On the Summit of Mount Aghavno with Children

• peaksam January 26, 2025October 4, 2026

Last Sunday we were in the Aragatsotn region and climbed Mount Aghavno (2,309 m).

When we got off the bus, the temperature was -11°C, on the summit it was -7°C, and when we returned to the bus it had “warmed up” to -1°C. Can you imagine in what cold weather we were walking? But the cold is only strong in numbers, as long as you don’t stop moving. After a stop, you start walking just so you don’t freeze again :))

Walking through the snowy forest, we felt like we were in a fairy tale, and the children’s imagination painted vivid pictures. Among the many animal tracks, we tried to find wolf tracks, since that would make the hike even more adventurous. But we only saw hare and fox tracks. And to the question that has probably come to your mind, whether there was a lot of snow or a little, the answer is this: at first there was little, but when we reached the windward slopes of the mountain, in places the adults were walking knee-deep in snow, and the little ones waist-deep. 

But these hardships are rewarded by the beautiful views opening toward Mount Aragats. The Aparan Reservoir was completely frozen and covered with snow, so from a distance it was hard to tell the reservoir apart from the surrounding fields. It’s worth knowing that the Aparan Reservoir is an artificial reservoir fed by the Kasakh River. It was built in 1962–1967 by Tsolak Hakobi Gevorgyan.

Refreshed by the cold, filled with beauty, and recharged emotionally and physically, we returned to Yerevan after walking 9 km and covering 480 m of elevation gain.