Uzbekistan Mountain Trekking

Trekking, backpacking, tramping, bushwalking

Trekking combines hiking and camping in a single trip. A backpacker hikes into the backcountry to spend one or more nights there, and carries supplies and equipment to satisfy sleeping and eating needs.

A backpacking trip includes at least one overnight stay in the wilderness (otherwise it is a day hike). But long-distance expeditions may last weeks or months, sometimes aided by planned food and supply drops.

Backpacking camps are more spartan than ordinary camps. Many hike-in camps are no more than level patches of ground without scrub or underbrush. In very remote areas, established camps do not exist at all, and travelers must choose appropriate camps themselves.

People are drawn to backpacking primarily for recreation, to explore places that they consider beautiful and fascinating, many of which cannot be accessed in any other way. A backpacker can travel deeper into remote areas, away from people and their effects, than a day-hiker can. However, backpacking presents more advantages besides distance of travel. Many weekend trips cover routes that could be hiked in a single day, but people choose to backpack them anyway, for the experience of staying overnight.

These possibilities come with disadvantages. The weight of a pack, laden with supplies and gear, forces traditional backpackers to travel more slowly than day-hikers would, and it can become a nuisance and a distraction from enjoying the scenery. In addition, camp chores (such as pitching camp, breaking camp, and cooking) can easily consume several hours every day. However, with practice, much of this downtime can be purged from the day.

Backpackers face many risks, including adverse weather, difficult terrain, treacherous river crossings, and hungry or unpredictable animals (although the perceived danger from wild animals usually greatly exceeds the true risk). They are subject to illnesses, which run the gamut from simple dehydration to heat exhaustion, hypothermia, altitude sickness, and physical injury. The remoteness of backpacking locations exacerbates any mishap. However, these hazards do not deter backpackers who are properly prepared. Some simply accept danger as a risk that they must endure if they want to backpack; for others, the potential dangers actually enhance the allure of the wilderness.

Almost all backpackers seek to minimize the weight and bulk of gear carried. A lighter pack causes less fatigue, injury and soreness, and allows the backpacker to travel longer distances. Every piece of equipment is evaluated for a balance of utility versus weight. Significant reductions in weight can usually be achieved with little sacrifice in equipment utility, though very lightweight equipment can be significantly more costly.

Trekking options in Uzbekistan Mountains

Winter backpacking. Ski touring and snowshoeing are alternative forms of hiking (overnight or otherwise) that can be engaged in when the ground is buried deeply in snow.

In animal packing ("horse packing", "donkey packing", etc.), the hikers use pack animals (usually horses or donkeys) to carry their equipment, and sometimes they will even ride the animals. Porters are sometimes hired for the same purpose.

Adventure tourism is travel in a region or environment that is, for one reason or another, highly unpredictable or hazardous.

Thru-hiking is traversing a long-distance trail in a single, continuous journey by starting at one end of the trail with a backpack and hiking essentially unaided to the other end.

Ultralight backpacking is a form of backpacking focused on minimizing the weight of the gear carried. It is often employed by long distance hikers.

Note: You can request us to prepare a route for you, which include any kind of trekking listed above.

Uzbekistan Mountains near to Tashkent

Chimgan Mountains

The Chimgan Mountains are invariably attractive for mountaineers. The wide variety of Chimgan and its surroundings allows the activity in all kinds of mountaineering and landscape tourism. Mountains  (Small and Greater Chimgan Peaks - 3,309 m) of Chatkal range, plateaus, the Black Waterfall (40 m) at the lower part of Greater Chimgan Peak, Gulkam and Novotasha waterfalls, attract a lot of tourists from Uzbekistan and abroad.

West Tien-Shan Mountains Map

Ugam & Karjantau ridges

Another attractive place for mountaineering is situated on Ugam ridge and on the southern; slopes of the Karjantau ridge of the Western Tyan-Shan system.

There are following natural sites, which are of interest of mountaineers in area of Ugam & Karjantau ridges:

• Peak Mingbulak (2,628 m)  - the highest peak of the Karjantau ridge.

• Qizilsuv waterfalls - the pictorial cascades that flow at the sinuous river gorges of Qizilsuv Mountain River.

• Loquacious cave is located on plateau Ghiza, 20 km from village Humsan, in a funnel-shaped hollow. On the bottom of the hollow, in the exposure of grey limestone, there is a 1x1 m rectangular aperture transforming to a 1.5 m high sloping tunnel. Its floor is covered with lumps, ceiling being arcaded. This tunnel is 20 m long and leads to the inner larger part of the cave. A ladder is needed in order to proceed into the cave as there is a 6 m high prominence. Then the floor levels out, height reaching 20-30 m. The cave is so named due to a streamlet flowing through it.

• Arkutsay – exposure of loess stratum. The site is 3 km west of Humsan, on the right bank of the Ugam River. Section of the formation represents the wall of a small landslide breakaway and is a stratum of interstratifying loess-like loams of Quaternary and fossil soils horizons. The section is unique as it exposes more than 80 m thick deposition of rocks.

• Kyrk-Kokyl waterfall (in Uzbek “Kyrk-Kokyl” means 40 plaits) – pictorial waterfall at Pustonlyk – confluent of Ugam River, 9 km from Humsan village.

General routes in Uzbekistan Mountains near to Tashkent

Chimgan-Beldersay Area

• Multi-day trekking around the Greater Chimgan mountain;

• Multi-day trekking through Akshuran pass (1,733 m) to the valley of the Chirchik river;

• Multi-day trekking to the petroglyphs of the Beldersay river;

• Multi-day trekking along the Chatkal ridge to Pulathan.

See the map ...  

Ugam & Karjantau ridges

• Multi-day trekking to the highest peak of the Karjantau ridge - peak Mingbulak (2,628 m);

• Multi-day trekking to the highest peak via pass Ghiza to Kazakhstan's part of the Ugam river valley (25 km, circular route);

• Multi-day trekking to the highest peak to plateau of pass Ghiza on the Ugam ridge of the West Tien Shan (15 km, radial route).