Goderdzi - Black Sea
3-day bike tour, 21/09 - 24/09/2021
From the Goderdzi Pass [2'025m] which separates east from west Georgia we start a 3 day bike tour through the mountains of Adjara and Guria to the Black Sea. It would be possible to do a short cut and reduce the tour to 2 days as well.
The main luggage will be transported so we carry just our day pack. The nights we spend in a hotel, a guest house and a mountain hut. At the end we plan to jump into the sea. However, the last kilometers would be in the flat following the Natanebi river and are optional. It is the first time that we offer this tour, so we need to find out the best combination.
Arrival
We meet at Goderdzi Pass in the afternoon to check the material and discuss the tour. As we ride just with daypacks, we organise the luggage for the hut to hut transportation. For dinner we stay at the hotel.
Day 1
We start our tour directly at the hotel. The first highlight of the tour - Green Lake [2'080m] - we reach already after half an hour. Time for a z'nüni.
From there we have a nice route with panoramic views to the north and from there a desent to the valley where we will have our lunchbreak. After lunch we follow the valley upstream to the West. At the end of the vally we reach Chridila Pass [2'372m]. From the pass we have another descent to Zoti Keli [2'100m] and from there to Bakhmaro [1'870m], where we spend the second night.
Bakhmaro is a busy sommer resort mainly for families, but in September it is already much quiter. We stay in a modern guest house with private bathrooms.
Time: 8 hours
Distance: 20.0 km
Ascent:
Descent:
Starting point: Goderdzi Pass [2'025m]
End point: Bakhmaro [1'870m]
Highest Pass: Chridila Pass [2'372m]
Day 2
On the second day we start in Bakhmaro and cross the river. We follow the dirt roads to the West. In Baisura [1'900m] we start the climb up the ridge on a difficult and in some parts steep mountain road. From the ridge we have the first time a great view towards the Black Sea.
From here the driving track is not always visible. We ride over alpine meadows usually acompanied by grazing horses. Then we descent toward a hut from which a better driving road goes into the
valley of the where we cross the river Natanebi and then start the last ascent up to Meria Keli [2'330m]. A bit higher than the pass we reach our base for the
next night - a cazy alp hut with a great view.
We spend the afternoon on the terrasse of the alpine hut or in the sauna.
Time: 5:00 hours
Distance: 10.5 km
Ascent: 420m
Descent: 930m
Starting point: Bakhmaro [1.870m]
End point: Meria Keli [2.400m]
Highest Pass: 2'500m
optional: Rest Day
On request it is possible to make a rest day in the cosy Alp Hut in Meria Keli (or in Bakhmaro for some downhill ride to Chokhatauri). A nice day can be spend at Lerti Lake [1'670m]. It is a dirt road all the way down and up again. Lerti Lake is nice for a swim or a picknick on the chamomile meadows around the lake.
Day 3
We start the day with a climb to Wolfsbed - Mglis-Satsoli [2'614m]. From here we have a nice view back on Meria Keli [2'330m] but also all the way back to Goderdzi Pass [2'025m].
We follow the dirt road to the South-west and have a first break at Chin Chao Lake [2'440m]. At luchtime we reach the peak of Taginauri [2'688m] with its old Red Army base on the south facing slope. The last high peak of the tour with a great view in all directions.
After lunch we descent to to Gomistma [1'990m] and from there the access road down to Gomi. We finish our tour in Ozurgeti [100m] or at the beaches of the Black Sea.
Time: 10:00 hours
Distance: 16.5 km
Ascent: 1140m
Descent: 800m
Starting point: Meria Keli [2.330m]
End point: Ozurgeti [100m]
Highest Peak: 2'688m
