East above Mestia

An upliftingly beautiful shorter walk, best made in early or late light.

Begins just beyond the north end of the airport, at the base of the hill eastward over the river from town. Follow a dirt track up the hillside above the river, then turn directly uphill for some while, joining a deep old farm track which emerges out to steep, beautiful meadows divided by ancient lines of little hornbeam and other trees on old dykes, now with glorious views out over the Mestia bowl and, more importantly, north up the wide upper Mestiachola valley to the wild confusion of spikes and madly  broken ridges above churning glaciers that constitute the high border ridge.

Swing right (south), and continue to climb, more gently now, up to a knoll, to indulge in a leisurely admiration of the huge circle of peaks, forested slopes and deep valleys around you.

Retrace your steps – or you can follow the contours eastward round along these mid-flanks, then drop back to Mestia, in a couple of  hours.

For more information and photos, including detailed practical information and some warnings, see our Greater Caucasus Mountains walk page.