meet up at Didube station | towards the mountains |
Both arriving from different location and at different time, we set Didube bus station as a meeting point. That worked well and in the afternoon we continue by marshrutka to Kazbegi, which is a village right below Mount Kazbek.
walking up from Kazbegi | next day morning neat Tsminda Sameba Church |
In Kazbegi we repacked our backpacks and started to climb up. With the arrival of dark we pitched our tent near Tsminda Sameba Church at 2170m.
walking to Arsha Pass | Kazbek and the Gergeti Glacier |
Today was a long day. With very heavy backpacks (around 25 kgs - we carried quite some water supplies) we climbed to Kazbek Base Camp at 3670m. A former meteostation serves as a hut today, but we did rather tent nearby.
former Meteostation at 3670m, nowadays Kazbek Base Camp | next day, walk to the Advanced Base Camp |
Following day was about move to Advanced Base Camp at 3860m, from where we made an acclimatization hike up to 4150 meters.
acclimatization walk up to 4150m, Khmaura Wall | following morning at 4450m |
Night was cold, windy and we did not get much sleep. However at 3:30AM starts the action and after a small breakfast we begin the climb. We pass below Khmaura Wall and continue over glacier to Kazbek Pass (4453m) at the border with Russia. Weather is great, but wind is very strong and chills the temperature below -10C.
view from 4650m, in the far back on the right is Elbrus (5642m) | both of us at the summit (5047m) |
At 4650m we are (illegaly) entering Russia and terrain gets steeper. The wind force further increases and it's not far from to blow us down. We reach col at 4844m and continue steep section to the summit. Then there is nowhere to climb, we are standing at 5047m and enjoying views all over Caucasus.
view from the top on the Western Caucasus | next day, descending to Kazbegi |
We spent one more night in the ABC and next day made the descent to Kazbegi. Follows a three hours long ride to Tbilisi, where we anchor in a nice "Why not Tbilisi?" hostel.
and back in Tbilisi at Didube |
Following day was fully dedicated to sightseeing around the city, which is dejá vu for me, but no matter. In the evening Blazej heads to the airport as his flight takes off in the very early AM hours. I stay one more night and leaving Georgia next day prior noon. Awesome trip!
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