Gergeti Glacier

I spent last weekend in Stepantsminda, officially named Stepantsminda but still commonly called by its former name Kazbegi. Stepantsminda was originally named after a Georgian monk Stephan but the name was changed to Kazbegi in 1925 during Soviet rule. Given the animosity between Georgia and Russia, it’s not surprising that the name was changed back to Stepantsminda in 2006.

Stepantsminda is a three and a half hour marshrutka ride north of Tbilisi, and it’s one of the most popular places to go hiking (the other is the four day hike from Mestia to Ushguli - more coming on that soon). Kazu and Satori happened to be in Tbilisi as well, so we made the trip to Stepantsminda together.

The hike to Gergeti Glacier was beautiful. We had a very early morning start at 5am in order to beat the forecast of afternoon rain and were rewarded with a glorious sunrise and stunning views of Mt Kazbek, the third highest mountain in Georgia at 5054 meters.

Lush rolling hills on the marshrutka ride up to Stepantsminda. It was difficult to find the right marshrutka because there were several marshrutka car lots scattered near the official bus stations. Many of the taxi drivers categorically denied the existence of a Tbilisi-Stepantsminda marshrutka in order to get me to take a taxi, but luckily some kind locals (and a very detailed step-by-step instruction on how to find the right car lot) directed me to the right place.

Truth! Always prepare for all sorts of whether when hiking, no matter where you are.

Outline of Gergeti Trinity Church against the early morning sunrise

The most magical and mystical sunrise, about an hour into our hike.

These views remind me of the rolling hills in Edinburgh and the Highlands in Scotland. There’s this magical, mystical quality surrounding the light

Mt Kazbek with all the sunrise colors

A mountain hut at the base of Gergeti Glacier and Mt. Kazbek

Kazu, Satori, and I celebrating reaching the glacier!

We met many hikers who were planning to hike to the top of Gergeti Glacier or summit Mt. Kazbek. They brought crampons and ice axes in order to walk on the glacier. At first glance the glacier looks like a dirt path, but it’s only black/gray because of all the rock and pollution that’s colored it this way. It’s definitely ice!

It just so happened to be the Kazbegi Mountain Marathon on the day of our hike! Of course I was thrilled about this. There’s nothing I love more than watching races in person, getting to cheer people on, and witnessing how strong the human body can be.

Pretending to be a part of the race. The Kazbegi Mountain Marathon is a trail running race with four different events, all with different race lengths. However, none of them were actually marathon length, so the name is a bit of a misnomer!

Cheering people on during the long way uphill.

A view of Stepantsminda from above

Another view of Stepantsminda ,but from my hostel balcony.

A view of Gergeti Trinity Church. Historians are unsure of when it was built but estimate it was around the 14th century. I would love to see it in the winter - I imagine the snow covered roof would be stunning.

My hostel is run by a family and is an extension of their family home so we share a kitchen. While I was there the family had received an order to cook for a large group of tourists for a five day period, so they had stocked up on a huge supply of groceries! I thought it was quite funny and cute to see all this produce stashed away.

When we first arrived in Stepantsminda it was lunch time, so we followed our noses to a local bakery. The owner invited us in to see how he and his brother baked the bread. It was so cool to see the bread baked in a traditional manner!

You can see the two khachapuri baking in the oven

Kazu looking very pleased about our acquisition of khachapuri (cheese-filled bread) and lobiani (bean-filled bread). We were lucky to get them straight from the oven so the ooey gooey cheese was scrumptious. The lobiani made a perfect hiking snack for our trip up to Gergeti Glacier.