mestia - kaskari mt., and back

This is the strangest track that I have walked from Mestia. The best solution is not to walk on it 🤪

Initially, we wanted to climb the Chkhut ridge, but the lazy Saturday start left very little time. We decided to go while there was time, then turn back.

Most of the track is easy to find without a map. After a very short time, less than an hour's walk, you will have wonderful views of Mestia, Ushba and the surrounding area. A great picnic spot can be found there. Then there will be a narrow path among the trees with a sharp rise. After which the road will go horizontally again.

Turning left, you will soon reach another panoramic view, which is equally breathtaking. In good weather, you can see several peaks on both sides at once.

Then the fun begins. There was not enough time to climb the ridge, and I didn`t want to go back the same way. On the map, I saw a small Mount Kaskari. There was no path to it. From below it could be seen that it was covered with trees, it seemed there were a lot of conifers. And one of the slopes abruptly dropped off - from there a good view could open. It was decided to climb on it. Don't repeat my mistake.

Everything started well - we found a road that was not on our map, but it was not even a path, but a full-fledged road. After some time, a path that led into the field departed from the road. At the border of the forest, it was lost in the thickets of bushes.

We pushed our way through a dense layer of branches grabbing our legs, arms and hair. I was constantly clinging to something with my backpack and power bank cord. We found the trail, but it went down, and the top of Kaskaria was only 50 meters above us. Thinking that we are the only people here for many years, we decided to get to the top. I want to forget these 50 meters. There was no path and an ascent was added to pushing through the bushes and fallen trees.

The thought was warming that a cozy meadow with pine trees and a good view awaited us at the top. But no. There were only bushes, twigs, and a small family of ferns at the top. Tired and hungry, we sewed a clearing under a pine tree, surrounded by an army of deciduous trees and had a snack. Decided to return. It seemed like the day was lost.

The descent was easier, but not pleasant. We returned to the path in the field and emerged onto the high road. It continued down. Let me remind you that it was not on our maps. Since it was still time, it was decided to explore this direction. And we didn`t regret it!

The road was smooth and pleasant to walk on. It could be seen that they were riding mountain bikes. But at one stage it turned away from Mestia. But in the right direction there was a small path leading into the trees. Again💀

And then the strangest begins. We walked through fern fields. We saw the tours overgrown with moss, which someone put on it is not known how long ago. I added a stone for every one I met. Just in case. We passed through glades flooded with sunlight with fallen power poles and again forced our way through the branches, but this time in a dark pine forest. We were greeted with dozens of different mushrooms. Some were huge and rotten, others grew in whole scatterings on rotten stumps. We saw a very strange clearing with stones, around which only giant black mushrooms grew - it looked very much like a pagan temple🦄

The path appeared and disappeared. Toors were sometimes quite chaotic. It seemed to be the machinations of forest spirits. And our hike looked more and more like a trip. However, time passed, we moved towards Mestia and safely went to the trail. This is a very unusual forest, very beautiful and ancient. I'm glad I was able to go there.

If you decide to go, do not take a large backpack with you, but take water, repellent, clothes with legs and sleeves.

There is no need to climb Kaskari at all. But walking through the ancient coniferous forest is worth it if you are a fan of all that 🌲

In the last photo, I crossed out the part of the path that leads to Cascari. Just follow the wide road with car tracks.