Pamir in October
 

I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to the Pamir/Wakhan for 2022. At the moment because work commitments we are looking to arrive off a Caspian Sea ferry to Turkmenistan mid September, then head towards Samarkand, Dushanbe, the Wakhan valley and then north to Osh and possibly on to Bishkek or Almaty - depends on shipping options for the return leg - leaving mid October.



Question: Is late September and the first two weeks of October too late in the year to be in the Pamir? Two up on a big GS (don't judge me, I'm no noob:rolleyes2:) on ice doesn't appeal! I do understand that it can snow at pretty much any time at serious altitude.

Don't know, really, but here's south eastern Tajikistan (Jarty Gumbez) in August a few years ago.....

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...s/DSCN0215.jpg

Not much stayed on the ground, but it made the roads impassable due to mud.

Later in the month, on the Pamir highway we crossed Kyzyl Art Pass (4280 m) from Sary Tash to Osh in a wet and sloppy snowstorm. It snowed about 15 cm and was only passable because previous car traffic had left wet tracks down to the pavement. It was grim riding for a while....

My guess is you're pushing the end of moto travel in October. What would be your backup plan?

..............shu

Gulp, that looks like fun! Freaky weather can happen any time in the high mountains I suppose- we got snowed on a bit heading to Bolivia last year in November.


Backup plan would be to go May/June, but I think that might be riskier, especially cos of snow melt/mud/raging rivers.


[EDIT] Of course, thinking about it we could always fly in to Almaty, pick up the bikes in early September then ride back towards home.