Erzurum, gateway to some of Turkey’s most breath-taking scenery

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Bryan Keith

In order to get from Muş to the Kaçkar Mountains, once again I came through and had to spend the night in Erzurum.  I’ve counted that I’ve been to the city nine times now.  I first came here with Sage in 2012, and we started our cycling tour with the mountains NE of the city in Tortum İlçesi.  A month or so later Sage flew back to the US from Erzurum, and I headed NW from the city to the incredibly lush mountains between Erzurum and Trabzon.  Peter, Amy, Scott, and Stephanie flew to Erzurum for our Kaçkar skiing trip, and Megan did the same thing a year later, again for skiing in the Kaçkar Mountains.

IMG_20190217_150710 by bryandkeith on flickr

For all the times I’ve been to Erzurum this was the first time that I’ve seen so many tourists.  It seemed like group after group was coming to visit Erzurum’s most famous attraction, Çifte Minareli Medrese.  Is that because they’ve finally removed the scaffolding that I’ve had to look at every other time I’ve been here?
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Skiing in Muş: a backcountry guide

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Bryan Keith

Warning: unless you’re really going to ski in Muş, there’s probably way too much boring detail in this post.  Just skip the text in that case, and check out the photos.  I think there are some decent ones.

A number of years ago in the summer I was on a bus that made a brief stop at the bus station in Muş.  I got out, looked around, and was amazed to see such high, not-too-steep, north-facing mountains so close to the city center.  I thought, “I bet you could come here in the winter and backcountry ski directly from the city!”  Back in Antlaya, an internet search revealed… nothing.  Asking around to friends, acquaintances, and even ski touring guides in Turkey also revealed… nothing.  That’s why I figure there’s a need for a backcountry ski guide to Muş.  Unfortunately, for three of the four days that I skied in Muş the visibility was very poor so I was able to explore (and see!) less than I had hoped.

Visibility up high (above the inversion) the first day:

IMG_20190206_091632 by bryandkeith on flickr

Typical visibility during my other three days of skiing:
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Skiing in Antalya again

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Bryan Keith

It’s hard for me to get motivated to go skiing in Antalya.  It’s a long drive, and the snow is usually not very good.  This year, however, I got out twice.  The first time Seb convinced me to go to Saklıkent, the closest ski resort to Antalya.  I’d been up to Saklıkent on my bike, but I’d never been there in the winter.  I’m not too keen on ski resorts, but it’ll be a powder day, Seb insisted, and I figured it’s good for me to get out and see something new every once in a while.

Top of the lift at Saklıkent. You can see the observatory on Bakırlı Dağ in the top right of the photo. by bryandkeith on flickr
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A walk up Dedegöl Dağı in the winter

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Bryan Keith

This was my first trip to Dedegöl Dağı.  It’s in a slightly remote area of Isparta between Aksu and Yenişarbademli, between the big lakes of Beyşehir and Eğirdir.  Özgür had been to Dedegöl before in the summer (or spring?) to make a film to support the opposition to a marble quarry in the area.  It appears for now that that effort was successful.  Dedegöl Dağı has been added to Yazılı Canyon National Park, and no one is currently moving forward with mining plans.

I’ve had a bicycle tour planned in this area, and I’ve also wanted to come here for climbing in the summer.  Climbers come to Dedegöl Dağı for trad climbing on the south (??) side of the massif.  It’s a relatively undeveloped area with good scenery.  I’d definitely like to come back.

The drive from Antalya is long (over three hours), partly because once you leave the main Antalya-Isparta highway, there’s quite a distance on a curvy narrow road to cross the mountains to Kovada Gölü.  As I know from cycling here, this part of Isparta is very hilly.  Özgür and I stopped for a filling lunch in Aksu and then climbed (by car) to about 1800m, happy that there wasn’t too much snow on the road.

Here we’re almost to the parking area:

IMG_20190119_132942 by bryandkeith on flickr

We walked in about 3km that afternoon and ended up putting the tents near the top of the forested knob in the center of this photo:
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Lyrboton Kome: Perge’s olive oil source

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Bryan Keith

Since I’ve been on a Roman ruin roll recently, I’ll share some photos of what must be the closest ruined Roman city to Antalya.  Lyrboton Kome is right on the northern edge of the city, just north of Varsak.  Anything closer to Antalya has, well, been swallowed up by the city.  The terminus of Antalya’s newest light rail line is only about 1km from Lyrboton Kome.

Kepez Belediyesi, the local municipal government, is making Lyrboton Kome into an “archaeology park”.  I don’t really know what that’s supposed to mean, but it ought to at least be enough protection to keep Antalya’s urbanization at bay.

IMG_20181205_153524 by bryandkeith on flickr
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