Georgia Caucasus Mountain Traverse

Greater Caucasus, Georgia · Georgia

Extreme12 daysAsia~£1,200 est.

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Overview

Cross the Georgian Greater Caucasus from Svaneti to Tusheti, linking two highland communities that spent most of history cut off from everyone — including each other. In the west you leave Ushguli's medieval Svan defensive towers beneath the 5,193 m wall of Shkhara; roughly two weeks later you drop into Tusheti's slate-roofed villages of Dartlo and Omalo, supplied by a single 4WD track over the 2,850 m Abano Pass that is dug out of snow for only four months a year. The crux is the Atsunta Pass (3,431 m) between Khevsureti and Tusheti — a long scree day where pack horses carry the bags and border police check permits, since the trail runs close to the Chechen frontier. Rivers are the variable that catches people out: unbridged crossings that are shin-deep at 8am can be thigh-deep and pushy by mid-afternoon, so early starts matter more than fitness. Count on 10-14 days mixing camping and village guesthouses, roughly £1,200 with local guides and horse support, and July to September only — outside that window the passes are shut.