Some hiking routes are beautiful because of the destination.
Others are beautiful because of everything that happens along the way.
Khorisari was definitely the second kind for me.
This is one of the most interesting hiking routes I have done in Kazbegi in terms of views, landscapes and just the overall experience. The route is almost the same one you take when visiting Khelitsadi Lake. On the first day, you reach the beautiful campsite called Samotkhis Sabanake, which translates roughly as “Heaven’s Campsite.” On the second day, you start from the campsite and climb toward Khorisari Summit, which is somewhere around 3,736 meters above sea level.
And the views from the top?
Absolutely mind-blowing.
You can see mountains in every direction, enormous rocky landscapes, snow-covered peaks and, in the distance, even Khelitsadi Lake.
It is one of those places that has so much to offer that I honestly think every hiker should visit it at least once.
And I know for sure that I will come back again.
Anyway, let’s start from the beginning.
Discovering the Event
Ann and I discovered this hiking event almost by accident, and it immediately grabbed our attention.
The event was organized by Green Zebra.
Ann was a little afraid of Green Zebra because, in Georgia, they are probably the most famous hiking group for difficult events. The people who organize their hikes are very experienced, and many of the people who join them are in really good shape.
Ann actually wanted to visit Khelitsadi Lake during the summer of 2026, but she was worried about joining Green Zebra because she thought she wasn’t in good enough shape for one of their hikes.
Honestly, I still believe she would have handled it pretty well if she had tried.
Anyway, we decided to join the two-day Khorisari event.
And there was a funny part.
Ann didn’t know that this event included crossing the Khorisari ridge — the exact same ridge you cross when going to Khelitsadi Lake, and one of the hardest parts of that hike.
So, without even going to Khelitsadi Lake, Ann was basically going to experience the hardest part of the route anyway.
But let’s not rush.
The story needs to be told one step at a time.
Getting Ready
We decided to go, just the two of us.
Sadly, Tako couldn’t join us because our son wasn’t ready to stay away from Mom for two days. We tried the babysitter idea, but he wasn’t having it.
So Tako had to stay home.
We packed all the essentials: food, tents, sleeping pads, clothes, camera equipment and everything else we needed for two days in the mountains.
Then we headed to Didube Metro Station, where Green Zebra usually gathers before their hikes.
And there was a really nice surprise waiting for us there.
We met Lentro, one of the old Green Zebra guides.
I have known Lentro for quite a while. Tako and I had previously gone with him on our legendary XTP hike — nine days!
I had also been with him in several other places, including Khelitsadi Lake and Udziro Lake.
So I was really happy to see him again.
We talked for a little while, caught up here and there, and soon enough everyone got onto the microbus.
The journey toward Kazbegi had begun.
The Road to Kazbegi
After roughly three or four hours, we finally reached the starting point.
We got our gear out of the microbus, prepared ourselves, had some snacks and started walking.
The first day of the hike was actually quite easy.
For the most part, we followed a somewhat ruined car road. After a while, we turned left and started climbing toward the mountains.
The uphill section wasn’t particularly long — maybe two or three kilometers — and the elevation gain wasn’t huge either.
As we climbed higher, the views started opening up.
We could see the village of Sno below us, as well as the Mna Gorge.
The Mna Summit was also visible, and honestly, it looked like something from another world.
We were doing this hike in September, and even from a distance you could already see snow covering some of the mountains.
That is one of the things I love about the mountains.
You can be walking through relatively warm weather, and then suddenly you look toward a distant peak and realize that winter has already arrived there.
️ Samotkhis Sabanake — Heaven’s Campsite
After the uphill section, we reached a flatter part of the route.
The walking became much easier.
After another kilometer or two, we finally reached the entrance to Samotkhis Sabanake — Heaven’s Campsite.
And honestly, the name makes perfect sense.
It is a beautiful valley sitting right in the middle of enormous mountains.
For me, this was actually my second visit to the place.
For Ann, it was her first.
And she loved it.
We placed our tents a little above the shepherds’ tents, right above the sheep farm. The water source was around 300–400 meters away, so getting water wasn’t really a problem.
The campsite itself was beautiful.
Ann managed to set up her tent, and I helped her because I had to teach her how to do it.
Soon enough, we were both ready.
Instead of just sitting around the campsite, we decided to explore the area a little.
We climbed the left side of some small rocks so we could get a better view of the valley.
By the time we started climbing, the sun had begun disappearing behind the mountains.
And that is when the temperature changed almost instantly.
This is one of the craziest things about mountain environments.
One moment you are warm.
Then the sun disappears.
And suddenly…
Freezing.
We immediately put on almost all the clothes we had.
Golden Hour in the Mountains
The sunset made everything look absolutely fantastic.
Golden hour in the mountains is something else.
The entire landscape changes color.
We could see Mkinvartsveri in all its glory. We could see the Mna Summit and the strange landscapes surrounding us, which looked like they had been shaped by some violent volcanic activity millions of years ago.
I took a ridiculous number of photographs.
Of course.
That’s what I do.
We spent quite a while on the rocks, taking photos and enjoying the view.
Eventually, we went back down to the campsite.
We made some hot drinks and food using our gas stove.
And honestly, having something hot to drink in the mountains after sunset is such a huge comfort.
It might be something as simple as tea or coffee, but after being outside in the cold, it feels incredible.
Waiting for the Milky Way
After the sun was completely gone, I decided to take some more landscape photographs.
I also managed to get a really beautiful photograph of Mkinvartsveri during golden hour.
Eventually, I went inside my tent.
But I wasn’t planning to sleep for the whole night.
My plan was to wake up a couple of hours later, when it was completely dark, and try some astrophotography.
So I set my alarm and went to sleep for a little while.
When the alarm went off, I went outside.
And I couldn’t believe my luck.
The Milky Way was right above Mkinvartsveri.
It was one of those moments when you walk outside expecting nothing and suddenly realize that the sky is absolutely perfect.
I set up my tripod, took a couple of photographs and was really happy with the results.
You can see some of those shots in this post as well.
Then I decided to make a timelapse.
I connected my power bank to the camera, set everything up and started recording.
I also set another alarm for two hours later so I could go outside and check the camera.
Then I went back to sleep.
And basically, the whole night went like that.
Sleep.
Wake up.
Check camera.
Go back to sleep.
Repeat.
The Dew Problem
Unfortunately, the timelapse wasn’t perfect.
The dew kept forming on my lens, which made the image blurry.
I regretted not buying a dew heater so much.
At some point I was thinking:
“Why didn’t I buy that stupid dew heater?”
Still, the night wasn’t wasted.
Around five in the morning, I got another really interesting shot.
Below us, in the valley of Samotkhis Sabanake, mist had started rising.
It covered the lower part of the valley and made the whole place look incredibly mysterious at night.
I had been awake for most of the night, but I was happy with what I had managed to capture.
And now it was time to prepare for the real objective of the trip.
Khorisari Summit.
️ Day Two — Khorisari Summit
Morning finally arrived.
Ann and I got up, handled the usual small hygiene things, ate breakfast and prepared ourselves.
You really need a lot of energy for what comes next.
Soon enough, the entire group was ready.
We started walking at around 07:20.
The first forty minutes or so weren’t particularly difficult.
We climbed gradually and slowly made our way higher.
But after that…
The real fun began.
The Legendary Khorisari Ridge
The Khorisari Ridge.
This is the section that you also cross when visiting Khelitsadi Lake, and it is considered one of the toughest parts of that route.
And now I understood why.
The terrain becomes extremely steep and difficult.
The ground is mostly a mixture of rocks, dirt and loose material.
Every time you step forward, the ground seems to pull you backward.
It feels like:
Two steps forward.
One step backward.
Over and over again.
The ridge is already high and challenging, but the terrain underneath makes everything twice as difficult.
Ann felt every single meter of it.
But she was still happy.
And honestly, I was impressed with her.
Chamois!
Right near the bottom of the ridge, we noticed some animals in the distance.
There were several chamois higher up on the mountain.
I was so happy to see them.
I had seen chamois before, when I went to Khelitsadi Lake with Lentro, so seeing them again immediately brought back those memories.
I pulled out my Sony A7 III with the Tamron 28–200mm and started taking photographs.
This is one of those moments when I really regret not having a 600mm lens.
A 600mm would have been absolutely perfect.
But I had the Tamron 28–200, so I did my best.
And honestly, I think I managed to get some pretty good shots.
You can judge the results yourself.
We continued climbing.
We stopped here and there for short rests.
Some people eventually decided to turn back because the climb had become too difficult and they were completely exhausted.
The mountain was definitely testing everyone.
Snow in September
After a couple of hours, we finally reached the top of the ridge.
And there was still snow there.
Can you imagine that?
Early September.
And we were walking through snow.
It was quite cold, but the sun was shining brightly.
We got really lucky with the weather.
Even though the air was cold, the sunshine kept us warm.
We decided to wait for the rest of the group.
Ann and I took some photographs, enjoyed the views and ate some snacks.
I had carried all of our food in my backpack.
And this is where I discovered something funny about my Osprey backpack.
It turns out the removable head can actually be turned into a separate waist bag.
I had never really used it that way before.
And it turned out to be perfect.
It basically carried all the smaller things we needed while we were walking around.
️ The Route to Khelitsadi
Once everyone had reached the ridge, we continued toward the summit.
Some people decided to stay behind because they were already too tired.
And this is actually the exact place where things become interesting if you are hiking toward Khelitsadi Lake.
From here, if you are doing the Khelitsadi route, you continue across the ridge and then descend toward the lake.
You don’t climb Khorisari Summit.
So if you manage to reach this point while hiking toward Khelitsadi Lake, you can already say that you have overcome one of the hardest parts of that hike.
Ann had unknowingly signed up for exactly that section.
She thought she was avoiding the Khelitsadi challenge.
Instead, the Khelitsadi challenge came to her.
Scree vs. Rocks
We continued upward.
Another steep section started.
But this one was actually a little easier than the previous ridge.
The reason was the terrain.
Instead of constantly fighting loose ground, we were now mostly climbing over large rocks.
The previous section was more like a scree slope — lots of loose stones and smaller rocks that move underneath your feet.
This section had much larger rocks, which gave us something solid to step on.
It was still difficult.
But it felt much more manageable.
After around thirty minutes, we reached the bottom of the final summit section.
And even from there, the view was already absolutely mind-blowing.
Mountains surrounded us in every direction.
There was snow everywhere.
The wind was strong.
And the panorama was enormous.
And we weren’t even at the summit yet.
We rested for a little while.
Then came the final push.
️ Khorisari Summit — 3,736 m
And then…
We made it.
Khorisari Summit.
We had finally reached the highest point of the mountain.
And once again, just like when I visited the Sherkhota mountains in the past, the landscape around Khelitsadi looked like something from another planet.
Mars-like landscapes.
Huge rocky mountains.
Snow.
Deep valleys.
And Khelitsadi Lake visible in the distance.
It was absolutely incredible.
Needless to say, I took a ridiculous number of photographs.
We posed.
I photographed the other hikers.
They photographed us.
Everyone was taking pictures.
We had worked hard to get there, and everyone wanted to remember the moment.
When more people finally reached the summit, we took a group photograph as well.
And then something completely unexpected happened.
Watermelon at 3,700+ Meters
There were two girls in the group who arrived a little later.
And they brought with them…
A small watermelon.
And a pineapple.
Can you imagine?
A summit at more than 3,700 meters above sea level, after one of the hardest climbs of the trip…
And suddenly hikers are sitting there eating watermelon and pineapple.
It was hilarious.
And honestly, it was one of the most memorable moments of the entire hike.
Nobody expected it.
But everyone loved it.
One of Those Moments
We stayed at the summit for a while.
We enjoyed the views.
Took more photographs.
Talked.
Rested.
And just tried to absorb the fact that we were standing at more than 3,700 meters in the middle of the Kazbegi mountains.
Moments like this stay with you.
Not just because of the landscape.
But because of everything that happened to reach it.
The early morning.
The cold.
The difficult ridge.
The scree.
The snow.
The chamois.
The exhaustion.
The people who turned back.
The watermelon.
Everything.
And I am really glad I had my camera with me because I know I will want to look back at these photographs years from now.
The Chamois Came Back
Eventually, it was time to descend.
Going down was much easier compared with climbing that terrain.
Our legs were tired, but gravity was finally working with us instead of against us.
And Khorisari still had one small surprise waiting for us.
On the way down, we encountered the chamois again.
I immediately pulled out my camera and took more photographs.
They are truly magnificent creatures.
Very beautiful, very agile and somehow perfectly adapted to these insane mountains.
Once again, I wished I had a 600mm lens.
Maybe one day.
The Bear Story
After several hours, we eventually reached the bottom of the ridge.
Soon enough, we were back at the campsite.
And this is where things became a little spooky.
Some of the people who had turned back earlier started telling us stories that the shepherds had shared with them the previous night.
Apparently, a huge bear had come to the farm recently, taken one of the sheep and eaten it.
O_O
Suddenly, I understood something.
The night before, the only thing separating a possible bear coming down from the mountains and the sheep farm…
was our tents.
And apparently, this bear visits the farm quite often.
Maybe our tents scared it away.
Maybe it didn’t come because there were too many people.
Who knows?
But after hearing the story, I suddenly understood why some of the people had slept so badly that night.
I had been outside in the middle of the night doing astrophotography, completely unaware that a bear had apparently been visiting the neighborhood.
Probably better that way.
Back to Civilization
Eventually, everyone came back down.
People rested, packed their backpacks and prepared for the final descent.
And just like that, our two-day adventure was coming to an end.
We started walking back.
The hike was over.
And everyone was happy.
We had been incredibly lucky with the weather.
There wasn’t too much mist.
The panoramic views were absolutely mind-blowing.
We saw chamois.
We walked through snow in September.
We climbed to more than 3,700 meters.
We saw Khelitsadi Lake from above.
We spent a night in Samotkhis Sabanake.
I photographed the Milky Way.
And Ann successfully conquered one of the hardest sections of the Khelitsadi route without even realizing that was what she was signing up for.
Two Days, a Lifetime of Memories
When I think about this hike now, what I remember most isn’t just the summit.
It’s the whole experience.
The road to Kazbegi.
Meeting Lentro again.
Walking toward Samotkhis Sabanake.
Watching the sun disappear behind the mountains.
Feeling the temperature drop almost instantly.
Drinking something hot beside the tents.
Waking up in the middle of the night and finding the Milky Way directly above Mkinvartsveri.
Trying to make a timelapse while fighting the dew.
Watching mist rise from the valley around five in the morning.
Getting up before everyone else.
Starting the climb at 07:20.
Fighting the Khorisari ridge.
Watching Ann conquer every difficult section.
Seeing chamois.
Walking through snow in early September.
Reaching the summit.
Looking at Khelitsadi Lake from above.
Eating watermelon and pineapple at more than 3,700 meters.
Hearing the bear story after coming back down.
And finally walking back toward civilization with that feeling you only get after completing something difficult.
This is why I love hiking.
In the city, weekends can disappear incredibly quickly.
You wake up.
Maybe go somewhere.
Watch something.
Eat something.
And suddenly Monday is already here.
Nothing particularly memorable happens.
But in the mountains?
Two days can feel like a completely different lifetime.
In just two days, you can climb a 3,700+ meter mountain, sleep under the stars, photograph the Milky Way, see wild animals, walk through snow, meet interesting people, discover landscapes that look like another planet and create memories that stay with you for years.
That’s what Khorisari gave me.
And honestly…
I know I will come back.
