October 17, 2013: It was cold and rainy when I woke up, and stayed like that all day. We didn't want to hike in it, so we sat around all day mostly watching movies. I'm going to leave tomorrow, even if it's terrible weather; I'm bored with the couch.

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October 16, 2013: I hadn't planned to, but I took a zero today. Connie offered to drive us into town, so rather than hitchhiking at the next road we accepted. Before hitting up Walmart we stopped at an all you can eat buffet. It was good to eat a lot. Back at the hostel we spent the afternoon and evening watching movies, going to bed super late. If the forecast for heavy rain is accurate, we might stay another night.

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For the first time in 21 days, I saw other hikers. It was a sign that I had reached the Fann Mountains, the best-known trekking region in Tajikistan. The fame is well deserved. I was astounded by the intense blues and greens of the lakes, including Big Allo (photo 2) and Alauddin (4 and 5), and the mighty peaks lining the 4,760-m Chimtarga Pass (1). There is much more tourist infrastructure here than elsewhere on the Pamir Trail, including lakeside restaurants (4) and caravans of donkeys to support guided groups (3).

This area is covered by Stage 1 of the Pamir Trail, which also includes stunning areas either side of the classic Chimtarga Circuit. To the east, it threads the Dugdon Pass (photos 7 and 8). To the west, the route passes the very remote hamlet of Tovasang (photo 10; try to spot the houses) and follows the famous Seven Lakes (Haftkul*; photo 9).

For Pamir-Trail through-hikers, Stage 1 will usually serve to acclimatise and inspire. Since I was walking in reverse, it was instead going to be a grand finale. But getting to the end still wasn’t guaranteed—my 60-day visa was close to running out, and I didn’t want to have to bail out, so close to the finish line...

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*Kul means ‘lake’ and there are similar-sounding words across Central Asia, such as in Baikal, Issyk-Kul, and Kolsai.

October 15, 2013: Another great sunrise. One nice thing about fall is that the sun rises late enough to watch. There was an open-air privy at the shelter which I enjoyed using. From the shelter it wasa pleasant walk up to the balds. I really liked the section out of the trees. Across the highway I went over Roan High Knob, where the highest shelter in the AT is. From there it was back into the forest to a gap, where I turned off and walked down to a hostel. Pivot Dude arrived a few minutes later, and we quickly became friends with CeeCee, the owner of the Greasy Creek Friendly.


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October 14, 2013: Nothing exciting happened in the morning. We got to the road at lunch time, but the restaurant was closed. So we hitched the other direction to a diner. They were friendly there, and we had a long lunch. The government was still closed.
After getting a ride back to the trail, we hiked up to the Roan Highlands, getting there shortly before sunset. They were beautiful, even in the clouds. At the Overmountain shelter, an old barn, we stopped and regaled the weekenders with our stories. A good day.


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October 13, 2013: We were in no rush to get out, and didn't leave until after lunch. A few miles in, the rain started. It was scattered showers all afternoon, and putting on dry clothes at the shelter was awesome. We should reach the TN/NC border tomorrow, which we'll follow for about 200 miles.


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October 12, 2013: Seiko dropped us off back at the trail where we had left yesterday. Hiking with day packs is much faster. The morning was pleasant, but it got cloudier as it went on. After we crossed a dam there was a climb and descent over a mountain with no views. Seemed pointless. At Laurel Gorge it started to sprinkle. Despite it being a very pretty area, I turned up the speed to get to the hostel before the real rain started.
Pivot Dude got back a little after me. His show had started to fall apart, and he needed to sort it out. We made lots of pasta for dinner, then had a dry night in real beds.

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On Stage 2, the Pamir Trail makes its closest approach to the capital city, Dushanbe, and passes popular local holiday destinations like the enormous Soviet-era sanatorium of Khodzha Obi Garm and Iskanderkul (’Lake of Alexander [the Great]’). The busiest point is the crossing of the main highway between the capital and the second city Khujand, but even this is just a winding two-lane road. Although relatively accessible, the rest of the section is visited by few people, perhaps because it is so mountainous. It includes high passes and a couple of glacier crossings on either side of the lower plains (photos 4 and 5). The impressive mountain ridges of the Hisor Range are made up of strong, bright igneous rock*.

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*Geologists will appreciate the impressive porphyritic twinned plagioclase laths (photo 10), the size of Twix bars, which were abundant to the south of the Mura Pass.

October 11, 2013: It was a relatively short day. At a road crossing there werea lot of signs warning of aggressive bears in the next section, and that camping was forbidden. Pivot Dude was able to yogi a ride from the first car that went by. They drove us to Kincora Hostel. We arranged with the caretaker to get a ride back the next day, so we could day hike back to the hostel. Don't want to skip any sections!


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October 10, 2013: It was a slow morning in town, and Pivot Dude and I got burritos before heading up the hill. A short distance up we crossed into Tennessee.
At the shelter Biner showed up and we had a good evening talking. Someone had left a mouse trap, so we were able to take care of a few of the mice there.


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