Today started with our collaboration with Dima, a Georgian archaeologist, who provided us with satellite images of visible architecture on a peak in the Pambak Range. Dima joined us for the initial car ride to a suitable hiking point but he was under the weather and was not able to continue in the ascent. Alan, Ian, and I trekked up the slope and were surprised to be at an elevation where we could actually look down at the Pambak (2700 meters ultimately). I came across a recently constructed Christian shrine and stone structure that overlooked Spitak, which probably has a connection with the 1988 earthquake there. Our attitude about what we would find changed when Alan pointed out a metal quadropod or antenna at the peak. It turned out that the "cromlech" Dima provided for us was actually a Soviet-era geodesic marker for topographical purposes. It was a big letdown. However we did fly the drone around to confirm a lack of architecture there as well as getting a better angle of the surrounding Pambak mountains. It was actually a really incredible view.
I was a bit preoccupied with the fact that Dima did not do enough homework on this before we decided to investigate the peak. The Soviet topo-maps would have probably clarified the positions of these markers and we would have skipped the climb entirely.
Despite the lack of information in this situation, I am still more than happy to explore other areas for potential sites :)