Transcaucasian Trail: Mapping Eurasia’s forgotten hiking routes

By Marco Ferrarese, CNN
6 minute read
Published 4:14 AM EDT, Fri April 6, 2018
<strong>Transcaucasian Trail:</strong> Work is now underway on the Transcaucasian Trail, a 3,000-kilometer hiking route that will criss-cross Armenia and Georgia, running all the way from the Iranian border to the Georgian-Turkish frontier.
Transcaucasian Trail: Work is now underway on the Transcaucasian Trail, a 3,000-kilometer hiking route that will criss-cross Armenia and Georgia, running all the way from the Iranian border to the Georgian-Turkish frontier.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
<strong>Early days: </strong>The trail was launched by adventurer Tom Allen (front left) in 2016. By the end of summer 2017, his team of local experts and international volunteers had completed the first 100 kilometers of trail though Armenia's Dilijan National Park. A section of the trail has also been cleared in the Svaneti region of northwestern Georgia.
Early days: The trail was launched by adventurer Tom Allen (front left) in 2016. By the end of summer 2017, his team of local experts and international volunteers had completed the first 100 kilometers of trail though Armenia's Dilijan National Park. A section of the trail has also been cleared in the Svaneti region of northwestern Georgia.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
<strong>Challenging work: </strong>The trail passes areas of great natural beauty few have tread before. "Quite simply, we will both keep forging ahead for as long as it takes to connect the two trunks at the Georgian-Armenian border," says Allen.
Challenging work: The trail passes areas of great natural beauty few have tread before. "Quite simply, we will both keep forging ahead for as long as it takes to connect the two trunks at the Georgian-Armenian border," says Allen.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
<strong>Trail blazing:</strong> Allen drove this 4x4, donated by Land Rover, from London to Armenia. It's a vital tool in day-to-day trail-building operations.
Trail blazing: Allen drove this 4x4, donated by Land Rover, from London to Armenia. It's a vital tool in day-to-day trail-building operations.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
<strong>Armenian countryside:</strong> Views like this await the crew and volunteers during break time.
Armenian countryside: Views like this await the crew and volunteers during break time.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
<strong>Ready to work: </strong>The team prepares their tools for another day of work on a trail section.<br />
Ready to work: The team prepares their tools for another day of work on a trail section.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
<strong>Life on the trail:</strong> When out in the field, the team camps out and follows a very basic lifestyle. "Just like any long journey, it's just a case of taking it one step at a time, coming up regularly for air," says Allen, 34. <br />
Life on the trail: When out in the field, the team camps out and follows a very basic lifestyle. "Just like any long journey, it's just a case of taking it one step at a time, coming up regularly for air," says Allen, 34.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
<strong>Transcaucasian Trail from above: </strong>This aerial photograph highlights the work being done to connect the trail with the rough track. "We are working towards transforming the ancient connecting routes of local shepherds into world-class hiking and biking trails," says Allen.
Transcaucasian Trail from above: This aerial photograph highlights the work being done to connect the trail with the rough track. "We are working towards transforming the ancient connecting routes of local shepherds into world-class hiking and biking trails," says Allen.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
<strong>The crew: </strong>Tom Allen (bottom right) with the rest of the Transcaucasian Trail team in front of their Dilijan headquarters. Hikers will be able to join the first fund-raising expeditions in the summer of 2018.
The crew: Tom Allen (bottom right) with the rest of the Transcaucasian Trail team in front of their Dilijan headquarters. Hikers will be able to join the first fund-raising expeditions in the summer of 2018.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail
Rugged beauty along the emerging Transcaucasian Trail
CNN  — 

Blame it on the region’s tricky geopolitics or the former Soviet Union, but the mountains of the Caucasus – a high and sheer rocky spine soaring between southwestern Russia and Iran – still for the most part lie untouched and undiscovered.

That’s all about to change thanks to 34-year-old Tom Allen, who has seen the potential of these peaks and is resolute in helping them earn the attention they deserve as a destination.

How? By creating the Transcaucasian Trail – an ambitious, 3,000-kilometer hiking route that will crisscross Armenia and Georgia all the way from the Iranian border to the Georgian-Turkish frontier, and will make odysseys on foot through these rugged and hardly accessible mountains possible.

“To the eyes of self-proclaimed Armenian hiking ‘experts’, perfectly good ‘trails’ already exist,” says Allen, founder of the Transcaucasian Trail project.

He sits barefoot and cross-legged in the living room of the Transcaucasian Trail headquarters, set on a hill overlooking the town of Dilijan – the gateway to Armenia’s best known national park.

“Truth be told, in the eyes of most foreign hikers, those are just steep, muddy jeep tracks they must share with 4x4s and cows,” he says. “We are working towards transforming the ancient connecting routes of local shepherds into world-class hiking and biking trails.”

Views like this await the crew and volunteers during break time.
Views like this await the crew and volunteers during break time.
Courteously Tom Allen/Transcaucasian Trail

Grassroots determination

Allen’s strong resolution comes from his adventurer background. Before becoming the Transcaucasian Trail’s “explorer in chief,” for several years he toured the