Chalaadi glacier

We went on a hardcore snow hike into the mountains.

When I planned our trip, I looked for a hiking path. I was a bit worried, cause there was a path which went towards Russia, and I found that if you want to get home, then don’t go this way, cause they will first shoot, and then ask. The Georgian – Russian border is not the most peaceful place on Earth, I expected this. We went on another way.

It’s breathtaking to walk here in winter (okay, it was spring, but there was snow till the knee). It was very very difficult to get forward, because of the know. It was difficult to move in the snow, and also the snow level was that high, that it covered the tourist signs (if there were). We tried to go by GPS, but also wasn’t the best.

I had one of my best experience in my life here. Have you ever seen an avalanche? It is awesome. We went next to a river. On one side there were the steep slopes, and high mountains, the other side was much more friendly, with pinetrees (what can stop the avalanche), and less steep landscape. We went on the friendly side of course.

I heard some strange noise, and we didn’t know first what it is. I was kinda shocked when we found the source. On the mountain side, you could see avalanches running down the mountain. It’s crazy to hear, crazy to see. I felt so small and fragile, but also safe from the other side.

We went close to the glacier, but not till the end, cause we had to turn back if we wanted to get back in daylight (and yes, we wanted to get back in daylight). Again strange noises… After a while I recognized, that they are gunshots. I became totally stressed. What if they just started to shoot each other? How will we go down from the hill? How will we survive??? But we went on. After a while (after a long time) the shots ended. When we arrived back to the car, our friend said that they found bear footprints, close to the village. Most likely the people called hunters when they saw the bear, the hunter scared it away with the shots. Lucky, that the bear didn’t come on our way…

Other visited places: Gachedili canyon, Koruldi lakes, Martvili, Kutaisi, Mestia, Zugdidi, Prometheus cave

Wishlist: anything here

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