100 photos from a trip to the Tien Shan

Memories of the experimental hike "Trans-Ili Alatau", Kazakhstan, 07/14/2013

I am writing this report 3 years after the hike, based on the notes I took along the route then. Much has already been erased from my memory, but I remember one thing very well - on a hike you cannot relax until the very last second. Even if there are only 100 meters left until the end of the route and you can already smell the asphalt, you still need to remain vigilant...
And I really liked Tien Shan back then. The rainy weather was more than compensated for by the joy of discovery and incredibly warm company. Actually, look at the photographs and you will understand everything yourself.

1 day

Yesterday, having landed in Almaty, we were amazed by how close the mountains are here and by the fact that the sky was completely clear (according to the forecast, it was supposed to rain here for a week). But this morning everything fell into place - the sky was overcast, the mountains were not visible.

The Almaty rescue squad, although it owns a good building, is located in such a wilderness, so far from Almaty itself, that taxi drivers could barely add up the price for such a long expedition. The rescuers registered our route without any special comments. They only warned that the route sheet from the border guards would not help, and therefore on “their” territory it was better to move crawling and at night; those. in full accordance with the laws of the genre))

Our hostel is good for everyone. There is a climbing wall, a gym and a sauna. But I want to quickly find myself in the mountains. The waiting is boring as hell.

What I like about the Zailiysky Alatau is that you get to the “real” mountains 30 minutes after leaving the city. We, like real climbers, went to the mountains by taxi. True, one of the taxis almost broke the buzz - on the next takeoff, she choked on gasoline. The second taxi driver had to make two trips to take us to Chimbulak.

We arrived at our first overnight stop at 15:30. By this time it had been raining for 30 minutes. The next 15 hours passed in a clear, measured rhythm - 30 minutes of rain (we sit under the tent, eat, sleep), 60 minutes of clouds (we run around looking for entertainment).

For the first time, I took an external flash for my camera with me to the mountains (as well as two radio synchronizers and a bag of batteries). Of course, this is not the most necessary thing on a hike, but thanks to the flash, the evening shots of our gatherings acquired quite a tangible drama.

Day 2

7 am. We had almost finished breakfast when the milky fog gave way to another downpour. Now we are sitting here, waiting for the “window”.

10 am - we make a second attempt to assemble the camp. As soon as the backpacks took their places (on us), hail began to fall. But we don’t care, we’re so tired of sleeping and waiting that we would start walking even if we had the opportunity to take shelter.

At an altitude of 3500, the miner finally showed itself. The girls felt dizzy and lost their appetite. At 3600 the symptoms changed abruptly - we climbed out to the pass and euphoria began for everyone:)

At Titov Pass we didn’t sit too long - we were blown away by another squall. Right after the bend, however, the wind and snow died down, but the descent began so steep that I wanted to go back into the draft.

We spend the night on moraine lakes. Having set up our tents, we managed to make a victory lap, take pictures of streams and flowers, before a new train of hail drove us under the tent. The hail covered everything around with amazing speed and whitened the landscape that had been summer a minute ago.

The most important element of everyday life on this trip was the awning. Due to strong winds and slanting rain, it is necessary to pull it low to the ground. We sit huddled around the burner and enjoy life. We are glad that we have this awning, that such close peaks flash through the gaps in the clouds that we can wash a plate without getting up from the table.

To make it more fun to sit under the tent in the evenings, we play music. To implement this cultural program, all you need is a mobile coplayer, a solar battery, and a great guy Andrey, who has recorded an endless amount of proper music on his mobile.

At dinner, I inadvertently complained that it was very difficult to photograph lightning during daylight hours, or maybe it was at night. And then the sun set and the hailstorm, which had been raging for a long time, was supplemented by a thunderstorm. At the same time, it hit me a couple of times so close that I suddenly didn’t want to take pictures. That's bad luck:)

Day 3

As expected, the night storm was replaced by a crystal clear morning.

Yesterday's hail lies on the ground in a dense layer. During the night he managed to freeze and now sinks under his feet like a real firn.

On the descent we met a local elder with a 120-liter backpack filled to the brim with bricks. Actually, this is my guess about the bricks, but it looked exactly like that - heavy and angular. At the same time, the man claimed that he was going to the harsh snowy peak adjacent to the familiar Titov Pass. Apparently they will build a memorial there (from bricks, of course).

We arrived at the parking lot early, collected plenty of firewood, heated a couple of pots of water and washed ourselves together. And then we sat around the fire and the girls told us scary stories about freedivers... Unexpectedly?

4 day

The day began with relaxation - no rain, warmth, descent, all sorts of flowers.

And it ended with a small sporting feat - the planned ski lift to the Bolshoy Talgar pass turned out to be inoperative and we made our way there on foot. The loss is brightened up by 2500 tenge savings (15 bucks).

The culinary discoveries of this trip were supplemented with a new hit. Today for dinner we had porridge made from pea flakes. Yum! Before that, we managed to get acquainted with the “Ukrainian pate” (lard twisted with garlic and herbs), and for many, “granulated chicken” (dried meat) was a surprise.

And this is the only correct way to eat bagels with condensed milk. Also our discovery!

The overnight stay right on the ski slope was memorable not for the cowboy on the ATV, or even the most comfortable bench, but for the stunning sunset over Almaty.

5 day

At first glance, Kazakh ski yaks are almost the same as in Nepal. The temperament is very different - no endurance. “Nepalese” would fundamentally ignore everything except the second coming.

To make our life easier (and increase our jumping ability), we gave part of the food delivery to a Kazakh watchman.

Do you think I'm tired and collapsed on the ground? Can't wait! This is me hiding from the wind. There is another 50 meters up to the Talgar pass.

If you believe my memories, the next trek after the pass was sunny. And if you look at the photos, the sky is gloomy everywhere. Where does this discrepancy come from? It seems to me that the reason is that I had been crawling uphill for a couple of hours before and naturally was very happy about the descent. But my camera doesn’t walk, doesn’t carry loads - it doesn’t care.

The audiobook “The Geographer Drank His Globe Away” very successfully served as the background text for this trip. In their book, the river is noisy and it makes us noisy, their taiga is swaying and it’s the same with us:)

Luxurious lunch with tea and bagels!

In addition to dinner, we cooked half a cauldron of bear ears (mushrooms) with mayonnaise. This is like a bonus for those who did not get soggy on the slippery 600-meter descent in the pouring rain. Those. for us:)

Did you know that thyme comes in different types (flavors)? We had lemon thyme tea for dinner.

Day 6

“Valley of Marmots” and “Sunny Glade” read in maps and other people’s reports turned out to be very conventional names. We saw neither rodents nor the sun.

But the “unpleasant scree” fully justified its name - living boulders tried to cover your foot or push them into the river.

Tien Shan burdock, or "ghost"...

I wanted to write something else, but the group gently hinted that it was time to go. Bye-bye!

"Tian Shan" means heavenly mountains. And for some reason it is the next shot that I associate with the heavenly Tien Shan.

The rare sunny moment quickly ended.

Before the pass we spent the night in a rather gloomy place on a moraine. in fact, the gloom was explained solely by the weather, but otherwise the place is gorgeous - there is a panorama, there is water, shelter from the wind. but we tuned in to the dark wave and until late at night (22:00) sitting under the tent we told scary stories about survival - a red tent, Argentine rugby players, a creeping wife, etc.

Day 7

On the approaches to the Tourists Pass in the moraine chaos zone, we noticed a man standing on a hillock and then hiding. The places there are remote - this was the first person in the last 3 days and we clearly did not expect such behavior from him. Later, a version appeared that it was a deeply secret Kazakh lone border guard. He sits quietly and watches who is wandering across the pass.

The last 300 meters before the tourists pass we walked through deep snow, sometimes falling waist-deep. Actually, there was a glacier below us and, purely theoretically, we could have fallen much deeper:)

Tourists Pass. height 4000.

On the other side of the pass, the group became homesick. Either I felt that the hike was ending, or I was tired. But as soon as the eternal rain gave way to 3 hours of sun, my mood rose sharply. Opportunities for leisure have appeared - you can dry your shoes, wash your clothes, wash your hair, hunt marmots, dream about how you will return here with equipment to climb this peak.

Going down the snowy slope is easy and sometimes even fun. True, the snow is getting into your pants and shoes, but who cares after a week of general dampness.

Again, after descending from 4000 to 3500, one of the participants felt unwell. Nausea, dizziness, weakness. They fed us pills, unloaded them, and quickly went downstairs. At 3000 everything got better, even my appetite woke up.

Marmots are probably the main and most numerous representatives of the animal world in these mountains. We constantly came across their huge holes, heard squeaks, and saw traces, but we were never able to examine them up close. These sociable animals will not allow you to get closer than 30 meters.

Mountain goats and sheep did not appear to us at all. If it were not for the horns decorating some sites, one could consider argali an invention of naturalists. It’s strange to see endless grassy slopes on which no one grazes.

Day 8

We cross the same river three times. Unlike yesterday's swim, there is little thrill in this.

Big Almaty Lake turned out to be a deeply hidden ambush. First a border patrol, then a water protection zone, and finally a mighty border outpost.

Since all the stages took place in pouring rain, we ended up getting soaked through, despite the abundance of rain protection. Therefore, the idea of ​​spending the night in a barracks at the observatory was accepted with a bang.

At sunset, the clouds parted and it turned out that the observatory consisted not only of our hut, but also antennas and telescopes.

Day 9

From the observatory itself, two dogs followed us - Nose and Eyebrows. During the day they raced up and down the slope with enviable speed (hunting for marmots) and at rest stops they “guarded” our camp from strangers.

On the Dzhusaly pass there is a certain “space station” - a complex of birdhouses scattered on the rocks marked high voltage.

Last night on the route. won't it rain? hehe:)

It is expected that tomorrow we will reach the road in a couple of hours and the hike will end there. On a wave of optimism, one of the participants even burned his fallen shoes.

10 day

There are also birches in the Tien Shan.

There were about a hundred meters left to the asphalt when an emergency occurred on this flimsy bridge. The oncoming wave washed away one of “our” dogs from the bridge.

Our subsequent struggles and attempts to save the animal deserve a separate story. I will only say that in the end, thanks to the persistence and dedication of Andrei from Zaporozhye, both dogs were not only saved, but also employed in the pioneer camp as guard wolfhounds.

It’s hard to believe, but just two hours after this extreme event we were already taxiing out for a civil walk around Almaty.

And in the evening there was a celebration of the completion of the hike in a restaurant with national Kazakh cuisine.

Day 11

It was simply impossible to stop there, so we decided to walk a little more. We hired a minibus and went to the Charyn Canyon for the whole day.

Then there were probably some other events (search for souvenirs, etc.), but I didn’t film them and therefore didn’t remember them:)