The mountain is alive. Lagonaki ridge

Last weekend, the multisport club "Radio Cheget" opened the new season with the so-called snowshoeing, which self-evidently stands for winter hike in snowshoes. All three days were perfect sunny weather.

True, having announced this event in advance and preparing for it, I felt a pre-cold malaise just before the departure, but I didn’t cancel anything, which nevertheless made it possible to realize my plan, albeit on a different scale.

There were 9 participants in total. We started in the Guamka farm and went up the road to the Cold Spring. At first there was not much snow, only on the shady northern sections of the road the snow was continuous.

And for the first time, we followed the tracks of brave cars without snowshoes at all.

It was quite warm on the rise, I had to unbutton my clothes, undress, or, as in this photo, help each other unbutton the ventilation in the sleeve of the jacket :)

A small waterfall over Guamka froze over.

Well, how small ... normal like that.

A small halt.

We walked along the track for the first hour, then we had to put on snowshoes, because no one went further that day and we went on virgin soil.

The forest gradually became more coniferous and more snowy.

At this point, I begin to realize that my cold is starting to progress sharply and the pace of the whole hike has slowed down a bit, but nevertheless, we succeeded.

After the Cold Spring, we turned higher - on the portage leading down the Razrytaya mountain, there was more snow.

And we were accompanied by the sunset sun.

First stop.

The snow was about knee-deep in open areas, although under especially dense firs there were also patches without snow.

There was plenty of snow in the open glades.

On the second day, we continued to climb to the edge of the forest in order to reach the expanses of alpine meadows, or rather in this moment to the endless snow fields :)

So, the fir is over, the forest has thinned out. The views began to open. Behind our backs somewhere far below the Guam gorge and the village of Nizhny Novgorod.

Top of the mountain Razryaya. To the left below in the valley is the village of Chernihiv.

On the horizon is the panorama of mountains traditional for this region (from left to right) - Big Thach, Small Thach, Asbestnaya, Acheshbok, Mt. Skirda, Dzyuvya (Solontsovy Ridge).

We got out on the pass between the city of Bukva and the city of Zhitnaya.

Our goal is Mount Zhitnaya. Our route goes along the so-called Lagonaki ridge, but this ridge has no direct relation to the Lagonaki plateau, starting much north almost from the village of Chernigovskaya (although, as a result, it adjoins the plateau with a strong decrease after Mount Mezmai).

Part of the group remained on the pass, sheltering from the wind on a warm spot under a rock.

The rest went radially (without backpacks) on highest point this ridge - Mount Zhitnaya. In time, we only managed to ascend there radially and immediately had to go down into the forest to organize the next overnight stay.

Group on the ridge Zhitnaya.

And on her upper shoulder.

On the pass, as well as on any other "ventilated" areas, there is not so much snow as it should have been in winter at such a height. It is blown away by the wind.

We go down.

In the cold evening shade, but in the forest, where you can build a fire and generally warmer at night than in open spaces.

Here on the northern slopes of Zhitnaya there is the most snow. If not for the snowshoes, it would have been possible to fall through to the waist.

We quickly dropped about 500 meters of altitude and stopped for the night in a more or less gentle place near the road, so that the next day we could get to civilization faster.

I didn’t film the overnight stay that day, because of malaise I preferred to oversleep breakfast, and then, on the contrary, get ready before everyone else and go slowly forward so as not to delay the others. Here is a single random frame.

On the way back, we noticed how much the amount of snow decreased, especially in those places where it was rolled out by all kinds of transport. And if on February 21 the clearing near the Cold Spring was with untouched virgin snow, then two days later it was rolled to the mud (fu!) A bunch of ATVs, and then several SUVs.

The photo shows the Monakhov Cave on the opposite slope of the Guam Gorge.

Initially, they wanted to make a big ring, returning through Mezmai, but due to the low pace and wet snow, they had to return to Guamka almost the same way as they started.

35. Track here - http://caucasia.ru/site/track/1160 (without climbing Zhitnaya).

Latitude: 44°12′13′08′70′′′N

Longitude: 39°91′49′74′01′′′E

Lagonaki ridge- a mountain range located near the Lago-Naki plateau (Maikop district, the Republic of Adygea), stretching from northwest to southeast for almost 17 km. Through the crest of the ridge passes the territorial border between the Republic of Adygea and the area of ​​​​the Mezmaisky rural settlement of the Apsheron region Krasnodar Territory. Also, the territories of the Caucasian State Natural Biosphere Reserve and the World Heritage Site are separated here. natural heritage"Western Caucasus". Most of the Lagonaki Range is covered with a grassy carpet, which hosts a variety of endemic species of flowers, among the thickets of which you can meet running lizards. Broad-winged birds soar in the sky: bearded vultures, vultures, kites.

The composition of the Lagonaksky ridge includes even domed peaks such as: Lysaya(1159m), Matazyk(1328m), Razryataya(1514m), Letter, Zhitnaya(the highest point of the ridge / there are also such names as "Tour" and "Acute"), Matuk, Mezmay. Fantastic panoramas open from each mountain top.

Mountain Letter (1700m) - located 12km from the farm Guamka. On all sides of the peak, wooded valleys spread in the lower reaches are observed. In the western part, the slopes of the Letter fall steeply down, and the lower canyon extends two kilometers from the foot Tsitsa river. To the south one can see another hillock (1724m), which has not yet received official name, but probably already somehow nicknamed local residents. Like the Letter, the western wall is strewn with rocky outcrops. Impressive subalpine fields are spread to the south and southeast, sharply turning into a forest zone. tributary mountain Kurdzhips river – dry beam- flows a little to the east, behind its channel rises Mount Zauda(1539m), located near the not particularly remarkable Ivanova Polyana. Next to the Letter is a shepherd's booth.

2.3 km south of Bukva is located Mount Zhitnaya (1996m), from the slopes of which you can already observe more bewitching views. The most interesting is the overview of the steep gorge of the upper reaches of the Cice River, which belongs to the Natural Monument. The gorge is backed by massive walls Ridge Nagoi-Chuk on the one hand, and the steep slopes of the Lagonaki Range on the other. A waterfall breaks out of the sheer wall of the Nagoychuk massif, and there is no way to approach it. In Mount Zhitnaya there is a small cave, and a few meters from it there is an observation deck and right there, in the direction of the Tsitsinsky channel, a small stream departs.

Between the mountains Zhitnaya and Matuk rises a small wooden structure, called "KOSH", such structures can be very often found on the routes. As Wikipedia suggests, auls encountered on the way during nomadism are called kosh, and wealthy Bashkirs lived in kosh with the onset of spring. Such structures were built on spacious meadows, where it is very convenient to look after grazing cattle.

The Alpine house is knocked together from wooden planks covered with a felt cloth. As a rule, inside the booth there is a stove, bunk shelves and a table. A tourist group of 10 people can fit inside. Near the kosh, under Mount Zhitnaya, the Dry Beam Stream flows.

Before reaching the cliff of the Dvukhetazhka, there is another spring - Cement (or Concrete). It was built by the German fascists during the Great Patriotic War, and to this day, it has survived, although it has already been a little shabby.

Two-story building - gentle rock ledge at the foot Matuk mountains(1957m). The surface is perfectly flat and covered like a terry green carpet. Perpendicular rock walls consist of two levels of almost the same size, which is probably why the Dvukhstoriedka rock was nicknamed so. On the platform of the Two-story building, magnificent panoramic views are presented to the eye. The grandiose gorge of the Cice River, surrounded by fir trees and boulders, barely visible in the distance. On the other hand, the sound of water is clearly audible, created by the rapid flow of the mountain river Tsitse, rushing from the northern slope of Mount Oshten, which is also observed behind the Tsitsin canyon. At the very cliff of the Matukskaya Dvukhetazhka, the right tributary of the Tsitse River, the Deep Balka, is clearly visible (the source is the southeastern slopes of Mount Uriel/Murzikal tract). Near its channel there are two Mezmaisky caves (cave of Six / Six). In the southeast, the hilly ridge Nagoi-Chuk stands out, a little to the left of it gracefully carved stone walls Mount Uriel descending to the valley of the river Tsitse.

The final peak of the Lagonaki Range is Mount Mezmai(1940m), located 15 km from the village of Mezmay. In the eastern part of the mountain is located KOSH, next to it is a source of clean drinking water. From the cliff there is a stunning view of the valley of the Kurdizhps River (the source is Mount Abadzesh), which has punched beautiful gorges and gorges in the rock masses (Guam Gorge). In the southwest flows one of the tributaries of the Tsice River - deep beam, there is also a convenient site for camping. On the opposite side, another stream is hiding, rushing to the bed of the Kurdzhips River. The saddle between the mountains Mezmai and Uriel forms hollows that descend steeply to the valley of the Tsitse River, allowing you to get to the Tsitsinskiy canyon. Domesticated cows and horses are often found in the alpine clearing.

Climate. Very cunning in the mountains weather. It is here, in the mountains, that you can observe the process of the water cycle in nature. In the morning, as a rule, the weather is clear, but when the first clouds begin to roll in, it will rain. By evening, the bad weather usually passes, allowing you to admire the beautiful sunset.

A road has already formed up to the Dvukhetazhka rock, allowing reckless drivers to rush along the Lagonaksky ridge in cars. It's really strange that this is allowed...

Today I will continue my story about the incredible week spent in the mountains of Adygea in May 2016. In this part, you will see the coolest light show that nature gave us at sunset on the third day. Perhaps we were the only witnesses of this light show, since we were at that moment on Mount Zhitnaya at an altitude of 1995 meters, being above the clouds. Alas, for a very long time I could not approach the processing of these photographs and I am still not sure that I managed to convey at least a quarter of what was then revealed to our eyes in the pictures. But once it was necessary to do it all the same, so why don't you take a look at this marvel now?

02 . Let me remind you a brief background of this trip. I, Vasya in_windows , his four-year-old son Dimon and our mutual friend Pasha, got into an L-200 car and arrived approximately at the border and. First we, and then, passing the Guamka farm, along a broken and damp road with matyuks and a winch, we camped. True, not at the Letter, but at the foot of Mount Zhitnaya, but this is not so important. Just know that both of these mountains, as well as Matuk, Mezmai and several other peaks, form the so-called Lagonak Range. The border of the two subjects of the Russian Federation mentioned above, as well as the border of the Caucasian Reserve, passes through it. And yes. The Lagonaki Range and are not the same thing.

03 . So the next day we were sealing and vegetables and everything. They even fried potatoes from idleness. But the weather on that day (and it was exactly on May 1) was very changeable, and by the evening the sky somehow turned dark and frowning. Alpine meadows with young grass and primroses suddenly became somehow inhospitable and even formidable. It immediately got colder and my shoes, which got wet the day before, quickly cooled down and began to cause me inconvenience.

04. Nevertheless, we decided that we needed to climb somewhere higher, maybe we’ll hire something. Although I was pessimistic and didn't even take a tripod with me. Oh, how wrong I was! Nature played such a performance in front of us that at some moments I even took my breath away! But while we still have no idea about anything, we carefully drive out of a rather gloomy cloud and suddenly we see that the sunset light is already flaring up. We park on a flat place and hasten to run to the top of Zhitnaya.

05 . And it seems that the action promises to be simply enchanting! Clouds - actors fuss and push, we clearly got to the main premiere of this season. Or is it a dress rehearsal? Ahem ... The sun, as the chief lighting engineer and director in one person, checks the work of spotlights and spotlights. But the main curtain has not yet been lifted. The orchestra pit, and indeed the entire stalls, are hidden by thick twilight.

06 . Like theater binoculars, I attach a telephoto lens to the camera to see what is happening behind the scenes. The artists hastily adjust their makeup and enter the images.

07 . But then, finally, the light, still light, but no less beautiful, falls on the proscenium.

08 . We rejoice. Now it will start! Life is felt so acutely that emotions cannot be expressed even with obscenities. Even very loud and three-story. But they need to be thrown out somehow.

09 . The first act begins. The genre of the beginning performance is still not entirely clear, but it is already absolutely impossible not to applaud taking photographs.

10 . Even the usually impartial Pasha, grunting, takes out his iPhone and takes something off. Dimon also takes away a light mirrorless camera from his father. Complete euphoria. We are a thousand kilometers from home, my feet are wet, the wind blows me away, but I am absolutely happy. And now we are not just on the mountain. We are above all our problems, troubles and worries that have remained somewhere at home and at work.

11 . And we are here alone. Absolutely. Therefore we take best places in the auditorium.

12 . The whole scene is right in front of us. What is she there? Feels like the whole world lies at our feet! And then the universe itself.

13 . It's clearly drama. Although each of us, probably, had his own interpretation of this play. Who knows ... But here begins a clearly very passionate monologue of the protagonist. Even the lighting works only for him. Actors of the second plan go into the shadows.

14 . And here's the plot twist. Again sheaves of light all over the stage, again a parade of warm sunset colors!

15 . And then the epilogue. As usual, very sad and beautiful. The stage is already almost empty, although it is brightly lit. Everyone is gone, dissolved, and only the body of a little young actress remains lying almost at the very edge of the ramp.

16 . We don't take our eyes off her. The light is slowly fading away. It seems to be everything.

17 . The curtain falls. Unfortunately, we did not take flowers with us, but the whole parterre is already strewn with them.

18 . After a couple of minutes, because of the dense backstage, not a single ray of light is visible. Now that's all for sure.

Or was it the first act and after the intermission, in the morning at dawn we will see the continuation of the show?

It is on its territory that Mount Zhitnaya rises. But first things first. In the village of Guamka there is a tourist site where those who want to see the heights of Adygea with their own eyes, including the top of Zhitnaya, gather. Jeeps leave from here, which take people along the serpentine to mountain peaks. At the peak of tourist activity, a whole parking lot operates on the site.

The name of the Guamka gorge comes from the word smell, and indeed, depending on the season, this place is full of different aromas. This is truly a monument of nature, which never ceases to amaze with its beauty and grandeur. From this gorge the road leads along a serpentine lined in the rocks. It rises like a ribbon to the Man's Tears waterfall. A little further behind it is the observation deck "Petushok".

From it we see an amazing landscape of the Kurdzhips river valley. The water surface and forests behind which Maykop stands. Standing at such a height and breathing in the mountain air, you feel unusually free and light. Moving further along the ridge, you get to the meadows. Here you can stumble upon peacefully grazing horses that fit so organically into the overall landscape. The variety of flowers and herbs is comparable only to the meadows of the Alps. And now, before the gaze of a tourist, she is exposed, the top of Mount Zhitnaya.

Over 2000 meters above sea level, a great place to organize ski resort. Rolled slopes will delight any connoisseur of skiing. If you come closer and find yourself between the Zhitnaya and Matuk peaks, you can see the Lagonaksky Range in all its glory. Here in the gorge is located the canyon of the Tsice River, which is one of business cards these places. It is hidden from prying eyes, but pleases those who were able to get so far. So wild and unexplored, it exudes natural beauty.

Among all the peaks of the ridge rises Oshten, who seems to be the eldest in this family. Bears and chamois have taken refuge in its gray peaks among firs and pines. Peaks Uriel, Abadzesh and Nagoi-Chuk flaunt nearby.

Standing in such beauty, you forget about everything in the world, you want to scream, breathe in that mountain freedom that is in the air. And you want to come to these neighborhoods at any time of the year. Autumn will greet travelers with gold maples, winter will enchant with snow-white landscapes, spring will delight with awakening nature, and in summer the greenery of flowers and trees will not leave you indifferent.

They say the truth that the mountains always have their own atmosphere, some special calm envelops these places and you want to come back here again and again.

The average layman is not familiar with geography and most of the names of mountains, ranges or rivers turn out to be an empty sound for him, even if they are located half an hour away. However, there is a place in our region, whose name everyone and everyone knows - Lagonaki.

Lagonaki is often called a plateau, although this is not entirely true. The Lagonaki Highlands is a complex system of plateaus, mountain ranges, alpine massifs, canyons, beams and river valleys, stretching from the Pshekha River in the west to the Belaya River in the east, from the Fisht-Oshtenovsky massif in the south to the Guama ridge in the north. The central and southern part of the highlands is free from forest and covered with alpine and subalpine meadows. It is these expanses that are primarily associated with the word Lagonaki.

What the name means is not known for certain. The dictionary of Adyghe toponymy only indicates the similarity of "Lago" with the Adyghe "Legune", which means a room for the newlyweds, and "Naki" tries on "Kyo" - a beam, a valley. Beautiful legends about a guy named Lago and a girl named Naki have nothing to do with reality and are just low-grade tourist folklore. I. G. Grigorenko in his essay “Lagonaki” also mentions the common folk version of “Lugonaki”, which implies vast upland meadows.

In the very heart of the highlands is the Lagonaki Range, which became the goal of the first summer hike of this year. This is the northernmost area covered with meadows. The ridge consists of five main peaks and stretches from northwest to southeast for more than fifteen kilometers from the outskirts of the village of Guamka to Mount Mezmai, where it breaks off to the Kurdzhipsa valley.

Formally, almost the entire meadow zone of the Lagonaki Range is part of the Caucasian Reserve, being the so-called buffer zone, however, in reality, there is no protection regime on the ridge. This is due to the status of the highlands interspersed throughout the 20th century. Initially included in the reserve, Lagonaki was withdrawn from its composition in 1951, after which the active economic exploitation of the territories immediately began. Only in 1992, part of the highlands regained the status of a protected area, but in reality this had little effect.

Photo 1. Height 1723, view from the slopes of Mount Bukva

Our trip was originally planned for the beginning of April, but due to a number of circumstances it was postponed to a later date. We were going to go three, four, but in the end we went together with Vitalik - work, family, business and other problems selected all possible fellow travelers.

A forest road leads from Guamka to the meadows of the Lagonaki Range. For a long thirteen kilometers, it gradually gains a height of over one and a half thousand meters and leads to Mount Bukva, the first peak in the subalpine zone. Walking through the forest is rather tiring, so on the eve of the exit, I got the idea to arrange with local jeepers about dropping to the partisan monument four kilometers before the Letter. Theoretically, the lack of proposals for dropping into resort village should not be, but in practice I have not found a single intelligible announcement on the Internet. He spat and got into contact, where he soon found a certain Maxim, who was standing near the UAZ on the avatar, wrote and closed the tab.

The next day at seven o'clock in the morning we left Krasnodar in the direction of Guamka. In general, they were going to leave at six, but the car turned out to have a different opinion on this matter - the charging on the generator was gone. As soon as we freaked out, turned around and were ready to call a taxi to the bus station, the ill-fated light went out and we still went to Guamka by car.

Already at the entrance to the farm the phone rang. The same Maxim called. It turned out that I did not lose, he really is engaged in casting and the price at the same time turned out to be quite acceptable. In general, when we arrived at the parking lot near the entrance to the gorge, Maxim was already waiting for us.

Photo 2. View of the Lagonaki Highlands from the road near Apsheronsk. The extreme right (slightly lower than the rest) stands out Mount Messo (2066 m)

Photo 3. At the entrance to Guamka. On the left is the Guama Ridge, on the right is the Lagonaki Ridge, between them the Kurzhips River flows through the Guam Gorge.

While unpacking and getting ready, we met guys from Krasnodar who decided to spend the weekend in the mountains, but did not know very well where to go in the vicinity of Guamka. They offered to go with us for the company, Pasha and Denis, that was their name, willingly agreed. We load backpacks into the UAZ and go.

The first kilometers are boring. Winding through the forest, a bumpy rocky road climbs a steep slope, gaining five hundred meters in height in just two and a half kilometers, then the forest high way flattens out, straightens out and, without any surprises, leads us to a clearing with an inconspicuous monument to partisans, commonly called simply "Bayonet" .

Unloading. Maxim, the driver, says maybe we'll see you upstairs again, he's going to come back with another group today and spend the night on the Dvukhetazhka rock. We say goodbye. UAZ rolls down, and we, throwing backpacks on our shoulders, go up.

Photo 4. Here on this UAZ we got to the "Bayonet"

Photo 5. Actually "Bayonet", a monument to the partisan detachment. Gastello

The first three kilometers we continue our way through the forest. Under the feet of a rocky road, gradually gaining height. Soon, the first clearings begin to appear along the roadsides - overgrown with tall, chest-high and higher bald patches of grass. Gradually, they become more and more extensive and soon crowd out the forest, leaving room only for separate groups of trees and shrubs.

Photo 6. The first meters of the hike. The road leads up.

Photo 7. The last trees before the zone of subalpine and alpine meadows.

The sky around is darkening. When we, having crossed another hillock, go out to the crest of the ridge, into the zone of meadows, the surrounding expanses are eaten up by the accumulated clouds. Low, thick clouds cover all the heights with a dense curtain, leaving only areas in the lowlands to the eye. Hiding in the clouds and the top of Mount Letter, which is very close.

Photo 8. On the way to Mount Bukva. Looking back towards Guamka and Vitalik

The letter is the first of the four main peaks of the Lagonaki Range and the lowest of them. Having an impressive absolute height - 1700 meters, it has a modest relative height of 100-150 meters. Here I will make a remark that speaking of the low relative height of the peaks of the Lagonaki Range, I take as a conditional level a road running along a gentle ridge and bending around the main heights.

At the foot of the Letter stands a good shepherd's house. We approached him, and it was time for dinner. We decided to climb up, despite the gloomy sky.

It was worth reaching the top, as the clouds thickened even more and it began to rain, intensifying with every second. I had to hurriedly retreat to the kosh, as the shepherd's houses are called in our area.

The door to the house is not locked, only propped up by a massive board. Come in. Kosh is a wooden frame covered with synthetic burlap. Inside there are two tiers of bunks, which can accommodate more than a dozen people, a stove and a table. There are no windows, but the white burlap allows light to pass through well.

Photo 9. House in the fog. Under Letter

The rain intensifies, we began to drink tea.

Under the drumming of drops, they fell on the bunks on the roof. The guys tried to take a nap, and I climbed to post fresh photos on Instagram, fortunately, the Megaphone catches in the house.

Half an hour passed. Drop by drop falls less and less, and finally, the rain has completely passed. Went outside. The clouds broke, I take the camera, I go upstairs. Wet grass brings a lot of inconvenience. Plants are tall in this high-altitude belt and walking knee-deep in rain-soaked grass is still a pleasure, but that doesn't stop me, in five minutes I'm at the top.

The top of the Letter, like her brothers Matuk and Mezmay, as well as her sister Zhitnaya, is an almost flat dome. Not a single tree, the view is magnificent.

In the west, the mountain drops off sharply. Steep wooded slopes lead far down. There, in a leaden haze, the Tsice River, invisible from here, flows. Relative to its channel, the height of the Letter exceeds one kilometer. Numerous cuts, beams, ravines and other gullies give rise to streams that turn into rivers and replenish Tsitsa. We look to the south - there is another domed peak, with sloping low eastern slopes, it abruptly breaks off to the west with numerous rocky outcrops. Stone walls from several to several tens of meters high break the lush green slope. Below begins the forest, which becomes thicker with every meter and soon leads everything to the same Tsitsa with an even, almost black, this cloudy day, carpet. At first I took this mountain for Zhitnaya, but I was mistaken. This is height 1723, unnamed.

And in the southeast and east, not endless, but very, very vast meadows open up. This is subalpika. In several places, the sloping folds of the green carpet are cut by the red threads of the roads. A little further, you can see Dry Beam. I was in the summer of 2013 in its lower reaches, about which there is a story, and now I am standing, admiring the upper course. True, from here, from the Letter, it is just a foggy valley covered with a dirty green forest carpet, beyond which a nameless ridge rises and behind this ridge the Kurdzhips River flows, cutting through the famous Guam Gorge just below the mountain, I will return to it at the end story.

Then in 2013 I was in Sukhoi Balka twice, with an interval of a week, however, I wrote a story about only one trip. The second time they came from Mezmay. Before descending from the Guam Ridge to the village, we stopped at the Glade Skala. The meadows of the Lagonaki ridge are clearly visible from there, then he licked his lips on them, it took two years before he got here. Let's look further north. In good weather, the suburbs of Guamka should be clearly visible, but now they are lost in haze and clouds, there is almost nothing to see.

Having admired enough, I go down back to the house. There are many flowers under your feet. It is summer on the plain, here, on the approach to two thousand meters, the snow has just recently melted and spring has come. Yes, that's why I love our land. You can watch the spring from March to June - it's enough just to come every week to a place a couple of hundred meters higher than the previous one.

Photo 10

Photo 11. Flowers are called backache. If I'm wrong, please correct.

Photo 12. The name of these flowers is unknown to me.

Photo 13. View of Height 1723 from Bukva Mountain. Behind it (invisible) is Mount Zhitnaya, in the background is the Nagoi-Chuk ridge.

Photo 14. View of the house under the Letter from the mountain.

Photo 15

After me, Vitalik walked to the Letter. Upon his return, we began to pack up and moved on. Having moved half a kilometer, we stopped between Letter and 1723rd for photography, it was too colorful with this observation deck the rock shoes look the last. But in less than ten minutes, the weather, which seemed to have begun to improve, began to deteriorate sharply. From the side of Tsitsa, out of the blue, a huge cloud grew and ran at us, a minute later it hid the 1723rd. Here, it might be worth returning to the house under the Letter, but we did not do this. We put our photographic equipment away, covered our backpacks, put on our raincoats and left. The rain was not long in coming. Why we hid in the kosh under the mountain was just a prelude. We got a wall of water. True, it didn’t walk like a wall for long, soon it weakened a little and turned into just a strong lingering downpour. The road beneath my feet turned into a river. Muddy streams rushed from the slopes of the 1723rd, hidden in the fog, for orientation, I had to climb headlong into a raincoat and get a tablet there to check the location. My feet were wet far above the knee, my hands were much higher than my elbows, my boots were swampy, and the rain didn't stop.

I can imagine what it was like for the guys who went with us, we are already more or less accustomed to the vagaries of the weather, and they went like this for the first time.

The goal is kosh behind Zhitnaya mountain. At one point on the way to it, we left the road and just walked along the grass. This is why I like the meadows, it is easier to cut through them than through the forest.

The house appeared. Even two, still far away, but already one kind of shelter warms the soul. We arrived and exactly at the moment when we threw our backpacks in the nearest house the rain stopped and the sun came out.

We walked and got wet for two and a half hours.

The house near Zhitnaya was not so good. The roof was gaping with large gaps, the ridge is completely missing, the door has long been torn off its hinges, it works by an attached method. There is a trailer nearby, but it was busy. May the owner forgive me, his name is Sergey, but at first I mistook him for a homeless man, and he is a shepherd, grazing horses here.

In the house we dump all things on one side, judging by the dry shelf, not the whole house is flooded. We unpack and try to dry. There is a stove, it is working, but there is no firewood. We break the shield lying in the corner for firewood of an incomprehensible purpose, but the heat from its combustion is a dead poultice. Swamp boots, at least wring out your pants.

Photo 16. Inside the house behind Zhitnaya. Drying off.

Photo 17

Photo 18. Toilet with the most picturesque view.

We have supper. The time is drawing to a close. I am gnawing at the fact that we passed Zhitnaya in the rain and it remained a couple of kilometers behind, but it is absolutely necessary to climb to the highest point of the ridge. The companions, who have changed into dry clothes, flatly refuse to get into wet boots and keep me company. I put on my wet clothes, throw a tripod over my shoulder, and a small backpack for radials and go to Zhitnaya.

From the side of the kosh there are no paths and roads to the top, so after walking a little along the main road, I turn into the meadows. For the first few hundred meters, the grass is very high and causes inconvenience, but soon, with a climb, as if an invisible border passes through the meadow and only a low alpine carpet remains under your feet, it almost feels like a lawn. The sky is still light, the sun is hanging, but I'm climbing the southeastern slope, it's getting dark here.

Photo 19

Video 1. Clouds are flying over the slopes of Zhitnaya towards the Tsice valley.

I climbed Zhitnaya just in time for sunset. I took a couple of shots of not the most picturesque sunset and hurried down. On the way back, a funny situation happened, only it seems funny to me now, when I write these lines, but then I was a little worried. On the way to the kosh, I saw a herd in front of me, a couple of dozen heads. He was just grazing in my path, on the other side of a small ravine. I go to him. The horses see me, get scared and run across to the slope on the left. I continue on my way. As soon as I stepped on the place where the animals were grazing before my appearance, the herd began to move towards me, at the head the black leader clearly loomed, he moved a little ahead of the rest, standing out from the herd. The herd is gaining momentum meter by meter. What to do? It is useless to run away, and horses are still pets, they should not pose a threat. I stopped turning around, slowed down twice and continued to leave, now away from them. The bells behind me sound louder - the horses are approaching, but now their ringing began to subside, and calmed down very close, I do not turn around, I go my own way. So the herd and I parted, they were probably satisfied that they drove the stranger away, and I was satisfied that everything went off peacefully.

Photo 20. The Nagoi-Chuk Ridge from the slopes of Mount Zhitnaya. The peaks on the other side of the Tsitsing Canyon confidently step over the 2000-meter mark.

Photo 21. The hilly ridge of the Lagonaki ridge in all its glory. Having an impressive absolute height on the ground, its peaks look like just big hills.

Photo 22. Sunset from the top of Zhitnaya (1996 m)

Photo 23. Highlands plunge into dusk and only one cloud is still lit by the sun

Soon he returned to the house. The sun had already set, the meadows were sinking into twilight.

Photo 24. Starry sky or while everyone was sleeping.

Morning in the mountains begins earlier than the city. No, the hours are the same and you are, in principle, the same, but you wake up not at nine, but without waiting for the alarm at a few minutes to five. The sun is already flooding the neighborhood with might and main, the day has begun. I take the camera. Boots are still wet, and other clothes leave much to be desired, but in the mountains this is a common thing. I get dressed and go upstairs. Upstairs is above a pair of rocks that hang over our booth, a kind of nameless peak between Zhitna and Matuk. Zhitnaya herself, by the way, is incredibly beautiful at this hour. On a green, wrinkled hill, which appears to be a mountain from our side, a gray cloud cap with a yellowish tint has settled. Everything except the top is clearly visible in the soft dawn light, but the hat in the hat, pardon the tautology.

Photo 25. Mount Zhitnaya at dawn.

I pass by the shepherd's trailer, his handsome horse is on a leash, the profile of which is picturesquely imprinted in the next frame. I go around the rocky path along the path and climb up, but then disappointment awaits me, the same cloudy cap covered the mountain I was going to. It makes no sense to go into the fog, I'm coming back.

Photo 26. Skalnik above our house.

Photo 27. Horse in the dawn light.

My companions are already awake. We have breakfast, we wash. Pavel and Denis are going back; they need to return today, and Vitalik and I continue on our way. At the exit we meet with Sergey, a shepherd, he introduces me to his horse, the one that I photographed during a walk after waking up. This is the first time in my life I have been so close to horses. Buyan, that's his name, does not correspond to the nickname at all, kind and accommodating responds to my affection and snorts rather.

Photo 28. Shepherd Sergey and his beautiful horse Buyan.

By the way, I will make a small informative digression, near the kosh near Zhitnaya there is a beautiful spring. A pipe built into the slope leads water into a backwater equipped for watering, the backwater is clean only if it has not rained, I believe that in hot weather you can even swim in it.

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Photo 30. View of Dry beam from the slopes of the nameless mountain between Zhitna and Matuk

Ehhhh! Here is the view!

Before us opens a review of the canyon Tsitse. This is no longer the same Tsice that we saw from the letter. This is a canyon in its upper reaches, its walls break off to the right (in our view) of the Nagoi-Chuk ridge, to the left of Mount Uriel and the Lagonak plateau, break off for almost a kilometer. Carved wooded slopes, here and there are cut by rocky outcrops, lead down to the river and far ahead, above all this splendor rises, there is not a mass, from here it is small and modest - Oshten. From its slopes, Tsitse originates, cutting through such a majestic canyon in the highlands.

Photo 31 To the right of it is the Nagoi-Chuk ridge, to the left we see a part of the Lagonaksky ridge crowned with a Dvuhstorka rock, behind which Mount Uriel is visible.

Once again I meet with the moment when you understand with your mind that there are places that are much more impressive and they may be ahead, but it is here and now that you stand amazed and enjoy the view.

Photo 32. Silhouettes of Thachs behind the gentle slopes of Mount Mezmai.

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Photo 34. Tsitsinskiy canyon and Oshten in the background.

Photo 35. On the way along the slope of Matuka to the rock Ahead rises Oshten, to the right of which the slopes of Pshekho-su are visible.

We go to the slopes of Matuk, but we won’t climb the mountain yet, but we’ll go through the western slope along a muddy road and go out to the rock of a two-story building. Here we will meet Maxim, the same one who dropped us off at the Bayonet the day before. He spent the night on a rock with Alexander and his companion, now they are already going on their way back. Maxim, as a connoisseur of places, suggested the best place to put up a tent, we were treated to fresh vegetables, smoked wings and dry firewood (this is a terrible shortage here!), After which we left.

We pitched a tent and sat down to watch. For the surroundings, the weather and small animals.

Neighborhood. Two-storey rock - perfect place for a panoramic view of the canyon of the river Tsice. There are many stones here, sitting on which with a mug of tea you can observe steep cliffs, hundreds of meters long, under your feet hanging in the air. Far below, matches-fir trees are stuck, numerous rocks and Tsitse flows at the bottom. It is almost invisible, but the roar of the water flow is distinguishable even at such a distance. You can clearly see the Glubokaya gully, a severe cut between the mountains Uriel and Matuk, along which you can go down from the Lagonaksky ridge to Tsitsa. Oshten is visible, it already looks larger from the cliff, its rocky bastions and gentle approaches from the side of the plateau are clearly visible. On the right, the Nagoi-Chuk ridge is visible, the peak of the same name is not visible, but the slopes of the ridge, still covered with snow in places, are perfectly visible. And finally, Mount Uriel, I fell in love with it. Firstly, a beautiful name, and secondly, how gracefully its spurs descend to Tsitsa. And although this mountain looks like an inconspicuous hill from the side of the plateau, but here, from our rock, it is steep and majestic.

Photos 36–37. Alpine flowers. Please clarify the names. Blue is similar to one of the types of lumbago.

Photo 38. Rocks on the spurs of Mount Uriel.

Photo 39. View from the left window of our tent.

Photo 40 From us to the edge of the river Tsitse about half a kilometer.

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Photo 43. I named this rock for the characteristic shape of the Matukskaya Horseshoe.

But what am I talking about landscapes, they can be described for a long time, and a photograph will tell in a moment. Let me tell you about life. Griffon vultures periodically fly overhead, below, in the gorge, one of the hawks hunts, I am not an expert, birds, three or four, circling alpine jackdaws in the height. But the highlight of the program is lizards. How many of them are here! Bold and fearless. Having warmed up in the sun, they circle under their feet, boldly jump on their boots, so that you don’t have to hide in order to photograph them, even a powerful telephoto lens is superfluous - at least shoot on an iPhone!

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Photos 46–47. "Dragons"

Having arranged a day in such a place, it is interesting to observe how the weather is formed. June is a rainy month. If there is no massive cyclone that came from outside, then here in the mountains the weather develops according to an established scenario. The morning is clear, but a couple of rare clouds say that you should not relax. Little by little, by nine o'clock, the first clouds begin to form, while they are still rare and it seems that the day will be clear - an illusion. The clouds are growing every second, and now, by noon, the whole sky is already covered with a patchwork gray blanket, through which the rays of the sun are still breaking through, but the rain is not far off. Very soon the sky will tighten completely and bad weather will begin. By evening, the weather will clear up and, most likely, the sunset will be colorful. The mountains, saturated with the moisture of the snows that have just melted, soar at the first rays of the sun, clouds are formed from this vapor, which, pouring out with midday rains, dissolve by evening, leaving space blue sky and the setting sun.

Video 2. This is how clouds are formed (the video was shot by Vitalik, for which special thanks to him).

Photo 48

Photo 49. Oshten is covered with a veil.

Photo 50. The rays of the sun suddenly made their way through the cloudy "sieve" scattering spots-bunnies on the slopes.

Photo 51 View from the right window of our tent.

Photo 52. Clouds over Matuk in the evening sun.

Photo 53 Oshten is released from cloud captivity.

But the rain did not overtake us that day, another bad weather overtook us, two-legged.

Before I continue, I'll tell you, if you're as intolerant of uncultured compatriots as we are, don't show up in these parts on weekends from May to September.

The entire, absolutely entire Lagonaki Range is accessible to any more or less prepared jeep, and as soon as the day off is issued, the crowds rush here for light spectacles. While we were resting in a tent on a rock, a two-story building passed by us in three hours three groups in jeeps. We have no complaints about the first two. The guys left the cars below, went upstairs, looked at the surroundings, took pictures and calmly, without too much noise, went back to the cars, but here is the third group, which included a white Nissan Patrol, unfortunately the number was not preserved in the photo, full of assholes and pigs - without details. I will keep silent about all the details related to respect for the surrounding details, but here are the rides on alpine meadows why? Do you have enough freaks of the road? After one lap in the alpine, the grass can recover for years ... Okay, good, otherwise I’ll switch to obscene vocabulary for an hour.

Fortunately, the visits of uninvited guests stopped by six o'clock in the evening and calm reigned. I went for water to a German spring, on the way I met the guys from Rostov, who stopped a little lower at the edge of a beautiful rock, which I called the Matuk horseshoe for its characteristic shape. The German spring, or in other words Concrete, is located 800 meters from the rock, according to unreliable sources, the spring was ennobled by the Germans, who stood here at the end of the summer of 1942 and tried to break through the passes of the Main Caucasian ridge to Sochi. They failed to break through, but the spring remained, now it has already collapsed and swamped in places, but there is a lot of water and there is always a clean fresh sleeve.

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Photo 56. Mount Uriel in the rays of the setting sun.

Photo 57

Evening came. Firewood came in handy. We kindled a fire, the guys from the Matuk horseshoe and a lone motorcyclist who stopped at a distance came to visit, warmed themselves by the fire, chatted a little and dispersed to the tents. The next day we got up even earlier than the previous one, before dawn. We danced around a tripod for about an hour, taking pictures of the stars and the Milky Way. It is a pity that nothing of artistic value came out this time. After the stars, they went to bed, but sleep did not go, from the first dawn they were already sitting with mugs of tea, admiring the flaming slopes of Oshten, the Tsitsin canyon and a giant slug chewing a herbal bush with relish.

Photo 58. Milky Way over Lagonaki.

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Keeping in mind the quirks of the June weather at six in the morning we were already on our way. We quickly climbed Matuk, descended from it, keeping our way along the road that cut through the meadow. The canyon gradually remained behind, for a moment on the right hand a good view of the entire Fisht-Oshten massif opened and soon disappeared behind the slopes of Uriel, which from this side imperceptibly turned into a nondescript green mound. Behind her, a plain appeared before her eyes, just that section of the highlands, which can be called a plateau, in the distance, the massifs of Chugush, known to me only from maps, rise in the distance.

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Photo 64. Mount Tybga (3063 m), Abago and Atamazhi look a little closer, to the right and below (I can be wrong).

Photo 65 Oshten and Pshekho-Su, from behind which the triangle of the top of Fisht peeps out.

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Photo 67

Photo 68. And one more view of the beautiful distant peaks of the reserve.

We imperceptibly crossed the Mezmai Mountain and reached the edge of the ridge. A small, several tens of meters high cliff leads to the flattened bottom of a vast valley, in the distance, in its heart, one can see the feature of the Kurdzhips channel. This river originates from under the slopes of Mount Abadzesh and, gradually crashing into the rock in a small canyon, runs away to the village of Mezmay. There Kurdzhips will be heard as a wide valley, but only in order to gather strength and crash between the ridge of Guam and the nameless ridge of the most powerful Guam gorge.

At the cliff, we turn left and soon we go to the next shepherd's house, where we plan to replenish water supplies.

Oh! Well, here is the smell. Not for the faint of heart.

Photo 69

Herds of horses and cows graze around and everyone comes to one spring for a drink. No words are enough for me to convey all the sensations of being in this place. But this is the only source of drinking water in the area, so we find a more or less odorless place, collect water and boil a mug of tea. Just at this time, a herd of cows comes up and in an instant we find ourselves surrounded by dozens of cows. The cows are quite peaceful, but some are overly curious, Vitalik barely has time to remove the bag of food and backpack from one impudent person who started sniffing something out. We hurriedly finish our tea and retreat from large horned neighbors.

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Quite a bit remains to go through the meadows - we return to the forest and further and there is not much to tell about the third day. By lunchtime we went to Mount Zauda and Ivanov glades. Bad weather on duty began to gather, we began to look for shelter. The kosh marked on the map turned out to be burned down, only a cargo container and a shed remained. The path to the shed was blocked by grass above the chest, and some chemicals were stored in the container, and we considered it unsafe to stay in it, so we just put up an awning from the tent on the road and sat down to wait out the rain. Yes, these are the Ivanov glades near Mezmay - gray and nondescript, nothing interesting. Overgrown with tall grass, an uncomfortable wasteland without any views. Don't go here unless absolutely necessary, nothing interesting.

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Photo 75. Again a caterpillar.

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Photo 78 The edge of the meadow peeks out from behind the forest.

Photo 79. It's getting dirty.

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Photo 81. Here was a house, and now the ashes.

Photo 82

It did rain, but not heavily. He held us under a tent with teas and fruit bars for a couple of hours and left. After Ivanov Polyany, I waited for a three-hour hike along a dirty, incredibly dirty, the dirtiest road I have come across, on which there is only forest and dirt and no views. From vivid impressions meeting a couple of kilometers from the villages of a boy in shorts on a 50-cc moped. To our bulging eyes and the question: “How did you get here on this?” he just smiled, shrugged his shoulders and continued with the strained whistle of a tiny motor to grind clay on the road with wheels.

The village appeared, crossed the Kurdzhips River on a solid concrete bridge and ended up on one of the streets of Mezmay. A seditious thought flashed through to spend the night at one of the campsites located around the village in a tent, but the proximity of housing relaxes, we call on the first ad we met on the fence, we find ourselves with nice people. We are rented for 400 rubles per night per person, a clean, well-kept house with water, an electric stove and a TV. I liked it very much, so I will make a small advertising digression and advise you to call 8 918 005-44-71 when visiting Mezmay. The house is located on Zavodskaya Street, at the very outskirts of the village.

Photo 83 The first street on the way and a rock with an Eagle shelf.

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Photo 86. We spent the night in this house.

The third morning of the campaign came later than the others. Slowly we have breakfast, get ready, say goodbye to the owners of the house and hit the road.

The fourth day of the journey - access to the car through the Guam Gorge. To get from Mezmay to Guamka, you need to go along the narrow gauge railway. This road was built in the 30s of the last century by prisoners for the removal of timber, then it was also used for passenger traffic. IN best years on this narrow-gauge railway it was possible to pass from Samurskaya through Guamka right up to Kamyshanovy polyany, but first in the 70s the Temnolesskaya-Kamyshanovy polyany section was dismantled, in the 80s a flood disrupted communication between Guamka and Samurskaya, in 2011 a landslide that came down destroyed the canvas between Mezmay and Guamka , communication has become impossible. Now, from the once extended branch, a three-kilometer section in the Guam Gorge remains active. Travel by sightseeing train costs 400 rubles (data as of June 2015). A large train runs on holidays and weekends, when it is put on the line, the passage through the gorge is closed. But we returned on a weekday, on weekdays a small railcar with a capacity of a couple of dozen people walks through the gorge, the fare is cheaper than 250 rubles, but it’s better not to pay and go on foot, because when a small trailer walks, the gorge is not closed.

The last time I visited the gorge it was crowded, noisy and uncomfortable. In addition, then through the muddy windows of the car it was not possible to appreciate all the beauty, but now I filled in the gap. The holidays are over and we had a chance to walk along a surprisingly quiet and calm gorge. During the entire journey we met hardly more than a couple of dozen people. I also paid attention to cleanliness and tidiness. I do not believe in the culture and cleanliness of my compatriots, so I believe that the administration of the facility takes good care of it.

The Guam Gorge is majestic, in its steepest part the walls become almost sheer, rising hundreds of meters up. Huge trees under the upper edge of the cliffs look like small matches. It is worth noting that in the gorge and its environs, woody vegetation is incredibly diverse: junipers, oaks, pines, firs, hornbeams and many others - almost every tree found in the Caucasus can be found here.

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Photos 88–94. In the Guam Gorge.

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Kurdzhips roars underfoot. This river, now, in June, is full-flowing as never before, and cut through the gorge. As I wrote above, Kurdzhips originates from under the slopes of Mount Abadzesh and, being filled with numerous tributaries, very soon turns into one of the most powerful rivers in the region. Near Maykop, the river flows into the Belaya and from there its waters through the Kuban enter the Sea of ​​Azov. The total length of Kurdzhips reaches one hundred kilometers.

The gorge is short, it took us about two hours to slowly get from Mezmay to Guamka. Here the car is standing, the path of fifty kilometers is completed. We load backpacks and return to Krasnodar.