#BlazetheTCT Day 6: Sevan to Dilijan National Park
Welcome to Day 6 of #BlazeTheTCT!
Today, we leave the busy shores of Lake Sevan and head into the lush broadleaf forests of Dilijan National Park.
Along the way, we’ll take a little journey back through the history of the TCT– and how far it’s come since the very first volunteer project here back in 2017.
Oh, and we’ll stop at some monasteries. Did we mention that there are monasteries along the TCT??
Go jump in that lake to start your day off right, and let’s set off again on the Transcaucasian Trail.
Happy trails,
Meagan
Day 6: Sevan to Dilijan National Park
Climb into the hills from Lake Sevan
You shake yourself dry after an early-morning dip at the lakeshore near the Sevan Writers’ House, still a little sore from your big-mile days in the Gegham Mountains.
The hustle-and-bustle of touristic Sevanavank Peninsula is blissfully absent this early in the morning as you pass the empty souvenir stands and restaurants.
You head back to the trail to ascend into the rolling hills that surround the lake, away from other holidaygoers and back into the domain of sheep and small villages.
The climb is steep but rewarding, as each step brings you higher into the green folds of the landscape, with panoramic views of the vast Lake Sevan gradually unfolding behind you.
Traverse the little-visited highlands
It’s all open terrain here– gentle jeep tracks and big skies.
You cross the major highway on a rarely-used dirt road above the highway tunnel, passing through the small village of Semyonovka and slowly making your way towards the forests of Dilijan and some well-earned shade.
But you’re not quite there yet– and when one of the Caucasus’ infamous summer thunderstorms catches up with you, there’s nothing for it except to keep moving.
Fall asleep to the frog chorus at Gosh Lake
Finally you descend from the open ridges and enter the forest of Dilijan National Park. After hundreds of kilometers walking through desert canyons, open volcanic terrain, and relentlessly sunny high grasslands, you think to yourself that you’ve never appreciated shade so much.
You promptly swing your backpack down and sit in the shade just to take a deep breath and enjoy, looking up at the leaves waving in the breeze.
You follow the trail to Gosh Lake, a small, murky body of water surrounded by wide-spaced forest– perfect to pitch your tent. As you settle in for the night, you’re greeted by an unexpected cacophony—the croaking of countless frogs, their voices rising in a chorus that echoes through the trees.
You almost expect the sound to keep you awake– but instead you drift off, happy to be in the presence of so much forest life.
Camping with the frogs at Gosh Lake.
Visit Goshavank Monastery
The next morning, you reach the charming Goshavank Monastery, gently bustling with visitors and coffee stands. This 12th-century monastery was once a vibrant center of learning, founded by the scholar Mkhitar Gosh.
You take a moment to explore the monastery’s grounds, admiring the intricate khachkars (cross-stones) that are among the finest in Armenia. Inside, the cool, dim interior of the church offers a peaceful refuge, a place to pause and reflect before continuing on your journey.
Goshavank Monastery.
Into the forests of Dilijan National Park
You continue further into Dilijan National Park, and suddenly you notice that you’re walking– well, easier. You’re cruising, in fact!
After spending the first few days on the TCT on old historical trails and open terrain and jeep tracks, after pushing through overgrowth and constantly checking your navigation device, it feels like you’re flowing through the forest.
The trail unspools gently beneath your feet, leading you up and down in tidy switchbacks, giving you momentum.
And then you see it: the TCT trail tag on the trees.
Ah.
You’re not on a historical trail heading straight up a mountainside anymore. You’re on a purpose-built trail now, by hikers and for hikers.
And here is where– if you’ll indulge us– we’d like to interrupt our regularly scheduled hike and take you back to a bit of TCT history.
In 2017, TCT co-founder Tom Allen and the TCT team put out a call for volunteers to come help build the very first section of the Transcaucasian Trail in Armenia, right here in Dilijan National Park.
Dilijan is one of Armenia’s best-known hiking hubs now, but this was the first professional trail development project in the country– and it’s hard to overstate just how radical of a proposition this was back then.
Setting up the first TCT camp in Armenia.
Some of the varied criticisms and insults leveled at the TCT that year included:
- You’re crazy,
- You’re spies,
- It’s impossible,
- There’s already a perfectly good rutted, waterlogged jeep track,
- Nobody will use it,
- Nobody will maintain it,
- You’re vandalizing the forest,
- The cows will destroy it,
- The rain will destroy it,
- The loggers will destroy it,
- You haven’t considered the migration routes of bears,
- You’re using the wrong type of signpost,
- You’re not allowed to publish the route,
- Armenia isn’t in the Caucasus,
- The TCT will never happen,
- etc.
And yet: dozens of volunteers showed up from all over Armenia and all over the world to spend a summer building trails in Dilijan. (For a fun throwback, go read some of the volunteer stories on our blog.)
Professional trail builder Hans Keifer came out to design the first section and train volunteers– and was so inspired by the TCT project and the Armenian trail volunteers he met that he ended up founding Trails For Change, which has become our most steadfast partner in Armenia.
Now Trails For Change trains dozens of young people each year in trail building and outdoor education, participates in international exchanges with Georgia, and gets a whole lot of work done on the TCT.
Artur Karapetyan (right) working on the TCT as a volunteer in 2017. He’s now one of the most experienced trail crew leaders in Armenia!
Our teams of volunteers cleared back branches, dug into the earth, and painstakingly sculpted the trail into a gentle path for the hikers to come.
And many of you reading this blog were there– part of the team that helped create the first section of the TCT in Armenia, which ended up having a huge ripple effect on trail projects for the whole country.
So yeah, sometimes it’s nice to prove all the naysayers wrong. Because what actually happened was:
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We built it anyway,
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Dilijan National Park officialized it,
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People started hiking it,
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Tour groups started using it,
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Volunteers and pro trail crews started maintaining it,
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The cows and the rain didn’t destroy it,
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Illegal logging in the area ceased,
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The forest started to recover,
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The trail was later extended,
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The extension was made accessible to wheelchair users (including a boardwalk!),
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The TCT is still happening,
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Armenia is still in the Caucasus, and
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It’s a bloody good hike.
In short – we were indeed crazy, but we were also right.
The TCT couldn’t have started at all without everyone who was crazy enough to believe in this vision from the beginning– the team, the volunteers, the trail professionals, the funders, the partners– all of whom took a gamble and contributed to the gigantic effort that kicked off the trail building movement in Armenia, which still shows no sign of stopping.
See, doesn’t knowing all of that make walking this simple bit of trail even more fun?
Okay, back to our hike.
You make your way through the beautiful broadleaf forest, following the TCT trail tags and stopping to admire an enormous oriental beech tree, which has been estimated to be at least 300 years old.
The air here is rich with the scent of earth and foliage, and you can’t help but feel a sense of peace as you move through this living, breathing landscape.
Keep an eye out for views of the impressive cliffs across the valley that occasionally break through the trees. You’re heading there next!
Views of the cliffs ahead in Dilijan National Park.
Rest up in Dilijan
At last you reach the charming town of Dilijan, where you settle in for a well-earned rest.
Walking into Dilijan.
First order of business: Find your bed for the night.
For the full hiking experience, you’re staying at Dilijan Hikers’ Hostel, a little slice of hiker heaven.
Dilijan Hikers’ Hostel hostel was designed by Tom and other TCT Armenia team members specifically to serve the needs of the TCT hikers who were arriving in greater and greater numbers. After officially opening in 2022, it quickly became a beloved community spot for hikers on the trail.
You settle in, grateful for the hospitality (and the extra-long mattresses).
Coziness at Dilijan Hikers’ Hostel.
Before turning in for the night, you take some time to wander around Dilijan. The town is a delightful blend of old-world charm and modern conveniences, with its colorful buildings and lively cafes.
You duck into the garden of Kchuch to eat your fill of their beloved pizza and modern twists on traditional Armenian dishes. Don’t forget a Dargett beer, the local craft brews that make a perfect treat after a long few weeks on the trail!
Happy hiker with a Dargett in hand. Not sponsored, we just love them.
Hike to Haghartsin Monastery– and stop for gata
The next morning, you set off once again, following a mix of trails, roads, and old farm tracks as you climb through the forest to Haghartsin Monastery.
Haghartsin Monastery sits deep in a forested valley, but it’s far from quiet, especially on summer weekends. Most of the monastery was originally built in the 13th century, but much has been reconstructed in recent years as a working monastery– the buildings look far more modern than their history would suggest. It’s also one of Armenia’s most-visited monasteries. As you walk the grounds, you spy several couples hosting pre-wedding photoshoots.
Bustling Haghartsin.
As you soak in the atmosphere, you also take the opportunity to fuel up at one of the TCT’s most beloved food stops along the trail: the legendary gata at Haghartsin Monastery.
Opened by the same mastermind behind Kchuch restaurant in Dilijan, Haghartsin Gata makes the popular buttery Armenian pastry with a culinary twist, incorporating ingredients like lemon, blueberry, apricot, and even baked brie.
Take our advice: You want one of each. (What? It’s a long, remote stretch ahead. You need supplies, after all.)
Platters of gata at Haghartsin Monastery.
Dunk in the “Hidden Waterfall”
Just past Haghartsin, you take the TCT higher into the hills, turning off for a short diversion as you follow the signs to the “hidden waterfall.”
The waterfall wasn’t always hidden, of course– and now it’s one of the most popular short hikes in the country– but it was only rediscovered fairly recently, thanks to the team behind the Transcaucasian Expedition in 2016.
Local lore told of an ancient footpath between the monastery and the fortress of Aghchkaberd (Maiden’s Fortress) in the direction of Ijevan. Several more stretches of this ancient trail were found and mapped. And trail crews worked hard to re-open this section to the waterfall, resulting in one of the best swimming opportunities along the TCT.
Prepping for a swim near the Hidden Waterfall.
Luckily you brought your towel! You follow the small path up the stream and around a curve in the rocks until the full falls are revealed– and a perfect plunge pool right beside it.
No more time to waste– you jump in.
So, are you going in?
Reaching the Clifftops
Here, our thru-hiking route branches off from our more well-developed trails. A TCT multi-day route that we launched in 2017 goes all the way up to top of Dilijan’s impressive cliffs to the east– a detour that’s very worth it if you have the time.
But today you’re continuing to head directly north, and so you plow up the hills following the remnants of a historical trail. It’s overgrown with long grass and wildflowers as you make your way to the top of cliffs.
As you crest the summit, you’re rewarded with breathtaking views of the forested valleys below, the town of Dilijan nestled in the distance, and cliffs undulating out into the horizon.
You also stumble across an abandoned Soviet trailer, because nothing in these mountains is without its layers of history.
And as you look over the valley with the sun fading into layers of pink and purple, you decide that this is a pretty ideal spot to spend the night.
You settle into your tent under the glow of a bright full moon, thinking about the tricky navigation during that last tough bushwhack up to the top of the cliffs. You can’t help comparing it to the beautiful, cruisy trail you hiked through the forest just a few days ago.
“Dang,” you think to yourself as you drift off to sleep, “it’ll be so great when the TCT has enough funds to blaze the rest of the trail…”
(Okay, yes, we know that was shameless. But seriously– it will be awesome. Thanks for helping make it happen!)
And that’s 600km down on the TCT.
Stay tuned… and we’ll see you on the TCT tomorrow as we cross into the highlands and canyons of Lori Province!
We hope you’re enjoying coming with us on the trail and meeting some of the people and places behind it. Over our 15 days of hiking the TCT, we’re aiming to raise $30,000 to blaze new sections of the trail and to continue our work to make these spectacular areas accessible.
If you’ve enjoyed the trail in the past or are dreaming of hiking it someday, please join us to make these efforts possible. Donate $15 or more and share with 15 friends today to blaze the TCT.
Thanks for all your support, and happy trails – we’ll see you back on the TCT tomorrow!
Meagan, Tom & the TCT team
