Hiking In the Caucasus Mountains

That's me in the Caucasus above Zaqatala

One reason why I wanted to stay in the north (or middle finger!) is because of the beautiful Caucasus mountains.  Another Peace Corps volunteer from Montana who happens to be a mountaineer asked me if I wanted to do some hiking in the mountains (do birds fly???????)., of course!! So Sunday we met at 10 am and hopped on a marshurutka to "Car" (pronounced Jar - don't ask!!) about a 15 minutes ride straight up the mountain. I was just so excited, it was a beautiful day and perfect for a great hike.  The trails are not like home as most of them are made by either cows (and you know those trails because they leave "cow patties" on them so step carefully), or by shepherds bringing their flock up in the mountains for the summer.  The trails are hit and miss and very steep. We climbed to about 8000 feet and it took a couple of hours with a lot of switchbacks.  We got to the ridge and the view was awesome even though Zaqatala was surround by mountains and it was cloudy or smoggy (not sure which). We had lunch, I brought peanut butter and jam sandwiches, trail mix and oranges.  Boy, it sure tasted good after that long hike.  I took several pictures of a woodpecker who was on a feeding frenzy and didn't notice how close he was to us. 

Start of our hike

Amazing tree

Another beautiful tree

Look at these trees, they were spectacular.  This was a great day. So after we ate and rested, it was time to go back down.  Well, Dustin the mountaineer and I were talking away and kind of miss the trail.  We figured if we go down a ways, we would meet up with it.  Nope, that wasn't happening, going down was extremely steep (thank God, I did have my hiking poles!!), but it was so steep, the poles didn't help and I fell on my butt (okay, I fell a couple of times) and just slide down that mountain.  At least we were going in the right direction (down!!), but mostly on my butt!! Dustin finally picked up the trail and we hiked the rest of the way down (on my feet, I might add).  We cross a small river (3 crossings) and got back down the road to catch the marshurutka back to Zaqatala.  I had asked the family I am staying with before I left that I wanted a shower and believe me when I got back, I sure needed it!! What a great fun day.  Like I said before God was having a good day when he created this part of the world as it is absolutely beautiful!!

Life Challenge:  After climbing a great mountain, one only finds that there are many more mountains to climb!!.... Nelson Mandela (thanks Nelson!!)