Hike to Vardenis mountain, 3521 m (2021․08.11)
Vardenis is one of the highest mountains in Armenia. Surprisingly, there is no info on the Web on how to hike up the mountain. I made an inquiry on Facebook, and luckily Artur Davtyan (big thanks to him!) shared some info and said that the mountain is accessible from Vardahovit village in Vayotc Dzor region of Armenia.
So, I went to Vardahovit village and from there drove up to an semi-abandoned place named Getikvanq on Google Maps. From here I decided to drive until my car stops. The car was AWD and I reached an unnamed pass between Gegarquniq and Vayotc Dzor regions. It turned out that I got pretty close to the mountain and as my son said "I cheated" but since I had terrible backache at those days, I thought it is a valid reason to save some kilometers of hike.
From the pass, Vardenis mountain was on view in all its glory.
The pass is located at 3600 m elevation. From here I took an aim to the summit and just hiked toward it. Hike is pretty easy and enjoying. The only "difficulties" were unclear Kafkaesque posts that say that "The area is poisoned" (literaly translation!). I guess they are done to keep the local shepherds away from the border.
An hour and a half later I was on the top of the mountain. Here it is.
On the top, there used to be a metal triangulator, but some vandals destroyed it.
As always, the vistas from the top are stunning.
Let me share some spectacular scenes spiced with majestic Armenian mountains.
Here is lake Sevan. Unfortunately, there were a lot of clouds in that direction and they did not allow Sevan to be seen well.
Here you can see an extinct volcano Vayots Sar (2577 m).
Another extinct volcano Porak (3048 m, as far as I know the youngest volcano in Armenian Highlands) and the peak of Sandukhtasar (3454 m) is in the foreground. Sandukhtasar unfortunately blocked the view of Al Lakes, which are located on the right side of Porak.
Who can guess what mountains are in the picture below? Although the picture is blurry, I am sure that you recognized the giants or azhdahas of Gegham Range - mounts Spitakasar (3555 m) and Azhdahak (3597 m). They are located 45 and 50 km from Vardenis, respectively.
In the picture below, you can see mountain Tsrasar (Dalidag, 3616 m), from the distance of some 45 km.
The mountain on the picture below is located not so far, at about 25 km. I think local guys will recognize Sartcali Mountain (3433 m) near Jermuk town right on the Armenian-Azerbaijan border.
By the way, Vardenis Mountain is situated fairly close to the border (just 5.5 km), which passes through Sandukhtasar peak. Although I don't think that there is a real danger from the Azerbaijan side, but considering present tensions and regular skirmishеs you have to be very vigilant.
I have already posted interesting plants and animals that I had seen during the hike on inaturalist, if you are interested you can check them out there.
At the end some technical details. The entire hike took four hours (with rests). Total distance is 11 kilometers and total vertical gain is 750 meters.
I think that is it.
Thanks!
So, I went to Vardahovit village and from there drove up to an semi-abandoned place named Getikvanq on Google Maps. From here I decided to drive until my car stops. The car was AWD and I reached an unnamed pass between Gegarquniq and Vayotc Dzor regions. It turned out that I got pretty close to the mountain and as my son said "I cheated" but since I had terrible backache at those days, I thought it is a valid reason to save some kilometers of hike.
From the pass, Vardenis mountain was on view in all its glory.
The pass is located at 3600 m elevation. From here I took an aim to the summit and just hiked toward it. Hike is pretty easy and enjoying. The only "difficulties" were unclear Kafkaesque posts that say that "The area is poisoned" (literaly translation!). I guess they are done to keep the local shepherds away from the border.
An hour and a half later I was on the top of the mountain. Here it is.
On the top, there used to be a metal triangulator, but some vandals destroyed it.
As always, the vistas from the top are stunning.
Let me share some spectacular scenes spiced with majestic Armenian mountains.
Here is lake Sevan. Unfortunately, there were a lot of clouds in that direction and they did not allow Sevan to be seen well.
Here you can see an extinct volcano Vayots Sar (2577 m).
Another extinct volcano Porak (3048 m, as far as I know the youngest volcano in Armenian Highlands) and the peak of Sandukhtasar (3454 m) is in the foreground. Sandukhtasar unfortunately blocked the view of Al Lakes, which are located on the right side of Porak.
Who can guess what mountains are in the picture below? Although the picture is blurry, I am sure that you recognized the giants or azhdahas of Gegham Range - mounts Spitakasar (3555 m) and Azhdahak (3597 m). They are located 45 and 50 km from Vardenis, respectively.
In the picture below, you can see mountain Tsrasar (Dalidag, 3616 m), from the distance of some 45 km.
The mountain on the picture below is located not so far, at about 25 km. I think local guys will recognize Sartcali Mountain (3433 m) near Jermuk town right on the Armenian-Azerbaijan border.
By the way, Vardenis Mountain is situated fairly close to the border (just 5.5 km), which passes through Sandukhtasar peak. Although I don't think that there is a real danger from the Azerbaijan side, but considering present tensions and regular skirmishеs you have to be very vigilant.
I have already posted interesting plants and animals that I had seen during the hike on inaturalist, if you are interested you can check them out there.
At the end some technical details. The entire hike took four hours (with rests). Total distance is 11 kilometers and total vertical gain is 750 meters.
I think that is it.
Thanks!