Elbrus Expedition Dispatch

July 4, 2009 – Memories of a Rich Russian Experience: Part I

From start to finish this trip was intense, jam packed with experiences that were more varied and memorable than most people could believe that we could be squeezed into two weeks in Russia.

After our stormy exhausting summit day we were keen to get back to lower altitudes and thicker air.

But the anticipation of fast forwarding back through all the places we loved along the way in our journey through Russia and especially savoring more time with our Russian friends as we started for home had each of us excited for more. Russia is fun! We had scarcely 48 hours left to go when we woke up at Garabashi the morning after our summit attempt and we all had a “we will sleep when we get on the plane” attitude about our remaining time in Russia.

As we returned to Moscow we are all very aware that our expedition had been bracketed by the great patriotic holidays of three nations. June 22 for the Russian Federation, July 1, Canada Day, and we woke on American Independence day, July 4th at our hotel across the street Red Square.