Day Hike

You come to a cairn at the side of the path, and behind it the waymarking stops. From there on you are following a shepherd’s path, and shepherds’ paths go where sheep are meant to go. Your destination is somewhere else, and the ground does not show you the difference. That is why you walk here with somebody who knows it.

A walking day starts early, usually around six, because in July and August thunderstorms build over the ridges from the early afternoon. Five to seven hours is the usual length, with breaks and without hurry. The routes lead through the gorge at Garni over basalt scree down to the river, through the forest near Dilijan where the ground is soft and the view is short, or across the open highland pastures of Aragatsotn, where for three hours you can see everything that is still to come.

Livestock guardian dogs live on the summer pastures. They are large, they come towards you, and they bark long before you see the shepherd. What helps: stand still, do not run, do not hold out your hand, wait until the guide walks ahead and calls. Two minutes later the matter is settled. Running makes it worse, and it is the one point where we are strict in the briefing.

There is nothing to buy along the way. Between departure and return there is no village, no kiosk and usually no mobile signal. You refill water at springs the guide knows; by late summer not all of them still run.

Lunch happens wherever there is shade, and shade is a scarce commodity in the Armenian highlands. Sometimes it comes from a boulder, sometimes from the only willow by the stream.

Before we set off we agree a turnaround time. Knowing it in advance saves the argument up top. If we do not reach the point in time, we turn back — descending loose scree at dusk is the reason that rule exists.

In the evening you are back at the car. That is the difference from multi-day trekking: you carry only what you need for this one day, and you sleep in a bed.