Pokut Plateau

Pokut sits at around two thousand metres on a shoulder above the Fırtına valley, and it is a yayla - a summer settlement rather than a village, occupied by Hemşin families who bring animals up from the coast when the snow clears and go down again in autumn. The houses are the reason to look: timber built on stone bases, with cantilevered upper floors projecting out over the slope on beams, weathered grey, in a vernacular found only in this corner of the Black Sea. The other reason is the cloud. Moist air comes up the valleys from the sea and condenses below the plateau, so on many mornings the settlement stands above an unbroken white layer with the Kaçkar peaks on the far side - the deniz bulutu, cloud sea, which is what people come and stay overnight for. Several houses take guests. The road up is steep, unpaved and slow; walking from Şenyuva takes three to four hours.

The landscape

• The cantilevered houses - timber yayla buildings on stone bases.
• The cloud sea - the white layer filling the valley below.
• The Kaçkar peaks - the range across the cloud.
• The summer settlement - families and animals up for the season.

When to go

June to September; the plateau is snowbound and empty otherwise. Stay overnight for the morning cloud, which is a dawn phenomenon.

What to expect

The road is rough and steep - a low car will not manage it, and guesthouses arrange transfers. Nights are cold even in August. Facilities are basic guesthouses with limited power and shared bathrooms. Cloud may simply be rain.

Nearby

Zilkale and Palovit falls are in the valley below; Ayder and the Kaçkar trailheads are east.

Key facts