Peak 24 | Mahya Dağı, Turkey | 1040m

As Turkey is a transcontinental state, this peak is not the national high point but just the highest mountain in the European part of the country. It probably wasn't strictly necessary for me to do as part of my Guinness World Record challenge, but I'd seen that others before me had done this as part of an 'European high points' list and I wanted to follow the same consistency as that.

Quick Summary

• Start point - Yenice

• Route taken - Access road off D565

• Total ascent - Minimal

• Total length - Minimal

• Total time for the climb - Minimal

• Expense category - #Low

• Equipment - #None

• Difficulty - #Level1 of 5

• Enjoyment - #1star of 5*

But there is one significant issue with this peak. There is an active military compound on top, meaning that access, photos, and exploring are strictly forbidden near the summit. Without the potential consequence of ending up in a Turkish jail. Nonetheless, it still made for a memorial experience with all of the events that unfolded in my attempt to get there...

Again, I would be doing this peak along with my friend Iain, and we had started our morning in Sofia. Our goal was to get Turkey done that day so we could get back for Bulgarias' high point the following day. But after a late return from Midžor in the night we had got up a little later than we wanted too. We headed straight towards the Turkish border but this is where more delayed started to occur.

We had been through many border crossings by this stage of the expedition so we were getting used to the paperwork and requirements for them. But the Turkish border was a greater obstacle than anything before.

Visas, stamps, and car insurance in what seemed to be a very complex process meant we were at the border for over an hour and a half at least. Then to slow us down further as we got onto the motorways in turkey we needed to set up an account with the motorway vignette. This probably cost us another half an hour. By this point, we knew that reaching the summit before sunset was nearly impossible.

We drove to the start anyway because we were both still reluctant to give up on the 6 high points in 6 days notion. But we were too late, and we decided that going up there in the dark would be asking for trouble.

So we were parked up in a pretty remote location with not much cash and nowhere to stay. The closest bed was a motel a 15min drive away.

The following morning we set off for the mountain in full daylight. Iain was nervous, and being so made me nervous too. We had been having extended conversations during the entire travel towards Turkey about photographs near the peak, the risk involved, and what could happen if we get caught. As much as I wanted to take some pictures and videos of the summit I was finally talked into not having my phone or camera out. Instead, I would record myself at the base of the mountain on the public road turning my Garmin tracking device on and we would just use the GPS location data from that as evidence I was there.

As we entered the 6.4km winding road that leads up to the military listing post, it seeded strangely normal. It was only in the last one or two kilometers that signs started appearing with no-drone symbols and showed men with guns.

Then we came round one corner and we see that the camouflaged golf-ball shaped listening device was suddenly above us with maybe 10 or 20 meters of elevation to climb, We continued along the road that snakes around to the side. Upon getting round this bit we then we come up to some concrete barriers in the middle of the road that was just an obvious stop barrier. Next thing I see was the previously nervous Iain was driving around and past these concrete barriers towards the last stretch of road.

When we reached the top of the last little ramp we startled two military officers having a chat at the gate. They looked at us. Clearly, we were very out of place. One shouted something in Turkish and at least 4 or 5 more military men came over. We were questioned. Our passports taken off us and inspected and I tried to explain why we were there.

After listening, he said that he understood but then assertively told us that we were not permitted to be there and to head down immediately.