Summit Day... almost

Yesterday we heard that the weather for today would be good which meant that it would be summit day for the mountaineers attempting to summit Mt. Kazbegi. So we decided that we would have it be summit day for us too - we just had to find the right summit in the area of Jut'a.

Summit day started off spectacularly! At 5am, I looked out the window and let out a gasp as I saw the jaw-dropping sight of Mt Kazbeg looming large over the town. Watching the sun light up the mountain was awesome. We were glad that we didn't leave before getting to see Mt. Kazbeg.

We left early by taxi from Kazbegi to Jut'a. Once again, the breakfast was excellent and large. We are wondering if Georgians really eat this much for meals or if this is just what they do for tourists. The ride to Jut'a was chockful of mountains and valleys with some questionable roads. 

When we arrived in Jut'a, we didn't know where to find our guest house as there are not any roads or addresses. So we wandered around until a kind man pointed us in the right direction. The town is small and in a beautiful setting and our guest house was perfect.

After checking in, summit day was under way. Our destination was Mt Mukhadze. We started off in a sweet valley with big mountains in the background. The cows liked standing in the middle of the trail, so we had to squeeze around them. We called it the "strolling of the heifers" Georgia style. The mountain streams were beautiful, but toe-curling cold. And, the carpet of wildflowers was like a painting.

As we headed up the ridge, the views kept getting better and better. However, we were never quite sure which peak we were going up because there were so many around us. There was one that looked in the right place, but seemed way too difficult so we never thought that it could actually be the one we were hiking. Once we got to the ridge and could see the mountains on the other side, we decided that was far enough - the summit was in the clouds, we have a big hike tomorrow and it looked a little sketchy. There was one casualty on the hike which was a big rip in the butt of one of my favorite pairs of shorts 😕 So, we took some fun pictures (including a "family photo" if you look closely) and headed back down. It is a good thing that pictures are digital as I would never have been able to afford this much film - everything is spectacular so I am taking tons of pictures!

Dinner was at our guest house and was excellent and so-much-food. We chatted with a German family of 5 about traveling in Georgia. Then, we turned in for the night as tomorrow is a big day over the Chaukhi Pass.