A week after the start in Yusufeli, I eventually reached İkizdere after crossing the Kaçkar Mountains - the highest range in northern Turkey. The weather was on my side, and thanks to the high altitudes of the walk (I didn't go below 2,500 meters), the temperatures were not too bothersome.

These mountains are very jagged, which can be seen in the pictures, so ridge routes are practically non-existent there. For this reason, every day I was crossing several passes, usually over 3,000 meters, and the sum of daily ascents always exceeded 1,000 meters.

Going down the north face of Kaçkar is a separate topic. I was warned by the Turks at Lake Deniz on the south side: "You are a professional, but be careful there!". They were right. The first 400 meters down is all about permanent mind-challenging game and dancing on the bare and quite unsafe rocks at a steep slope. Just when I thought that at 3500 metres there would be only an easy descent, boulders and loose scree at an angle of 45 degrees appeared. I must have had some dozen falls and not all of them were 100% controlled. The approaching fog did not make the task easier, nor did it raise my morale. About 5 hours passed when, after giving up 800 meters of altitude, I finally reached the safe green grass in the valley at the foot of the mountains.

Three Turks from Istanbul, with whom we camped together at Lake Deniz, posed for a photo with me at the top of Kaçkar. It was my highest bivouac in my life (3380 meters) and it turned out to be surprisingly warm, especially considering the fact that I slept in a tarp. This bivouac can be seen in one of the photos. As for the guys - Attila, the one standing next to me, said that when I get to Istanbul, he will gladly show me around the city.

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