Uzungöl - Trabzon
This beautiful highland lake is not longer the virgin hideaway it was 20 years ago. A tourist- town of about 30 chalets and pansiyons has grown pell-mell on the southern edge of the lake, and a new mosque has been built to rival the Grand Mosque of Shangri-La.
The overall effect, though, is more pleasing then most new Turkish resorts. The air has a miraculously clear quality, and the smell of the maize fields after rain remains intoxicating. Off the other end of the lake, brick and concrete have made few inroads into the old village of Uzungöl (Şerah).
Above the lake is stil virgin territory. One road continues west of the lake to the Soğanlı (Hopşera) yayla, affording stupendous mountain views along the way. Another road climbs through the hotel district to the Demirkapı (Haldizen) yayla, located immediately below the peak of Mt Haldizen (3376 m). A driveable road continues along a series of glacer lakes to a mountain pass at 3100 metres, where a dramatic panorama of a half- dozen mountain ranges springs to view on the South.
This is splendid hiking territory, and we are told it is possible to walk’in three or four hours from Demirkapı to the roadhead on the İkizdere side (see Ovitdağı pass, next page). It is also possible to drive on to either İkizdere or Bayburt, but you must reckon on losing your way many times in the trackless high yayla.
The overall effect, though, is more pleasing then most new Turkish resorts. The air has a miraculously clear quality, and the smell of the maize fields after rain remains intoxicating. Off the other end of the lake, brick and concrete have made few inroads into the old village of Uzungöl (Şerah).
Above the lake is stil virgin territory. One road continues west of the lake to the Soğanlı (Hopşera) yayla, affording stupendous mountain views along the way. Another road climbs through the hotel district to the Demirkapı (Haldizen) yayla, located immediately below the peak of Mt Haldizen (3376 m). A driveable road continues along a series of glacer lakes to a mountain pass at 3100 metres, where a dramatic panorama of a half- dozen mountain ranges springs to view on the South.
This is splendid hiking territory, and we are told it is possible to walk’in three or four hours from Demirkapı to the roadhead on the İkizdere side (see Ovitdağı pass, next page). It is also possible to drive on to either İkizdere or Bayburt, but you must reckon on losing your way many times in the trackless high yayla.
