Around Elbrus from the North

The route along the Northern Elbrus I liked a year ago. Longer, more complex (relative to the same Carpathians), have the opportunity to test themselves in a new environment, though maybe not quite extreme, but already requiring gradual adaptation of body heights. We waited for repeated passes above km, a few nights at 2900m. Attracted the Caucasus snowy crests of their ranges, and of course the opportunity to get close to the giant Elbrus is not indifferent to this route. Here was eager to go in September 2013 but fate decreed otherwise, knocking me to the right temperature before departure, all urgently had to cancel. Time, unfortunately, flies, and here I am already with a backpack standing in front of the train to Moscow. The journey began!

In his narrative will try not to stick to a strict sequence of events, in terms of met-got-a fire-rise-under the backpack!)"-the rest... All this from day to day was very similar ). Before his eyes, only changed the incomparable beauty of the landscapes from forested steep slopes at the beginning and end of the trip to Alpine meadows and barren stone ridges in the highlands. Perhaps more attention will focus on individual impressions and feelings...

Even before the campaign had read about the behavior of an organism in conditions of lower atmospheric pressure, reduced oxygen content in the air against a background of high loads and the possible lack of calories in the food (to go still far and for a long time, a lot of food to carry difficult, and often groups go on all sorts of dried things, refusing stewed meat, fat, milk and other Goodies). Looking a bit ahead, I will say that all fears were unfounded. On the contrary, it was pretty funny "listen" to your body and get the unfamiliar sensations. Food was Nemer =). Our group leader, Sasha Rudenko, wholly made sure that those calories were in reserve, always was able to take second serving excellent skin with vegetables and tinned meat, fish soup, delicious oatmeal with condensed milk and dried fruit, and numerous nishtyakov like chocolate, cakes, wafers, nuts and fat! In General, the Royal menu group has been provided on all 9 days of the campaign, did not leave hungry and the numerous animals that accompany us during the whole route. Of course, the beginning was not easy to recruit 1000 m height with a backpack under 30kg, but every day food all became less and after Breakfast on the last day of the campaign there remained nothing, again, everything was masterfully designed by our instructor.

The first obvious effect of height I felt on the second day somewhere on the altitude of 2400m. Light noise in the head to breathe really became a bit more complicated, the nose isn't breathe, is to get the right amount of air is obtained only by mouth ). On rises continually really want to stay for a couple of seconds, take a breath, but silently counts the steps 50, and only then give yourself a "good" for a short break. In the beginning, even in the Parking lot at the altitude of 2600M until you stand up and walk a couple of meters to the river to wash the bowl, so you have to breath). In order to accelerate the heart rate up to 90-100 beats./min, the house will have to work hard here, it was the same heart rate at rest, even before going to sleep he did not fall below. Headache visited me only once on the morning of the fourth day after a long journey the day before and spending the night at 3000m. Although, something tells me that the reason for this was not altitude sickness, but still a breath of mnogogrannogo elixir from Sasha in honor of the birthday of Eugene on the pass Chemart, Oh and two drops of warming mulled wine before bedtime). Two tablets after Breakfast returned to their seats, an hour later, the pain vanished. In General, with proper acclimatization, as it was with us, with alternating descents and ascents, the body can tolerate in the penultimate day of the hike on Kirikaeshi (m) feel at home, even though you turn around, and Elbrus!

Elbrus! For the first time we were lucky enough to see a clear morning on the third day of the hike. Climbing on the ridge, under which stood our tents, opened an excellent picture. Right before my eyes appeared lifeless peaks, a little to the right was a view of the snowy crests of the Main Caucasian ridge, and to the left over all these beauties stood completely covered in snow and ice man Elbrus, giant shimmered in the sun diamond Shine. View of the main peak of Europe accompanied us almost to the very end of the hike, we almost completely around it from the North, not looked at Elbrus only on the South side. By the middle of the hike we came up to him as close as possible to the foot remained only a couple of kilometers. Here Sasha is very by the way decided to stop for a rest, which we are just incredibly lucky: great weather, fabulous place with rapid river and mineral source in two steps from the camp, and of course a spectacular view of mount Elbrus. Tightly after an early lunch, decided with Sergei to go light on the ridge to the "Black rock", so we have seen called us early in the morning on a small plateau overlooking a rocky ridge, his dark gray volcanic shade. Thus we would be maximally close to the Elbrus with its huge stretching almost from the very tops of snow-white glaciers...

... I have long wanted to see the glacier, invisible flowing down from some mountain top, but somehow it seemed that the route Elbrus us to admire not lucky, and if they will see, probably only from afar. As you may have guessed, I was profoundly mistaken). Glacier, slowly slipping from Elbrus, was not far from our camp. Divided into several languages, he had his melt water taking with him the river Kyzylkol, about which we have set up tents. But even that glacier, near our camp, without a trace Merck in front of a painting that opened our eyes after we loose the slope finally climbed the ridge leading to the "Black rock". Even in the most fantastic dream could not imagine such a miraculous miracle. Mind-blowing size of the glacier stretched along a ridge right up to the foot of Elbrus. The roar and howl of the wind blowing on the surface of the glacier, the noise countless running on it rivers, seemed to revive him and just gave him more powerful grozesti.

Ice lake at the bottom, a powerful river, originating from the base of the glacier, crazy beauty and size of the glacier and crowning all this multi-kilometer block of the MT - simply fabulous landscape appeared before my eyes. Wow, surprise (climbing on the ridge, we had no idea about what is hidden behind it) on the skin shiver)). Trying to absorb the maximum of the resulting species, continued with Sergey our hike weekend to the foot of Elbrus...

...So, two hours of smooth ascent along the ridge, then clamber over boulders to climb to the plateau of "Black rock", and, finally, we are on the edge of the cliff, beyond which there is nothing but just the sheer Elbrus. Navigator showed m. Before us stood a stunning view of the giant shapeless icefall, gradually passing into the same endless field of a huge glacier on one side of the plateau, and in a few icy languages to camp on the other. Right above me, in the background of nearly cloudless sky, more than two kilometers towered West summit of Elbrus. Not even close to describe the feeling, indescribable rapture covering in these minutes. Believe me, very cool!..

The next day, after a long transition plateau Erhitzt who served during the great Patriotic war the airfield for the German aviation around North Elbrus, we came to a clearing Narzanov Gil-su. Here, you have to work very hard to find fresh water for dinner, everywhere from under the ground were delicious springs. The male half of the group did not miss the opportunity to plunge into the pool full of seething, like a small geyser, mineral water. Girls, according to local customs, "bathing time" just before noon... Filling all our capacity crystal Seltzer (here, by the way, it was the most delicious), went on to our next site. Each time Sasha masterfully chose a camp site, and now we all just gasped suddenly opened before us the view of the waterfall R. Karakaya-su. Huge, powerful stream of water fell down from almost semidesyatimetrovye height. The wind pushed the water pollen on all sides, and under the waterfall from the sun by a semicircle wore a bright rainbow. Here, almost at the edge of the turbulent flow R. Malka overlooking the amazing landscape in a few tens of metres from us, and we put our tents...

Throughout the route, our hike almost every day accompanied by a reset and climb not at one hundred meters. And now, once again admiring the delightful waterfall in the morning sun and the infinite power of breaking ice water from the rock, under the command Under the backpack! " we moved on. The level of camp (2150 m) during the day we had to climb over a ridge under 3km height, then a long descent and a long transition with a slight slope up to the place the next night. The day was filled with withering sun, which then never hid it in the sky for the day did not seem a single cloud. But certainly better than trail in the rain or wet snow in the Caucasus, the weather can sometimes be very upset.