Elbrus Expedition Dispatch
June 24, 2009 – The Warmth and Beauty of the Caucasus
Aeroflot brought us a long way today! It is hard to imagine travelling to what feels like one side of the planet to the other; we went from 21st Century Moscow, city life and traffic (cars) to the traffic (cattle) of the Caucasus mountains. We will take with us the lasting memories of our full days and nights in Russia’s great cities, St. Petersburg and Moscow.
One of many pristine valleys in the Caucasus mountain range
It is a very different atmosphere here in the forests of this mountain region. We are happy and relaxed breathing in the cool, clean air.
It is now about 5pm on June 24th and we are back at the lodge after our first mountain hike of this trip. We left the lodge this morning to a trail head close by, and then started our hike up the beautiful valley called Gumuchi Valley. The trail was steep to start and we climbed about 2,500 ft ending up in a glacial basin surrounded by amazing colors of the alpine wild flowers and clear blue skies.
We got up to tree line with many grand peaks surrounding us and more wild flowers. We then sat and rested in the tall grass for a while, working on our acclimatization. Carol caught up on her journal writing; she said she was still writing about getting on the midnight train to Moscow. She had lots of catch-up with all of the events which have happened so far.
Now that we are back at the lodge... (lost transmission)
We prefer the country traffic jam over the city
We hiked up a trail that led to stunning mountain scenery
Left: Terri on our Gumuchi Valley hike
Right: Carol sitting in the meadow catching up on her journal entries