16th September: Mestia, Georgia
The weather is due to turn later today, with the heatwave which has been afflicting this part of the world finally set to break. We’re pleased with our decision to put the effort in to some long travel days to make sure we got to the mountains a few days earlier. We weren’t to know when we booked, but it’s likely made all the difference. Therefore, today is another trip out of Mestia.
One of my ambitions for a very long time has been to see a glacier up close and this area has multiple mid-sized valley glaciers. The most easily reachable from Mestia is Chalaadi, so we decided to find somebody to drop us at the nearest vehicle accessible point and to pick us up 3 hours later. It should be possible to hike the 2.5km each way and take a proper look at the glacier easily in that time. Off we set over the extremely rickety footbridge to head up the valley. I was mildly apprehensive as I’d heard that somebody had seen bears, so decided to sing to myself to not startle any. For the bears’ sake, I hope none were nearby.
The first part of the walk was fairly serene, if steep, and through a forest. Things got gradually rockier, and the trail met and followed the torrent of the white-hued glacial river. Up and up, the trees got thinner and the rocks bigger until we were scrambling through terminal moraine boulder fields. It was interesting how cool it felt by the river, compared with the heat of the rocky areas. Eventually, we got our first views of the glacier through the final straggly trees.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Four apparently distinct levels were visible, from the snow on the mountain top, to the white snowpack of the upper glacier, the rock-covered mass of its mid reaches, and finally the grey-brown melting edge where rocks were mixed into the ice.
We ascended further, clambering up the rock-strewn valley. We felt small and insignificant. As we got closer, we could see rocks periodically falling from the glacier face. We pondered how close we could safely get. In truth, there probably was no safe distance given the huge mass above us. Other people got much closer, but we were satisfied with seeing the melt water flowing from a cave under the ice. I did try to go around and up the side of the valley to get a better view of the upper reaches but beat a retreat when realised that the rocks I was climbing were a moraine and indeed a melting part of the glacier itself.
Chalaadi Glacier has retreated an astonishing 2.3km in the past 200 years, from right where we began our walk to its current front edge. As we descended back to the foot of the valley, it was testament to the power of ecology that the forests had sprung up and created a new ecosystem in the past 200 years. This fast change is one of the most powerful visual representations of the impact humanity has had on global temperatures since the start of the industrial revolution. Feeling it in person felt visceral, despite having read and seen numerous examples in theory.
Back in Mestia in time for a late lunch, we filled up on veggies and had a relaxing afternoon sitting with tea on the balcony and learning more about Georgia. Hopefully, tomorrow will be more of the same as we have a planned spare day here. There was still time for a stroll up the valley before sunset, although by then the clouds had set in. Some of the towers away from the town give more of an idea of how this area would’ve looked historically.
Luckily, we still made it back (through the cows!) before the rains began late in the evening and the temperature began to drop. The trees are just beginning to show signs of yellows and reds here. Perhaps this was the moment that summer turned to autumn in the Caucasus.
