If climbing on foot, the most obvious route is through the 21 km gorge, right from the Fanfarok waterfall, a trail begins that leads to Varzob Peak. It's better to return the same way, but I decided to descend into the Odzhuk Gorge towards the Kharangon fork. This is the last major branch in the Odzhuk Gorge where I hadn't yet been. I reached the summit of Varzob Peak after noon. To descend into Odzhuk, I needed to traverse three more unnamed peaks; by the way, two of these peaks are even higher than Varzob Peak. Actually, there are five of them in total: the first, counting from the Varzob highway, is 2658 meters, then comes Varzob Peak at 2770 meters, followed by three unnamed ones at 2765, 2793, and 2843 meters, respectively.
I spent the night right on the mountain between the last two peaks. In the morning, I climbed the last of these peaks, which is the highest, and began my descent towards the saddle where a drovers' trail passes. This trail is used for moving herds; it goes from the Kharangon fork in Odzhuk, through the upper reaches of the Kharangon Gorge, to the Chapdara Pass, which leads into the Semiganch Gorge in Romit.
I'll attach a scheme of the hike on Google Maps for clarity.
I had already hiked into this gorge to the waterfall before - you can see that hike here, so I'll start posting photos from the Fanfarok waterfall. The first photos are of the waterfall itself, first its upper cascade, and then the waterfall itself.
This is the wall above the Fanfarok waterfall.
Right from the waterfall, a trail begins that leads up to the top of the ridge. Photos from this trail, nothing special to comment on, views front, back, all around...
There, Varzob Peak appeared, conveniently highlighted by a cloud's shadow.
But the end of the climb itself isn't in sight yet, so I continue ascending and taking photos.
There, the city of Dushanbe became visible.
And I finally conquered this spur.
And I reached the place where this spur connects with others and then leads directly to Varzob Peak.
From here, the places of my previous hikes in this area become visible - Mount Mushtepa and the Kharangoni ridge.
But there's no time to admire the views; there's still climbing to do.
Photos along the way up.
A rocky section looms ahead.
Photos from this section.
The main climb is over. Varzob Peak is almost straight ahead; just need to reach it.
Photos from this point.
Varzob Peak is practically within reach.
Here is the summit of Varzob Peak.
360-degree photos from the summit of Varzob Peak.
And over there is where I need to go, where three more peaks await me.
Descent to the saddle between the peaks.
The saddle and photos from it.
Ascent to the next peak; let's call it Peak 2765 conditionally.
I climbed up; a photo of the gorge I want to descend into.
Photos from this Peak 2765.
And onwards for me, to the next peak; we'll also conditionally call it Peak 2793.
Photos along the way between the peaks.
Here is the summit of this Peak 2793.
Photos from this Peak 2793.
This is the saddle before the last peak in this ridge. I have time to descend to it, but not to climb it; so I spent the night down there.
I settled in with a view of the city, but didn't take photos; the equipment isn't good enough for that. But here's a photo of the city from the morning; I got up before dawn.
Here's a photo of that saddle where I spent the night, and beyond it you can see yesterday's path along the peaks; the very last one, barely visible, is Varzob Peak.
The sun rose, the city became more visible.
The ascent to the last peak; we'll call it Peak 2843 accordingly.
Here is its summit.
And photos from this Peak 2843.
I started descending; the view of the peak from this side.
Here the view opens up to the Chapdara Pass; through this pass you can get into the Semiganch Gorge, which is already on the Romit side.
And this is also a kind of pass from the Odzhuk Gorge to the Kharangon Gorge; a trail runs there that they use to drive herds. I need to get to that trail.
If you go along this gorge, you'll end up right at the Kharangon fork in Odzhuk.
Well, I descended to this saddle.
All that's left is to descend the trail into Odzhuk.
Finally, the steep descent is over, and I reached a proper river.
And I descended from way up there. If the height of this last peak is 2843 meters, then at this point the altitude is somewhere around 1800. So, I descended about a kilometer in roughly three hours.
Then I walked along this cozy gorge towards the Kharangon fork.
Well, here it is, the fork at last. To the right is where I came from; to the left is the path further along Odzhuk towards the upper reaches.
All the best to you and happy hiking.
