Ought to be the day of climbing the Abano Pass (2.900m). We started off at the Guesthouse in Shtrolta down to the Alazani River where we joined our flock of 1.032 sheep and their shepherds.

As our sheep were fairly young, about one year of age, we had to let another flock of older sheep pass as they would storm the summit. Overtaking a flock can be quite strenuous because the dogs and the shepherds have to prevent the two flocks from mingling. The sheep themselves wouldn't care.

Now the ascent began, 700m altitude difference left up to the pass. The sun shone from a cloudless sky. So it was hot in the sun and cold in the shade. The soil became balder after every serpentine, and was naked in the end. The sheep and our Austrian alpinists preferred steep abbreviations, but I took the road. Even with a walking stick the loose ground of the slopes seem not very safe to me. The captain shepherd laid in a break, so the sheep and we could catch our breath.

The last meters to the summit were easy compared to the serpentine part. And suddenly the wind from the opposite side, the Stori valley, blew in our faces. We were on top! But no long pause, the sheep were marching on down again into the Stori valley once more the steep way through the alps, not the road. Therefore we had to bid farewell to them and their brave shepherds, not to forget the dogs.

We walked the road for some hours more. The treeline began again at 2.300, 2.400m. The views down the Stori valley and up the greenish yellow alps were unforgettable. Some two or hours and more than a 1.000m altitude difference later we sat in rural sulfur bath and congratulated us for the ascent and the descent.