Mount Surb Sargis and the Vardablur Lakes

• peaksam November 17, 2024October 4, 2026

The Lori region best represents the wonderful nature of Armenia. It’s no coincidence that many famous writers (e.g. Tumanyan) and painters (e.g. Saryan) were inspired by the nature of Lori and created literary and artistic works. On Sunday, November 17, 2024, we went to Lori, passing through different climate zones. At first Lori greeted us with snowy mountains and roads, then we gradually found ourselves in a golden autumn: in fields covered with grass decorated like a carpet in a thousand colors. Our goal was to climb Mount Surb Sargis (1,569 m), located in the village of Vardablur. If you’re familiar with the Lori region, you’ll agree that the local dialect has a special charm. When we were getting ready to walk from Vardablur village, the grandfather of one of the children asked: “Are you going to walk ‘itsasharuk’?” At first we didn’t understand what he meant, until he explained that it means walking in a line, one after another, like a string of goats. And our already high spirits were lifted even higher by this new discovery, and we started walking.

We walked around Mount Surb Sargis and climbed to its summit, where the Cyclopean fortress and the chapel of the same name are located. There is also a boat on the summit, which sparked our imagination, and we started pulling it forward, pretending it was Noah’s Ark, which landed not on Ararat, but on the summit of Mount Surb Sargis :)) From the summit, a view opened toward the gorges and canyons painted in blue, the colorful fields, where the shepherd, leaning on his staff, followed the sheep scattered across the field.

After the ascent, we settled near the Vardablur lakes, lit a campfire, played games and tried our luck: some at catching fish.

Besides enjoying a beautiful day, we walked 7.5 km and covered 270 m of total elevation gain.