Mountains and Plateaus Part 1: An Elburz Excursion

Hey it's Emily again! This time our little group is visiting Iran's national capital, as well as Iran's skiing and snowboarding capital. Tehran is located at the foot of the Elburz mountains, home to the Middle East's highest point, Mt. Damavand, which is about 18,602ft tall. (Did you know that Mt. Damavand isn't a mountain at all? It's a dormant volcano that has been around for about We decided to take advantage of these dizzying heights by skiing down their slopes.


Finding a slope that was at our skill level was difficult since the average height of the mountains is about 9,000ft. After some serious searching, we discovered a mountain that was just perfect for us. Mt. Damavand loomed overhead and I couldn't help but get a little scared of its extreme height. But instead of dwelling on that, Clare, Elise, and I hit the slopes and had some serious fun! Even though we were in Iran, a place where the average summer temperature easily reaches 97 degrees Farenheit, there was snow on the mountains. I guess it probably helped that it was at such a high altitude!


While we were resting in the ski lodge, we saw a sign with pictures of beautiful hot springs. Clare went to take a closer look and saw that these springs were on Mt. Damavand. She insisted that we find a way to get to the hot springs and take a relaxing dip. After I did a little asking around, I found out that there was a helicopter tour going up to the springs soon. We all returned our skis and snowboards and prepared to leave.


When the helicoptor arrived, we boarded it with some other tourists. The ride was pretty long and very bumpy, but the scenery was beautiful! The snow-capped mountains touched and broke through the clouds that were set in a perfect blue sky. It was an amazing site!


When we got to the springs, we bought some cheap swimsuits and ran out into the cold to the hot springs. Even though it was freezing on the mountain, the springs were warm and relaxing. A tourist who had actually planned to go to the springs told us that the springs were heated by the dormant volcano's hot lava that was still inside. It worried me a little that we were swimming in lava, but she said that it was only heated by the lava, like a pot on a hot stove. I was then able to relax and enjoy the theraputic qualities of the mineral hot spring.


Well I'm running out of time today, so I will sign out for now. Next time you will hear about our hike up the Iranian Plateau, so be sure to stick around. Happy blogging!