In the high valleys of Georgia

by Michael J B Almond

THIS ARTICLE is concerned with four high valleys in the central and eastern Caucasus, all of which lie within the boundaries of the Republic of Georgia but three of which lie on the northern side of the main Caucasus watershed and drain northwards and then eastwards into the Caspian Sea. Elbrus, the highest mountain in the Caucasus (5642 m) and Kazbek (Georgian Mtkinvari) (5033 m) are both volcanoes that have not been active in historical times, and both lie north of the main watershed. Whereas Elbrus is firmly in the Russian Federation, with the Georgian border running along the main watershed ridge, Kazbek is traversed by the border and the headwaters of the river Terek (Georgian Tergi) lie in the Republic of Georgia. The whole of the Terek valley above the famous Dariel Gorge (the Caspian Gates of the ancients, which Pompey the Great’s army is said to have reached in 65 BC) lies within Georgia and constitutes the Georgian province of Khevi. In the Dariel Gorge the river Terek crosses the border of the Russian Federation into Ingushetia. Eastwards from Kazbek, the boundary between Georgia and Chechnya continues along the highest peaks in the area, which again lie north of the watershed ridge. This means that the headwaters of the rivers Argun, which flows out north through the Chechnyan capital Groznii, and Andikoysu, which flows to the Caspian through Daghestan, lie in Georgia; the two valleys comprise the Georgian provinces of Khevsureti and Tusheti, respectively. My fourth valley is that of the river Inguri, which flows down from the central Caucasus into the Black Sea. The high valley of the Inguri, above the gorges through which a road was finally driven in the 1930s, is known as Svaneti.

In July 1998, my wife Lynn and I joined a trek through Tusheti and Khevsureti. In 1999 and 2000 I visited Khevi and Svaneti as leader of a group organised by the Field Studies Council Overseas.

full text with some photo-links: http://www.srgc.org.uk/journal/almond/highvalleysofgeorgia.html