Gerbekse

Trail from Gerbekse ruins to Çiftlik.
GPS tracking was never switched off, so the track has been simplified in those spots where we stopped for a while (e.g. when visiting ruins).
At Gerbekse there are several tracks marked with a blue wash leading to the main ruins (the churches). Walking off track is practically impossible due to the thick vegetation and/or boulders. The track starting from Church No.3 is marked with red spots, and leads both to Church No.1 and to Çiftlik, depending on whether you turn left or right at the fork.
The red marks end after passing a stone wall (see waypoint). After that point the track is somewhat better visible probably because of increased animal traffic, but not always that clear. Here and there, some black spots sparsely mark the trail (a few of them seem to have a political nature). When you spot one you feel reassured of being on the right track, but they do not provide any effective guidance. Before reaching the craggy ridge overlooking Çiftlik, the trail crosses a more shaded area, so any existing black mark can be easily overlooked. Whether we did it or not, we ended up at the upper end of a short couloir, which did not look reassuringly safe, and suggested to look for alternative crossings. Seeing a couple of clear paths leading to the ridge about 20 metres lower from where we were standing, we slid down over some rocky surface to reach them. This time we got the right spot. The first part of the descent goes through a short steep couloir terraced to make it passable. Once out of the couloir, things get more difficult because of the very steep and loose terrain.

Summing up, the track is easy/moderate up to the ridge (in some places, see profile, maybe a bit steep), the descent to Çiftlik can be difficult and require a bit of concentration. Walking the path the other way around, i.e. from Çiftlik to Gerbekse, is probably easier, but then you still need to go back to Çiftlik.

Walk time from Church No.2 to the ridge was about 1h40m. The descent to Çiftlik took about 40 minutes, but I was delayed. On the photo the whole mountain hang looks easy accessible because of all the greenery. Most of it however consists of Sarcopoterium spinosum shrubs. Wearing long trousers, a time of less than 30 min should be easily attainable.

An old Lonely Planet publication, Trekking in Turkey, describes a path to Gerbekse starting from Belen (above Bayır on the road to Çiftlik). In Gerbekse, one of those blue marked tracks leads in the right direction but as we only followed it briefly I do not know whether it is the right one.