2-Day Loop: Juta - Chaukhi Pass - Abudelauri Lakes - Roshka - Sadzele Pass - back to Juta [Kazbegi National Park]

The loop trail is about 5.5km longer than usual due to a roadblock! In July 2022 part of the road got destroyed by heavy rainfall and parts are cracked, which is why they try to limit traffic over this dangerous area. So you have to walk on the road the last bit to Juta. I don't know when this problem will be solved.

Juta is the last place to buy food on the entire trail! Water is everywhere on the trail, except high on the passes. Therefore I didn't mark the water sources like I usually do. Just don't drink the water close to were the cattle is grazing.

The trail starts off in the absolutely stunning Chaukhi Valley. The valley part is quite flat and easy and therefore flooded with daytrippers.

Once you reached the Chaukhi massive the first difficult part starts, as you have to go all the way up, a steep ascend on loose slate stone. However, it takes only 30-45 minutes to get up. From the top you have fantastic views. There might be snow until July. It gets very windy there at night, so it isn't recommended to camp here.

Downhill towards the lake will tax your knees, as it's very steep. By all means, take the trail forward/left and not the right one towards the White Lake, as this one is a nightmare.

It's beautiful to camp at the lakes. The most scenic camping spots are around the Blue Lake, with the Chaukhi Pass in the background.

From there you need to either take a steep left towards the Sadzele Pass (crossing a river). Or you can take the laid-back trail to Roshka. I tried to do the first, but the lake crossing was too dangerous. So I did the latter and decided to get some extra food in Roshka to camp another night as the environment is so stunning. However, there is no food in Roshka! There are no markets, and the guesthouses only have meals upon reservation. Keep that in mind when planning your hike.

The way from Roshka towards Sadzele Pass is pretty horrendous. They are building a new road right on top of where the trail used to be, so you have to walk 4km on a boring road until you can connect to the trail.

Even though the Sadzele Pass is lower than the Chaukhi Pass, the way up from the Roshka-side is much more difficult than the way up to Chaukhi from the Juta-side. Just like the decline is much easier on the Juta-side than on the Roshka-side. There was more snow up in Sadzele than in Chaukhi in July.

The way down from Sadzele into the meadow is not demanding, and from there it's an easy way down. There are some river crossings involved (you'll have to take your shoes off) and it might be muddy due to cattle.

At the very last part (before the road to Juta) stay right after the shepherd camp. There are 2 small bridges to cross the river, close to the government building, but you can't see them until the very last moment. We were asked to show our PASSPORTS here. So don't forget to bring those. The last few km is just a road towards Juta.

A few times I went off trail. This was related to snow or water blocking the passage. You can ignore this if it's passable.