A Winter Fairy Tale: The Arpa Gorge

• peaksam January 14, 2024October 4, 2026

How did you spend your days off? Did they leave any trace in your memories? Our weekend’s Sunday will surely be among the most memorable, since it was not only beautiful and fairytale-like, but also full of craziness.

On January 14, 2024, we headed to the Vayots Dzor region to walk through the Arpa Gorge and visit the Gndevank monastic complex. It was no coincidence that we chose this region. The reason was the snowy places. It’s no surprise that many people prefer to stay at home in a warm environment, while we were looking for craziness and set off after our desires. We left Yerevan on a cold morning. The closer we got to Vayots Dzor, the more we realized that we had made the right choice. The mountains had put on white, and the trees on them had drawn beautiful patterns. And the slight haze made nature even more mysterious. We reached the village of Gndevaz, where the roofs had become heavy under a thick layer of snow, and icicles were hanging from the edges of the roofs. And as always, seeing young hikers, the locals’ faces showed surprise. Right as we started walking, we realized that we wouldn’t be short of snow: already in the village the snow reached our knees. The Arpa Gorge was indescribably beautiful, and Gndevank could be seen in its depths on a comfortable height. Although the trail leading to the monastery wasn’t visible because of the snow, we safely descended it. A dog from the village joined us and walked in the line with us too. The children made friends with the dog very quickly and loved it, even deciding on a name: Rex. After walking around Gndevank and getting to know it, “we went to the snowball battlefield”, where the snowballs flew so fast that there was no snow left to throw at each other (kidding). After the snowball fight, we built a beautiful snowman, had fun, took photos and started going back. Throughout the whole time, the children’s cheerful voices didn’t stop; we were freezing, but the warmth coming from them never ran out. A children’s hike shapes children and helps develop resilience.

That’s what our crazy hike in the Arpa Gorge was like. We walked 6 km and covered 250 m of elevation gain.