home Bream Skalnik Vityaz: weekend on the Olkha plateau! Stone guards of the Olkha plateau Main settlements.

Skalnik Vityaz: weekend on the Olkha plateau! Stone guards of the Olkha plateau Main settlements.

The weekend is ahead, and all the surrounding routes have been explored? We are going to the Olkha plateau!

The route to the rocks of the Olkha plateau (60 km from Irkutsk) can be planned for one day, or with an overnight stay. The plateau itself is a plateau between the Angara and Irkut valleys with numerous rock outcrops. Placers of stones and lonely rocks on the flat tops of the mountains are a common landscape of these places. Many original shapes of climbing shoes have beautiful names– Old Fortress, Old Woman Izergil, Crow, Pharaoh, Cleopatra. Upstream there is a particularly spectacular rapid in the spring with large stones and a compact group of rock outcrops. You can get here by car; on weekends it is interesting to watch rock climbers training here. You can spend the night in felt Mongolian yurts right at the foot of the cliff.

About 40 years ago, Vityaz was extremely popular; every Sunday a crowded train delivered several hundred tourists to the Orlyonok station, who walked 6 km to the rock. Climbing competitions were regularly held here. Now on Vityaz, 19 named routes with a length of 25-35 meters of the most difficult categories V-VI are marked with hammered pitons. The rock is an ideal climbing wall with shelves, plumbs and monolithic sections. Nowadays there are significantly fewer tourists, although it leads to Vityaz highway, and nearby on the bank of Olkha there is a camp site.

From the nearest settlement - the village of Bolshoi Lug - to Vityaz there are 20.5 km of forest roads; getting here without a guide is unlikely. Numerous forks end in a sidetrack or a forest dead end. Previously, one could drive to Vityaz along the road through the Khanchin and Orlyonok stations, then up the valley of the Bolshaya Olkha River. Now this old logging road is difficult to pass even for off-road vehicles. All wooden bridges have been destroyed; Olkha (in the area between Rassokha and Orlyonok) can only be crossed through two deep fords with large boulders at the bottom. There are many treacherous mud holes filled with water on the road.

Knowledgeable drivers prefer a long detour through the mountains, but for beginners it is difficult to guess the right turn here. The landmark for the correct exit from the village is the garbage dump in the Molta Pad, the road to Vityaz passes by it in the south-east direction. If you reset the counter immediately after the dump, at noticeable forks after 4 km and 11 km you need to turn right, at the third fork after 12 km - left uphill to the pass - along a forest road with large stones. Along the edges of the road there will be blocks of stones with traces of drilled holes to split the boulders. Poorly driven secondary forest turns should be ignored and stick to the well-worn track. On the descent from the pass (after 13 km), at the fork you need to turn right downhill along the Zyryansky spring. The road is rocky, and in heavy rain it is dangerous due to deep winding gullies hidden by water. After 14.1 km - turn right again, a mistake threatens that after a kilometer the road will lead to an abandoned ski resort with a rusting dismantled ski lift, two dozen houses and winter huts near the road. In front of the ski slope on the right you will see the bend of the Bolshaya Olkha River and in the distance above the crowns of a dense forest - the rocky crown of Vityaz. Along the path along the river to it less than a kilometer, on the detour road – 4.3 km. http://doktor-vet.ru/

From the ski track or the last fork you need to drive down the valley 2 km to the next fork with a concrete bridge over Olkha, to the right - about 5 km of a bad road to Orlyonok station, to the left to Vityaz - through the bridge along the road, sticking to the main slope, to the fork at 19- ohm km (a sign with an arrow to Vityaz is nailed to the pine trunk), there you need to turn left from the well-worn forest road - downhill.

It is better to collect firewood along the way; there is little dead wood near the Vityaz rock. After 1.6 km, a narrow road with many deep puddles will lead to a clearing at the foot of the cliff on the bank of Olkha. The most difficult section is the last 200 m in the lowland with a stream. The road here has bumps and fragments of an old road. You can only drive in all-wheel drive, skidding in the mud. On a Renault Koleos, we irrevocably tore off the decorative pipe on the exhaust pipe and the electrical connector for the towed trailer in these muddy water holes. We got stuck twice – the car had to be freed from the mud using a pickup truck and a long cable.

Up to 12 people can live in heated yurts (400 rubles/bed). There is a bridge made of logs across Olkha. In the neighborhood, popular among climbers are the Idol, Turtle, Starukha, and Fortress rocks. Using the information stand you can determine where they are. They got their names because of their characteristic contours. The 30-meter Idol is reminiscent of the famous stone idols of Easter Island - the same columnar stone monolith with a slab and a headdress-like stone on top. It takes about 30 minutes (2.5 km) to walk along the path from Vityaz to the Idol rock hidden in the forest. The places here are reminiscent of the famous Krasnoyarsk Pillars, but the rocks of the Olkhinsky plateau are less known and are popular only among local rock climbers.

If you drive from the Bolshaya Olkha valley along the old roads up the Zyryansky 2nd stream to the top (923.7 meters), then you can walk (200 m) to the Starukha and Fortress rocks. The first is so named for its massive protruding “nose”, angry “eyes” and wrinkled “face”, and the second - for its resemblance to medieval castle. The climbers' routes here are made with bolts. Beautiful rocks, to which you can drive almost closely by car, there are also in the area of the station. Andriyanovskaya and in the upper reaches of the Zazara River. The rocks themselves are clearly visible from the Kultuksky tract, and from the tops of some rocks you can even see the blue surface of Lake Baikal.

Just 80 – 150 km from Irkutsk is the Olkha Plateau. It is famous for its beautiful nature, dense forests and, of course, rocks. The most famous of them is Vityaz. Also in Soviet time it was chosen by novice climbers, and to this day there is a great chance to meet guys in equipment stubbornly climbing to the 40-meter height of Vityaz.

In addition to climbers, tourists often come here for 1-2 days. It’s especially crowded around the rock climbing area on a sunny September weekend. Therefore, if you want to be alone with nature, try to come to Vityaz on a weekday.

From the rock it opens up very nice looking to the Olkha River. And although many consider this view to be the main reward of the hike, I prefer the path itself along the paths among the beautiful forest.

For a hike you need little: comfortable shoes, clothing appropriate for the weather. If you go when it’s warm, wear a T-shirt and a thin jacket/sweatshirt so you can take it off and still be in the T-shirt. It is very hot to climb the mountain. Plus water and food.

How to get to the Vityaz rock climb?

There are two ways to get to Vityaz: by car or by train to Orlyonok station. Exact (route: Irkutsk Pass. - Orlyonok), the price will also be indicated there, usually 60 -70 rubles. I don't write the schedule and price here because they change from time to time. It’s better to see accurate information first-hand.

Skalnik Vityaz, Irkutsk: how to get there by car

If you, like me, are a topographical cretin and for you descriptions of the route in the spirit of “follow the markers” are not enough - it’s not scary. Every year someone manages to get lost on the Olkha Plateau. Fortunately, we are in the age of high technology, just download an offline map to your phone Maps.Me. It is available for both iPhones and Android phones, it automatically routes desired route, supports GPS and is generally an endlessly useful application for any traveler. Cards that require internet will not work. After 10 - 15 minutes of travel, all communication will be cut off and you will only have to rely on markers.

The route to Vityaz itself is not difficult. But if you are a city dweller and have little experience hiking in the forest, all you have to do is take a wrong turn to get lost. You can, of course, join a group of other tourists, but usually neither they nor you will be happy with such a neighborhood. On the way to Vityaz, everyone tries to spread out as much as possible along the road to enjoy nature; there are plenty of crowds in the city.

That is why I decided to describe the route in as much detail as possible and provide you with a convenient map with GPS support. On any modern smartphone, even without the Internet, you will see your position relative to the route.

So, let's go.

Olkha Plateau: walking routes

The trip to Orlyonok station takes 80 minutes. Get off at the station, wait for the train to leave and cross to the other side of the railway tracks. There, go down the stairs from the small slide and turn right. And then in a straight line, without turning anywhere until a small bridge over Malaya Olkha.

The path to the bridge on Malaya Olkha

After the bridge, continue straight for a couple of minutes and you will reach the first fork. Wherever you turn, you can’t go wrong, these are two routes to Vityaz.

If you go right, take the short route (5.2 km) where you go uphill. It is on this route that you can take a wrong turn, but it offers very beautiful views.

If you turn left, you will take a longer route (about 8 km), but on a straight road with no chance of getting lost, the main thing is to follow the river.

Many people take the short road to Vityaz and return by a detour.

The long road is simple - walk along the river for a long time, then turn right to the bridge. After the bridge, turn left (to the yellow route, see map below) and again along the path along Olkha. The river is your main landmark, walk along it and don’t get lost.

The purple line is cycling route To get there, turn right after the bridge.

And I’ll tell you more about the short route

The main rule here is stick to the best-trodden path and during forks, look at marks on trees. This could be a red stripe on a tree or a red ribbon indicating the desired turn (or maybe a different color; in 2017 there were red ones).

First, for about 20-30 minutes you will climb up the mountain through the forest. Towards the end of the climb you will see large beautiful stones, like from the movie “Avatar”. After the stones you will reach a power line. It is impossible not to notice it; it is a wide clearing in the forest.

Hurray, you've reached the power line

Just go straight, there are no forks here. A picturesque aspen alley awaits you ahead. After the alley you will find yourself at a fork. It is not indicated on the map, but in fact it is. You need to take the more trodden left path. In 2017, the adjacent right path was blocked by thick branches, and it is also more overgrown.

Having chosen the desired path, go straight again. The map shows that you will soon come to another fork. The left path is half-overgrown, just pass by, and on the right Forest Road, it can also lead you to the wrong place. Choose the path in the middle (blue).

On the approach to Vityaz there will be a steep descent on the right. It is more convenient to go down it to get to the camp site of the same name.

If you go straight, you will come out to the top of the Vityaz rock, from where you can see the same view of Olkha.

That's all. I wish you an easy journey and only pleasant adventures!

Imagine a giant triangle on a map of the region. Which is located within three districts of the region: Irkutsk, Slyudyansky and Shelekhovsky. Length is 50 km from north to south and 30-80 km from west to east. From the south, this triangle borders on Lake Baikal, along the shore of which the well-known Circum-Baikal Railway stretches. From the northeast it borders on the Irkutsk reservoir, formed by the Irkutsk hydroelectric power station. And from the northwest with the Irkut River. This triangle is called the Olkha Plateau - a physical-geographical area between the Tunkinsky Goltsy and the Primorsky Range in Irkutsk region. Olkhinsky is named after the 37-kilometer river Bolshaya Olkha or simply Olkha. The Olkha plateau is a wooded hill, replete with rock outcrops, the most popular of which are: Vityaz, Idol, Mirrors and Old Woman.

1. First of all, I went to the Voron rock climbing area ( alternative name- Lizard), about 20 meters high. The rock is a free-standing rock. It is located further from Irkutsk than other more popular climbing areas. To get to it you need to get to Podkamennaya station.

11. A different day was chosen for a trip to the popular rock climbing areas. In the photo - Vityaz. This is the most popular and accessible rock of the Olkhinsky plateau with a height of 30 meters. Vityaz is of interest to both beginners and experienced climbers. People go to rock climbing from Orlyonok station along the upper or lower path. The upper one is on foot and has a steeper climb. The lower one is longer than the upper one, but you can drive along it by car.

12. View of Olkha.

14. Olkha and camp site.

22. Chipmunk found something to stuff into his cheek for lunch.

24. Nuthatch.

26. Now I will show why this rock got its name. If you look closely at the top of the rock, you can see the semblance of a head, massive eyebrows, a large straight nose, a narrowed eye, a cheek and a mouth. Taken together, it resembles the face of a warrior.

27. Skanik Polytechnic.

28. Along the path to the Idol there are many lingonberry bushes.

29. Ledum marsh. A useful plant that is used in agriculture and medicine.

31. Moss carpets.

32. Old classic signs. When I walked here for the first time, I was guided by them.

33. Lingonberry trail.

34. After I crossed the bridge over Olkha, I decided not to turn off the path and walk a little along the river bank. After which I found myself in a small kurumnik - a field of stones.

35. Moss grows in abundance between the stones. Hundreds of fluffy balls.

41. Idol. Height 20 meters. South part rock - an unusual-looking outlier in the shape of a stone pillar, consisting of individual blocks. Northern part columnar, but much thicker, lower and less impressive.

47. View of the Sibiryak rock.

49. Skalnik Turtle is the first thing you meet on the way from the Idol to the Old Woman.

53. Lookout rock on the Idol - Old Woman trail. From this rock you can see the rocks: Turtle, Idol, Sibiryak, Angarsky, Shakhtai Stone, Old Fortress, Mirrors.

54. Old woman. Here I was already alone. The people I met earlier did not come here. It was quite scary to move around on the Old Woman’s head. Climbing is much easier than jumping at a height of 25 meters. Before the rock received the name Old Woman Izergil, it was called Carriage - for its trapezoidal profile visible from afar against the background of the ridge. Of the name Old Woman Izergil, only the first word stuck. Everyone calls this climbing shoe simply the Old Woman. There is a smaller rock next to the main Crone Rock. They call her Granddaughter.

55. The Old Woman’s hook-shaped nose is clearly visible.

58. After the old woman there was long road to the Mirrors. Windfall, hummocks, dim lighting. Problems with navigation.

59. This photo contains concentrated pain, hatred and relief. It's almost seven o'clock in the evening. A dimly lit path strewn with autumn leaves. I stopped as soon as the rays of the sun broke through the branches towards me. I looked to the left. I checked with the navigator. Yes, here you need to turn off the road. Here, behind the bushes, there is a small kurumnik, and behind them is a mirror rock. And everything is strewn with moss, which I like more than any reindeer (if there was a steppe here, they would have plenty of freedom). Somehow I was led here by memory, satellite navigation and photographs of trails, of which there are too many. In some places we had to walk through a windbreak, when the road literally disappeared from under our feet, dissolving into the thicket of the forest. Damn rock. Damn thickets. I was supposed to be here by sunset, but I miscalculated my time and energy. Twenty kilometers have already been covered. Ahead of me lay another ten kilometers of running in the dark with a sprained foot two hours before the last train, a bruised knee, a travel tick on my shoulder and a sore throat.
From mountain to mountain, from mountain to mountain. Don't set foot here again. You don’t go into someone else’s forest with your own forest in your head.

61. Skalnik Mirrors. The last break is at an altitude of 16 meters. Skalnik is a group of rocks on a side ridge extending from the main ridge between Klyuch Zyryansky and Zyryansky Second. It got its name due to the smooth walls on the eastern side of the rock.

62. Sunset over the red forest.

63. Who will lead you out of the forest if the forest is you?

The story ends hard, like Spanish post-metal, but with a happy ending. I miscalculated the time. And he started his way back to the station too late. I only had an hour left before the last train. Otherwise - night in dark forest. I put on my forehead protector, ate the last apple and started running. He ran without stopping, they were prohibited. The pace varied depending on the difference in altitude. Just before leaving the forest, I slipped and hurt my knee. I hobbled to the station. But he made it just seconds before the train arrived. After such a run in the cold air, I lay with a cold, my palate became inflamed from swallowing cold air while short of breath. But he was lying at home, and not in the forest. He also brought a tick on his shoulder.

The rocks of the Olkha plateau are very famous in Irkutsk and beyond. At any time of the year, there are always visitors near them, both adults and children. You can either walk around them or visit them by bicycle, but in the second case you can see more rock climbing spots in a short time. This time we visited the rock climbing on foot - not everyone in our group has the skills to ride a two-wheeler in winter.
How to get there? Of course, by electric train. One of the options is 9 o'clock. 39 min. from Akademicheskaya station. Take tickets to Orlyonok station. The return train departs at 15:00. 58 min. See the schedule on the website BPPC.ru.
Upon arrival, you cross the railway tracks and go down the steep stairs

You turn right from the stairs, then immediately to the left, you see a path and follow it to the river, then across the bridge, on the ice in winter. A little later, the trail transforms into a road along which cars can move (soon the bridge will collapse and they won’t be able to ;)). You need to follow this road until you reach a fork where you will see a sign “Vityaz”. We walked 5.2 km to it in 1 hour 08 minutes. The fork is big, wide, you can’t confuse it.

You turn away from the sign in the direction it points (to the right). Almost immediately from the sign there will be a shortcut to the road through the swamp, which is only valid in winter.

The shortcut leads again to the road, from which you soon turn onto another shortcut, now to the left into a pine-birch forest. The forest turns into a swamp, then again into a forest, only the forest is beautiful, spruce. In the summer we rode a bicycle through a swampy area; it was a little dirty, but overall not critical. In winter, the swamp is identified only by yellow patches of snow and its smell.
Along this shortcut you go to a huge stone, in the photo:

When you reach it, you raise your head, oops, but there it is, the Vityaz climbing shoe - the head and shoulders of a warrior in enormous armor. Clickable.

You look around - do you see the bell at the top, on the rock? What about rock climbers? I may be wrong in the classification of these comrades hanging in clusters on the rock - correct me in the comments.
The distance to Vityaz from the train is 6.8 km.
From the rock climbing area we look to the left - there are houses there, a football ground, yurts - everything for relaxation. They say you can warm up and drink tea there for a fee.

Near the houses there is a stand with a map of rock climbing areas, on which it is clear where they are. Clickable.

The next interesting rock is Idol. Behind the stand the path to it begins. A narrow, beautiful, picturesque path goes past the Polytechnic and Angarsky rock climbs.

If you meet on your way the GBT sign - Great Baikal Trail and a new bridge, then you are on the right path)

Behind the bridge, the path splits - straight - to Idol, to the left - to rock climbing walls with swings. We go as if according to my GPS track - to the Idol.
The idol is impressive, right? Estimate the sizes - by standing nearby person.

And if you walk around it, then on the other side it looks normal!

The photo is also clickable. I draw your attention to the Biotex inscription.
On this weekend hike I tested thermal underwear Biotex Women's Bioflex Warm Long Sleeve Base Layer

What I noted from the positive aspects first of all:
- silky fabric, very pleasant to the touch and on the body;
- seamlessness - when doing active sports this is important, for example, under a backpack the absence of seams is a pleasant moment;
- anatomical cut, which allows you not to feel the thermal underwear on your body - it does not pull, press or pinch anywhere;
- in the cold wind (the temperature that day was +2.8o and the wind was gusting), due to the tight fit of the thermal underwear to the body, I did not feel chilly.
- at first, the high stand-up collar, as it seemed to me, was “suffocating” me, but, probably, this was purely my feeling, which gradually passed, and then I realized that it covered my neck, and the wind did not cool it;
- and the most important thing is why we put on thermal underwear - the sweat was absorbed and removed evenly, I did not feel either damp clothes or sweat on my body.
Guys, I draw your attention to such a moment as to the packaging - you won’t be ashamed to give this gift to your lady in it! They send the goods in a very solid box, not in a bag!!!
By the way, the next day, opening the road season, and having ridden 50 kilometers, I also tested the Biotex thermal underwear, which, even under more intense load, showed the same wonderful characteristics as during walking load.

Back to our journey. On the path to the rock climbing Idol saw the phone number of the Ministry of Emergency Situations - write to yourself just in case. There are different cases - you can simply sprain your ankle. There is a connection there.

After examining the Idol rock, you go back to the small fork in front of the bridge and the sign BBT and go along it. The trail will gradually go up to the winter huts, near which there is a swing. The height to which they will lift you will take your breath away, and the feeling of flight and soaring of your body at a height of several meters above the ground evokes a fabulous, magical feeling)

It's time to get back on the train. We were already running back from time to time, and we didn’t really swing on the swing, which we sincerely regretted, so I recommend returning from Orlyonok station on a later train than 15.58.
The total distance along this route was 20.26 km, the total time - from train to train - 4 hours 58 minutes, driving time - 4 hours. 11 min.

On the territory of the Baikal region there are unique natural monuments - rocky outcrops formed as a result of weathering of rocks over hundreds of thousands of years. These stone sculptures, not inferior in their historical and cultural value famous Krasnoyarsk pillars, hidden from prying eyes, although they are located only 60 km from the capital of Eastern Siberia - the city of Irkutsk.

The route to the rocks of the Olkhinsky plateau can be planned for one day off, or with an overnight stay. The plateau itself is a plateau between the Angara and Irkut valleys with numerous rock outcrops.

Placers of stones and lonely rocks on the flat tops of the mountains are a common landscape of these places. Many original shapes of rock climbing shoes have beautiful names - Old Fortress, Old Woman Izergil, Crow, Pharaoh, Cleopatra.

FEATURES OF THE ROUTE

Due to its accessibility, this route can be recommended as an excellent active rest on a weekend in any season, but especially bright colors in the autumn. More than half of the route runs along the riverbed picturesque river Olkha.

During the Soviet period, the most famous of the entire group of rock outcrops, the Vityaz rock climb, was extremely popular among students and novice climbers. Every Sunday, a crowded train delivered several hundred tourists to the Orlyonok station, who walked the distance of 8 km to this rock.

Climbing competitions were regularly held here. On Vityaz, 19 named routes with a length of 25-35 meters of the most difficult categories V-VI are marked with hammered pitons. The rock is an ideal climbing wall with shelves, plumbs and monolithic sections. Nowadays there are significantly fewer tourists, although there is a road leading to Vityaz, and nearby on the bank of Olkha next to the rock there is a camp site with felt Mongolian yurts.
Every year in mid-September, in a clearing near the Vityaz rock mountain, the already traditional festival of bard songs takes place, which attracts performers from all over Siberia.

HOW TO GET THERE

You can get to the stone guards of the Olkhinsky plateau by car directly to the foot of the rock formations, but it is much more interesting to cover the part of the route from Orlyonok station to the Vityaz rock formation (8 km) on foot or by bicycle. IN winter time The route can be easily covered in 30-40 minutes on cross-country skis.

By car: from Irkutsk, take the exit along the Kultuksky highway and then in Shelekhov, immediately after refueling at the Rosneft gas station (on the right side), turn left to the settlements of Olkha and Bolshoy Lug. The asphalt highway runs along the railway track through the settlements of Olkha and Bolshoy Lug. At the Orlyonok station you can park your car and then go through the wooden masonry across the Olkha River to take a bike ride or a walk of no more than 7-8 km along a picturesque dirt road along the bed of the Olkha River.

ATTRACTIONS

The most famous and accessible rock climbing site is Vityaz.

The view that opens from this rock allows you to take in the entire plateau and see the surrounding attractions and neighboring rocks from a bird's eye view.

In the neighborhood, the popular rocks among climbers are Idol, Turtle, Old Woman, and Fortress. They got their names because of their characteristic contours. The 30-meter Idol is reminiscent of the famous stone idols of Easter Island - the same columnar stone monolith with a slab and a headdress-like stone on top.

It takes about 30 minutes (2.5 km) to walk along the path from Vityaz to the Idol rock hidden in the forest. The places here are reminiscent of the famous Krasnoyarsk pillars, but the rocks of the Olkhinsky plateau are less known and are popular only among local rock climbers.

and the second - for its resemblance to a medieval castle.

The climbers' routes here are made with bolts. There are also beautiful rocks, which you can drive almost close to by car, in the area of the station. Andriyanovskaya and in the upper reaches of the Zazara River. The rocks themselves are clearly visible from the Kultuksky tract, and from the tops of some rocks you can even see the blue surface of the lake.

To have a complete idea of the location of rocky outcrops and stone attractions on the territory of the Olkha Plateau, I recommend looking at this map.