Search for Noah’s ark!
Just do it. Blind, with my usual trekker friend Philipp, we plan to climb up the Ararat mountain, checking for the Noah’s ark wreck claimed to have run aground on top of mount Ararat. With 5170m high, the Ararat mountain is the top of Turkey, located at the far east, near the Iranian and Armenian border.
An easy way leads us to the base camp, 3200m. The following day, to allow acclimatization, we climb up to 4200m through a bridle path and go back to the base camp. In the evening, lasting over one hour, a tremendous storm starts, leading to imagine what could have been the deluge! At the sunrise, the entirely cleared peak appears. And the snow fall is gonna make the climb up more risky. After a short nap in the 4200m camp, we wake up at 1:30 am and begin the walk through rocky screes with headlamps. Carefully, step by step, we progress and eventually reach the glacier. When the sun rises, we get on top of the mount Ararat. No Noah’s ark, but a striking sightseeing in every direction. Just the time to shoot some photos and we go down quickly, drifted with an icy wind.
Many thank to Philippe and our Kurdish guide who allowed me to achieve that challenge!
Patrick Goudot
