As per usual, I had spent a fair amount of time researching what to do in the part of Türkiye we would be visiting. One adventure that presented itself repeatedly was Saklikent Canyon. I had written it off at one point because one post indicated that the water would be too high and too cold (from the melting snow from the mountains) in April. Happily, and luckily, I put it back on the To Do list!! It was amazing!!

First, the water was pretty much freezing! It was the kind of cold where your feet go numb so you no longer care how cold it is. The water also got quite deep: mid thigh at the highest point (although that is probably because the rapids made the water run up my thigh – it was probably just knee deep). Second, any good Colorado gal has hiked in the Big Thompson River (or some other river) when it was high, fast, and cold due to snow melt, so she knows what it is like for her feet and lower limbs to go numb. Right, my fellow Coloradoans?!

Saklikent Gorge, also known as Hidden City, is about 18 kilometers long and 300 meters deep. It is the longest canyon in Türkiye and one of the deepest in the world. The hike we took (out and back) is four km total.

Okay, let’s just start with this entrance sign. There are two comical things. I understand why one wouldn’t consume alcohol while traipsing through the water, but . . . nuts? What do they have against nuts? And, I don’t know how one would enter the canyon “from a hard hat” unless they are the size of Ant-Man (when he is, you know, ant-sized). I love these signs!

“Girisi” means entrance, so this was our starting point.

You see that we are wearing hard hats. Apparently, rocks fall from time to time, so it is prudent to wear one.

Let’s also talk about footwear. One has the option of renting water shoes. Michael did. I didn’t. I had already planned to wear my tennis shoes. I am glad that I did. The rented rubber water shoes are worn without socks. The guide, our hiking companion, and Michael were repeatedly dumping rocks from their shoes. I had rocks in mine as well (I discovered just how many after the hike!), but they didn’t hurt my feet.

Once we were done with the hike, I removed my shoes and socks. I had about two to three tablespoons of rocks (I am not exaggerating) in each shoe, some outside of my socks, some inside. But my feet didn’t hurt the way Michael’s did.

As if the hike in the canyon wasn’t perfect enough, we then stopped at the perfect restaurant for lunch. It was beautiful!

We had three guests for lunch.

Before we went home, we tried to drive to a beach to check it out as a possible anchorage. As per almost usual (not really, but this has happened to us several times on our journey), the road the navigation lady took us to wasn’t suitable for our rental so we turned around. This cow welcomed us and said goodbye. She was just hanging out on the road and on the side of the road.

Today was a perfect day! Two days from now isn’t going to be too bad, either. Check out our next post.