A Hiker's Paradise

There's still a great deal more to see on our trip, but if someone were to ask me today what place has had the most natural beauty in all the places I had ever traveled to, then I would, without question, say the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia.  I'm sure I would get a few blank stares back at home, until I explained that I meant the country of Georgia and not the state.
We visited two different places in the Greater Caucasus - Mestia and Kazbegi (there are plenty of others) - and both were equally mind-blowing in terms of natural beauty. There really aren't any words to describe how breathtaking it was, but picture small village towns, super fresh cool air, massively steep mountains, glaciers tucked away in almost every valley, and wild horses randomly seen on distant mountain sides.  

Mestia
 

Kazbegi

These regions truly are a hiker's - or any nature lover's - paradise. From the extreme glacier summit climbers to the 3-day trekkers, or even the 8hr day hikers, the options to enjoy nature seem endless. We saw wild horses on two of our four hikes and on all of them we couldn't stop saying, "Wow, where are we?!"

Mestia

The only possible negative part was the potential for over development and tourism run amok.  Although still not a tourist "Hot Spot", the once small village town of Mestia now has futuristic-looking buildings and construction on every corner. It's easy to see why there is such huge potential for tourism, but hopefully it doesn't take away what drew people here to begin with. (This wasn't the case in Kazbegi and, in our opinion, these regions as a whole are still very much "untouched.")

CLICK FOR PICS: Mestia & Kazbegi