"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own" Sri Chinmoy
10k Hike - Jan 2025 - Hisacandir, Antalya, Turkey
After our failed attempt to hike the Lycean Way near Hisacandir turned into a great adventure on a tricky trail, we decided to go back a week later on a misty/mizzly day to hike the trail we had orginally planned to hike. This time it was me, Tarit and Karteek - but at the layby in the village of Hisacandir where we pulled over, we were soon joined by two street dogs. They followed us the entire 10k. A cat also made a half-hearted attempt but didn't make it further than about 50 metres down the road.
First we hiked down hill from the mosque, under dull and drizzly skies, on the winding road that had brought us up from Antalya. Soon we hit the spot where the trail crosses the road, taking a right on what I would call a Fire Road - a jeep track to some - in other words a trail that was as good as a road. Hard-core and pine needles underfoot made excellent going for both Tarit and me, as we are both in the rehab phased of the endless running injury cycle. We both wanted a strenuous hike though - within the constraints of time that our Christmas Trips always bring (in this case the limit was around 2 hours as we had to get together with a British/French/Irish choir for a singing rehearsal).
Soon we were away from the road, which was pretty light in traffic terms anyway, and the only sound was occasional birdsong and the panting of our two dog friends. The woods were damp and deadened the sound of our footfalls. Everywhere there were pines and planes, growing in a lush forested lanscape set on rugged and rocky limestone hills. I had worked out a loop that brought us back into Hisacandir, but we hit the turning for that loop too early and decided to head further into the hills and forest. The trail was easy to follow and the going was good, so we started to made a decent pace. So much so that when we got to a junction that seemed the obvious place to take a turn back and retrace our steps, we unanimously decided to push on and make a 6 mile loop of it. Assuming it was 6 miles - my map apps were giving me pretty limited info in offline mode.
We were gradually gaining height as we went, winding our way around the hillside on what I guess is a logging road, coming out here and there into more open country where we had views of the higher mountains. As we came to the pass that marked the highest point - around 3800 feet after we'd started at 2700 - there was snow on the peaks above and the clouds and mist had lifted enough to give us some decent looks at the horizon and the mountains in the distance. The mist seemed to cling to the forest though, and those blue patches of sky never really opened up.
Mindful of the challenging target we'd set outselves we pressed on at a good pace and hiked pretty briskly on the downhill sections towards the end. The map apps were a bit ambiguous so we were very glad when we heard the call to prayer from Hisacandir and saw the zig-zag road down through the settlement to the road and our car in the gravel layby below. Hiking down through the village was interesting - a peak into Turkish country village life. There were goats in the road, chickens wondering around some of the houses, sheep penned alongside others. There was a feeling of a community hibernating through the cold winter months as we only saw one person the whole time.
When we made it back to the car after around 10k of hard hiking and well over 1000 feet of climbing we were all well satisfied with the afternoon's work. Our target had been to get back to the car by 4pm and it was 3.59. So that was a slice of Turkish hill country, a look into a Turkish village, a chance to hear the call to prayer echoing through a forest around a mile from its source at Hisacandir mosque. A very atmospheric hike as well as a great session to burn off some of the excess calories that come with staying at an all-inclusive. We managed to replace most of those though with hot chocolate and cheesecake when we got back!
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