Journey to Altai
What is Altai? Each student will answer that these are mountains somewhere in Siberia, many have even been to these parts. But the fact is that in Altai there is a certain tourist zone, having entered which, the tourist is already so well that a deeper acquaintance with these places often does not occur. And very in vain! Because "non-tourist" Altai is a delight, it's not only mountains, or rather, it's not just mountains! This is... But first things first...
So, we decided to dedicate our first family adventure to Altai. With two crews, with three children from 6 to 14 years old and the dog Mika, we set off to conquer Altai, starting from the city of Krasnoyarsk at exactly 4 am on September 9.2011.
Having left for the “finish line” to the border of the Altai Territory, we literally crashed into the elements: black giant clouds, darkness, thunder and lightning. To complete the picture, the only thing missing was to include Chris Rea's "Road to Hell" in the background. Now it seems funny, but with such weather, the adventure we planned in the height of autumn in Altai is nothing good and funny, believe me!
Before this trip, not all of us believed in the spirits of Altai, but after the first manifestations of mysticism, all doubts were dispelled...
After spending the night in one of the many bases in the village of Katun, accompanied by the same bad weather, we nevertheless decided to go along the paved route, heading for the Seminsky Pass. On the way to the pass, miracles began : ) We found a huge granite boulder with a lot of coins on it and decided to arrange a "coin basketball" - if someone hits a stone with a coin, the spirits of Altai will have mercy on us, and the weather will continue to please us . Only one of us managed to pull it off, but as it turned out, that was enough for the spirits!!!
Believe it or not, but after 15 minutes, descending from the Seminsky Pass, we saw a gorgeous clear rainbow, our way down literally ran into a colored rocker!
We spent the night at the intersection of the Maly Yaloman and Katun rivers.
How nice it is to wake up to the murmur of the river, mmmm! But even more pleasant is the first thing you stick your head out of the tent to see the bright blue sky! Finally!
The whole surrounding landscape inspires the way forward. The Chuysky tract cut through the mountains, luring further and further into the Mountain Kingdom. Finally, we saw not just hills, but real jagged rocks, finally we were visited by the feeling of a real big adventure! And, of course, this feeling was reinforced by the first meal prepared by one's own hands in field conditions. Hooray!! ! We are truly in Altai!!!
At the intersection of the Katun and Chuya rivers, there are many ancient rock paintings. At first we studied them on our own, and then we saw the Museum of Ancient Drawings, where we gladly took a guide, Vasily from Altai, and under his interesting stories, we felt like never before immersing ourselves in the ancient mighty mountains of Altai, which keep the secrets of many centuries. It is unusual to feel that families of primitive people walked on these same stones. Perhaps they hunted here, or maybe, like us, they traveled?
Next, a trip to the legendary threshold of the Mazhoysky Cascade "Kid" is planned. I've been there before and can't wait to show the Kid to everyone else! The roar of the Kid is heard even before you see him. It is a pity that the photographs do not convey the powerful roar of the water seething in the threshold! A normal human reaction to him is shock, and we were also lucky enough to see with our own eyes the daredevils passing the Kid on kayaks!
But the shock doesn't end there. Forward and upward, and there... Further tests of the endurance of machines, as well as our strength and nerves, and now we are already heading up into the mountains.
“E-MA-E!!?? ! Nah!?!? ! HOW SOOOOO!!!?? ? AWESOME!!! " - these are just a few phrases that most vividly describe the panoramas that open from the mountains. Standing on the very edge, it seems that you are flying, as it happens in dreams... Under your feet, of course, there is a stone, but the feeling is that you are hovering over the Chui Valley. There, somewhere very far below (about 1 km difference), the Chuya River can be somehow seen as a stream. The whole Valley is at a glance… and when you raise your eyes, behind a huge shaggy hill… there have been mountains-glaciers for more than one millennium, 2.5 km, 2.7 km, 2.9 km high. That is, when you cover everything in one glance, this amazing feeling of the power of what is around comes !! ! I can’t say that these species were easy “prey”: it’s better not to dare such forced marches with children under 10 years old, besides, a shepherdess who met us on the way said that there are really a lot of wolves here... It’s creepy. But of course it was worth it!
And at night we admired the moon. Moreover, not just lying and looking at the night sky, but studying its craters through a real telescope - my new hobby, which I simply could not leave at home : )
On the way back, we turn to the previously noticed guides of the village of Bely Bom for a horseback ride, because, as you know, Altai without horses is money down the drain. It is much more interesting to ride here than, for example, along the beaten paths in the village of Katun or Chemal. Well, the views here, of course, cannot be compared...
We return and understand that, God bless them with spirits and with all this history with a coin on a granite boulder, but perhaps this was really some kind of strength test? Glad to know we made it!
Dmitry Lantinov
