Xinaliq Hike - View of Shahdagh

From Xinaliqu, lying on a hill, run down and head west through the valley. There is nowhere to get lost – all the way to the saddle you will follow the jeep route of border guards and climbing expeditions, thus shortening your ascent to the highest peaks of Azerbaijan.

The only people you can meet in an otherwise desolate landscape without trees are huge flocks of sheep.

The local land is very black and the streams do not look tempting to drink at all. It's bad with water here

In the early spring, the entire ascent route is slightly depressing

It is only in places without grass that it is known that the entire subsoil is of volcanic origin

Finally, after two hours of walking, we are near the pass. The landscape opens and you can see the last bend of the road on the slope

The ascent to the saddle is not really technically demanding at all

The views from the saddle are worth the effort! The surrounding ridges are flat, so it's probably not a problem to get even higher from here and conquer a grassy hill of three thousand

Bazardüzü (4,466 m above sea level), the highest mountain in Azerbaijan, which is well visible from here, is still quite far away. This road ends in another 6 km in the base camp of the Shahdag mountain and from there it is at least another 10 km.

The road descends comfortably from the saddle and in front of your eyes you have a huge rock fortress Shahdagh (4 243m above sea level)

What kind of spring would it be in the mountains without flowers?

This side of the saddle is significantly more interesting for mountain views

After a while, you will have no choice but to leave the road and descend to the river, if you plan to continue to North Lazy. Of course, if you have more time and supplies, you can go closer to the highest mountains of Azerbaijan.