For the past three days, the sky has clouded over in the afternoon. Twice there have been showers. A change has come to the Aegean in late-autumn. At a time of year when the hillsides of my home state of Tennessee are painted orange, yellow and red, western Turkey (its hillsides a green-gray patchwork of pines) waits for rain.
Rain or no, the lower temperatures of late-autumn make the Aegean a hiker’s paradise. Last Saturday, I led a 6km hike down to the southern coast of the Izmir Peninsula. I want to help you plan your hike in this amazing region.
In 15 months here in Turkey, I have hiked about 400km, including the length of the Efes-Mimas Trail from Ephesus to Mordoğan (a trail I will save for a later post). I have learned many things along the trail.
Should you get the chance, dear reader, to lace up your boots and hike along the Turkish coast, here are four tips to make your trek fantastic.
Know your Turkish seasons
I mentioned that the rains had started. That’s the beginning of the autumn season here, which will stretch into January, at least here in southern Turkey. The weather is cooler. You can wear long sleeves and long pants (see section 4 to understand why).
Hiking is great: the air is clear, and you need pack only 1 or 2 liters of water for a day hike (the hikes begin or end in villages where you can buy more). The challenge is dealing with waning daylight, and early starts are important for hikes of 8 or more km. I like to get a hotel ($25-$40/night) close to my starting point to ensure that I get an early start.
Winter is quite short here, from late-January to mid-March. These are short, cold days with temperatures from 2 to 8 degrees (celsius). I have hiked in all kinds of weather, but winter is a time to hunker down. The hotels I stayed in last winter weren’t much help. They didn’t have heating, and the hot water had been turned off.
Spring lasts from mid-March to the end of May, and it is glorious. I found myself wading through fields of knee-high daisies and blood-red poppies. The temperatures are still cool, especially in the mornings, but the days are perfect for hiking. Spring is a great time for extended hikes and crossing remote locations off your bucket list.
The summer is really hot in Aegean Turkey. From the beginning of June until well into October, highs are 30 or above in the daytime (this year I went swimming in the sea on October 24). Summer days are long, and an early start will let you achieve your hiking goal by noon. Evening is also a nice time for short hikes. Midday is for napping or enjoying an extended kahvalti (breakfast) to replenish the calories.
Turkish Trails
There are four types of trails in the Izmir area
Trails that begin or end at amazing, ancient sites. I just can’t describe the feeling of cresting a hill and finding a temple or the remains of an ancient city wall. It’s an amazing feeling, especially when you have some advanced knowledge of the discovery. The first leg of the Efes-Mimas Trail leaves the Temple of Artemis in Selcuk, bypasses the ancient city, and ascends the mountain beyond Ephesus, following the top of the city wall for four kilometers. There are a half-dozen more in this area that are just as cool.
Beautiful, marked trails. The Karaburun Peninusla has the best hiking in the region. Wide trails among the hills with beautiful overlooks of Izmir Bay. Trails are marked with a distinct Red & White stripe. In springtime — the best time to plan a hike — the meadows are carpeted with daisies and poppies.
Back roads. Some trails follow forest roads. These feature a lot of switchbacks and aren’t always the most scenic avenues. You’re also more likely to encounter dogs. I include among “back roads” many firebreaks that tend to be very steep — but quite wide.
Gauntlets of thorns. Some trails have become overgrown. I have also taken my fair share of wrong turns, leading me into tangles of thorn bushes and the scrapes with holly oak trees, an obstacle I call “the Agean Hiker’s Dilemma.” When I have to try to squeeze between a thorn bush and a holly shrub, I know a little how Odysseus felt passing between Scylla and Charybdis. For the record, I almost always tangle with the holly. When I encounter a wild olive shrub with soft, padded leaves, I thank Athena (the goddess who gave the tree to mankind and won over the city of Athens from Poseidon). Those thorn bushes are painful!
Aegean hiking gear
When I arrived, I had a pair of high-top hiking boots that I had used in the Appalachians back home. But the weather here is so much warmer — and water/ mud is much rarer — that I bought a pair of Merrell Speed Eco low-tops once my high tops had reached their last mile (at the end of the Efes-Mimas Trail, below).
A hiking pole (or a pair) are really helpful on the trail. I am middle-aged (52), and I like a pole for an extra element of balance, especially when the trail is steep or wet. I bought two Forclaz 900 compact poles at Decathlon. They fold up nicely and fit into my pack when I’m not hiking in steep areas.
A pole can also push aside those nasty thornbushes and make a tight squeeze a little wider. Poles also shoo away barking dogs who get too close. (I would never strike a dog, but I will wave the pole in its face or sweep the dog’s legs if it is aggressive.)
I am fine using one pole, but I found two poles handy on trails where there were steep climbs and descents, such as firebreaks. These are 20m-wide, bulldozed trails that usually go straight up a hill to its peak, then down the other side. The poles let me lean way forward on the ascents and crawl up the hill like I had four legs. And they provided excellent balance on steep, slippery descents.
I moved to Turkey in August, and I wore shorts for my first three months of hiking, resulting in badly scratched legs and arms. This summer, I made sure to wear light hiking pants on the trail. Jeans are heavy and hot, but nice, polyester pants will prevent scratches, and they dry quickly if they get wet on the beach.
I have a polyester, long-sleeved hiking shirt that is comfortable, but I don’t wear it when the temperature is about 27C/80F. My arms can handle the scratches — and the sun — just fine.
Animals & Birds
There are fewer animals here than I expected to find. I have seen a few hedgehogs but few birds, rabbits or other smaller critters. I haven’t seen a single deer. There are a few animals worth noting:
Boars are common. I didn’t see a boar until I had been hiking for eight months. Then I encountered two families on one hike. The thundering of the boars’ hooves is unmistakable. It sounds like rocks falling out of a dump truck. The sow of the first family I encountered shrieked when she spotted me (I had already seen her and had frozen in my tracks, holding my pole in case she charged me). She ran into a brush and waited there, panting loudly, sounding for all the world like a fiend from hell. An hour later, I encountered another sow and group of piglets. After that, I whistled a melody loudly until I got to a village.
In the wilderness, dogs can be aggressive, particularly when they are out, guarding a flock with a shepherd nearby. I am not scared of dogs in the least. If one approaches me, I always stop, turn and face it. They will almost always back off. If they creep closer, I stomp my foot. If that doesn’t work, I will brandish my pole.
I carry dog treats with me for the good dogs. The dogs that are fenced and doing their job, barking at me, I’ll throw them a treat and praise them. Occasionally I get a “trail dog,” a stray that will follow (or lead) me along a section of trail. I just love these critters, and I’m happy to reward them with a treat.
In my 2nd year in Turkey, I have a few new goals. I am really interested in sacred roads: trails from ancient temples to the cities that supported them. There were often spring rituals that involved a ceremonial walk from the town to the temple and back, and I would like to retrace these paths in Ephesus, Didyma-Miletus, and Sardis.
A friend told me about the Efeler Trail that goes into the mountains to the east of Izmir, winding over Bozdağ, the area’s highest mountain, and ending near Selcuk. This looks to have a lot of cool, cultural activities with mountain villages organized to host groups of hikers and introduce them to culture.
And of course, I still have the goal of following Turkey’s most famous long trek, the Lycian Way along the Mediterranean Coast