BT: "Explorers to create new 1,000-mile hiking trail through Georgia and Armenia"

Hiking the unexplored areas of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains through Georgia and Armenia will soon be possible thanks to the efforts of a team of explorers who are working to create the first long distance trail along the range.

British news website bt.com reported two of the people working to create the trail were traveller Tom Allen and engineer Alessandro Mambelli. The pair will spend the next six months researching the existing off-road routes along the range to determine their quality and safety.

The Caucasus region is dominated by the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountain ranges, some of the most impenetrable in the world but known for their rich wildlife, including rarely-seen Eurasian lynx, Caucasian leopards and bears," said the website.

The two enthusiasts teamed up to challenge the difficulty of exploring the attractive natural areas of the southern of the two Caucasus ranges, caused by lack of modern maps and infrastructure.

The duo cited the potential of the future trail spanning through Georgia and Armenia as one of the reasons for the initiative.

This is a very nice rural area within these two countries, there's a low crime rate, it's very safe, and people are very hospitable to tourists," said Allen while speaking about the plan for the hiking route network.

Their vision was to create a Caucasian version of alpine back-country routes, including sections that would involve camping out and staying in huts while hiking between villages.

Read the full story here: www.bt.com