Friends, Family & Loved Ones,
So great to wake up this morning and see the beautiful pine forests of the Baksan Valley outside of our hotel room window. Now that we’re out of the big city and based at the foot of Mount Elbrus, we’ve turned our attention to the climb itself.
To acclimatize, we went hiking today up to the watchtower about 3,000 feet above our hotel. We climbed, first on a trail and then “off road”. From the top, we could see Elbrus itself, including the lower part of our climbing route. On the way down, we stopped for a photo op at the lovely Maiden’s Hair waterfall.
The Team did really well on the hike today and is looking strong. This afternoon, we did our gear check. Everyone came well prepared and so we breezed through it and had some time to relax before dinner.
Tomorrow, we’ll acclimatize some more and hike up the ridge on the opposite side of the valley.
Thanks for following!
Carole and Vern
