Abastumani-Zekari (Zekari Overpass Trail)
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 16.07 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 3 ft
- Max elevation
- 4,878 ft
- TrailRank
-
40
2.3
- Min elevation
- 4,878 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Coordinates
- 1240
- Uploaded
- March 17, 2016
- Recorded
- March 2016
near Abast’umani, Samtskhe-Javakheti (Georgia)
Viewed 1762 times, downloaded 39 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
The route starts at the Abastumani guard station (1390 m) on a car road and goes southeast;Afterwards, it turns to theAbastumaniRiver valley in the OtskheRiver valley. After 2.5 km the trail goes southeast in the direction of a steep slope (20-25 degrees inclination in some places). 6 km away from the mentioned turn you will reachthe Didmaghala tourist shelter, where you will spend a night and the next day after a 1.5 km walk the trail goes along the car road to Achara-Imereti range to the west. 10 km away from the tourist shelter the route goes through the Nasabajvari shepherd summer cabins and runs down the Otskhe River valley. The trail links to first day route and goes back to the Abastumani guard station.
photos by Levan Verdzeuli:
https://verdzeuli.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%A8%E1%83%A5%E1%83%A0%E1%83%9D%E1%83%91%E1%83%90-%E1%83%90%E1%83%91%E1%83%90%E1%83%A1%E1%83%97%E1%83%A3%E1%83%9B%E1%83%90%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98-%E1%83%96%E1%83%94%E1%83%99/
photos by Levan Verdzeuli:
https://verdzeuli.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%A8%E1%83%A5%E1%83%A0%E1%83%9D%E1%83%91%E1%83%90-%E1%83%90%E1%83%91%E1%83%90%E1%83%A1%E1%83%97%E1%83%A3%E1%83%9B%E1%83%90%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98-%E1%83%96%E1%83%94%E1%83%99/
Waypoints
Waypoint
0 ft
Borjomi Administration and Visitor Centre
| Borjomi Administration and Visitor Centre | ||||||||||||||||
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Waypoint
0 ft
Kharagauli Administration and Visitor Centre
| Kharagauli Administration and Visitor Centre | ||||||||||||||||
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Waypoint
0 ft
Ranger Station13
| Ranger Station | ||||||||||||||||
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Waypoint
0 ft
Tourist Shelter1
| Tourist Shelter | ||||||||||||||||
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Scenery
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This needs to be updated !
We started our way 1.5 km up from the Didmaghala tourist shelter as we arrived in the early afternoon (you can drive all the way up there) and then walked on the main road, took the second path on the left, in direction of the Nasabajvari shepherd summer cabins. Half-way through you will find the new tourist shelter that has yet to be indicated on a map; it seemed like no one knew about it, even the shepherds (ask the rangers about it though, one of them knew about it!).
On day 2 we lost the way after the new tourist shelter they just built in the middle of the mountain between Didmaghala Tourist shelter and Nasabajvari shepherd summer farms (this new tourist shelter is very nice tho, but we couldn’t find the spring neither, and we were initially told there would be one!).
After this new tourist shelter (not Didmaghala!), in the direction of Nasabajvari sheperd houses, the biggest trail transforms into a very small path on the flank of the mountain. But that’s where this itinerary couldn’t be followed anymore ! We went indeed to the Nasabajvari sheperd house, by a marked trail, and then to the observatory territory near Abastumani (much longer trail than the original trail shown on this map!!). Since the observatory territory was shut-down we had to take a left and then go down 2,5 km to the Agobili part of the village (near the sanatorium). There is fresh spring water and you are near Abastumani.
Also, on the way down the mountain from the Nasabajvari sheperd farm to the observatory/Agobili it is mentionned several times that there is a ranger station nearby. Don’t waste your time as this is an abandonned ranger station and you won’t find any ranger there anymore !