27.07 - 8.08.2019
Georgia is calling, the mountains are calling. If you can, you must! This is how the introduction to Kazbegi began when we started putting together a travel group at the end of 2018. Why Georgia? Because it's nice there! It's possible to squeeze both a mountain hike and a city trip into a vacation lasting a little over a week, and enjoy plenty of local culture. And oh, where are the mountains! Our goal was set as the third highest mountain in Georgia, the peak of which reaches 5054 meters above sea level. The mountain is quite technical, but with good training, the right skills and a little luck, it can be done by anyone. Now, let's get into more detail.
Our trip started at Riga airport, where we met with the group. Not everyone knew each other yet, but hiking is an activity where you can make lifelong friendships, which is why the ice was quickly broken. Everyone knew someone and many had already practiced cooperation in previous training camps. It should be mentioned that in addition to the equipment list and training recommendations provided in advance, we also had a couple of larger gatherings where we practiced rope techniques together and got to know each other better. Hard during training, easy in battle! But let's continue with the trip. As usual, there was a bit of hustle and bustle at the airport this time too, to get all the luggage delivered and to get to the right gate. One small piece of advice. Take your own packing film with you, because hiking bags have hanging parts that can get stuck somewhere, so it's a good idea to wrap your bag. If wrapping at the airport costs 12 euros, you can get a roll from the packaging center for 5 euros. The flight was late and we arrived in Tbilisi early in the morning, where our acquaintance Vasho was already waiting for us, who put all our stuff on the bus with the people and took us to Stepansminda. When we arrived, the shops were still closed, but the hotel breakfast table was open and we had a nice breakfast. We put our bags on the terrace, ate, had coffee and did some final packing and equipment checks. Our goal was to see the sunrise from the terrace - wonderful. We were able to move before lunch. At first, my approx. 35-kilogram bag seemed quite heavy, but over time I got used to it. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and the night spent sleeping on the plane/bus didn't seem so bad. When we got through the village, the trail started to pick up. A nice hiking trail winding through mountain meadows. The pace was calm, but about halfway through we did a light re-distribution of things to lighten the load. We knew that the next day would be harder. The plan was to climb about 350 meters to reach the camp at Trinity Church. About two hours of leisurely walking and we were there. We put the tents down and explored the surroundings, we went to the church, where we could also get water and use the toilet. Horses were running freely in the nice big green field, and they also unexpectedly stumbled onto one of our tents at night. I woke up to a squeal from the next tent and heard a horse galloping away. At one point I was scared, what if one of us galloped over?
Before we continue with the hike, I'll take the time to quickly introduce our group. There were 12 of us in total, divided into three groups of four. The gender distribution was 25% women and 75% men. The youngest was in his early twenties and the oldest was in his early forties.
The second day started windy, because the morning sun was still hidden behind the mountain, but when the first rays of sunlight began to shine, we could also take off our clothes and enjoy the pleasant warmth. Of course, we couldn't enjoy ourselves for long, because the morning routine required something to do. Each camp heated their own water to warm up the Tactical food pack. Everyone could choose the right packs for themselves. Tents were packed, a quick run to the church, for those who didn't want to sit behind a rock, and a bag on their back to move up. We were on our way at nine, packing took longer, because the group is large and not everyone is used to moving out quickly. The first climb was quite steep and we deliberately took a leisurely pace so as not to tire ourselves out right at the beginning. As usual, we took breaks after a certain time, but otherwise we continued up, a little flat and up again. After a three-hour hike, we reached the ridge, where a wide view of both our goal and the next camp opened up, but there was still a long way to go from there. We rested and enjoyed the beautiful view, some of them had already left to take the better camping spots in the camp. I calmly followed the others. Just before the camp we crossed the first fast mountain river. When we arrived there were even tent spots, but as the day progressed the spots filled up. Everyone had a different camp routine. I lay on a mat in front of the tent, sunbathed and read a book. Some went on along the trail for a short acclimatization walk. At 3000 m, where we were, there was also a really nice hut where you could play cards and refresh your body with a cold drink. There was also the option of staying overnight and eating, but we had satisfied those needs ourselves. We played “werewolf” for quite a long time and went back to the tent in the dark.
The weather on the third day was mostly sunny, with light cold gusts of wind. During the day, you could still walk with short sleeves, but at times you had to put on a sweater. The walk started out green, but soon turned rocky. We crossed a fast-flowing mountain river and soon we were at the first glacier for many, called the Gergeti Glacier. For both safety and exercise, we went up with ropes and crampons, although other groups were sliding past us without ropes or crampons. We had seen horses passing by before, but it was our first experience to see horses rolling up on a flat but slippery melted glacier. One of them also had a foal with him, but in the end we saw them both at the camp above and on the road coming down. The goal of the day, the old meteorological station, at 3700 m, was already visible from afar but we couldn't get any closer. My body was already starting to feel like it was getting harder, and when we reached the end of the glacier, we took a short break, because the last few hundred meters were straight up a rocky slope. When we got there, I was in a bad mood, at least. Some people had it better, some worse. We spread out the campsites, pushed the tents up, and got into our routine. I went straight to my sleeping bag to take a few hours of nap. Although I had slept well the night before, except for a few awakenings during the thunderstorm, when it seemed like someone was outside with a flashlight and was shining a strobe light directly at the tent. But when the roar came, it was clear that it was just thunder. After a nap, I joined the others in a cafe, where I got a local beer for 17 lari. Some also tasted pancakes and mulled wine. In the evening, the weather turned pretty bad, and we even had to get out our warm jacket to enjoy the sunset (and the mobile phone coverage there). I shared a tent with Allan and Kristen. Our three-person tent accommodated us nicely, but there wasn't much room for things, so we left at least one bag under the cover outside for the night. The ventilation wasn't great, so sometimes we left the zippers a little open in nice weather, which paid off some nights, and the guy on the zipper had to act quickly when the rain poured down on the tent.
Meteo station or Betlem hut is the highest building in Georgia. Originally created by alpinists, the hut was also used for meteorology research. Today, weather science has disappeared and only the hut remains, which is being improved every year. Only last year, there was a toilet at the current location of the cafe, but now there were windows in front and you could drink warm mulled wine. The toilet has been moved a few dozen meters from the hut, with two seats, no view (except for the mountain looking out the window) and exactly so far from our tents that going there gave me a headache.
The night was windy and the tent was shaking a lot, which disturbed my sleep. Around 2 am it got quieter and I could hear people from the neighboring tent moving towards the summit. I woke up with a slight headache and a feeling of cold, but luckily the plan was to do a light acclimatization hike. The sun was out and there was rarely any wind. The goal was to climb to the glacier border at about 4100 m and come back down. About two hours up and down the rocky path, a few hundred meters away there was a high wall, from which stones would occasionally roll down, and we were at our destination. We were a few hundred meters away in a safe place. We had some snacks and a rest and headed back to camp. I wasn't feeling well and I threw myself in the tent to rest. In the evening my blood pressure was 90 and Sp02 90, which was completely normal. We spent the afternoon in a cafe, where we enjoyed the good and the better things on offer. I got pancakes, beer, and warm mulled wine.
The morning of the fifth day started with a heavy hailstorm, the weather was bad and there was not much time to go outside. Fortunately, it was Allan's turn to make breakfast, so we could continue to laze in the tent in the nature. The initial plan was to go up to the nearby White Cross peak about 200 meters up to acclimatize, but due to the bad weather we canceled it. In the afternoon, we planned to practice the techniques needed for the summit climb anyway. We did the exercises on a small snow patch near the camp, the slope of which was similar to the one we were expecting. We practiced different situations and slid down the slope in every possible way, trying to stop ourselves with a pickaxe. From the afternoon on, we had free time, because we planned to set out for the summit climb at midnight. We checked over our equipment, asked the groups coming down about the weather and conditions, and settled down to rest.
The sixth or peak day! We woke up at midnight and immediately started a late dinner/hidden breakfast to refuel a little warm energy before leaving. Final adjustments and put on our bags. The start was planned at one o'clock, but in reality we started moving a bit later. The weather was great, pleasantly cool and the stars were nicely out. It wasn't cold, we didn't even need warm underwear. We pushed relatively quickly to the edge of the glacier and from there to the endless snow fields. It really seemed like it would never end. You reach a flat hill and the climb starts again. Walking the whole way in a rope, you can only see a row of headlamps further ahead and a few meters in front of you in the dark. At sunrise we reached a pleasantly flat place and took a short break, adjusted our clothes, had a snack and relieved our bodies. At about 45 meters it started to get steeper and the last 150 meters of ascent was very steep. Fortunately, we had practiced for this very moment beforehand, so the battle was easy. The last climb was difficult, but the motivation to reach the top was great. We reached the top by ten o'clock, so it took us just under nine hours to reach the top. The peak was flat but tiny, we couldn't all fit up at once, and since there were other people besides us, we went all the way to the top in groups. Some Bulgarian climbers had dragged an entire melon to the top and happily shared it with their fellow climbers. It was a really interesting experience to eat a melon at 5047 m :D The weather was beautiful all day, although a little windier than usual at the top. The climb had been difficult, so we didn't have to hang around for long. After taking the obligatory pictures, we headed back down. We were tired on the glacier, but the knowledge that the long-awaited rest was waiting for us at the bottom told us to put our feet up. When we reached the camp, we took off our wet boots and went to the tent to rest, while the others had more energy and went to the cafe to impress us.
At the same time as us, there was another smaller, three-member Estonian group on Kazbegi, who were also familiar to us. One of their team members, Indrek to be more precise, was feeling unwell at base camp, but in his Estonian way he didn't really realize it. After three days of feeling unwell, he lost consciousness and local volunteer rescuers evacuated him down (due to bad weather, the helicopter couldn't come to pick him up). In short, not everyone is doing well and it turns out that his body wasn't meant for the mountains. He talks more about it himself on TV3's Surmsuust mäkiudu - LINK
Back down! We woke up at nine and Allan said from the tent when I climbed out “it’s good that the weather has been nice every day while we do our morning chores”, after which the weather of course got really bad. I was the first one out to start cooking in the rain, but when we had eaten and started packing up, the weather got really bad - it was raining horizontally and the wind wanted to blow loose things away. All the things that had been taken out of the tent and were waiting to be packed got wet in seconds and the rest of the packing looked like taking laundry out of the washing machine in reverse. Fortunately, we knew that we wouldn’t need any more hiking gear. With everything in a wet bag, we were able to leave base camp with the group after ten. There was an extraordinary fog on the glacier below, you could already see a person walking a few meters ahead as if it were blurry, not to mention hikers further away. Fortunately, it is a friendly glacier, with no large crevasses or other dangerous places. It turned out that we had veered too far to the left and lost the main path, so when we heard the roar of the water we had to turn around and keep more to the right, it was obviously not practical to go down from the waterfall. While the weather was beautiful and the ground was hard when we came up, the rocks were slippery and the ground was muddy when we went down, I would have even dropped my butt a few times but luckily I stayed upright. We all waited on the small hill of crosses and from there we went down in groups, those who wanted to move calmly came calmly and those who liked a fast pace went faster. From time to time we waited for others to follow. We reached Trinity Church in about six hours. We gathered the group again and took a minibus, which took us down to the village to get to the right bus. We could really consider the mountain hike over and open a beer with relief. On the way, we made a few more small stops to boost the local economy.
When we arrived in Tbilisi, we immediately went to our accommodation, which was located in the city center near Fabrika, we got into our rooms, washed up and took a taxi to go to a proper dinner. The table was set and good wines were in front of us, we enjoyed the company and made toasts to a successful trip. Some still had enough strength to go to the city to party.
The first proper day of rest started at around ten, when those who had arrived home earlier woke up. A bit early for party people, but there's no point in sleeping in all day. We went to the mayor's office for breakfast, followed by a tour of the old town, free time in the shopping center and a boat ride on the river. The weather was beautiful and Tbilisi was pleasant. We also went to the observation deck of the Georgian Mother's gondola to see the city. The walk ended in a sulfur sauna by the river, where we relaxed in a private sauna and let a local washerwoman massage and wash us. An extraordinary experience! With our bodies clean, we walked to a nearby wine cellar to enjoy some good local wine. The highlight of the evening was a Georgian dinner, with dancers and singers. The table was laid according to local custom. At first, it seemed possible that we would be able to eat everything that was served, but halfway through, even the most hardy characters gave up - the quantities were simply insane. The evening ended at a nightclub in the Old Town, where every last bit of energy was danced out of the body.
On the last day, we rested, shopped at the local market, and enjoyed our free time in the city. In the second half of the day, some went shopping and others went to the shooting range to shoot guns. We packed up at our overnight stop and ate our fill at Fabrika, a place near our home. We had a cheap artisanal burger at a pleasant place like Telliskivi. Most of us headed back to Estonia at night. Allan, Kristen, and I went on to a new adventure. More on that soon!
The whole experience can also be viewed in motion:
Until next time!
Kaspar