What kind of a hiker are you?
I am in Mestia, a hiker’s paradise with many hikers village hopping.
Where they start in one village, stay overnight in a guesthouse, and continue until the next town. I met a young man the other night who told me he walked from the village over, and it took him 9 hours, and then in the morning, he was off until the next town.
I am not this kind of hiker.
I wake up in the morning, have some coffee, maybe some food, and decide, why yes, today sounds like a great idea to hike a round trip 6–7 hour hike to see a glacier.
I sometimes have a piece of fruit; today, I had a Khachapuri (cheese bread) for breakfast, the other half I had on the walk back down, and a banana and an apple.
It was a fantastic hike, walk, long joint, whatever you would like to call it, and now my whole body is wondering what happened. It was only 11 miles!
It was easier than my last-minute decision to hike to the bottom of a canyon in Colombia. The other day I did something similar; I will never learn.
Oh, but then I see the real hikers with the boots, the poles, and the backpack like they are planning for the apocalypse or possibly running out of food on the 10–18km hike.
I walk past them, sitting, having a full-on picnic lunch as I snack on my cheese bread, and glad they had a free water refill station. I would have had a rough walk back if they did not.
The hikers probably look at me and think, is she even a real hiker, no Bob, I am not, but I am a real walker; isn’t a hike just a walk?
It’s just in nature; maybe up a hill, perhaps I had some hidden gummy bears like the guide who took me up a mountain in Colombia; he even carried coffee and sweets, now that is my kind of hiker.
Then you see those who took the bus, the 7k, and only hiked the short distance to the glacier. They have kids and never a backpack or water, sometimes even walking in sandals.
Then you have the Colombian hikers, hiking in jeans and long-sleeved shirts and never breaking a sweat. Sometimes they don’t even bring hardcore water without even realizing it.
I fit a bit in the middle; I enjoy walking.
It’s not a competition; I don’t need to plan it, and I sure don’t need to pack everything I own. I also don’t want to hike from village to village.
I have been in my guesthouse for almost a week; I asked the hostess if people usually stay this long. She laughs at me and says no.
Usually, it’s one night, and they leave; I might be her longest guest. I will never understand; I will eventually go to another village and probably stay there for a week.
I like to explore the area that I am in, not just stop for a night and continue, but I understand most people are on a time crunch and have a goal and want to finish something.
I am enjoying the journey; I am unsure when I will go on a walk in the wilderness again tomorrow or when I will leave this guesthouse, perhaps tomorrow, who knows.
So what kind of hiker are you?
Oh, today I hiked to Chalaadi Glacier here in Mestia, Georgia. It was amazing, but you do have to cross this daunting bridge to get there!
XOXO
S
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