Hiking in the Caucasus, Georgia
I quietly donned my warmest clothes and stepped out onto the balcony. It was 5 a.m.. The black sky was softening, but it was still very cold and rain fell on my outstretched hand. No matter; I had already resolved to go. More than a decade ago, an image in a travel magazine had captivated me: a mysterious church poised at the edge of an alpine meadow and dwarfed by foreboding peaks rising perpendicular behind it. That was the Georgia I longed to see, and dumb luck had deposited me a short hike away!