Last weekend, while Jen was at home burning her foot (btw she is much better now, although I think it still looks terrible), I headed for the mountains for a quick hike with two friends.
Mount Bobo-i-Ob is the highest mountain in the far north region of Asht. Bobo-i-Ob means "Grandfather of Water", which based on the hydrological cycle we supposed would mean clouds. This 3769 m (12,365 ft) peak, which is pressed up against the Uzbek border, dominates the skyline of the whole region. Having very little information about the area, we knew that our goal of summiting in one day was less than certain.
A view of "water's grandfather" from a distance...
We drove up a beautiful green valley lined with villages to reach our approach...
We drove as far as we could, camped along the river, and set out the next morning, walking along the river to its source. Lots of tranquil places along the way...
We also passed through many apricot orchards which were in full bloom. Our goal is in the background behind these trees...
All along the valley, there were shepherd's huts. This one was particularly well placed...
One shepherd offered us "yogurt balls" along the way...
After about 6 hours of hiking, we reached the point where we could see the final ascent...
Looking down the last bend in the valley at the dappled slopes well above the treeline...
But near the top it started to get hairy...
Eventually, we reached a point where we could not go on. Too technical, too dangerous. So we had to be content in the shadow of the summit.
A view to the south and the far away eastern Fan Mountains that I visited last year...
My "summit". It wasn't the top, but its as far as we got...
After 12 hours of hiking, we had covered a distance of 17.4 k (10.8 miles) with 1850 meters (6,000+ ft) of elevation gain and loss.
Here's the campsite the next morning before we headed back home...
Using Google Earth combined with my recent experience, I've been able to work out a better path to the top. So I hope for a return to water's grandfather one day for a 2nd attempt.
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