Trekking the Fann Mountains: the classic week-long loop

The Fann Mountains have one route almost everyone starts with. It runs from the village of Artuch through the Kulikalon basin, crosses to the Alauddin lakes, and climbs to the foot of Chimtarga. The loop takes about a week, needs no climbing skills, and shows the range at its best.

What follows is a day-by-day outline. It is a frame rather than a schedule — weather and how the group feels will shift it almost every time.

Before you set out

This is not a technical route: no rope, crampons or ice axe on the main loop. But it is high country, and nothing about that makes it easy.

• Total ascent over the trek runs into several thousand metres, with climbs and descents every day.
• The high point of the loop is the Alauddin pass at roughly 3,800 metres. The side trip towards Chimtarga goes higher.
• You sleep in a tent, at altitudes between about 2,800 and 3,500 metres.
• Water is almost everywhere — streams and lakes. You will not be carrying it for days.

Build in a spare day. In the Fanns you often have to sit out bad weather at camp, and without slack that breaks the whole plan.

Day 1. Artuch to the Kulikalon lakes

The start is at Artuch, around 2,200 metres. The trail climbs straight away through juniper forest, and that first ascent gives you an honest report on your fitness.

By midday the forest opens onto the Kulikalon basin: several lakes at about 2,800 metres with the Mirali wall standing over them. It is one of those places where people sit down on a rock and do nothing for an hour.

Camp by the water. Four to five hours of walking, around 600 metres gained.

Day 2. A rest day in the basin

The urge to push on is strong, but this day is better spent here. Two reasons: your body adjusts to the altitude, and the basin cannot be taken in over one evening.

Options with a light pack:

1. Walk the circuit of the lakes — each has its own colour and character.
2. Climb to Dushakha lake, above the main cluster.
3. Simply reach the moraine under the wall and look at the peaks up close.

A day without a pack before a pass is not lost time. It is an investment in the next one.

Day 3. The Alauddin pass to the Alauddin lakes

The main day. The climb to the Alauddin pass at around 3,800 metres is long, monotonous and over scree. The top gives you two valleys at once, and it is worth budgeting time to sit there.

The far side drops steeply over loose ground and costs your knees more than the ascent did. Below wait the Alauddin lakes — the turquoise you have seen in every photograph of the range.

Camp at about 2,800 metres. A long day, six to eight hours.

Day 4. Alauddin to the Mutnye lakes

Short in distance, noticeable in height. The trail follows the river upwards to the Mutnye lakes at roughly 3,500 metres.

The name is honest — "murky" — the water is grey with glacial silt, and after the Alauddin lakes it comes as a shock. The landscape changes completely in exchange: the green ends, rock and ice begin, and Chimtarga stands directly above camp.

A night at 3,500 metres is cold. Everything warm you packed earns its place here.

Day 5. A side trip

A day with two options, both with a light pack.

Towards the Chimtarga pass. A climb in the direction of the highest pass in the range. Even if you stop short of the top, the height and the view over the glaciers repay the effort.

To Bolshoye Allo. Further in distance but easier in altitude. The lake is dammed by an ancient rockfall and sits in a bowl of rock, unlike anywhere else in the Fanns.

Days 6–7. Descent and exit

The way back usually runs through the Alauddin lakes to the road. Descending is quicker than climbing, but it is where ankles most often go — fatigue accumulates and the trail is loose.

Many people take the last night lower down near the road head: it makes arranging a car easier and keeps you off the mountain after dark.

What to bring, and what people forget

• A sleeping bag rated below freezing. A summer bag does not work here.
• Trekking poles. On loose descents they save your knees more than you expect.
• Proper sunglasses and sunscreen.
• Blister plasters — packed in advance, not bought once the blister exists.
• Offline maps and a power bank: there is no signal, and phones drain faster in the cold.

On your own or with a guide

The route is popular and the trails are easy to read, and experienced groups walk it unguided. But a guide settles three things that cost a lot on the ground: transport in and out, the right pace of acclimatisation, and the decision to turn back when the weather changes.

If this is your first trek at this altitude, do it with support the first time — see tours in the Fann Mountains.