Source: https://www.caucasus-trekking.com/treks/khalde-to-ushguli-by-lagem-pass

The trail starts in the Khalde village. First, follow the dirt track to the north (essentially backtracking if you came from Adishi on the previous day). Less than an hour later, you will reach the marker where the trail to the Chkhunderi pass branches to the left (you will see several shepherd huts on your right). From here, walk straight and look for a small path in a grass branching to the right. It crosses the swampy meadow and approaches the river. It may be overgrown and hard to find (depending on the "traffic"), if you are not sure, just follow the GPS log.

If you took the correct path, it should lead you to the bridge, partially hidden behind a large boulder. The bridge is old and not in the best condition, but still holding (in 2018). If you are doing Mestia - Ushguli trek with a tent, you can save the whole "to the Khalde and back" detour and sleep around here, there are some drier camping spots. From the bridge, head across the meadow to the south for some 200 meters until you reach a subsidiary of the Khalde river. Turn left here and follow it upstream - the trail here is somewhat hard to follow since it crosses numerous bushes and rhododendron fields.

Some 20 minutes later, you will come to the place where the stream branches, follow the branch to the left (more rhododendrons!). Soon, you will come to the spot where it splits again. Here, you need to cross the stream and climb onto the ridge standing between the branches of the river. There is one last rhododendron belt to cross. At these moments, you can already see Lagem pass high above, it lies a bit north from a spot where the side ridge you will be climbing connects the main ridge.

There is not much to write about the climb to the pass - it's difficult, tiring and very steep. There are almost no switchbacks, you just keep going straight up. The last section is the worst, you walk on the grass which is slippery even when dry and during rain may pose a serious problem.

Lagem pass lies at the elevation of almost 3000 meters. If you have a good split time and the sky is clear, I recommend to climb also the elevation to the north (3200m) for even better views of Georgian side of the Khalde wall (Georgian side of the more famous Bezingi wall on the Russian side) with Mt. Shkhara (5193m), the highest mountain of Georgia.

As for the descent, it´s not as straightforward as the climb. First, the trail descends only slowly and while sticking to the hillside heads south, in the direction of a small ridge. Deeper below, you can see a small creek running at the bottom of the valley. The trail passes it and starts descending only later, so you have this valley on your left. You head to the place where the side ridge you traverse drops to the confluence of Pakvlashi river and the creek on your left. However, at these sections, it may be hard to follow since the trail is in a bad condition. Therefore, some hikers prefer to descend to the bottom of the valley and just follow the riverbed (especially in the late summer when the water level is low).

No matter which way you choose, both routes meet by the Pakvlashi river. The route from here is straightforward since you already see Ushguli ahead. Just follow the trail while slowly losing altitude and getting closer to the larger track below which leads to the Shkhara glacier. Both routes eventually merge before the village. All you have to do then is walk another mile, cross the bridge over Inguri river and pass the Lamaria monastery. Welcome to Ushguli!