The Seven Glacier can be called one of the most photogenic in the entire Caucasus, thanks to its unusual shape. Almost all glaciers are a mass of ice and snow descending in the form of a tongue along a mountain slope. However, the Seven Glacier consists of compressed ice that has frozen in the crevices of the mountain in the form of the number 7. There are no similar glaciers anywhere else in the world.
The glacier is sandwiched between the slopes of the mountains of the Main Caucasian range: Donguzorun East (4430 m) and Nakra-Tau (4269 m). Georgia is located on the southern slope of these mountains. On maps, this glacier is called by the name of the mountain: "Donguzorun Glacier", but all tourists call it "Seven". Followers of esoteric teachings believe that this is not even a seven, but the rune of the Indian swastika.
Glaciologists suggest that the formation of the glacier occurred after a large amount of snow fell, which was compressed by the wind in the crevices of two mountains. Then the snow turned to ice. In the following years, the layer of stuck snow only increased. The Seven is a typical hanging glacier. The width of the ice layer frozen in the crevice of the mountain reaches 300 meters, and the glacier hangs on a very steep mountainside.
The Seven Glacier is clearly visible from many hiking trails of the Elbrus National Park, including from the opposite side of the Baksan Gorge, when tourists climb the Valley of the Terskol River or to the Maiden Braids Waterfall. However, the closest approach to the glacier is along the slope of Mount Cheget.
Tourists should climb to the first cable car station on Mount Cheget and then follow the hiking trail to one of the most beautiful lakes in the Caucasus - Lake Donguz-Orun-Kel. It was formed due to the melting of the Seven Glacier. At the foot of the glacier, huge glacier moraines lie on the mountain slopes.
The distance from the cable car station to Donguz-Orun-kel Lake is 2.3 kilometers. The trail goes along a mountain slope without a height difference. People usually approach the edge of the slope, which offers a magnificent view of the Seven Glacier and the lake lying in the hollow. You can go down to the lake on a rather steep slope to see the beautiful mountain peaks and glacier in the reflection of the waters of the mountain lake. However, there is no further path.
Some experienced travelers cross mountain rivers near the lake and climb up the moraines of the glacier. Some climbers have even climbed the glacier, but it is dangerous even with special equipment, as the glacier hangs on a steep slope. Everyone else can only admire the Seven Glacier from the shore of the lake or from the upper hiking trail.
