"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own" Sri Chinmoy
Goynuk Canyon - Jan 2025 - Antalya, Turkey
Three of us headed out on this afternoon trek, but we met several people we knew at the trailhead (the parking lot and entrance to the national park) and a few more as we trekked up and down the canyon. It's a popular destination for hiking from Antalya and rightly so. This was forecast to be our last day of clear weather before a few rainy days, so myself, Mahasatya and Rabinath headed out after lunch for the 40 mins drive to the start. Once all together with the guys who had come in Apaguha's bus (well, a large SUV he rented) we paid our minimal tourist tax to enter the park (145 lira as I recall) and started to hike on the dirt road alongside the river, heading upstream. The water was a gorgeous aquamarine, clear and pristine. The air was wonderful too, as I kept remarking to Rabinath - maybe the air where I live is not so great, as I was struck by the purity of the Turkish mountain air every time we went out.
Compared to our hikes at Hisacandir and Termessos, this was the easiest imaginable terrain - a driveable trail from the beginning. The forested slopes and deep gorge just kept getting better and more dramatic as we put some distance between us and the highway. Soon a point of interest came up in the shape of a narrow footbridge suspended over the water - a sign said 5 people max at one time but it was pretty well constructed. The views from the middle of the bridge were amazing and I forgot to get a good shot of the bridge itself, but I did get a shot of Apaguha getting a shot of Mikael from Slovakia.
There were a few ups and downs and then after what must have been around a mile, we were at the head of the canyon. Some of the guys looked for ways to go further but that would have meant some canyoning in freezing river water or scrambling up a loose slope of limestone scree. Rabinath had a trail in mind instead so we descended and found the turning - signposed for Goynuk Yaylasi. The only thing detracting from the beauty of the upper gorge was the wooden structure clearly built as a bar for tourist parties that was against one wall of the canyon. It had been left in a hurry, presumably after a drinking session, with all the spirit bottles and glasses still out, looking a right mess. Shame, but not enough to ruin the awesome views both up and down from the valley head.
The trail to the Yayla was narrow and twisty, with a few fallen trees that we had to get under or over or detour around, leading us deeper into the forest with the sound of the rapids below gradually fading as we gained altitude.
Rabinath's map mentioned a high viewpoint and we had plenty of time so we decided to hike right up and see if had the promised views. That approach had paid off at Termessos where we had immaculate snowy ridges on the horizon as well as dramatic views of the ruins, so we had high hopes of the high point on the way to the Yayla.
Even on the way up, where there were gaps in the trees the views of the soaring limestone peaks were enough reward for our efforts, but we kept on going.
Eventually we came to a ridge where the path came into a saddle between the main body of the mountain and a rocky spur that was clearly the promised viewpoint. Some scrambling ensued, a little use of handholds and some awkward footing, but the reward was an all round view of mountain, forest and canyon in the late afternoon light, the sun having only just dipped below the rocky horizon.
While I was waiting with the bags for the others to return from a longer scramble, I sat down to meditate on the views. Sri Chinmoy so often encouraged seekers to meditate on a mountain or a river or the sky or the sunset, depending on what quality they were looking for, so these surroundings with the powerful sense of peace and purity seemed the ideal place. At first it was a disappointment to me, as my attempts to concentrate on the forest or the ridge or the sky gave me very little response - I had got to the point of thinking there was nothing there that could get even close to the experience I have meditating on The Transcendental, and was going to give up, but then my eyes came to rest on the misty summit of the highest mountain I could see and I felt a sudden elevation inside me and an opening of my heart. Rabinath and Mahasatya returned just at that moment so it was a short moment of revelation, but one that stayed with me for the rest of the day. In terms of how it compared to the meditations I was having back at Antalya in our function room - well, it didn't come close to the power of meditating with the whole family of over 300 of us gathered together. It was certainly a really positive experience though - I'll try that summit meditation again sometime!
On the way back down we took a tricky path along the left bank of the river instead of the easy trail we had ascended by, again having to pick our way along exposed sections hanging over the gorge and around fallen trees. It soon evened out though and rewarded us all the while with myriad unseen aspects of the gorge and the river. Finally it ended across the river from the parking lot, with a narrow gap in the natural weir that we had to ford to get back to our car. Mahasatya and Rabinath went for the jump-from-stone-to-stone option but they looked a bit wobbly for my liking so I dispensed with my shoes and waded through with the help of my walking poles (chucking the shoes across the gap first, of course). We all made it over dry-shod.
While it didn't wow me like the scenery at Termessos, this trek did offer amazing and pristine landscapes and was well worth heading out of Antalya for. The summit meditation was, in more ways than one, the high point.
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