Mount Aratat & the Wonders of Turkey Expedition Dispatch

July 24, 2012 – Acclimatization Day

Today we ascended higher on the slopes of Mount Ararat to see how we felt and to give our bodies the wake-up call that as soon as Thursday we might be trying to climb all the way to the summit at 16,800 feet above sea level. It was a relaxing day, we went slowly. We appreciated that the clouds appeared overhead early because at these altitudes it can still be quite warm on Ararat in the middle of the day. We met a group coming down from the summit however and their guides reported that it had been very cold and windy when they were on top at 8:00 am. It’s hard for us to imagine, but we know that we will have to be ready when we go to the top.

At our high point of 13,000 feet Chet strikes a pose.

The three of us reached our high point of 13,000 feet after about three hours of climbing. The wild flowers along the way were beautiful and the glacier far above us was enticing. We laid around at our high point and talked, knowing that the more time we spent up high the more our bodies would adjust.

Chet and I feel very lucky to have Duygu as a guide. She is an academic here on break from studies at the university as well as being a mountaineer. She is one-half Kurdish herself and is extremely well read and passionate about the sociology and cultures of all the people of Turkey and the Middle East. Our conversations are never boring and we always learn something. Today at 13,000 feet she promised to email us each a copy of her paper on the multiplicity of ideals of nationalism as developed by various Kurdish groups since 1915.

Just after we started descending Mehmet called to tell us that he could see us coming down. He described that “the person in the middle was wearing white". My shirt was indeed white! We were amazed that his vision was so good that he could pick us out from thousands of feet below. Tomorrow we will move to High Camp. Mehmet will be along with us to prepare his wonderful meals and perhaps to climb all the way to the summit with us.

Looking at Ararat from near our high point. Our clinging route day after tomorrow will ascend on the left side then traverse right to the summit.

Duygu brings a compassionate world view as well as an intellectual perspective to our experiences in Eastern Turkey.