Our group met at the railway station in Pyatigorsk at the beginning of July. Vitaly was among the first to arrive. We knew each other from an earlier trek and were pleased to find ourselves heading into the mountains together again. In such high spirits, we even managed to buy all the food and gas we needed before the rest of the group had assembled. We also enjoyed a short walk around the remarkable city of Pyatigorsk. There were five people in our group, which is not very many. Not everyone had climbing experience, but each person was in excellent physical shape. For a trip like this, it seemed an ideal group size. A wonderful sense of camaraderie formed within the very first hour, with plenty of good-natured jokes and healthy sporting ambition. We did not have a single conflict throughout the entire journey. That afternoon, our guide arranged transport to take us to Verkhny Baksan.
Our trek began with a warm-up on a particularly scenic route through the valleys of several small rivers. It included a night near a mountain lake, a crossing of the wonderfully named Syltran Pass, and a short out-and-back walk along a ridge without our large rucksacks. On the first night we climbed a little way above the village and camped near a spring reputed to have healing properties. There was a wonderful evening around the fire, conversation, and our first night in the tents. For most of us, it was the first time we had slept beneath the stars away from town.
The very next day, the members of the group showed their resilience, strength and, of course, endurance. Carrying truly enormous rucksacks, we had to gain a substantial one and a half kilometres in height across difficult terrain. At first the trail ran through forest, where we often had to cross streams. Later we entered a mid-altitude zone with unusual vegetation: dwarf trees, wild flowers and meadow grasses. At times we had to make our way across fields of loose rock, balancing heavy rucksacks on stones that were clearly unstable. As we gained height, patches of snow began appearing more and more often, while the vegetation vanished as if by magic. After a long time wandering along this beautiful route, we finally reached a height of three thousand two hundred metres. A magnificent view of the lake opened up before us, with extraordinarily beautiful pieces of ice floating across it. Bands of melting snow lay on the surrounding mountain slopes, while the higher summits were capped by glaciers. Places like this stir extraordinary emotions in every climber and lift the spirits beyond measure. We decided to pitch camp right on the shore of the lake. At that altitude it was genuinely cold and very windy, especially towards evening, so we had to dress warmly and secure the tent with guy lines. I later learnt that this was a favourite habitat of mountain goats. Whole groups of them regularly wandered around us, sometimes daring to come within a few dozen metres. In the morning, we decided not to deny ourselves the pleasure of a swim in the icy lake.