Monday, January 4, 2010

Kackar

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The evening before our departure for our attempt on Kackar we spent preparing our plan of action, food and gear and trying the cooker. Just as well we did the latter as the bloody thing wasn’t working well and we ended up borrowing a gas stove of the owners of the Camyuva pension.

The next morning came nearly to early but once we were all up and away we started to wake up pronto! The weather was great, if anything, to warm, and we were hopeful of a good 3 days.

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We started our trip from Yaylalar (1875m) in the direction of Olgunlar (2076m). This village is one of the many summer yaylas or pastures. The locals move here in the summer to let the cattle graze and it even has some refuges. In spring however it is full of other animals like wolves and bear…tracks everywhere and quite spooky. One of the old locals we passed tried to explain us to be careful… he was on his way with a pair of binoculars to spy wildlife!

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We continued our way through the steep valley trampling over avalanche debris in the direction of Dilberduzu  (2882), the mains summer campsite for trekkers. Our base camp was just above it at 3000m. The trek through the valley was stunning. We passed another big summer pasture, Hastaf, which in summer also provides a good campsite. In winter you have to be very careful in these places regards to avalanches.The valley climbs gradually, with big slopes on either side and long.

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We gathered at Hastaf and had a snack, enjoying sunshine and breath taking scenery.

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Arriving at our base camp felt great. It was such a beautiful spot. Digging our protection came first and after we had lunch followed by the start of an afternoon explore. We split in two groups. Patxi, Alberto, Unai and myself went into the direction of Soganh Dagi but we got as far as the saddle, Hevek Ceciti. The snow wasn’t great and kept breaking away underneath us but it was a nice way to finish the day especially as the skiing down was good.

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Once back, we were all starving and cold..the weather was deteriorating quite fast! We brewed Chai and got cooking. We shared one pot between all and as one was eating the other was looking on in hope there would be enough left…especially Iker!!

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The night was long and we didn’t sleep well as the weather was horrendous and we were worried the tent would snow in, blow away or a wolves/bear would come and sniff our food and eat us all! Quite a strange fear. We are so used to being safe in Europe..

The next morning we left early into the mist and coming snowstorm. Quite tensed at times since the map we had was poor and the visibility was so bad.

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The weather got worse and the gale picked up. We had split into two groups and by the time we got back together passed and above the lake of Deniz Golu at about 3600m, the weather was so bad that we were not sure to continue. In front of us was a steep descent into nowhere, with on the left steep cliffs and on the right indefinable terrain. Andoni, Alberto and Iker said they wanted to give it a go and continue. Patxi, Unai and myself turned round and boy was I glad! The weather deteriorated more and on our GPS we made our way down into the soup to camp.

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Once at camp the weather got even worse and we packed up half of the kit and left the other half as shelter for the rest of the team. We were worried about them but decisions were made and so we had to leave them to it.

 

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The ski back down was tedious and involved a lot of pushing! How glad were we to see Yaylalar.

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The rest of the team arrived safely home later that evening but they told us that they had quite an epic and were glad to be back safely. After their descend into nowhere it was quite uncertain where exactly they were and they decided to start to climb a steep rocky ridge. As the gales were growing in strength, it didn’t look to bright and they decided to turn back. A long way back!!! We were not the only ones happy to be back ….At Camyuva they were awaiting us locitos!

 

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None of us made it to the summit this time but now we have another good reason to come back!!!!

Next up: Davut Dagi!

Cheerioooooooo Christel

 

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