The Party on Mount Sandukhtasar

“Thanks to Mount Sandukhtasar I almost completely overcame my fear…”, says Hasmik Zakaryan, who took part in a hiking trip to Mount Sandukhtasar organized by Armenian Geographic.

Mount Sandukhtasar is the third highest peak in the Vardenis Mountains. The height is 3454 m above sea level. Our group of 37 participants had a two-day hiking trip to Mount Sandukhtasar and spent the night near the shore of Mets Al Lake. Thanks to our efforts during the last few years, we were able to form a strong and stable group of hikers. Thanks to them this ascent was a success. This trip was special for several reasons. Our hikers Gevorg Haroyan, Felix Kocharyan and Hasmik Zakaryan had their birthdays on that day. Besides, it was the first anniversary of one of our groups who climbed Mount Ararat last year.

Birthdays on Mount Sandukhtasar

For Hasmik Zakaryan it was also the first hike with tents. She told us that she hadn’t planned anything for her birthday yet, when her friend Astghik called and told her that she was going to take her to a two-day hiking trip as a birthday gift: “She didn’t even say where we were going. Since she is an active member of ArmGeo club, I saw on Facebook that the group was going to hike to Sandukhtasar for the weekend. That’s how I understood where we were planning to go. I have never been in that part of the country and since I like exploring Armenia, I was happy to obey her”.

Hasmik says that she had already celebrated her birthday in the mountains. When she was turning 30, she climbed Mount Hatis on her birthday. “For me this ascent was symbolic. Many years ago, our family was having a picnic on the slopes of Mount Hatis and some of us decided to climb the mountain. We didn’t reach the summit as others were waiting for us. So, for my 30th birthday I decided to finish what I started before. Spending my birthday in the mountains is a real gift for me”.

The difficulty of this ascent was average for Hasmik, because she hasn’t climbed mountains for two years. However, she says that she enjoyed the trip. On top of the mountain, there were large stones everywhere and no convenient place to sit and eat something. But that didn’t stop them from having fun. Some of the members of the group even stood on the stones and started dancing. And when they were descending from the mountain, they even found petroglyphs.

Hasmik says that before that trip she had never slept in tents.  “Tent trips have always attracted me, but I didn’t dare to do that. I was afraid to freeze. This time I didn’t have any other choice. There was no other place to spend the night besides tents. However, I tried to make my first experience of sleeping in a tent as comfortable as possible. I took with me two sleeping bags, sleeping mats, warm clothes, winter hats and blankets. I consider my first experience of spending a night in a tent successful”.

Talking about new experiences Hasmik says that she already knows what it is like to sleep in a tent. She also overcame her fear of stones in Sandukhtasar. “Thanks to Mount Sandukhtasar, I almost completely overcame my fear, which developed after a stone fell on me couple of years ago in Argats”.

Hasmik said that she will keep on hiking. “People always strive for beauty and overcoming themselves. Plus, hiking is a great way to get to know yourself and your homeland. Our mountains are like the Delphic temples with the inscription “Know thyself””.

The parallels between the ascents of Ararat and Sandukhtasar

Lianna Araqelyan is one of the members of a group, which climbed Mount Ararat last year. She said that it was important for all of them that after a year they all would come together again.

Talking about a hiking trip to Sandukhtasar Lianna said that it went very well. “I think when you see such beautiful landscapes in front of you, it cannot be otherwise. Each hiking trip has its own characteristics, but they are all united with common features: endlessly beautiful views, friends, roads and crazy adventures”.

The members of the group that climbed Mount Ararat a year ago became very close with each other. Lianna finds it difficult to say how they became so close. “Many of us, probably, didn’t even notice how we got so close. Nobody recorded the time and moment when it happened. Or maybe it happened on the peak of Mount Ararat, when we hugged and congratulated each other, when we saw joy in each other’s eyes. The roads, the conversations, the same dreams and goals connected us. I remember, when we were on our way to Ararat, I didn’t know anyone. And on the way back, I already began to connect my ideas about homeland with these people”.

Talking about the meaning of climbing Ararat Lianna said: “We talked a lot about the importance of the ascent of Ararat for. But now, when a year has passed and our emotions have calmed down a bit (maybe we need to go back there again), something important remained in our lives – the people. The people we found in Ararat make that ascent an even more important event. And, of course, it was important for each of us that a year later on that day we were together”.

For Lianna, Sandukhtasar was a mountain that at the very beginning didn’t evoke any emotions. “But at the end, on the way to the peak, the mountain shows its beauty, becomes less achievable and at the same time very interesting, fascinating and captivating”.

Drawing parallels between the ascents of Ararat and Sandukhtasar Lianna said: “The similarity was in people, in the atmosphere, in songs and in the mood that we had before climbing Ararat”.

The hike to Mount Sandukhtasar was a symbolic journey with vivid impressions, during which the participant once again re-evaluated the road that moves them forward.

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Hiking Memoirs