As part of a systematic study of the Caucasus Mountains, I planned a 3rd category difficulty hike in Racha for August 2013.
Racha, or more precisely Racha-Lechkhumi, is a historical mountainous region of Georgia in the upper reaches of the Rioni River with its center in the city with the melodic name of Ambrolauri.
Region on the map from Wikipedia:
General map of the Racha region (from www.travelgeorgia.ru):
If it is possible to find descriptions of travels around low-mountain Racha, then its mountainous part was last visited only in Soviet times, and there was very little information. Of course, detailed space images, partly from Yandex, Google, bing.commaps, helped a lot.
Thus, this material is practically exclusive. If in the mountains of Svaneti in recent years many people have been walking, then Racha is a newly discovered chest with mountain treasures. And I will say – no worse than Svaneti! Although in many ways everything is completely different…
The hike took place in the area (see map above) of the villages Shovi, Chiora, Gebi along two different ridges in the broad sense. First, a "ring" through an amazing and unlike anything else slate-layered ridge to the south of the Main Ridge, and then a linear part in the glacial zone of the Main Ridge, not far from the border with Russia:
Before telling about the mountains, I will tell you what is interesting in Racha, what we visited directly.
This is a very beautiful road through Tkibuli and picturesque reservoirs on the way to the town of Oni. On the way is the town of Ambrolauri, not far from which the wine Khvanchkara is made. The grapes for this wine grow only in one specific area, and therefore the wine is extremely rare.
The city of Oni itself is surrounded by the greenery of the surrounding low wooded mountains.
Of course, we should mention the Shovi resort. The road there from Oni is broken, but people go there – for the healing mountain air, and for the magnificent mineral water, which is incredibly healthy. We drank it – it was tasty, full of iron :-).
But this is far from all the interesting things that Racha has to offer. If I had time, I would spend at least 2 weeks exploring it (not counting the mountains).
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After the previous hike in the mountains of Svaneti, I meet a new group in Tbilisi. A short walk around this wonderful city:
Beyond the Kura (Mtkvari) River you can see the Metekhi Temple, the Tabori Monastery, and the Narikala Fortress:
On the streets of the Old Town. Kitty 🙂
The main Cathedral of Georgia.
Evening. In the distance, on Mount Mtatsminda, the TV tower plays with thousands of lights.
The long road to Racha is behind us. The city has given way to remote, wooded mountains. What air there is!
We climb up the Geske Valley and reach alpine meadows above the forest zone.
The cleanest river Geske.
The meadows gradually give way to screes, snowfields, and rocks. It is clear from the "section" that this mountain range is composed of layered rocks:
Beyond the waterfall in the distance is the first pass of the hike.
Everyday life of mountain tourists 🙂
From the first overnight stop, the mountains of the Main Caucasian Range opened up, including the Chanchakhi peak (over 4500 m). Behind it is North Ossetia:
Coming up. Among these glaciers will be part of the second stage of the hike.
Typical landscape of Racha.
Layered rocks on the way up to the Chkhauri North Pass.
At first, part of the group went to the pass for reconnaissance. The weather was not very good, but the views of the Chkhauri valley were beautiful!
On the right is just a huge cliff of layered rocks. And to the right of the central tooth is the second pass of the hike.
These are the kind of mountains that Racha is remembered for - often pointed, made of layered rock, and unusually picturesque.
Post-sunset clouds.
Morning view from Chhauri Pass north. Above the sea of clouds rise bizarre striped layered rock peaks.
I have never seen anything like this anywhere in the Caucasus!
At the foot of these mountains there is a small glacier, we need to go there.
This peak was particularly eye-catching. The rock collapses had been occurring layer by layer for centuries, and now the glass-smooth sections (the size of a football field!) alternate with each other in small ledges. The rusty color adds color.
Another panorama with a view of the rock massif in the upper reaches of the Chkhauri valley:
On the left, by the way, there is a pass, level 2B. But I wouldn't dare to go there :-). And the rocks are just wow!
View from the opposite side of the valley. Definitely no comment – the beauty is astounding. I will definitely come back here. Just living in a tent here is already super. It’s a pity that we only observed this beauty for a few hours from pass to pass.
A stream from under the Geske Pass.
Source: travel.ru
