Mount Ialno

Date: June 30, 2024

Distance: 17.91km

Elevation gain: 868m

Mount Ialno is an obscure mountain in the Lesser Caucasus range near Tbilisi, Georgia. Overall, I’d recommend this hike for anyone who wants to get off the beaten path in Georgia but doesn’t have time to venture to the mountains of Svaneti, Kazbegi, or beyond. 

I had some extra days in Tbilisi after an unsuccessful ascent of Mt. Kazbek and was looking for things to do. I spotted Mt. Ialno on Peakbagger: it had only one trip report, which mentioned 360 degree views. I was intrigued. Looking at maps, it seemed possible to traverse from the village of Satskhenisi over the summit to the 3rd-century Ujarma Fortress, mostly on dirt roads. 

I was joined by Finn and Piotr from Kazbek and Paul, who we’d met at the hostel the previous night. We took a taxi to Satskhenisi. At one point, the taxi driver got lost and ended up scraping the bottom of the car on some train tracks. He left in a hurry before the train arrived. The road to Satskhenisi took us through several small villages, which clearly don’t see many tourists. As we drove past crumbling buildings, locals on the roads stared at these strange foreign visitors. 

Eventually we reached the centre of Satskhenisi. We hiked north along a road, taking a left turn on a dirt road. For the next few kilometres the road followed a creek, sometimes merging with the stream. We were able to stay dry. Like in many other places in Georgia, stray dogs followed us, but none attacked. 

Eventually the road left the valley, climbing up a forested ridge. As we gained altitude, clouds rolled in and fog thickened. The roads became steeper and overgrown with grass.

We eventually reached the ridge, although there was barely any visibility by that point. It reminded me of hiking in Scotland. We continued eastward along the grassy ridge for a couple kilometres. At one point we hid under a tree to wait out a brief downpour.

We soon reached the summit, marked by a cross and some sort of shrine. By then the clouds had partly cleared and we had decent views. For some reason there were ladybugs everywhere, especially near the cross. 

To descend, we hiked east then quickly dropped off the ridge to the south. We followed another network of dirt roads to the highway. Thanks to the rain, this was quite muddy. Eventually we reached the road; from there, a short but sketchy roadside walk took us to the Ujarma Fortress. 

We paid the 10 lari entry fee and explored the fortress for a while. The fortress is said to have been built in the 3rd to 4th centuries and was the death place of king Vakhtang Gorgasali. To return to Tbilisi, I checked several taxi apps, and luckily a Yandex driver was available. He eventually made it to the fortress and took us to town, driving very aggressively.