Travel to Tungur in Altai. Tungur village Altai Republic Ust-Koksinsky district: recreation and tourism

Traffic along the Chuisky tract in summer is quite large, you won't have to wait long for passing transport. The direction from Tuekta to Tungur via Ust-Kan and Ust-Koksa is less busy, but here every driver understands that a voting person with a large backpack is going to the foot of Belukha or on, and among tourists it is customary to help their own!

Of course, all this splendor of Gorny Altai will fully open before you.

Federal highway M-52 "Chuisky tract" is of very good quality, along the entire length from Biysk to Chibit there is excellent asphalt and road signs that stand on the case.

The main fleet of our cars is made up of four-wheel drive minibuses and jeeps, as the most suitable for work in the mountains. These cars may be inferior in speed to others on the track, but they solve a very important task. Often, to the beginning of the route, for example, or, it is required to throw a load and people in order not to waste time on overcoming 15-20 kilometers walking with a backpack on the road. This is where all-wheel drive transport comes in handy.

If our tourists do not fit into minibuses, we launch our branded bus to Chibit with a large TV, good acoustics and a thematic selection of films and videos about Altai, hiking and extreme sports.

2000 RUB one way, RUB 3700 in both directions (back and forth).

In our transport, you are already traveling with guides and other participants in the hike, you can immediately get acquainted, ask questions of interest, hear about the sights and life in Gorny Altai, have a snack in a cafe that we trust.

In Chibit we traditionally stay at the recreation center "Nomad". Tent accommodation on the territory is included in the price of all tours (unless otherwise specified, for example, accommodation in houses is included immediately), but you can order more comfortable accommodation in houses or yurts on the "Nomad".

to Tungur by regular bus

Distance to Tungur

From Novosibirsk to Tungur: 890 km
From Tomsk to Tungur: 1200 km
From Kemerovo to Tungur: 1000 km
From Barnaul to Tungur: 690 km
From Biysk to Tungur: 576 km
From Gorno-Altaysk to Tungur: 450 km

Buses to Tungur

There is no direct bus service to Tungur! This is due to several difficult sections of the road after Ust-Koksa. They represent bottlenecks where cars can hardly move.

In the summer, a gazelle seems to travel from the Gorno-Altai bus station, but information about it is always vague for some reason, and it will be completely uncomfortable with luggage in the form of a backpack. Maybe something will change in 2017.

The best way to get there by bus is the regional center of Ust-Koksa, and from it to Tungur (about 70 km) by taxi or by car. In extreme cases, you can spend the night in Ust-Koks.

There is another option - take a bus that goes to Multa to the end of this Multa. Then only 33 kilometers will remain to Tungur, but how to overcome them is the question. Either call transport from Tungur, or hitchhiking. All in all. we do not recommend.

Bus Altai-Pokhod

In 2017, we plan to carry our tourists on our own bus, the cost of the trip from Biysk to Tungur will be 2400 RUB one way, RUB 4500 round trip.

It is quite a bit more expensive than the regular bus, BUT! There are great benefits!

1. You do not have to solve the problem of how to overcome the "last mile" to Tungur.
2. You are guaranteed not to be late for the start of the hike, because the instructors will be with you!
3. In our transport, you are already traveling with guides and other participants in the hike, you can immediately get acquainted, ask questions of interest, hear about the sights and life in Gorny Altai, have a snack in a cafe that we trust. to stop to the toilet when needed, and not when the driver wants.

Go to Tungur by car

Road

If you live not far from Gorny Altai (for example, in Barnaul or even Novosibirsk) and drive a car well, you can independently get to the village of Tungur.

The distance from Biysk to Tungur is 576 km along the most comfortable road, if you go along the Chuisky tract through the Seminsky pass, and turn in the direction of Ust-Kan and Ust-Koksa, not reaching the village of Tuekta.

There is also a shorter road, about 450 km, through Soloneshnoye, Cherny Anui, Ust-Kan, Ust-Koksa to Tungur, but it is mostly gravel, and after the rains it is often just a dirty track.
Therefore, if you do not have a jeep or a crossover, it is better to go along the Chuisky tract - you will not lose in speed for sure!

Attention! On outdated maps of navigators and navigation programs, the program sends tourists along the road from the village of Inya (358 km from Biysk) to Tungur. Seemingly simple and fast way actually hides one surprise.
This direction cannot be reached by car! The mountain trail is accessible for walkers, horses, bicycles and motorcycles. Although no, once the jeepers drove this route, but there are no others yet (link to video

The main fleet of our cars is made up of four-wheel drive minibuses and jeeps, as the most suitable for work in the mountains.

If our tourists do not fit into minibuses, we launch our branded bus to Tungur with a TV, good acoustics and a thematic selection of films and videos about Altai, hiking and extreme sports.

Delivery cost from Biysk to Tungur - 2400 RUB one way, RUB 4500 round trip.

It's a little more expensive than the regular bus, BUT! There are some nuances!

1. 1. Regular buses do not go to Tungur !!! The closest point to Tyungur is the turn to the Multa village, and from there you either vote on the highway or look for a taxi, which will cost you either inconvenience, lost time, or unnecessary expenses.
2. 2. In our transport, you are already traveling with guides and other participants in the hike, you can immediately get acquainted, ask questions of interest, hear about the sights and life in Gorny Altai, have a bite to eat in trusted cafes that we trust.

Districts of Altai Territory

Select district Slavgorodsky district Smolensky district Charyshsky district Aleysky district Altai region Baevsky district Biysk district Blagoveshchensky district Burlinsky district Bystroistoksky district Volchikhinsky district Yegoryevsky district Eltsovsky district Zavyalovsky district Zalesovsky district Zarinsky district Zmeinogorsky district Zonal district Kalmansky district Kamensky district Klyuchevsky district Kosikhinsky district Krasnogorsky district Krasnoshchekovsky district Krundikhinsky district Kultevsky district Mikhailovsky district German district Novichikhinsky district Pavlovsky district Pankrushikhinsky district Pervomaisky district Petropavlovsky district Pospelikhinsky district Rebrikhinsky district Rodinsky district Romanovsky district Rubtsovsky district Soviet District Soloneshensky District Soltonsky District Suetsky District Tabunsky District Talmensky District Togulsky District Topchikhinsky District Tretyakovsky District Troitsky District Tyumentsevsky District Uglovsky District Ust-Kalmansky District Ust-Pristanskiy District Khabarsky District Tselinny District Shelabolikhinsky District Shipunovsky District

Districts of the Altai Republic

Select district Maiminsky district Turochaksky district Chemalsky district Ust-Koksinsky district Kosh-Agachsky district Ulagansky district Ust-Kansky district Choysky district Shebalinsky district Ongudaysky district

In the mountainous Altai, it is well known to climbers, rock climbers, esotericists, yogis, bicycle and motor sportsmen, it is distinguished by a well-developed tourist infrastructure... Indeed, in this village, interesting tourist routes begin to the sights of a large-scale natural park and . And most importantly, to the famous peak of Siberia - grief Belukha, covered with an aura of ancient legends and tales of the Altai people. Even the name of the village is poetic, in translation it sounds like "Shaman tambourine" .

Where is Tungur

Location of Tungur village: Altai Republic,. The village stretches for 3 km along the left bank of the turquoise Katun, opposite the river mouth, at the foot of the low Verblyuzhonok Mountain. Another height guards the northern borders - Mount Baida , which is a spur of the Terekta ridge (it opens beautiful view to Tungur and Belukha). Distance Novosibirsk-Tungur - 885 km; Barnaul-Tungur - 693 km; -Tungur - 541 km; -Tungur - 449 km; -Tungur - 59 km.

Tungur village - history and modernity

1. The first mention of Tyungur dates back to 1876 - then on the site of the modern village there was only one small settlement, by 1899 there were already two courtyards.
2. The village began to develop rapidly at the beginning of the 20th century, by 1926 there were 50 households with a predominantly Russian population - immigrants from other regions.
3. Currently, 348 people live in the village, most of the families are Altaians.
4. Several shops work, catches well cellular(Beeline).
5. Directorate office is located here « Nature Park Belukha " .
6. On a small square in the village there is a mass grave with a monument to P.F. Sukhov and 144 Red Guards fighters who were shot by the White Guards during the Civil War in the vicinity of Tungur.
7. In 1982, the residents of Tungur gained free access to the opposite bank of the Katun - a wooden suspension bridge was built. In 2014 Tungur bridge suffered greatly during the flood and is now not in the best condition. Therefore, in 2015, it was decided to build a new metal bridge, and the project began in 2016.

The local population is more and more involved in the tourism business, many families provide tourists with their homes in Tungur for recreation, organize individual hiking and horseback riding in the surrounding area. In addition to the private sector, guests of the Altai Mountains stay in Tyungur in guest houses; at the recreation centers "Green House" and the tourist centers "Tungur", "Vysotnik", "White Gyrfalcon"; tourist complex "Club-Altai".

Tungur: Survey of the Surroundings

For travelers exploring the Altai Mountains, Tungur is the best village for active rest and adventure. High mountain landscapes with green forests, dominated by cedars and larch trees, stretch around. There are also acacias, small birch groves, and the meadows are framed by bird cherry and wild rose bushes.

East direction

To the east begin places untouched by civilization, there are no settlements. And only the mountains squeeze the raging Katun in close embraces. Many old maps of Altai show highway Tungur-Inya along the left bank of the Katun (through the village of Inegen), 70 km long, in fact, it does not exist. It is a dead-end country road, the dirt road ends near the mouth of the Akkem River. After the complete off-road begins, the so-called "Tungur trail" , 20 km long to Inegen itself. On this moment a project is being considered for the construction of a modern highway on this section, which will connect Tungur directly with.

But so far it will not be possible to drive along this route to Inegen, although in 2006 a group of extreme sportsmen on off-road vehicles performed such a feat. Somewhere they erected temporary bridges, in some places they dragged heavy jeeps on their hands, in especially narrow sections they cut through rocks, widening the passage. Over the course of several years, the footbridges have rotted, the trail has crumbled and collapsed again. The Tungur-Inya trail is passable only for tourists on foot, on horseback, bicycles and mountain bikes.

• Next to the Tungur trail is "Stone of health" - like a rock formation cut in half, into the fault of which 6 people can easily enter. It is believed that it has healing powers: if you stand inside the split for at least 10 minutes, then health will improve significantly.
• Above the trail, you will meet another unique rock - "Mirror of Time" , according to legends local residents astrally connected with Mount Belukha.
• Perched nearby "Stone women" - tall sculptures with human faces, created by ancient craftsmen.

The route is also interesting for those who want to take a look at Akkem breakthrough or a pipe - roaring and raging, makes its way through a narrow canyon. A five-kilometer chain of rapids and three-meter shafts is the first difficult rafting down the Katun, 23 km from the village of Tungur. It can be overcome only by strong-minded and courageous water tourists, because it belongs to the 4-5 category of complexity.

South direction

All the most interesting is concentrated south of the village of Tungur. There, wild highland lands begin, breathing with primitive power and bringing even sophisticated tourists into awe. The Tungur-Belukha route is one of the most popular in the Altai mountains, the mountain is located at a distance of about 50 km, depending on the meandering of the path chosen. On the way, tourists enjoy fabulous views and visit popular natural attractions:

• unique with silvery-white waters, beyond which the Katunsky ridge sparkles with snowy peaks;
• the valley of the Kucherla river and the magnificent (distance from the village of Tungur - 33 km), is reflected in its mirror-like surface;
• Valley of seven lakes , interesting for its reservoirs with different shades of water.

To the west of Tungur, the entire civilization of the Ust-Koksinsky region is concentrated - the regional center and the villages of the Uimonskaya valley (, Terekta,).

How to get to Tungur

The flow of tourists visiting this isolated part of the Altai Mountains is increasing every year. All paths to the village of Tungur begin either in Biysk, or in the capital of the Altai Mountains - Gorno-Altaysk, you can get there both by own car and on public transport... Regular buses run from these cities to Ust-Koksa. Then local buses and minibuses will take tourists to Tungur.

1. The Gorno-Altaysk-Tungur bus runs daily from the central bus station at 08:20, on the way 9 hours 25 minutes, the ticket price is 813.00 rubles.
2. The Novosibirsk-Tungur bus passes through Barnaul, Biysk and the regional center Ust-Koksa, runs only in summer (Thursday and Saturday) at 19.30, the price is 2800 rubles. The flight is organized by a travel agency.

On personal car the route is laid along the Chuysky tract through the following settlements:

• Mayminsky district - villages,;
• Chemalsky district -;
• Shebalinsky district -

I managed to capture the last week of summer in Altai with the guys from Altayavtotour. I gathered suddenly, not in spite of, but thanks for 3 weeks, fearlessly rushing into the unknown to get off the radar. Lucky with the group, a brave trinity, lucky with guides, for each one a guide! And the weather, they just brought warmth with them, practically without rain. Drive along one of better roads peace - Chuysky tract, already happiness. And the exit to Mars! And the descent from Katu-Yaryk, where on one of the loops we met a herd of goats and managed to safely disperse with them, not one of the goats was hurt! You know, Altai is a rethinking, these are people. When, seeing how you slide on a stone, you are given a hand, it is worth a lot. Maya - thank you very much for the warmth and cleanliness - it's unforgettable. Actually, we got 2 rounds in one, as the maral was in bloom - and it seems that there is something else to dream about, but Altai is not letting go. Guys - thanks to your family for the journey, accommodation, food. And to hear kaichi - the master of throat singing! I remember everyone and thanks for the unity!

Galina B.

We were in the autotour " gold ring Altai "from 06/30/19 to 07/06/19. It's just a fairy tale))) Complete separation from the terrible, dusty, stuffy civilization, unearthly landscapes of Mars, purest water from rivers and streams, violent waterfalls and beautiful mountains, the gorgeous Teletskoye Lake, silence in the evenings at the camp sites, though when we did not sing to the guitar around the fire)), the stars that seemed like we could take it with our hands, words cannot convey all the impressions ... Our guide is instructor Dmitry and organizers Artem and Maya showed us just new life))) THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!!)))) We left with tears in our eyes, returning to civilization ...

Who believes in a fairy tale and loves life and who is sad and tired of the routine of life - come to Altai! During 7 unique days of the trip along the "Golden Ring" you will live a small happy life: you will see the best masterpieces of Altai nature, meet the gorgeous instructor Dmitry and the project leaders Maya and Artyom. All the guys are in love with their land and are ready to give joy to people. Thanks a lot!!!))))

Svetlana, Saint Petersburg

Were in Altai from 8 to 14 June 2019! Maya, thanks from our whole family for a great tour! We remember our group)), ️ We are proud of our "exploits"! Altai evokes "feelings that cannot be comprehended;)"! To understand what I mean, you need to see it yourself! Mystery ... Delight ... Grace ... And .. Gratitude! Earth and Maya for your work;))) I found wonderful poems about Altai and place them in a review: Altai is a starry sky over the steppe, Decorated with the smooth surface of lakes; Altai - clouds leaving a chain Along the slopes of blue mountains; Turbulent rivers and the song of a waterfall, Life-giving air of forests, Midday heat and night coolness, Flowers like from rainbow dreams ... Altai! Many songs will be composed About your wondrous beauty! You are so many-sided and so wonderful, Like a fairy tale about a bright dream! (I. Serebrova)

Tatiana P

Realized my cherished dream - to go to hiking trip in Altai. On the recommendation of Maya, I chose a hike to Belukha. I am delighted! A lot of impressions! We were very lucky with the weather, we completed the entire program. Not a single day was wasted. We caught all seasons, up to subzero temperatures on the last day. Which gave even more impressions. Sitting at a computer monitor, and admiring beautiful photos, I didn’t think it would be so difficult to overcome the path "there" and especially, "back" (after the rain). But! now reviewing my photos, I want to go there again. Thanks to the organizers Maya and Artem, and our guide Vitaly for the most best vacation!

Evgeniya, Novosibirsk

My acquaintance with Altai happened in the summer of 2018. Then the "Golden Ring of Altai" with a wonderful guide Maya revealed to me the delightful, unique nature of Altai. This trip was so unforgettable that when the long May holidays loomed in the future, I did not hesitate to return to Altai again! And again - great emotions when meeting Maya and Artyom, sincere communication with members of our friendly team, evening gatherings with songs and funny stories, and finally, the main miracle - pink mountains - the blossoming of Maralnik !!! During 5 days of our trip, we saw so many interesting things that our general chat in Watsap is still abuzz with memories! Maya, Artyom, thank you for giving people from different depths of the country the opportunity to see, understand, admire Altai! I will definitely come back here again !!!

Alyona. Ekaterinburg

Mayushka, you are wonderful, bright, brave! Altai is magical. I returned and realized that it was not enough. I want more!!! Greetings from Tel Aviv

We rested in the second half of August 2019, the "Golden Ring of Altai" tour. Impressions beyond words! Indescribable nature - mountains, turbulent rivers, freely grazing horses, cows, goats, and sometimes pigs))) Of course Altai is big, but we, as it seems to us, saw the most Beautiful places, the route is very well planned, thank you very much for this to the organizers Artem and Maya, as well as their assistant instructors Vitaly and Veronica. Also thanks to the driver Vyacheslav for a comfortable and safe ride! Together, you have created this unforgettable vacation for us! I would also like to mention not only about the excellent route, but also about how tasty we were and how much they fed us - we don't cook so varied at home and don't eat so much!))) And we were also lucky with the group! WRITERS, hello everyone !! You rarely find such unity, mutual assistance and general positiveness. Thank you all very much !!

At the beginning of the village there is a suspension road bridge across the Katun. The village is a fairly large tourist center. Tungur is the closest locality on the way to Mount Belukha and the starting point of numerous mountain, hiking, horse and water tourist routes. In the vicinity of Tungur there are several tourist bases, from which hiking travel to the Kucherlinskoye and Akkemskoye lakes, horseback riding, rafting and a trip to the foot of the Belukha, which can be reached on foot, passing the Kuzuyak pass and further ascending up the Akkem river. Or on horseback and on foot - up the river. Kucherla and through the Karatyurek pass to the Akkem lake and the foot of the Belukha. In the village, you can rent horses for the horse route or for the delivery of goods. Tungur shops sell mountain honey from local apiaries.

At the entrance to the village of Tungur, to the right of the highway on the bank of the Katun, there is a monument to Pyotr Sukhov, the commander of the Red Guard detachment defeated by the White Guards in August 1918. The village has a post office, mobile communications.

On the right bank of the Katun, opposite the village of Tungur, there are the Vysotnik tourist center and the Tungur tourist center, which is part of the Kucherla tourist complex.

All camp sites have experienced instructors specializing in a specific type of tourism (rafting, horse tourism, hiking, mountaineering).

Many times I have seen a photograph with the same subject - Mountain Lake, in which the sky is reflected, further a pair of dark mountains, similar to the gates, and behind them is a grandiose shining wall of ice and snow from the very peaks. I knew that it was in Altai, and that somewhere in that mountain wall - Belukha (4509m), highest point Siberia, the sacred mountain of many peoples, and according to Roerich - North Kailash. And if autotraveling along the Altai highways is the prerogative of Novosibirsk and other regions in the neighborhood, then people go to the mountains and rivers of Altai from all ends of the immense, and even when I was in school, the head of our tourist club took groups here. The place in the photo turned out to be Lake Akkem, the most famous trekking attraction in the Golden Mountains. And even though I myself am not a hiker (which I had to make sure of once again), the experienced Olga rode with me, and a week-long trip to Akkem became the culmination of mine.

The story about the Akkem campaign will consist of three parts: the way up from the last village of Tungur (including footage from the way down), Akkem Lake and its surroundings, radials to Yarlushka and Seven Lakes. In I showed Ust-Kan, but between it and Tungur there is also Ust-Koksa and Uimon Valley, which I will show after Akkem. And instead of a preface -.

In the upper reaches of the Katun there is the fertile Uimon steppe, the Old Believer Belovodye. Behind it is the small Katandinskaya steppe, the owners of which were the Cossacks of the Bikatunskaya line of the Siberian army under the tsar, under whose protection Vasily Radlov was the first of their archaeologists to dig in 1865 And outside of all dimensions there is the village of Tungur, whose name could be translated as Zabubennoe: in Altai tungur is a shaman tambourine. Beyond Tungur there are sparsely populated mountains without roads, after passing 70 kilometers, you can jump out. Downstream view, almost all footage from Tungur was filmed on the way back, when we left here - and this is not so easy, because there is no regular transport here, officially its passage is prohibited due to the emergency bridge in Katanda, and an unofficial minibus "for locals only" periodically they are also fined - I suspect that approximately when they are caught transporting tourists.

On the high bank is the grave of the Red Army soldiers. In the upper reaches of the Katun was the culmination of the Civil War in Altai, and in fact the heroes of the semi-mythical fought. In 1918, near Tungur, Pyotr Sukhov died with a detachment of red partisans, defeated by the "whites" in the steppe Altai and retreating here through the mountains. In 1921, in Katanda, in his home, the last ataman of the Bikatun Cossacks, Alexander Kaigorodov, was killed, trying to liberate Russia from the territory of Mongolia. Locals, however, believed that he did not die, but went to China, and it was easier to wash your hands with red. Here lies, of course, Sukhov:

There is also a Round House in Tyungur - an obvious Uimon trend:

And the harsh rusty clamshells reminding that the locals do not live by tourism alone. I saw Altaians in Tyungur, but it seemed to me that it was mainly a Russian village.

And beyond Katunya - squirrel and the highest Katun ridge in Altai, from which the Katun itself flows in an intricate spiral. This, as I understand it, is the Kucherlinskaya valley, and they usually walk up it, and down the Akkem valley. But such a trip, with the Kara-Turek pass dividing the valleys, took ten days, or even a couple of weeks, which I did not have. In principle, the idea of ​​combining dynamic road trips and mountain trekking in one trip turned out to be, to put it mildly, not very successful - most of the trip we had to carry useless (except in the trekking part) cargo, there was really little time for trekking, and we already had time waste.

Belukha is clearly visible from the hills above Tungur, primarily Mount Baida. 12 kilometers down the Katun, almost opposite the mouth of the Akkem - the mouth of the Turgunda River, where a whole "magnificent seven" kezer-tash ("stone warriors") of Turkic times have survived. But it takes a day to go there, and to hire a car is inadequate thousands, and I saw a lot of "stone women" on that trip. So let's go over the bridge:

The suspension bridge over the Katun, not the first and not the last along its stream, literally hangs over the Tungur:

It was opened in 1982, and as I understand it, it was from that time that tourists poured into Akkem and Kucherla in a stream:

And if Tungur itself is on the left bank, then beyond the Katun there are its camp sites. On the way "there" we spent the night at the camp site "Bely Krechet", which was served by two boys who looked like brothers. They were not service workers, but the classic "enchanted by Altai" who helped brothers in mind to go to the mountains, and the fact that they took little money for this was perceived by both us and them as a convention. But the guys refused to take our things to the luggage room - from day to day the "White Krechet" was closed for the winter. The neighboring tourist base "Bayry" was already closed - and this was in early September! All year round, only Vysotnik works here, combining the functions of a camp site and a forest hotel. The "high-altitude man" holds both of these valleys, organizing various transfers. On Akkem he has a "branch", which is simply called "Upper Vysotnik" here, and we also had to get to know him.

We spent the night on the Vysotnik on the way back - and I understood that I would go to spend the night here for any money. Firstly, we were terribly exhausted and soaked to the skin in the rain, and secondly ... a hiker should either not sweat or take walrus: I really wanted to wash. In the summer, there is a tourist shelter with sleeping bags in the common room, but in September it was already closed, and the choice remained to set up a tent or spend the night in a hotel from the frame above. Rooms with conveniences there cost 1,500 rubles per person, without conveniences - 1,200 rubles. At the same time, there was nowhere to hang wet rags to dry, the water heater was designed for one and a half people in capacity, and perhaps the lack of wi-fi could be explained by the absence of fiber optics in Tyungur. It is also forbidden to eat and keep food in the rooms, but who will control this? The rest of the "Vysotnik" was good - a cozy area, polite staff, excellent food in the cafe (but expensive), attentive to the clients in the tourist office, which helped us out on the way "there". And you don't have to check in here to use the luggage room while hiking in the mountains.

There is also a separate show. In the morning we were lured out of the room by the noise of a screw:

A small helicopter arrived - a light American "Robinson R66", five-seater with a cargo compartment. Heavy helicopters, as many of them have seen in Siberia, are exclusively Russian and Soviet, but small "flying cars" are invariable overseas "Robinsons" with a characteristic mast under the propeller:

Helicopter tours are very popular fun in Altai, and it suggests that there are not so few people with money among us as it seems. A 40-minute air excursion with a Belukha flight costs 70 thousand rubles overboard, and this particular R66 flew from with an intermediate landing (apparently for refueling) in Tyungur. The shot shows the entire cabin of the helicopter, which is not very different from the car. As I understand it, 4 tourists and an instructor are flying here, and the tour is read automatically.

He did not specify whether this helicopter could be used as a means of delivery - to drop off tourists on the Akkem Lake or pick them up from there, in both cases showing Belukha. A more well-known transfer option for those who are too lazy to walk on foot is a horse, but the price is comparable to a helicopter: firstly, a tourist with a load is carried not by one, but by two mares (one for themselves, the second for a backpack); secondly, an instructor will lead the caravan, whose horse is paid separately at the same rate; thirdly, you pay separately for the return journey at the same rates for each horse. That is, the calculation formula is as follows: the number of horses = (number of tourists) x2 + 1, and we multiply all this by the number of days + 1. Considering that renting a mare costs 1500 per day, for two we would get from 15 to 22 thousand rubles , of which half to a third would be spent on the return of the instructor.
The easiest way to simplify the transfer is to take a "shishige" (cargo GAZ-66) to Three Birches. The fact is that Akkem flows into the Katun 15 kilometers below Tungur (map), and in order to reach it, one has to overcome the Kuzuyak pass along a boring forest road: the first day of the journey promises a lot of effort and few spectacles. Taxi "shishiga" costs 10 thousand rubles, which is even inexpensive for a large group, but individual tourists for 1100 rubles (100 rubles - the commission of "Vysotnik") are hooked up on fairly frequent occasions. And in the evening, when we left for the "White Gyrfalcon", we were told that there were no opportunities for tomorrow, and the maximum that they could offer was to take part in the rafting to the mouth of Akkem for the same money. However, in the morning, a car was suddenly found, transporting some materials and cargo to Three Birches, and the girls from Vysotniki, who did not forget about our wish, called me. To pay or not pay 2200 for two, Olga and I did not even have a question. At 11 in the morning, a jeep drove up to the gates of Vysotnik and took us to Kucherla - the real "last village" three kilometers further:

If Tungur seemed to me mainly Russian, then Kucherla is an almost purely Altai village. And many houses of Kucherla have chaks - traditional Altai hitching posts. Because the horse here is not a luxury, but a means of transportation and earning:

Somewhere in Kucherla a "shishiga" was waiting for us. On the Kuzuyakskaya road, you can meet them like that, but according to other tourists, they take strictly 1000 per person from any point and do not bargain.

On a wooden bridge "shishiga" crossed the river Kucherla, even more turquoise than the Katun. The Kucherlinskaya valley, in comparison with the Akkem valley, is considered more picturesque and gentle, but also longer, and the beauty of the high-mountain lakes and the almost kilometer-long Myushtuaira glacier-icefall, to which it leads, are very difficult to access, and as a rule, tourists turn from it to the Kara-Turek pass to Akkemu, along which they go down. Pay attention to the fragment of the bridge and a pile of logs - the bridge was washed away by a flood several years ago, but since then a new one has been built, also made of wood.

The road behind the bridge looks basically like this, and after the rains even UAZs don't drive here - only shishiga, only hardcore! And how fun it was to walk back along it ankle-deep in slippery mud or, if at the edge, waist-deep in damp grass ...

A couple of kilometers from Kucherla - a grandiose meadow, itself two kilometers wide, behind it again forests and a dirty dirt road. Just an ordinary forest, without any special beauty, which would take hours to walk. "Count on foot flooded!" would think with Olga, understanding each other without words. The only spectacular place on the 22 kilometers of this road is actually the Kuzuyak pass (1513m). It rises 700 meters above the "Kucherlinsky" side, 500 meters above the "Akkemskaya" side, and the ascent is not extreme, but simply boring and difficult.

Tungur and Kucherla can be seen stretched along their rivers:

And this is already a descent beyond Kuzuyak, and the deep valley of Akkem is clearly visible going into the distance. Notice how the lighting has changed? In the sun, it is in this valley that unnaturally bright colors are:

Here the road was no longer wet, but dusty. A couple of times we saw tourists walking towards us, and in some places behind Kuzuyak we saw hayfields and fences.

The way back was much more difficult - the weather turned bad, it rained for two days in a row, and the roads were scattered from all sides, but this time there was no opportunity. Therefore, we walked on foot, and only the wild rose hips, which grew abundantly on the "Akkemsk" side of the pass, weakened our efforts - we collected it for future use, and brewed it in tea for a few days after the hike.

It is convenient to cut the zigzags of the wide "shishizhny" track along narrow and steeper paths. On the slopes, the mud, fastened by roots, is not so slippery, but in the lowlands there can be very nasty swamps. These trails are not so much for pedestrians as for horsemen, who sometimes came across us:

And on the way to the pass, I suddenly noticed a dog at my feet. Looking back, we saw a caravan, but only some other:

It was not imposing tourists with a misanthrope instructor who rode here, but stern Altaians with guns, and there were much more horses than riders, and each horse hung something that most of all resembled a sack of potatoes. Having caught up, the leader shouted to us: "Jump on the redhead! 1000 rubles to Kucherla!"

I asked the next Altaian where you were heading from, and he answered me, "What's your interest?" in such a tone as if for the next question he would take the gun off his shoulder and shoot him. Only after looking after them, we realized that they were shishkari, and the "potatoes" in sacks - cedar cones from some distant plots, the location of which, of course, they did not want to shine. The meeting with the pack caravan somehow justified the difficult return trip for me.

Let's go back to the sunny start of the hike. At some point, an ail appeared from the bushes - there was a small camp site, where the "shishiga" materials were transported, apparently for preservation for the winter. They drove us another half a kilometer forward across a wide meadow and landed on this clearing, popularly known as the Three Birches. Birch here however more than three, and what exactly gave the name to the glade - I don't know.

There are a couple of completely abandoned houses, and on the way "there" we dined in them at the table, and on the way back we settled down to spend the night there, literally wet to the skin: if we walk in heavy rain for several hours, no raincoats and jackets will save ... It was not warmer inside than in the tent, but unlike the tent, the house was before our arrival. already stood. He has probably seen a lot in his lifetime:

So, we drove 22 kilometers. As the further journey showed, we would not have passed them in a day: I simply do not know how to walk in the mountains, and Olga lost her strength and skill in three years without hiking. In addition, she was used to walking with a large group, and therefore, no matter how lighter her backpack, she still collected more on the road than she could carry. I could unload it (and in the end carried more than 30 kilograms), but in purely tourist matters - to put up a tent, cook food - there was little benefit from me, except to collect firewood for a chipboard and bring water from a stream, so we set up for 3 hours, but we gathered for 4 hours at all. That is, we walked for 7-8 hours a day with an average (including halts) speed of 1 km / h up and 2 km / h down, if measured in a straight line. From Tungur to Three Birches - 22 kilometers along the road; from Three Birches to Lake Akkem - about the same amount in a straight line, that is, in fact, 1.5-2 times more. MChS and border guards pass the Akkem trail in a day (this is included in their standards), normal tourists - 2-3 days from Tungur and 1-2 days back, but we went up 2.5 days from Three Birches and went down 2 days to Tungur.

And we could have walked even more slowly, but the Akkem trail is not a wild taiga, but a park. Probably, the Chuisky tract looked about the same in the "vychnaya" era - at least a meter wide and with carefully sawn trunks of trees that fell on the road. On most of the trail there are solid kanmi and roots, and if on the descent they get in the way, then on the ascent they help a lot, forming a kind of stairs, and it is not slippery to go here in any weather.

On the right, streams flow in steep rocky channels:

On the left, from behind the trees, a wall sometimes appears and the noise of the fierce Akkem is heard:

There are forks on the trail, but they are all conditional - the branches will converge after a maximum of several hundred meters. And along the entire length of the trail, every 2-3 kilometers, and even more often - Polyany. They have been developed so thoroughly by tourists that others on Maps.me have been marked as campsites. Many have some sauces, jars of salt or sugar, bottles of water left on them - take them and use them if you don’t disdain! Walking here is not dangerous - even if you broke both legs (which is not so easy to do here), then in a few hours (and most likely even earlier) other tourists will pass by, and if they do not help themselves, they will report to the Ministry of Emergency Situations above. But all this self-made infrastructure has a downside - a shortage of firewood. Even the chips in most of the meadows have been selected almost clean, and it takes a whole hour to collect them for one cooking around the far area of ​​the meadow.

The main landmark on the local trails is horse manure. If you have not seen him for quite a long time, then, apparently, you managed to go to the wrong place. But, contrary to expectations, there is not much garbage - somewhere there may be one piece of paper or a tin can lying around, but I have never seen spontaneous dumps along the entire path. The piece of iron, which looked either like a home-made stove, or like a burbulator for a whole hippie camp, was the largest sample of local litter, and even this, perhaps, not rubbish, but a "working" sieve for pine nuts. And the point is not the creativity of tourists (one cattle company per month is enough to clog the entire path to the state of a gadyushnik), it is just that in Altai they understand that they need to clean up, and volunteers and instructors follow the cleanliness along the Akkem path. They say that not the last reason is that garbage attracts bears, problems with which no one really needs here. But if you meet Goga, remember that he is a Human!

In fact, there are not many interesting things on the trail. Forest and forest, dense and humid, and not so much remind of mountains beautiful views how many sinusoid is in the vertical plane that the path represents.

The only thing that pleases the eye is the living creatures - for example, the nutcracker. I didn't know they had such a funny appearance:

The squirrels here are mostly black, and there are really a lot of them:

And on the stones underfoot such black spiders, or rather haymakers, scurry abundantly:

The section of the trail behind Three Birches turned out to be the most difficult - constant steep ascents, sometimes giving way to mocking descents: if the general direction is up, then each descent promised a new ascent. In addition, Olya did not immediately realize that her carrying capacity had decreased, and I did not want to stop, and as a result, on the very first kilometer, she overstrained herself so that she could not recover until the end of the hike. Every now and then we came across other tourists, and their backpacks were two times smaller than ours - and alas, I have too little experience to understand how they succeed. We walked about 6 "straight" kilometers in a day, and at dusk we got up for the night among the boulders under a kurumnik near the Akkemskaya Pad stream. Until the end of the trip, I called this place the Devil's Glade, because on the basis of fatigue and dejection, very modest results, here I had an epic quarrel with Olga.

And Belukha reconciled us the next day. At some point, we saw a fork - one path went up, the other went down, and Olga remembered from her last trip to these parts about a certain Lower Akkem path, where we had to climb through bushes and kurums. Therefore, she went to reconnaissance at the top, and I - at the bottom, and quickly realizing that the lower path was more trodden, I returned to my backpacks. And looking up, I saw a squirrel shining beyond the taiga and:

And I didn’t know then that it was Belukha itself together with the round Delone peak (4260m). From the Russian side, they look like a dome and a pyramid, if you like - like Easter cake and Easter. The Altaians call it Kadyn-Bazhy, which means the Head of the Katun, but at the same time the Katun itself means "Lady", and then Belukha is simply the Main of the Main. According to the Altai belief, its peak is a channel that sanctifies our world with the heavenly, and approaching sacred grief even shamans were forbidden. I started with photographs of Belukha. Well, the entire Belukha massif is known by the Altai as Uch-Sumer (Three-headed), and its third element is the Western Belukha (4435m), noticeable on the opening, the second highest peak of Altai and the most spectacular of the mountains above Akkem. Behind the mountains there will be a gentle slope with the Gebler glacier (military doctor Friedrich Gebler in 1835 first explored the mountain), from which the Katun begins, and the steep northern slope is the Akkem wall, from which Akkem itself breaks out with a roar. "Ak" in all Turkic languages ​​means "white", "whom" is a river in the ancient Turkic language. Akkem is really not turquoise, but white throughout:

And a sign on a stone by the path reminds of his frantic temper:

Akkem doesn't seem to be deep, but it's really not even quite a river, but something transitional between a river and a waterfall. Continuous rapids 40 kilometers long. Here, look - the slope of the channel is visible to the naked eye! In the distance, behind the trees, is the western peak of Belukha:

But the taiga sinusoids ended, and the trail now led along Akkem, and the huge slope for the river for the trail was quite bearable. On the second day, the main obstacle was the barbecues, which, however, were also mostly found. When we went up, I remembered that there were two or three; on the way down, it turned out that there were at least five.

And the side streams, still coming across every now and then. Many bridges have been made, here is the most solid one:

On the stones of one of the kurumniks a large butterfly was beating, powerlessly buzzing like a fly. Her time has passed:

In the mountains in September it is -15, and eezi (spirits of the mountains) were kind to us - although the nights were cold, and it was flooded with rain on the way, but still the temperature never dropped below 5-7 degrees.

Here we met a goblin, who did not pay the slightest attention to us - he bypasses his possessions before being mothballed for the winter:

Sod sheds under twisted roots came across such that they can be used as a hut:

However, we passed not only them, but also the largest parking lot opposite the Tekelu waterfall, to which, apparently, most tourists reach from Three Birches in a day. Nearby, the waterfall, they say, is very beautiful, but there are no bridges over Akkem here, and how the ford attempt can end is shown in photo # 39a. Moreover, I am sure that there the river carried away much stronger and more experienced people than we are. Therefore, they usually go to Tekelushka with a separate radial from above:

Beyond Akkem, meanwhile, loaches are already appearing - not yet our path, but the surrounding mountains are sucked out above the line after which trees do not grow:

After passing a couple of kilometers beyond Tekelushka, we decided to get up for the night - on the second day we walked a little more than on the first, but still about 4 kilometers remained to the goal. Well, I chose the glades not least because of the views that opened from the coast of Akkem - for example, in all its glory Zapadnaya Belukha before sunset ... do you see the FACE on the slope?

But at dawn - and the entire massif of Uch-Sumer, in which other esotericists see the Trident of Shiva. The view is grandiose, and thanks to the more severe climate, the ice 4-thousanders of Altai are no less majestic than.

In the morning at the same place. The title frame of the post is also removed from here. The colors are still unreal:

And other tourists were walking towards us all the time, and their geography was not at all the same as that of those met on the roads - almost no one from Novosibirsk or Barnaul, but every other time Moscow or St. Petersburg, and also Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Arkhangelsk, Cesky-Budeyovitsy. ... Only once, on the way back, we came across tourists to overtake: although we were moving slowly, the flow upward had practically dried up (especially since they often go up Kucherla), and those who followed us followed more quickly only a little faster and in about the same mode of halts and overnight stays. The oncoming ones appeared every one or two hours on the way up, several times a day on the way down, and we invariably greeted, exchanged questions about the further path, and went on. On the curtain walls, letting the group pass, I got off the path, and the last person passing by invariably gave me his hand - like on winter roads, where one slides into the snow, and the other, having passed, pulls it out.

Sometimes horses came down with a lone instructor, most often an Altaian - they had already taken the passengers upstairs ... but down, mind you, they are not going without a load, and this load is most likely the same cedar cones:

And consistently every other day the Akkem gorge was heard the crackle of a low-flying helicopter - first up the valley, and 20 minutes later and down. By the way, this is not a "Robinson", but also an American "Bell-407" (or another "Bell"), that is, not only "Vysotnik" conducts a flyby of Belukha:

The forest gradually thinned out all the days of the ascent, the birches and aspens became smaller, and on the third day larch became the main tree. At some point, we ran into a gate for horses (so as not to go down at night grazing), which could be opened only after a little thought. But when I closed them behind me, I felt that the target was very close.

In the next part - about Akkem Lake and its inhabitants.

P.S.
Well, if one of the experienced tourists found my story funny or pathetic, laugh and feel sorry for your health. I’m not a hiker, and although Olga and I were three weeks that summer, I didn’t get much experience. Olga asked why I am always in such a hurry and out of my skin, and after a little thought, I found the answer - because I don’t like trekking, the very situation of a long hike with a heavy backpack is stressful for me, and the goal is always unconditionally more important than the path before her. Therefore, if I will still undertake such trips, it will also be in "park" conditions and for no more than a few days, for example, to Seydozero or Ergaki.

Altai-2017
... Trip overview etc. Katu-Yaryk, Pazyryk, Mikhalych outpost.