Walks in Altai. Chulyshman.
Geographic reference: Lake Teletskoye is located in the northeast of the Altai Mountains, its length is 77.8 km, the average width is 2.9 km, and the maximum width does not exceed 4.5 km. The northern part is stretched from west to east, the southern part, having made a turn of almost 90 degrees, from north to south.
The area of the lake is relatively small - 223 km² , but due to its great depth (the average depth of the lake is 174 m, the maximum depth is 325 m - opposite the waterfall Korbu) it contains a huge amount (40 km³ ) of excellent fresh water, transparent to a depth of 12-14 meters.
About 70 rivers and 150 temporary streams flow into the lake, and 70% of all water comes from the river Chulyshman, flowing from the south. Giving your waters to the river )">Bie (98% of the drainage), the lake provides food to a large extent Obi.
We saw the northern part of the lake at one time, rafted on catamarans along the Biya from Artybash, then I was most impressed by the beginning of the river flowing out of the lake - water flows out from under the bridge at a noticeable angle of ten degrees. But getting to Artybash is not an easy task, crowds of people, this and that is not ours, give us wilds! And the company a dozen years ago was formed from similar scalds, if only the steering wheel in your hands and rush away, away!
The guys screamed so much, what a miracle Chulyshman is, what a microclimate is there, how great it is in May compared to our weather, that, of course, we gathered with them for the next May holidays, there were three working days between the May Day portion and the portion on the ninth of May, for which we "take leave" from work.
We gathered cheerfully, went in two cars, one Mitsubishi Delica, a jaunty minibus, in which four adults plus a child rode, and our Kaldina with four adults. More or less painted who, what and how much buys, one eagle was obliged to buy bread for the whole crowd for eight days. They wanted to leave on Saturday, April 30, at five o'clock in the evening, they were transported until seven, because the eagle Olezh could not buy bread. Sunday, the first of May, was Easter, so all the shops had Easter cakes, Easter cakes, well, and a few more Easter cakes. Then we bit our elbows that we didn’t buy at least a Easter cake, but then lightly waved our hand, the same Olezha said, “We’ll buy it in a bakery in Aktash or Ulagan! ”
Rushed. We drove into the night, almost without stopping, at the Seminsky Pass at about one in the morning they changed drivers. The husband has one very unpleasant feature, if next to him on the navigational seat you begin to nod, he becomes infected with yawning and begins to want to sleep very much. In addition, this responsible workaholic worked so hard before leaving to go on a spree with a clear conscience that he definitely could not be strained. I am arranged differently, I just need to be put behind the wheel, like a dream, even if I was drawn into it, it instantly jumps off. Every time I fondly remember what a sweetheart Olezha turned out to be, we didn’t know each other very well back then. He always remembered that a not too brave aunt was following him, he didn’t drive fast, kept the speed of eighty kilometers, I even tried to see something in the night after the Chike-Taman pass, high mountains on the right shoulder and a cliff on the left. Later, on the way back, in the daylight, we realized what a beauty we were passing by - all the slopes were lilac from blooming wild rosemary.
About five o'clock in the morning, the carriers began to turn sour, but there was a turn from the Chuysky tract to the village of Aktash, it's time to take a breath and at least refresh yourself. Of course, at six in the morning, and even on Sunday and twice a holiday, not a single store selling bread was open, well, we had some kind of snack with us. Then the road went not so smooth, but very beautiful, after five kilometers behind Aktash the Red Gate, a lake covered with ice, completely lifeless.
We climbed to the pass, two thousand meters, where it was worth letting the cars rest. For some reason, then the pass did not have any name, now it is Ulagansky, after the name of the region. There was snow on the pass, the surrounding mountains seemed already very low, we saw the beautiful lake, as it should, later.
Next was Ulagan, where we again tried to buy bread, feeling that this was the last chance, then the settlements did not inspire confidence at all. Bummer! Shops are closed either for religious reasons (Easter), or for other religious reasons (May 1), there are two people in sight, although the village is quite large, there is a stadium. The men went to chat with the local population, and I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t put the awning into the bag with the tent, which my dear husband had taken out in the winter in order to “finish” it - whether to sew on a rain visor, or something else, my hands the guy did not reach; I regularly kicked the bundle from one corner of the house to another and completely forgot that this is a very necessary item - the ceiling of our tent is mesh. Christmas trees-sticks!
We decided to deal with the problems on the spot.
Our miners returned with a couple of loaves, later it turned out that they exchanged them for almost two bottles of water - the “course” turned out to be harsh, and the bread was amazingly tasteless, but we ate it for a long time!
The last village was Balyktuyul - a small village, after which, instead of a road on the map, a dotted line that looks alive like several ruts, sometimes converging, sometimes scattering along the rocky steppe, was apparently trampled by their cars with different clearance or the degree of crazyness of drivers. And the funniest thing was that we still had to cross the river, and here I realized what kind of scalds we were! There was no bridge then, it appeared a year later, usually they wade over, but this time the river was covered with a layer of ice, from under which water flowed cheerfully, and the ice was not at all thick! To be honest, I was afraid to croak, so I didn’t harass the audience with all sorts of questions about how safe the crossing was, and what would happen if... etc. , we just walked to the other side, closed our eyes and did not breathe until the cars got over.
While we were crawling across the steppe, looking at the next stones, so as not to run into them with our belly, we didn’t look around, but there was something to see - this is the valley of the Pazyryk burial mounds, built about two and a half millennia ago.
The steppe slowly turned into an upsurge, the road became more and more picturesque, the Katu-Yaryk pass was approaching. The winding road passed through a sparse forest, sometimes streams crossed it, below a mysterious lake, then covered with ice.
Descent from the Katu-Yaryk pass
We got to the descent from the pass, at the bottom of the canyon of the Chulyshman River, a height difference of eight hundred meters. The picture is breathtaking. Descent in seven zigzags, the last turn comes to the "Tyagun" about one and a half kilometers, the right people stand and wait until the car in front turns into the next zigzag, that time we went down alone, fortunately, there were no idiots who fly without turning attention to safety, later I had to meet with such people.
The descent turned out to be difficult, mainly for cars, it was necessary to stop at the bends of the road to cool the brake pads, while the passengers saw wonderful pictures: waterfalls half-frozen, cliffs overgrown with wild rosemary, and at the very bottom of the gorge a river with brownish water, along the banks of which are thickets of poplars.
At the foot of the pass, tourist bases were just beginning to appear, at that time there was only one, several ails (a traditional Altai structure like a yurt), we went further to look for a nice place to camp. At that time, if there was someone’s parking lot at a distance of half a kilometer, we puffed contemptuously: “fu, how busy everything is! ” and drove on. It was already four hours, everyone was tired like dogs, I didn’t even want to eat, but I had to, and you still have to cook food!
We found a place, somehow sorted out the tents, most importantly, we did not forget the inflatable mattress, two meters by eighty meters (I would never forget it, it was the only thing that reconciled me with spending the night in a tent), something ate and passed out.
The weather did not please us in the morning. The wind was blowing, it rained periodically, it was quite chilly, and so for three days in a row. I’m afraid to remember how much was drunk “for warming up”, I wandered around in a pair of jackets, over which there was also a cape, his husband took it from his son-in-law, black, the cape ended at ground level. We planned all sorts of nice outings, but we had to limit ourselves to just walking to the nearest waterfall, leaving the Chulcha River with its Uchar waterfall until the next time.
The only thing that saved the situation from boredom was that the people were, after all, very nice, even when drunk, and there was something to talk about. Olezha, a geologist, intimidated us with mercury deposits in these places, explained the color of the stones with the content of iron in them, and simply talked about expeditions.
Sleep grass.
Ledum, aka deer
In theory, we were supposed to feel like heroes, all sorts of ordinary things - lighting a fire, cooking, washing dishes - all this required strength like a small feat. But I got so used to cooking pilaf that now I can hardly imagine how to cook it at home on an electric stove.
The clouds dispersed only on the fifth day, the sun hit, although the wind continued to blow completely icy, we smeared our ears and noses from burns, but we did not get out of our jackets. But sorties around the neighborhood became more interesting, all the more, the thought warmed that everyone was fed up with this sticking around, already very much wanted to go back. By evening, the river began to become very shallow, the stones that we saw at the bottom rose from the water, and at dusk, instead of water, there were already crusts of ice. Chulyshman clearly let us know that it was time to get out of there.
On the way back, we decided that it was enough to mock ourselves, it was better to slow down for an overnight stay in a picturesque place - the confluence of the Chuya and Katun, this is not far from the village of Inya. Experienced comrades rubbed their hands in anticipation of what impression these places would make on neophytes - us. The impression was wow! For starters, the bridge across the Katun is flimsy and with a strange roll, but after the ice crossing in Balyktuyul, it’s not so scary. Deciding that another dose of adrenaline would not hurt us, we were dragged towards the village of Inegen, and in order to see my violent reaction, it was decided to put me in a friendly Delika. It is understandable, when you look into the abyss from the car window higher, it becomes much more terrible. It was also uncomfortable from the fact that it seemed that the car would now begin to scrape its roof against a rock hanging over the road. Having pleased the good comrades with a quiet squeak of horror, I decided to take a walk back, to see from the ground how it really looks.
The Chuya (brown stream) flows into the Katun
Later I read a very sad story of this road, it was built by the hands of, of course, political prisoners, there was an idea to break the road south to Tungur.
Then there was a "tongue" - a cape opposite the confluence itself, to which we drove along a fairly wide valley, past the shepherds' estate. We came across horses, sheep with their cubs, and it was not enough for us to delight the foals, as a pair of cranes flew in and began their dance.
While we were waiting for the weather on Chulyshman, in these parts spring came on a wide front, we warmed up at least a little.
The next year, we again made an attempt to take a walk around Chulyshman for the May holidays, and everything even started well, on May 1 we walked through a demonstration through a clearing with a red flag taken from somewhere (a red rag is not an unnecessary item in a car), then we even took a swim, we sunbathed, but in the late afternoon we caught a puffball that had flown away from a friend, and I woke up on the morning of May 2 from a dog cold, a loving husband poked a mug of coffee in my nose with the words “And it started snowing there! ”. I thought he was joking, but when I opened my eyes, I saw snow flakes on his shoulders.
May Day demonstration.
It didn't even have to be harmful to the people, everyone unanimously decided to get out of there immediately. That time, I was saved by old winter boots thrown in the trunk, which I dreamed of finishing off while walking on the rocks, and the wonderful thrift of one of our girlfriends, she took with her a box of rubber gloves. Rubber gloves, worn over even the most foppish leather ones (stuck in jacket pockets), are superbly warm!
The way back.
Frozen waterfall.
When we returned, the family council unanimously decided that there was nothing more to do on Chulyshman in May, we had already seen all the good things, and we couldn’t drink so much, but we could rush there for the June holidays. It was really not bad, we didn’t try to rush to Chulyshman in one day, we spent the night at our favorite place Chuya-Katun, we went in three cars, my friend was driving with us - the peasant has a wonderful feature, he somehow has a calming effect on the whole a team older than all of us, but very athletic, and a passionate fan of every new word in gadgets and devices. By the way, she almost killed her husband when, in the process of descending the Katu-Yaryk pass, she discovered that he, holding the steering wheel with one hand, was spinning another toy with the other, checking the altitude readings with a similar one. This is about the pacifying qualities of Lyokha - she didn’t kill, she was embarrassed to swear loudly! And sometimes I really wanted to yell loudly. To begin with, on the territory of the Altai Territory, three drivers flew in for deprivation of their rights - they overtook a peaceful truck, as it turned out later, in a place where a sign forbade it. Ahead was Delika (“I sit high, I look far away”), whose driver was the first to see this sign, the other two just automatically slipped after him, our gullible ones! Of course, there were uniformed men waiting for them on the next hillock. The drivers of the second and third cars were quietly indignant, you see, they did not see that it was not Yurchik, young, but adequate, who was behind the wheel of the Delica, but the second guy, an absolute scalder. Then my husband got really pissed when at the first stop it turned out that a group of people who were driving in a car with a supply of beer had practically destroyed that supply. He dreamed at the end of a hard day, finally leaving the steering wheel, to take a sip of that beer, and there was a maximum of a jar left for his brother!
Because of the youngsters in Delica, who brought the diesel to a boil on the pass, we got a luxurious opportunity to admire the lake. It was quiet, quiet, not a breeze, no birds could be seen or heard.
This time we camped opposite the place where the Chulcha River flows into Chulyshman, crossed over it and walked almost to the Uchar waterfall, or rather, looked at it from afar - climbing equipment was required, and even risk small children (10 and 13 years) no one was ready, in fact, our guys, young and athletic, reached the waterfall the next day.
The Chulcha River flows between the rocks.
Chulcha, Uchar - a cascading waterfall is visible from behind the rock
Our eagles that reached Uchar.
The husband, who recovered his rights already in September for a hefty fine, said that the topic of Chulyshman was closed to him, the road was long and tiring, some members of the team tangibly got on his nerves, etc. But a few years later we returned there because we wanted to show this beauty to our old friends who bought quite a powerful car and wanted to use it for its intended purpose. By this point, friends had raised their children to an independent existence, they realized that in the country they needed to relax, not work hard, and nothing would be done with it in a couple of weeks. And the older generation does not yet need constant guardianship, they themselves take care of a couple of domestic animals. In addition, we coincide with them in terms of pace, the desire not to rush along the road with your tongue hanging out, but stopping, reaching interesting places - finally, at least we could see the Pazyryk burial mounds!
Pazyryk barrows
Pazyryk barrows
In 2012, the summer turned out to be amazing, in the second half of July there was a beautiful heat, even the water seemed warm, and it was much more transparent.
July Chulyshman
Campsites at the foot of Katu-Yaryk.
The Chulyshman Valley is gradually overgrown with campsites, not like near Chemal, but by that time there were already quite a few of them here. Again we set up camp opposite the mouth of the Chulcha.
Having crossed the river, we reached the "mushrooms" - the result of the weathering of sedimentary rocks, pressed from above by a piece of rock. It was a good walk, along the Kara-Suu River (another Black River) a grove of poplars twisted, where tired travelers (and there were many of them) took off their tongues from their shoulders and could not tear themselves away from the water, very tasty.
"Mushrooms", far off the peninsula where we came from.
"Mushrooms"
"Mushrooms"
Our eagles, having left us with a friend and a low-powered Fielder car in the camp, drove to Lake Teletskoye, brought back photographs, several delicious cakes and spread fingers “we did it! ”, It took about six hours. I remembered this bay from the first class, nothing has changed there, there was nothing to be upset that they didn’t take me. During their absence, I raked the stones from the bottom, trying to organize a “bath” deeper so that I could immediately thump into the water, and not scrape my belly aground.
Southern end of Lake Teletskoye
In that era, men grabbed video recorders and tried to use them in the right place and out of place. For example, by fixing the registrar on the forehead, in an inflatable boat it will float for a hundred meters. The result is good, especially the beginning: a glass in the hand, then a jerk up (famously overturned glass), floundering water and climbing ashore. “Registered” and the ascent to Katu-Yaryk on the way back, I don’t know if these videos are still being reviewed.
Having chatted around the valley for four days, climbing all the interesting rocks in the area, we moved back. Some concerns were caused by Fielder (Toyota), whose owner was already thinking of parting with him, but, nevertheless, upon returning from Altai.
Courageous inhabitants of the foot of the pass try to keep the road in order, but are not averse to earning extra money on frivolous (or brave) travelers with low-powered cars, the GAZ-66 truck is constantly on duty, helping our Filka to overcome the lower draft.
After this trip, the most tender memories remain, I think now the road to these wonderful places has become easier, and you can probably get comfortable downstairs, and everyone can find something interesting for themselves, so go for it!
