Ballikaya Hike

07.19.09

Ballikaya Hike
The hike today was definitely not what I expected from the description of it as a hike that mountaineers train on. I had pictured a steep mountain slope above a treeless valley; instead what we got was a long walk along a creekbed up a valley that was filled with thorny bushes, slippery rocks, and no shade from the relentless Turkish sunshine. It was very exciting to do a little impromptu rockclimbing and bouldering on some parts of the trail and there were also two very pretty small waterfalls. At one of the waterfalls there were small frogs lining the edge of the pool like miniature green sentinels. The valley actually reminded me of the Lolo Creek valley by Dad's house. There were large river rocks, bright green bushes, fluffy purple flowers, and the small creek bubbling along beside us. Our guides didn't speak English and didn't seem to know the best trail though the valley, which made it very exciting when they were helping our whole group pass the parts of the trail that were mostly vertical rock walls above the stream. By the time we got out of the valley we were lost and we had to hike all the way back on the ridge before finding our bus. But, overall, it was an interesting experience. It was definitely nice to do some easy rockclimbing in a wilderness area.