Tavush Region, Dilijan District. A run to Mount Dimats, from Haghartsin Monastery.
📌Route stats: 27 km, 1600 m of elevation gain, 7-hour cutoff, and 2 aid stations.
🚗Local hikers and trail runners tend to look at Dimats with a little condescension. The fact that you can drive almost all the way to the summit has made it a bit of a UAZ-tourists hotspot. But that doesn't make it any less impressive! The sheer scale and grandeur of the rock wall stretching for almost 15 km along the Ijevan Ridge will take your breath away, regardless of how many bloggers was drove up here to make "a review to the Armenian most secret mount". Besides, we'll reach the mountain entirely under our own power — and, what's more, we'll take a completely different route!
For those who ran last year: the descent remains the same, but the entire first half of the course is new.
Full description:
We start at Haghartsin Monastery. Just like on previous day, the first 3 km follow a gravel road marked as part of the Armenian National Trail. Then the ANT markers turn left toward Dilijan, while our route heads right, gradually climbing along the eastern spurs of Mount Khuyr toward Kustakan Pass.
🥾This is a dirt and rocky road, quite muddy in places. At kilometer 7, we'll reach a small shepherd settlement, where the first aid station is located.
🐕 Caution: there were quite a few dogs in the village during summer and early autumn. Their job is to guard the herd, and once they realize you're moving away, they'll lose interest. The local shepherds will be informed about the race!
⛳️After Kustakan Pass, we climb Mount Aros, one of the peaks of the Ijevan Ridge. Like the other summits along the ridge, Aros is relatively gentle, with a broad, flat top. In good weather, the ridge offers views in one direction over the Aghstev River valley and its tributary, the Getik River, and in the other toward the upper reaches of the Khachakhpyur, where we'll be running on Day 3. The climb up Aros could be described as runnable — but in reality, it's a long, monotonous, and exhausting grind. The descent, on the other hand, is runnable and much more interesting. It ends right where everyone else arrives by jeep: at the summit of Mount Dimats, where our second aid station awaits.
📷After the aid station comes the most spectacular and technical section of the day: running along cow paths on the edge of the cliffs, followed by a climb to the "Tooth" — an unnamed peak that everyone associates with Mount Dimats.
The descent from the Tooth, followed by a couple of kilometers before we rejoin the road, takes us into truly wild terrain. Even cows and horses are rare visitors here!
🏃🏽♂️➡️The road downhill is rocky and fast. By the way, this is where the familiar red-white-red markers and ANT signs will start appearing again. You'll want to open up and fly downhill at full speed, but remember: there's still one more day of racing ahead, so save at least a little strength for it! We'll also pass a farm with dogs on the descent, but they're either tied up or non-aggressive. About 300 m past the farm, don't miss the sharp right turn onto the trail!
The final 2.5 km are pure trail-running bliss: a gentle descent through beech forest on a beautiful, winding trail, with streams and rocky outcrops along the way. And right at the end: the best viewpoint overlooking Haghartsin Monastery, followed by the final tarmac to the finish line!
🍪If you still have some energy left, change your clothes and take a little walk around the monastery. And don't miss the chance to try what we think is the best gata in Armenia (and no, they're not paying us to say that!).
Track on map
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