to Yukan Ceymakcur village. The route follows the asphalt car road along the river. After couple of hours of walking up, there is a split, and the route takes left to the gravel road and leads through a small village, then some forest, and finally in the valley till the Yukan Ceymakcur village. From the place there are several options to continue the trek on the next day. I set my camping close to the village.

Day 2: From the village there should be a route following somewhat back, up in another valley with a small river coming from the upper point of it. The route is not so easy to find, especially in the beginning. I intersected with some route several times, however it disappears as good as it appears. After going along the stream up into the valley and hiking further on the left side of the river, you will reach a wider part and see some rocky peaks in front. The hiking goes through stones and shards up and down until the upper lake. The last and the steepest part goes to the "saddle" between two peaks, greeting to view the valley behind. From the saddle a descend starts (again without any obvious route). Once descended down to the valley, the trekking goes right to the water stream - a good spot to take some rest, have a lunch etc. I continued the hike on the left side of the river, close the left mountain "walls". The route then goes up (again very steep) to the next "saddle''. From the saddle you can enjoy a great view on the mountains, and next valleys. The descend goes quite steep and challenging as no obvious route can be seen again. It takes good 2 hours to be down and continue walking to the left along the river another 45 min to reach the next village Olgunlar. The village is a central location for many hikers and hiking groups, as it has cafes and guest houses. I camped closed to the village.

Day 3: The route leads gradully up into the valley to the base camp of the Kackar mountain. There is an option to camp there, however I continued hiking up to the 2nd base camp at the gorgeous lagune mountain lake. Onced reached, I set up my camping spot. There are many prepared places at the lake to organize the camp. From the lake to the Kackar peak the hike and climb last around 3 h. 

Day 4: The route goes mostly on the stones, there are barely any marks on them, however you can see piles of stones made to hint the trail. The Route then zig-zags up till the peak. The view from the highest point of the Pontic mountains is absolutely great. If the sky is clear, some snowy peaks of Caucasus mountains on the north-east can be seen (e.g. Elbrus).

After descending back to the lake, I continued coming down to the base camp and further back to the Olgunlar village. At this point my hiking was done. I stayed at a guest house in the village and on the next day, early in the morning, I took a mini bus which drove out of the mountains.