Trek to the Tobavarchkhili lakes

Day 0: Mukhuri - Natipuru hut
distance 26.2km, 2320m and 720m

First, just a side note - since the reconstruction of the road, I don't see much point in walking this, did it once and never again - it's an arduous and not particularly rewarding walk. But there are scenarios when it makes sense, especially if you have more time than money. This is a pretty long section and might take you even two days, especially if you started late (getting to Mukhuri takes time). To make things a bit easier, if you came by taxi, ask your driver if he could take you at least to the Lugela spring so you skip the first 7km of the boring, but still quite decent road.

OK, now to the trail description. It starts at the bridge over Khobistskali river at the elevation of 300 meters - it's big dirt road following the right bank of the river. For the first few kilometers, it snakes between houses, then leaves them behind.

More than an hour later, you will reach Lugela mineral spring. It's a meadow to the right of the road - seems to be a popular camping spot. Lugela water flows out of the metal pipe and is extremely salty. Nearby, you can also take a dip in the river (but if you try to reach the lake in 2 days, you won't have time for that).

Follow the main road, it's slowly climbing. There are several water springs on the way - take enough water since in the next few hours, there will be none. After another 10 kilometers and 300m ascent you will come to impressive Gunzha gorge, there is a wooden bridge over the river. Overall, there are very places to camp, but few hundred meters behind the gorge, there are a few suitable ones.

Follow the main road. Soon you will come to the intersection - right path stays by the river, but you need to turn left, onto the branch which heads uphill. The aubsequent climb is long, arduous and not too interesting. You will be just walking on a dirt road in a forest with very limited views and no sources of water. During the next 5 hours, you will have to gain 1300 altitude meters, from 600 to 1900m.

At the elevation of 1760m, you will come to the junction - a newly built forest road branches from the main road to the right. This road leads directly to the collapsed Natipuru hut, but I recommend to turn left to stay on the original road. If you turned right, you would miss the water spring which lies one mile later, at the elevation of 1860m.

From the water spring, a small trail snakes across the forest - to find it, you need to turn sharply right and backward, using the clock position terminology, "this route is on 4 o'clock". After some 10 minutes you should come to the hut below Natipuru mountain, where you will find a nice campsite and finally get some great views. And from now it will get only better.

Day 2: Natipuru hut - Tobavarchkhili lake distance 13.1km, 1548m and 839m

From the hut, follow the new dirt road which bypasses the Natipuru mountain from the left side. After you pass the mountain, you will reach small crossroads with the tourist marker. It points to the right and this is also the direction I took (left branch bypasses the ridge you are standing on from the left side, then crosses it to the right and eventually joins the trail above the hut with a blue roof. It is longer, but looks more scenic - if someone walks it, pls send me a gpx log. Thanks a lot :)

The road then dives into the forest again. Here, shortly after it turns right, down into the valley, watch out for a small trail to the left, it's very easy to miss (this exit got probably damaged during the construction of the forest road). This trail will lead you through the forest, cross four smaller streams and after few kilometers comes to the big flat meadow with a shepherds hut with the roof made of blue plastic bags.

The track behind Natipuru hut

The surrounding of this hut, abandoned during our visit, would make a great camping place. However, during 2018, a couple of shepherds lived in the hut and I heard several warnings about them. I even spoke with a couple which they invited for a drink and then one of the shepherds stole some things from their backpacks. Therefore, I wouldn't spend around more time than necessary.

From the hut start climbing directly uphill until you find a footpath traversing the slope. Here you need to turn right and head towards small saddle to the east, close above the treeline. The path then turns to the north and starts traversing the steep slope, crossing several rocky ledges. After some 30 minutes, you will come to a big square stone, quite a good place for camping if needed. Here you need to turn left and start climbing up the valley to the depression some 400m above you, which most closely resembles a pass. It was quite tiring, especially since we lost a path for an hour (I marked in gpx log where we found it again). When you make it to the depression, you find out that this is not Okhoje pass yet - to reach it you will have to climb another 200 meters in the northern direction. But good thing is that you can't get lost here.

Finally at Okhoje pass, elevation 2750 m. Enjoy the views and slide down to the Okhoje lake - in late August there were still snowfields at the north side of the pass. Okhoje lake is ideal for a break and a dip. You can camp here or continue to Tobavarchkhili lake - just take into consideration that this walk takes another three hours.

By the Tsashkibuli (Okhoje) lake

Let's push on. Follow the bank of the lake to its northernmost point and from there, start climbing between huge rocks towards a pass to the north. There is a hiking pointer showing the direction and some kind of a rough trail between the stones.

You need to overcome some 200 meters of elevation to make it to some kind of a large mountain plateau. When at the top you will find yourself on a rocky meadow. There is a hill in front of you. Walk around it from the right side and after some 30 minutes, you should see Eastern Toba pass (2902m) in the distance. It's pretty steep and you should expect snowfields close to the top, but not that high, you will have to climb just another 200 meters.

The pass offers fantastic views on the peaks of Chitaghvala massif (3226m), but the lake is not yet visible, it's hidden behind rocks to the left. Start descending, the path goes on the right side of the valley. It will take some time as you will have to descend 250 meters. Its better to camp at the farther side of the lake because of nearby water source (marked in the gpx log).

Day 3: Tobavarchkhili lake - Jolora campsite distance 11.92km, 216m and 1939m

The trail to Skuri begins at the northeastern edge of Tobavarchkhili lake. First, head east into the depression between Chitaghvala massif and the unnamed 2700m hill, where a small creek emerges (marked in the log as 'Water'). There is a footpath to the left of it - follow it for about 500 meters, as it descends steeply. When the terrain begins to level out, the path veers left, away from the creek and towards the Nashkhara river, which runs from the lake above. As you approach it, the trail turns sharply right again, into another steep descent diagonally across the mountainside - the trail is OK most of the time, but there are also a couple of slippery places where you might have to grab roots or rocks for support. It is also marked by numerous stone pyramids and occasional red signs.

Finally, you shall emerge on a grassy plateau, often full of cows. To the left, you see a waterfall (usually referred to as Toba, but not to be confused with the larger Toba waterfall near Balda).

At the other side of the creek, at the very edge of the plateau, stands a large flat rock. The path further down starts to the left of it. First, it goes down in a series of switchbacks, but after a while it bends to the left and hugs the mountainside in the direction of the shepherd's hut you can already see down in the valley. Some sections of it are quite exposed, so be careful.

Jikiri hut already visible down in the valley

The trail will eventually lead you right to the hut, tucked under a large boulder. It is called Jikiri hut and for years, it has been a summer home of the friendly shepherds from Morgoshia family. This is a good place for a break. My number of visits is not statistically relevant, but we always had a good chat there and once they even prepared us a fresh elarji so you might get lucky as well ;)

Once you are ready, follow the nearby Magana river downstream. The trail runs in parallel with it, usually pretty close to the river, but once or twice, it climbs a bit into the hillside, only to eventually get down again. Not much can be written about it, only that it enters the forest at an altitude of about 1700m. The path is well-trodden, maybe even too much, since it's used by livestock and can get very muddy after the rain. You shall also pass several small flat spots suitable as campsites.

Eventually, after some 1 hour in the forest, the trail crosses the Magana river - there might be a (2-3 logs) bridge, but don't rely on it. Under normal circumstances, this crossing is OK, but could be dangerous after rains or during the early summer. 

Once on the other side of Magana, walk for another hour until the trail reaches its largest subsidiary - Jolora. Right at this confluence is also a small campsite, so it might be a good idea to set up a camp, have dinner and drift off to sleep to the monotonous murmur of both rivers. At least if the weather looks good. If you expect strong rain during the night, better cross Jolora and push a bit more, because this is the last serious obstacle on your way to civilization.

Day 4: Jolora campsite - Skuri distance 18.6km, 1060m and 1513m

In the morning, cross the Jolora river - usually only knee-deep, but can get pretty swollen after rains. Then comes a short, but steep climb, followed by a more gradual ascent through the forest. Soon, you will reach the top of the small ridge and drop again into the valley of Tskhavashelo river, another major subsidiary of Magana. By the creek is a nice, large campsite.

Cross the creek and follow the dirt track. At first, it's overgrown, but once you leave the forest, its condition greatly improves. It keeps going up, but with a pleasant gradient.

About one hour after leaving the forest, you shall each a crossroad. The left, smaller branch goes down to the Kirnakhona tourist shelter. It's not too old and rather large, but time and the lack of maintenance are already taking their toll. Still, it's a solid base, especially in bad weather, with a spacious interior, mostly working roof and water nearby.

If you are in no need of shelter, just follow the main road to the right. It keeps climbing, but not for long - soon, you will reach a local maximum and start going down again, this time all the way to Skuri. Not much can be said about this route. It's a wide track, occasionally used by trucks from a local quarry lying lower in the valley. It follows the contour line in the hillside several hundred meters above the Tsentskari river below, which means that you can look forward to some decent views. But overall, just like many starting and ending sections through river valleys, this section is long and not that interesting.

Trail gradually gets closer and closer to the river, until you finally, some 10km past Kirnakhona, find yourself at its riverbank. Cross it - river here is very wide, but pretty shallow, so you should have no issues. From there, it's just a short walk to the edge of the Skuri hamlet. But before you start worrying about the ride somewhere, don't forget to taste local mineral water, emerging from the pipe by the river. Megrelians claim that it's better than Borjomi ;)