Deghdznut: A Solo Journey
On July 6, 2023, I set off for Deghdznut Monastery.
I had been to Deghdznut once before, in the autumn of 2016, when three of us hiked there from Acharkut in the rain and fog. It was quite magical. The path passed through the forest, and the fog gave the whole landscape a special kind of charm.
So I decided to walk that path again.
Even though I had broken my little toe just ten days earlier, it did not hold me back. I had spent the previous week in Dilijan visiting a friend, and now I felt ready for the road. I packed my heavy backpack, put on my sandals, since I could not wear closed shoes, and set out.
I left my friend’s house quite late, around 3:30 in the afternoon, but I decided not to postpone the trip. I thought that once it got dark, I would simply pitch my tent somewhere and continue in the morning.
I went down to the main road and started hitchhiking. The very first car that stopped was going all the way to Alaverdi, which meant it could take me as far as Kirants village. The driver’s name was Ararat. He was a very kind man, and as we talked along the way, the road passed quickly.
Near Kirants, I did not have to wait long for the next car. Soon, one arrived heading to Acharkut. When the driver found out where I was going, he said he would take me a little farther and drop me right by the road leading to Deghdznut Monastery. But he also warned me that there were many bears in the area and that I should be careful alone in the forest. We drove about one kilometre out of the village on a dirt road. There, I thanked the kind man and continued on foot.
From Acharkut to Deghdznut Monastery it is nine kilometres, which meant I still had about eight kilometres of hiking ahead of me. I did not have the route on my phone, but since I had walked it once before and the path was marked, I decided I did not need it. Besides, walking without a phone made the hike more interesting.
I started walking along the muddy path. After continuous rains, there were deep puddles all along the way that had to be bypassed somehow. Half of the path is a straight road for cars, then it splits: one path goes toward Kirants Monastery, and the other rises through the forest toward Deghdznut.
Near the fork, there were beehives, and Garik the beekeeper was sitting under the trees. We struck up a conversation. He treated me to coffee and honey, and he too warned me that there were many bears in the area.
After resting for a while, I continued on my way. I crossed the river by a bridge and began the climb through the forest. This part of the path was even muddier. Only large, heavy vehicles had passed through, leaving deep ruts and more puddles behind them. It was becoming harder to avoid the mud, because in many places one side of the road rose steeply into rocky ground, while the other dropped down into the gorge.
Every now and then, I remembered that there were bears in the area and that I should let them know I was there, so they would not be startled if we accidentally met face-to-face. So I walked along talking out loud to the bears. From the outside, it must have been a funny sight: a girl with a heavy backpack, limping along in sandals, speaking to imaginary bears. But since my only audience was the forest and its inhabitants, I did not need to worry.
I had already covered most of the way when it started to get dark. I decided not to continue in the darkness and to find a place to stay for the night. Easier said than done: the whole path wound upward, and finding a flat spot was not easy. Still, I eventually found a place that seemed suitable enough. The view was beautiful, and the ground was relatively flat. Nearby, there were wild apple trees with freshly broken branches. Trees usually break like that when bears want to eat fruit and pull the branches down to reach it. Of course, sleeping next to the bears’ “dining room” was not the best option, but I had no other choice. I apologized to the bears for occupying their space and opened my tent.
I gathered dry wood, lit a fire, put the kettle on, and sat down to enjoy the forest, the view, the silence, and my solitude. There was no cell service either, so I was completely alone in the area, totally disconnected.
As soon as darkness fell, the forest changed. It became more mysterious. It began to sparkle: fireflies appeared everywhere, flickering from different corners of the darkness. It was like something out of a fairytale forest. The daytime birds and animals went to sleep, and the nocturnal ones became active. The sound of an owl did not cease. I prepared some food, sat a little longer, and then got ready for sleep. I hung all my food in a bag from a tree far away from me, so that the scent would not draw bears to my tent, and settled in for the night.
That was when I discovered that the spot which had seemed flat at first was not quite so flat after all. All night long, I kept sliding inside the tent, with a couple of large clumps of dirt right under my back.
Throughout the night, I also had occasional “guests”: small animals would approach my tent and sniff around. I do not know what animals they were, but from their breathing I could tell they were small. At one point, my tent suddenly lit up brightly. It turned out that the moon had come out from behind the mountains. The shadows of the trees created beautiful patterns on the tent, and I lay there watching the shadow play.
In the morning, I woke up to a concert of birds welcoming the dawn. The sky had already turned red, preparing for the sun to rise. I greeted the sun and went back to sleep until nine. After a breakfast of fruit and dried fruit, I packed up and continued my journey.
I could see on the map that I was close to the monastery, but I could not find the path leading to it, and the road I had come on continued in another direction. I found an abandoned road and followed it, but the map showed that I had already passed the monastery. Then I saw a fresh bear track on the path. I walked a bit further, thinking the road might turn toward the monastery later, but it did not. I was only getting farther away, and the trail was becoming more and more abandoned.
So I returned to the section where, according to the map, the monastery should have been right beside me. With my eyes peeled, I began examining the area carefully. Finally, I saw it: the monastery was only about fifty meters away, hidden and covered in vegetation. The plants had grown so abundantly that they blocked both the view of the monastery and the narrow trail leading to it.
Deghdznut Monastery has a very interesting energy and very unique architecture. It was once a famous spiritual center. Although it is now half-ruined, it has not lost its beauty. I wandered around the monastery grounds for a while, rested, and then began my descent.
On the way back, I decided to take a shortcut I had found on the map, though I had no idea what kind of path it would be. It turned out to be a very old, long-unused road, completely overgrown with blackberry and rosehip bushes. It felt like I was walking through a wild jungle. I got scratched and poked by thorns, but eventually I made it back to the main road.
On the way down, I felt very calm, very much in harmony with nature, despite my heavy backpack and the fact that my broken toe had started to ache.
I reached Garik the beekeeper again. We drank coffee, talked, and then I continued on my way. I found a nice spot on the riverbank, lay down, and slept for a while. Sleeping by the river is one of my favorite things to do.
Later, a group of local boys arrived a little further away and got into the river. It was fun to watch how they enjoyed the water and nature. Since I could not fully enter the river in their presence, I only soaked my feet and continued walking.
On the way, those same boys passed by in a car, stopped, and took me as far as the village of Sevkar. From there, another kind man drove me all the way home.
Hiking alone and staying overnight in a tent is a different kind of feeling. You become doubly vigilant, but there is also a different kind of peace. You feel your surroundings and nature more deeply. You notice the smallest details and hear the faintest sounds. You become a small part of that nature.
But in any case, one should never lose vigilance and caution. You must know the area, understand what kind of biodiversity exists there, learn the safety rules, and be prepared for any unpredictable situation.
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