Discovery of the Hell’s Canyon

Among climbers Hell’s Canyon is known as a perfect place for rock climbing. It is not far from Yerevan, but at the same time it is separated from civilization. There is a beautiful flat valley between the rocks for camping, and a small river just on the side makes this place ideal. This had always been a favorite place for Armenian rock climbers, but even they couldn’t imagine what kind of beauty was hidden further in the depths of the canyon.

We Left in Hope to Return Again

In 2013 we went to Hell’s Canyon for 2 days to climb. On the second day, in the afternoon 2 of us decided to go deeper into the canyon and examine it. The day was hot as hell.  Through the thorny way we reached the river, which was almost dry. It was getting dark and the canyon was getting more and more interesting; however, we didn’t have much time and we were not well prepared for hiking, so we returned to the camp, in hope to return to this canyon one day.

In 2014 I saw Hell’s Canyon from Mountain Urts again. The beauty and the name of the canyon were calling me. I tried to find some tracks to that canyon and get some information about it, but everything was in vain. There wasn’t any information about it in books or on the internet. Neither information, nor photos. We had no time for discussion, so we decided to go and discover it ourselves.

We Found a Heaven on Earth

There were three of us. Finally we reached the point from where we should have started hiking. In the afternoon we started walking down the river Aratso. At first the road was like in other gorges, everything seemed predictable, but we couldn’t have imagined what was waiting for us. We reached a narrow gorge, it felt as if the rocks were squeezing us. The river running in the middle in some places turned into small waterfalls. That canyon was like a real Heaven on earth, I wonder why people call it Hell’s Canyon. But this was only the beginning.

Geographical Information about Hell’s Canyon

Hell’s Canyon (Aratso Canyon) is located in the south-eastern part of Ararat Region, near the border of Nakhijevan. Aratso River starts from the slopes of Gndasar Mountains, running through the south-eastern part of Urts Mountain Range it flows to Araks River. The length of the river is 25 km, the depth of the canyon  is 100-400 m, the width is 1,5-80m. The slopes are bare, rocky and steep. There are many karst caves and cavities.

As a mountain river Aratso (Aratsoget) mostly is fed by melted snow and rainfall, it overflows in April-May. In upper streams, near Hortun village Zangakatun reservoir is located.

After a short break we continued our journey. We reached a place where the river was flowing between the rocks, so we couldn’t pass by it. We tried to pass it from the slopes, because passing through the river would take too much time, which we didn’t have. We tried from different sides but in vain. The only way was through the river. We took off some clothing and hid the most valuable things – photo cameras, and jumped into the river.

The passageway was thorny, rocky and difficult to cross, but it made us more curious and excited. And as it is said misfortune never comes alone… it started to rain, and made the rocks slippery and the mud flattened the sole of our shoes, which made our job more difficult.

After the rain the view was incredible, and the wet rocks were blood-red. It was pity that we didn’t have enough time to admire that view, because it was getting dark.

Discovery of the Waterfall Nare

Suddenly we noticed a waterfall coming out from the rocks. It was a two-storey waterfall. The first floor wasn’t so impressive, but the second one was wonderful. There was no geographical information about that waterfall, so we decided to name it after the only girl who was with us and named it Nare.

Waterfall Nare was not very big, but it was so beautiful and the water was flowing so equally from the rocks…we were fascinated by that discovery.

After the waterfall we were looking for the way out for some time and, as was expected, it got dark. Of course the desire to go to Nakhijevan is huge, but not this time. So we turned on our flashlights, put the compass on the map and moved to the south-east.

I guess it won’t be interesting if we tell you how we reached the highway, stopped a car, which was transferring cows and reached Yerevan, so I’ll just skip it.

P.S. It is recommended to go to the Hell’s Canyon with a person, who knows the way. These places can be very dangerous. If you get lost you may end up at the border of Azerbaijan. To escape such situations we offer you one day hike to mount Tezhkar and Hell’s Canyon.

 

Article by Tigran Shahbazyan

Photos by Tigran Shahbazyan and Karo Sahakyan
Members of the expedition: Tigran Shahbazyan, Nare Mkrtchyan, Karo Sahakyan

 

You can see more photos and videos in our article “Down the stream of Hell’s Canyon“.

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