The main goal in Aladaglar was a beautiful, finger-shaped, ~200 meter tall formation called Parmakkaya sitting at some 2880 meters above sea level. Being old and – largely thanks to Covid closures – out of shape, we figured we’d do a couple climbs lower down to acclimatize to the altitude. Recep recommended a nice, 4-pitch ridge climb called Le Chant du Muezzin in a canyon down low to start with; about French 6a with a mix of some bolts and gear. Nice position and views, decent climbing, and short enough that we could check out some surrounding villages later in the day.
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Gipsy Girl.
The next day, we redid the rough drive higher up into the mountains to climb a 5-pitch route called Gipsy Girl (French 6b). Banging the car around again somehow did not fix the pressure sensor. Slightly longer approach, higher altitude, and nice climbing. A mix of crisp limestone slabs, some crimps, and a bit of steeper terrain up higher. In the afternoon, we were back in Camardi – the town of the area – checking out the baklava (excellent) and ice cream (stick to the baklava). We also scoped out most the drive to the Parmakkaya trailhead, the final 3km of which are behind a gate managed by the national park rangers.
Photos
On the short approach to Le Chant du Muezzin (August 2020).Nearing the base of the climb (August 2020).Le Chant du Muezzin follows the skyline in the photo (August 2020).Starting up pitch 1 of Le Chant du Muezzin (August 2020).Looking down from the first belay (August 2020).Views down canyon from the first belay (August 2020).Pitch 1 of Le Chant du Muezzin (August 2020).Views up canyon (August 2020).Shirley at the first belay (August 2020).Starting up pitch 2 (August 2020).Views from the route (August 2020).Leading pitch 2 (August 2020).Shirley on pitch 2 (August 2020).Shirley topping out on pitch 2 (August 2020).Shirley at the second belay (August 2020).Pitch 3 I think (August 2020).Shirley on pitch 3 of Le Chant du Muezzin (August 2020).Shirley at the 3rd belay (August 2020).Starting up pitch 4 (August 2020).Shirley at the 3rd belay (August 2020).Leading the last pitch (August 2020).Shirley topping out on Le Chant du Muezzin (August 2020).Shirley on the rappel (August 2020).Descending a loose gully (August 2020).Shirley on the hike out (August 2020).Shirley with Cimbar Valley behind her (August 2020).Camardi town (August 2020).Baklava in Camardi – very good but not as perfect as the stuff we’d later have in Istanbul (August 2020).Don’t mind if I do (August 2020).Shirley in Camardi (August 2020).A fruits and veggies store in Camardi (August 2020).Somewhere close to Aladaglar Bungalow Camp (August 2020).Our comfortable bungalow in Aladaglar (August 2020).Shirley cooking dinner under some local supervision (August 2020).On the way to Arpahk Tower and its Gipsy Girl route (August 2020).A shepherds’ camp near the trailhead (August 2020).Pretty alpine scenery (August 2020).Starting the 45 minute hike to the base of Gipsy Girl (August 2020).Hello again ladies.Pretty flowers (August 2020).Starting up pitch 1 of Gipsy Girl (August 2020).Higher on pitch 1 (August 2020).Shirley on pitch 1 of Gipsy Girl (August 2020).Views back towards the trailhead from the first belay (August 2020).Shirley arriving at the first belay (August 2020).Starting up pitch 2 (August 2020).More views from the route (August 2020).Higher on pitch 2 (August 2020).Shirley on pitch 2 (August 2020).Views from pitch 2 (August 2020).Pitch 2 (August 2020).Shirley arriving at the second belay on Gipsy Girl (August 2020).Leading the crux pitch 3 of Gipsy Girl (August 2020).More pitch 3 (August 2020).Pitch 3 of Gipsy Girl (August 2020).Leading the 4th pitch of Gipsy Girl (August 2020).Pitch 4 (August 2020).Pitch 4 (August 2020).Leading the 5th and final pitch of Gipsy Girl (August 2020).Shirley on the 5th and final pitch of Gipsy Girl (August 2020).Starting the descent (August 2020).Rapping off in somewhat windy conditions (August 2020).Down (August 2020).Shirley almost back on the ground (August 2020).On the way back down for some Efes beers (August 2020).Pretty and unique and paper-textured flowers of Aladaglar (August 2020).A slope of ballbearing scree (August 2020).Even the weeds in Aladaglar were attractive (August 2020).Our trusty off road steed in need of a bath (August 2020).Scoping out the drive to the trailhead for Parmakkaya later that afternoon (August 2020).Ice cream time in Camardi …the one underbelly of our trip (August 2020).Aladaglar from Camardi (August 2020).
