How to get there:
The normal route/trailhead starts from lake Kari. This location may
be accessed by a normal car using a paved (Hwy. H20) road.
However, this report details an alternative route. The advantage is
a shorter route, the disadvantage is that you need a 4WD vehicle to reach the trailhead.
First drive to the village Aragats, this is east of the mountain. You may approach this
village from the south using Hwy. M3. Drive uphill (west) in this village and locate the
beginning of the road that will provide access to the trailhead near location
N40.48668, E44.35442. Continue west for about 13 kilometer, the road follows a very clear
valley all the way. This road gets rough and a 4WD vehicle is needed. You will arrive on a
flat area pretty close to the waterfall at
the end of the valley. A good location to park
is near N40.49947, E44.21380, elevation about 2920 meter. A large bulder is also nearby.
Route description:
First, head uphill tending right, it should be easy to locate a very
clear trail that gains elevation on your right side when facing directly
into the valley (waterfall). This trail zig-zags higher, then traverses into the valley above
the first step. There is a second waterfall off to your left.
The route is not far from water at one location.
After a short, more gentle stretch, it will again climb as it gradually
turns more right and eventually aims pretty directly for the broad col between the east (right)
and the north (left) summit. One will now see all four summits and observe that they indeed form the
remains of a good sized crater.
From this col, the trail continues to the so called tourist summit. Keep right in order to stay
on the best trail higher up on this route.
From this, first top, the remaining short route
to the true summit (with a very visible cross) is (YDS) class 3. The scramble is not very hard,
but there is som exposure. First, descend to a local col,
next climb left to regain
the highest
ridge. Continue a bit right, then again climb
left to the highest ridge. A red sling has been
placed there to provide a secure hand hold. Continue near the top ridge.
The very last stretch is a fairly
narrow ridge. Here,
it is possible to climb on the side and hold onto the
top part of the ridge, or proceed by balancing on the top.
Comments:
After visiting Azerbaijan, David and I travelled to Yerevan in Armenia via Tbilisi. There were
no direct flights between Baku and Yerevan and our trip required an overnight in Tbilisi. While
travelling, we were also contacted by another peakbagger, Travis Greiman. He told us that he would
arrive in Yerevan (directly from the US), shortly after midnight the same morning as we had planned to go
to Aragats. We told him that it would be fun if he could join and that we had decided to start
from the alternative trailhead (described above). We said we would start out at 0500 and thought it
would indeed be tough for Travis to embark on a climb directly without any sleep.
However, when we came down to the street at 0500, there was Travis waiting for us. We drove
separate rental cars to the village Argats, then agreed that Travis would park when the road
turned too rough. He would then ride with us the remaining distance to the trailhead.
It was a gorgeous day, we made the trailhead OK, but a 4WD is definitely needed, as there were
many rough spots along the road. The hike to the saddle
was straightforward. We were soon at the
tourist top. The scramble across
to the true summit was not very hard, however the rock was
not always stable and care is definitely needed. We arrived after
about 3:45 and spent som time on this nice summit. When leaving, a few other people
started to appear and we met several more while descending back down to the main col between
the east and the north summit.
The hike back
to the car was nice and easy, about 2 hours from the tourist summit.
