A tough hike to start off February!

We were itching to get out for a hike yesterday, and they were calling for afternoon rain starting around 12:30pm, so we tried to get out as soon as it warmed up a little bit. We got dressed for the weather, put our boots on, stepped outside.... and it started raining!

Fortunately it was just a quick shower, and we were soon on our way.

We has seen a trail that goes up from the nearby village of Golyaka to the ancient Yediler Monastery, but there was another trail from where we are that takes the back way up to the same monastery. So we set off on that.

I had read about this hike and one of the paragraphs I read went like this... There is also the Yediler Monastery, high up in the Beşparmak Mountains, that most people are either unaware of or hesitate to visit due to a notoriously "killer" hike.

And that was for the well known hike. We were about to take the back way.

Locals with their cows.

The original entrance to the ancient city of Herakleia.

On the trail.

We were following the maps.me app that showed the trail route. But the trail itself was not well marked, and in fact wasn't marked at all in a lot of places. It was in fact, pretty rough going, clambering over rocks, with a lot of up and back down sections.

We wasted a lot of time just searching for the trail, then we'd be able to follow it for a hundred meters before wondering once again what happened to it. All of which was fine, except that we were always aware of the fact that it was supposed to start raining around 12:30pm!

Some really weird rock formations.

And lots of great views.

And the whole way, we saw remnants of ancient civilizations.

And again, some really weird rocks.

More beautiful views.

It was 5 kms (3 miles) one way from Max to the monastery. But it was really slow going. 

This section of the trail is actually marked... you can see the red and white marker.

But it was so slippery, we couldn't get up this section!

I had to remove my boots and socks and do it in bare feet to get a good enough grip on the rocks. Once I was past the corner, Ruth was able to grab my hand so I could help her up.

Another view.

A friendly donkey.

No, she is not taking a break... just posing for the photo!

Almost there.

We made it!!

It had taken us two and a half hours to do 5 kms (3 miles). 

The problem now was that the rain was supposed to start. Oh well, it's only water! Fortunately, it didn't rain as much or as hard as they forecast. It just drizzled a few times, and we never did get that wet. The sun even came out a couple of times!

This monastery was originally built in the 7th century.

Cool!

Ruth, coming down what is left of the ancient steps.

View from the monastery to Lake Bafa.

Then, it was 3 kms (1.8 miles) down to the village of Golyaka and then another 3 kms (1.8 miles) back to Max.

In total, we did 11 kms (6.8 miles) and it was a pretty strenuous hike. We were beat!

An overcast day with more rain in the forecast, but it's only for today. Supposed to be quite nice for the next week. We're going to move just for the sake of a change of scenery!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Electric Space Heater

And in Canada...

Asus Chromebook for basic internet surfing.