Tobavarchkhili Lakes

Tobavarchkhili is the great high route of Samegrelo, and the only one that demands serious preparation. The name means Silver Lake in Mingrelian and describes exactly what you find: cold, metallic water in a bowl of rock at about 2,650 metres, in the heart of the Egrisi range.

There is more than one lake. The route passes several glacial tarns, among them Tobaskuri, a dark pool that sits permanently in shadow, and the large Tobavarchkhili itself. They lie in cirques scooped out by ice, ringed by alpine meadow, rhododendron and bare rock.

No road reaches them, and that matters. Tobavarchkhili is not a day out. The standard route takes three to five days and starts from the village of Mukhuri in Chkhorotsku municipality; a second approach comes in from the Lebarde side. Both cross high passes.

Snow lies late. In June the lakes are often still partly frozen and the passes hold old névé. The realistic window is mid-July to mid-September.

There are no huts. Shepherds' shelters stand in places but cannot be relied on: you carry a tent, a stove and your food. Water is plentiful, though on some sections late in the season it is snowmelt only.

Weather is the main risk here. The Egrisi range takes its moisture straight off the Black Sea and cloud can come down in minutes. There are few landmarks on the plateau and the path disappears in stretches, which is why a guide is not a luxury but a safety measure. Horses can also be arranged in Mukhuri.

The Egrisi range is low beside the main Caucasus, and that is exactly why it is so green: the treeline sits high and meadow and rhododendron run right up to the passes. In July the flowering here is as rich as anywhere in Georgia. The other side of that is constant damp — the inside of a tent is wet every morning and clothes dry slowly.

The wildlife is real. Brown bear live in this country, along with Caucasian tur and eagles, and food should be hung or stored well away from the tent at night.

What you get in exchange is simple and increasingly rare: three days in a landscape with no road, no pylon and no house in view.

The distance and time given below are to the trailhead at Mukhuri, not to the lakes. Everything beyond that point is on foot or on horseback.