In September of 2009, Daria and I had a chance to do some hiking in the Western Caucasus Mountains of Russia. A world of difference from our usual hiking in Death Valley, the Caucasus Mountains most reminded us of some hiking we had done in Alaska. The fact is, hiking is not a very popular activity in Russia. In fact, there are very few actual trails and much of the mountain regions surrounding towns is largely unexplored territory. However, we managed to find this amazing place with a trail about 100km west of Sochi, which is going to be hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Western Caucasus Mountains were very interesting and beautiful. They are located directly next to the Black Sea, which we spent several days swimming in before and after the hike. To reach the trailhead, we had to catch a ride in the back of an old Russian military truck, which was quite an experience in itself. The truck we were on blitzed through the dirt and gravel roads like they were nothing. And close to ten times, the truck drove full speed through riverbeds, which caused a massive splash of water to rain down upon everybody in the back, drenching us completely. If only I could use one of these vehicles in Death Valley, I thought to myself, no more locations in the park would be off limits to me any longer. Once we arrived at the trailhead, the hike proceeded to follow a beautiful creek with four waterfalls up through the forest. It was an amazing hike that we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Our hiking group (which included 5 Russian friends) standing behind the old Russian military truck. We stopped here halfway through the drive and most of us put garbage bags over ourselves because we were getting soaked:
Sometimes there was a bridge to drive over. Other times, the truck powered through the riverbed and drenched everybody in the back. I was miserable and cold everytime that happened:
Daria at the starting point for the hike:
The hiking trail navigated through the forest of the Western Caucasus Mountains:
The Caucasus Mountains in Russia have some of the tallest trees in Europe:
In the next four pictures, we continue progressing through the thick forest:
The trail emerged from the thick canopy of the forest and began closely following a creek:
The creek water was a murky grey due to the sediment which is being carried down from the mountains. This color reminded me a lot of water in Alaska:
A lot of times the trail would merge with the creek, so navigating through and not getting wet was challenging:
I found this natural spa to soak in. The water was cool, but refreshing and gave me a chance to clean off all that muddy water which had rained down upon me during the drive:
Looking at the hillside and surrounding terrain:
Small waterfalls were abundant throughout the hike. This place was very beautiful:
Here we reached the first of four major waterfalls:
We bypassed the waterfall and then looked back down:
Looking down from an even higher vantage point:
The next three pictures show some pretty pools of water as we continued our hike:
And the next two pictures give you views of the forest surrounding the creek we were hiking through:
The is the second major waterfall on the hike:
There was actually a steel cable just to the left of the picture which allowed us to climb up the side of the waterfall:
Looking back down the second waterfall after pulling ourselves up:
Finally reaching the third waterfall, which was the highest and most majestic:
Zooming in on the upper portion of the third waterfall:
Our group included myself, my dear wife Daria, our friend Cesar, and five Russian friends who lived in the Krasnodar region:
Left to right, that's Daria, Deanna, Lena, Tanya, and Sveta:
One more view of the third waterfall from a side angle:
We were hiking with a few others in our group (not shown). At this point, the trail continued steeply up to bypass the third waterfall, as you can see. Our hiking leader said nobody was allowed to continue, because it was too dangerous. But once it was translated in Russian that I was a professional hiker, I was authorized to continue hiking on my own:
I easily bypassed the third waterfall and took this picture looking back down the falls:
This is a view of the top of the falls before it plummets over the edge:
Steve relaxing on his own as he continued the hike to see more special places:
I ended my hike when I reached this fourth waterfall. There was no more trail, and I wasn't prepared to hike cross-country at the time:
Standing by the fourth waterfall, which I felt was the prettiest of them all:
Another view of the fourth waterfall from the side. I wish that Daria could have been able to see this place:
And we end with a picture of Daria and Steve in front of the third waterfall:
