The weather here is like it is typical for in April: sun, icerain, hail, rain. That doesn’t make the decision easier if we should stay on the main roads or leave it and explore the nature reservoirs and muddy 4×4 trails.
We give it a little trial to get some kilometers into the Khosrov Forest State Reserve. Next to another old fortress and church we find the Caucasus Wildlife station – protecting the wildlife and ecological system in this reserve and taking care of orphans, injured or prisoned bears and birds.
It was fancy in Sovjet times to keep bears privately in small cages or private zoos. Here they get a chance to come back in nature. After a short tour through the station we succeed to pursue the rangers at the gate to let us drive into the reserve. After some km of muddy but great road we turn.
The landscape from now on is changing, we climb and remain from now on over 1000m, snow capped mountains again.
Leaving the main road is no option. The tires are full of clay and even after lowering the pressure it’s difficult to keep the truck from slipping.