Journey to the "motley lake"

• Journey to the "motley lake"

Kyrgyzstan's most famous attraction, if we consider its water ownership is the Issyk-Kul, a truly beautiful lake.

But do not deprive attention, and other water pearls of this country. Today I want to tell you about the way the title of "motley lake", which translated into Kyrgyz sounds Ala-Kul. This lake is located in the more remote mountain areas of Kyrgyzstan. To it, unlike Issyk Cool, not approach the tourist bus or jeep. But to swim in the clear waters of Ala-Köhl have to work hard and climb on foot to the height of 3532 meters.

I hope my brief description will help you not to miss this attraction from the list of places required to visit when hit in Kyrgyzstan.

Ala-Kol, or Ala-Kul Lake - the lake in the Terek-Alatau district, in the Central Tien Shan. Located in the upper reaches of the river Kurgaktor, right tributary of Karakol, at an altitude of 3532 meters.

The lake of glacial origin. It was formed in the recess vypahannom glacier, which retreated, still occupies the upper part of the valley.

Here it is in all its glory, the same glacier, from which the lake takes its beginning and that more than one hundred years nourishes "Motley" with new water.

For me, it remains a mystery lake clean. Mountain rivers are usually dull, melt water from the glacier has always been, frankly, a grayish color from being in her washed rock, sand and so on. D., And so on. N., And then a color, such transparency.

Cold water Ala Cole have just ice. From here one important rule.

If you decide to swim, you should do it immediately. Undress and run into the water, dive, fall, jump, the main thing to do everything quickly and sharply. When you first decide to "help foot", consider bathing escaped.

Do not lie if I say that this is one of the most beautiful places that I have been fortunate to see.

But, how to get here. There are several options, either below or on one of the passes through the surrounding lake rocky ridges.

We walked from the bottom. For ease of understanding - the scheme area.

Edelweiss.

to the lake of Karakol Valley The path starts just below the river Ayutor on "dry" gorge. Well-trodden path immediately goes into the forest.

It first rises gently enough, but gradually gaining steepness. It passes through the forest serpentine and almost lost on the moraine, goes straight to the river Kurgaktor that in this place goes under the stones.

A little further upstream to be a shelter, "Orphan", which is a small log house with a cleared place for tents around. In the house, by the way, you can always just spend the night in case of bad weather or any other circumstances.

From the shelter is well-trodden trail goes right along the river. But after narrowing gorge need to pick up the rocks to the left.

Slightly higher path leads out to the steep moraine with licked rocky sites. It breaks out the waterfall. The height of the water drop of about 50 m.

It is very nice to relax after a steep climb and admire the beautiful views of the waterfall, which follows directly from the lake.

Treat Falls should be on the left. The trail is clearly visible on the moraine and promechena Turikov.

Above mutton foreheads, they cost at sypuhe as close to the rocks.

And here we are at the end.

At first glance, the lake is striking in its beauty. And recovery of flour remain far in the past. You just want to sit and contemplate the perfection of the colors and lines among the majestic mountains of the Tien Shan.

Here in the coastal flat slabs we camped, so that tomorrow, with new powers to make ascent to the peak of 30 years of the Komsomol, at 4090 m.

The route begins at the mountain from the lake itself, but for starters, you need a place to cross the water flow.

Place like and not widespread, but here it is better to use insurance, accident after hitting into the raging water, overlooking the waterfall, wait for assistance is no longer necessary.

Next on sypuhe trail goes to the pass from which vistas open up, no wonder it is called "Panoramic".

Peak The route continues along the ridge to the right. This is where we found and rain.

had to wait not very long. As soon as the weather got much better, we have continued to go up.

To lift 30 years of the Komsomol special equipment is required. The mountain has a rocky-talus character and calmly traversed on foot in bundles.

A few more meters and we are on top, then begins a snowy field, with a narrow strip of scree on which it is possible to go through.

It should be noted that the whole mountain is a simple but very kamneopasnaya. Almost all the stones are alive, and after a not careful movement serious rockfall may occur.

From the top one can see the lake Issyk-Kul, or rather its eastern Gulf.

A little short, you could see the Ala-Kol in all its grandeur and scale.

More than 70 meters deep, the area 1, 26 square kilometers and the length of the coastline 6, 8 km, lake stretches from east to west by 2.8 km, and its width - an average of about 500 meters.