The Obi Garm Waterfall

This past Sunday, while Diana was busy planning English lessons, I snuck off and did some hiking with the regular Sunday expat trip run by Goulya Petrova. Both the first time that I went alone, and the second time when Diana came along, there were probably 50 people in the group. This was nice for meeting people, but 50 people are a lot in the mountains, and that large of a group doesn't make for a true 'mountain experience'. This weekend saw fewer hikers, although there were still 15-20. The group opted for a hike that was in the same area but more difficult than the one that had been planned. After an hour drive out of Dushanbe, we stopped just short of the resort of Obi Garm (where you can spend a week in the hotel for $150, all expenses paid) and started hiking up, up, and up a narrow valley.

Up the valley!

There was snow beginning from about 6,000ft, a low snowline, but this was a narrow valley that only got sun a few hours each day. The river also keeps the snow cool, although here it has cut a channel underneath the snow and left a treacherous snowbridge which hikers try not to fall into when crossing above.

Hiking up the valley

Though most of the hike was on a rocky, difficult path, here we've crossed to the snow to finish the last several hundred feet up to the waterfall in the distance.

Some of the group making their way up to the waterfall. We had left our backpacks just below, where we ate lunch.

The canyon walls were nice--too bad I didn't have any climbing gear!

At the top of the hike, this waterfall was really nice. About 20m high and there was a significant amount of flow!

Testing the ability of the water to cool down hikers after 2000 feet of elevation gain.

Going down the snowfield is often more difficult than going up. Here, hikers with sneakers try not to slip and slide down to the rocks below. (It wasn't that bad.) My boots prevented me from 'skiing' down, though--they had too much traction :(

The valley behind us was beautiful, and there was a view of a high meadow where it might be nice to camp sometime.

On the way down. Just to the right of me, in the background, is the flat meadow that would provide great 360 degree views for nice camping.

Some of the path was very rocky and required careful steps to avoid, well, falling into the river. There was nothing too difficult and everyone made it alright, although I think everyone slipped and fell at least once on the hike because of the rocky trail. The guides Goulya provides made sure to help people cross the more difficult sections, including one river crossing that was quite tricky. Overall this was a great hike, with just enough adventurous sections to keep things interesting! All this only an hour outside Dushanbe--what an attractive location for a summer home! As soon as there's clean water and full-time electricity in this region, anyway.