Man pupu ner Mansiysk blockheads. How to find on the map of Russia a plateau called "Manpupuner"? Description and origin

Translated from the Mansi language - Small Mountain of Idols, in the Komi language Bolvano-Iz (Istukanova Gora), among Russian old-timers - Stone Bolvans, and among tourists and geologists just Navels, the Man-Pupu-Ner plateau appeared as if from nowhere about 15 years ago and almost immediately became one of the main attractions of the entire Sixth part of the land. One of his descriptions is impressive: 7 pretentious stone pillars up to fifty meters high, located on a bare peak like fingers of a hand - six in a row and one aside.

However, the little-known Manpupuner in the pre-Internet era is quite natural: Navels stand in the Northern Urals, on the border of the Komi Republic and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, tens of kilometers from the nearest settlements and for hundreds - from public transport and driveways. I am not a fan of backpacking trips, mosquito clouds and campfire gatherings, so I resigned myself to the idea that I was not destined to see the Stone Bolvans. However, this summer it turned out that you can fly there by helicopter, which I did in my July.

Of course, at first I was scared away by the price - 35 (now already 37.5) thousand rubles for a few hours of excursion, which is organized by the Perm travel agency "Northern Ural". But then I figured out how much the transfer, missing equipment, food and imposed services of the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve would cost, and I realized that in hiking save a few thousand at the most. Manpupuner is a really hard-to-reach place, and walking through mosquito swamps, damp taiga, rocky mountains there one way for at least a week. Troitsko-Pechorsk in the Komi Republic is traditionally considered the gate of Manpupuner, but the reasons for this are purely bureaucratic: in the area there is the village of Yaksha with an elk farm (one of two in Russia) and the directorate of the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve, created in 1930, which is responsible for both the Stone Bolvanov, and for the UNESCO site "Virgin Komi Forests" separating them from civilization. In fact, from Yaksha to Navels - 200 kilometers by boat and another 40 on foot, and I'm afraid to even think about the price of such a route. From the side of the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug it is still more deaf, and therefore hikers go here mainly from the Sverdlovsk region along the path of the Dyatlov group through that ominous pass at the "Mountain of the Dead" Holatchakhl. In winter, they also go to the Pupa on snowmobiles, but helicopter tours to Manpupuner are a relatively new phenomenon. Now they are organized by two travel agencies - "Wild North" from Nyagan (KhMAO) and "Northern Ural" from Nyrob (Perm Territory). I turned to the latter, fitting into the group of Mikhail uchazdneg from the "Unknown Province". The latter (and I myself participate in it by writing brochures and guides) fully justifies its name: it organizes educational tours through the Russian hinterlands from the Moscow region to Chukotka with a pronounced intellectual and local history bias. I caught up with their group on the last day of June at the Vega hotel in Solikamsk.

Since the flight to Manpupuner was a little cheaper than the rest of the excursion, on July 1 the group was divided: those who were ready to pay this money flew to Pupy, and those who preferred to save money or were afraid to fly went to Vetlan rock near Krasnovishersk. In the morning, a Northern Urals minibus drove up to Vega with an impressive trailer packed tightly with backpacks: at 4-5 in the morning, the bus begins to collect tourists back in Perm, mainly from the airport and train station. A small group was traveling with us, planning to go through the Pupy to the Dyatlov Pass, and among those fascinated by its gloomy history was a girl from Poland. From Solikamsk through the quiet Cherdyn and the old merchant villages, another two hours drive to the creepy one, which, as before, meets with an endless array of zones. But a little behind the village - the airfield, where we were already waiting for a helicopter: in the middle of the day the weather was expected to worsen, and we were also half an hour late.

In recent years, the heavy domestic Mi-8 has become familiar to me almost like a rural PAZik - I flew the same one in 2016 to, and in 2017 -. And the tour does not seem so expensive, considering that an hour of Mi-8 operation in these parts costs 160 thousand rubles, and each landing costs another 35 thousand.

Half of the cabin is occupied by an additional fuel tank - fly for 2 hours in each direction. The contents of the trailer migrated to the cabin, and "one-day" tourists were given a bag with dry rations while still in the minibus. The ration, it should be noted, turned out to be excellent - I basically ate it for a couple of days after the flight.

Passenger flights from Nyrob have not been flying for a long time, but some kind of life is glimmering at the airfield - for example, the forest fire brigade's "maize":

The helicopter, as usual, twisted and whistled for a long time, driving waves through the thick, uncut grass, and finally, slowly, straining, falling on its side, began to take off from the ground. At some point, it even seemed to me that it would not take off - but to be honest, helicopters seemed awkward to me only until I saw a rocket. The Mi-8 leveled off, and in less than a minute the landscape in the porthole became like this:

Nyrob himself stood aside and I barely reached him with the ultrasound. Among the fences with barbed wire, towers, barracks and sawmills, their pearls are hidden here - the patterned St. Nicholas Church of the 17th century and the chapel above the pit, in which Boris Godunov rotted his main rival Mikhail Romanov: the 20th century only closed the circle in the history of the "prisoner city" :

Quite far away you can see Polyudov Stone - a lonely mountain (517m) in the form of a giant blue wave. At its foot is Krasnovishersk, immortalized by Varlam Shalamov in his camp prose, but Polyud dominates in the landscape of quiet old Cherdyn. From here it is almost 40 kilometers to it, and it disappears from sight in the very first minutes of the flight:

Now there is only taiga below us, and even fresh clearings are not noticeable in it:

10.

Only the Kolva winds bizarrely - a quiet mirror river, a little higher than the mouth of which Cherdyn stands. "Perm", or rather "Pere maa" - translated from the Chud languages \u200b\u200b"land behind the portage", and these portages led from the Vychegda and Pechora basins to Kolva:

11.

And since they were overgrown, there are no roads in this region and the shortest way from Perm Territory to the Republic of Komi runs right through Kirov. Nyrob in the Perm Territory is traditionally considered the edge of the earth, beyond which they do not settle of their own free will, however, I did not see zones from a helicopter, but sometimes tiny, lost, dilapidated villages come across among the taiga:

12.

On the starboard side, in the pre-thunder haze, mountains gradually emerge. Maybe this is the Tulymsky Stone (1469m), highest point Perm region in the depths of the vast Vishera Reserve. The Northern Urals, by the standards of the "ridge of Russia", is in principle quite high and picturesque, but there are practically no settlements on its slopes.

12a.

The taiga under the helicopter also begins to fold, and more and more rocks appear from its greenery:

13.

And the river over which the helicopter flies is no longer Kolva, but Pechora. The one on which stands, and which I showed last year and. In fact, the Pechora on the way to the east is a prologue to the Great Siberian rivers, in summer it is larger than the Volga, and in terms of average water flow it is second only to it and the Danube in Europe. The Pechora begins in the intermountain gorge right under the Manpupuner, and in these taiga upper reaches it is already very solid.

14.

The mountains, meanwhile, are getting closer, and snowfields sparkle on their bare tundra peaks:

15.

With each new peak, there are more and more bizarre rocks:

16.

Somewhere on the sidelines, the Dyatlov Pass also remained, with its glory, oddly enough, far ahead of even Manpupuner itself. Still, there are natural beauties here, and there is a story of tragedy and mystery: in early February 1957, on the then nameless canopy pass near Mount Holatchakhl, a group of 9 Sverdlovsk tourists, led by Igor Dyatlov, died on a ski trip of the highest for those times 3rd category of complexity. They were searched for a long time, and they were found in the spring - a tent crushed by snow, cut from the inside, and half-dressed corpses scattered along the slope, partly with broken ribs, traces of bleeding from the nose and without tongues. At first, the death of the "Dyatlovites" was investigated as a murder, but the fugitive convicts also found their alibis (because there were no escapes at that time), and the Mansi (if the guys on Manpupuner would have perished - it would be a different matter!), And even poachers ( in winter, this pass is not hunted). There was no reason to think that the tourists fought themselves - it was a very strong and well-coordinated group. The investigation, however, preferred to classify the case, and therefore, during Perestroika, the tragedy of the Dyatlov group, after which the pass was named by that time, again "shot" with conspiracy theories. In the same months, R-7s were launched from Baikonur for the first time - the main rockets of the world cosmonautics, the prototypes of all these "Vostoks" and "Soyuz", then considered as an intercontinental weapon. Mansi, in their testimony, spoke of fireballs in the clear sky over the taiga, and in the era of tearing off the covers, the people reasoned that if the Chekists did not eliminate unnecessary witnesses, then infrasound panicked and drove them out into the cold. Experienced tourists but, sitting on the sidelines, they kept silence, knowing both “how it happens” and that “they won’t believe it anyway.” Whether overestimating their strength (this often ruins professionals - he fell ill from typhus, which he contracted from the raw water of a steppe stream), or under the threat of a sharp deterioration in the weather, the Dyatlovites made a fatal mistake - they set up a tent on a slope, slightly cutting the snow layer. Their long tent, made of two 4-man tents, had no frame and rested on stuck skis, and they slept with their heads to the top. But even though the slope was gentle, and the top layer of snow turned out to be a little less loose than the bottom one, and crawled down under the wild wind. A classic avalanche would have demolished the tent all the way to the valley, but such a "snow board" would only crush it, breaking people's ribs and bruising their heads (photographer Nikolai Thibault-Brignolles, who was sleeping on his camera, suffered the most). But the blow fell obliquely, so part of the group managed to wake up, and having cut the tent, jump out of it unharmed. The wind instantly began to fill the tent with snow through the slots, and taking the wounded comrades under the arms, the Dyatlovites rushed down the slope to look for shelter from the wind and a place for a fire. And they even found him, someone rushed to prepare firewood, and someone ran for warm clothes up the mountain to the remains of the tent. But 30-degree frost with gale-force winds killed the naked people quickly. It is even understandable that some of them did not have tongues: for a small taiga animal, this is the most tasty morsel in a stiffened body. In general, a tragedy quite typical for extreme tourism happened (!), But the stamp is "secret", the Baikonur rockets and the Mansi idols have done their job - now even the Americans are making a third-rate movie about the Dyatlov Pass. Well, to debunk the myth ... why, if it makes a profit?

17.

But even the "Dyatlovites" did not go to Manpupuner, but to Otorten - also a very picturesque mountain with elaborate rocks like the Gate or the Falcon. In those years, only geologists and poachers, and of course the Mansi, for whom this plateau was their Olympus, knew about the Navels, lying 70 kilometers to the north. And how not to believe in the ancient gods when you see seven giants on a distant mountain, of course looking at you?

18.

But somewhere by a taiga fire, a shaggy geologist could tell a clear-eyed tourist that behind that mountain there are eight Pillars of Weathering, and a clear-eyed tourist could not only remember this story, having sobered up in the morning, but also take it at face value. By the end of the Soviet era, Navels became a classic example of "wide popularity in narrow circles", and with the spread of the Internet and photographs in it, SUCH, of course, could not fail to become famous. In 2006, according to acquaintances, every traveler dreamed of visiting Navels; in 2008, Kamennye Bolvany, according to the results of voting, were included in the list of "7 Wonders of Russia", becoming on a par with Lake Baikal or the volcanoes of Kamchatka.

19.

Here the crisis rolled up, generally spurring domestic tourism, and in general in those years it came to the point that jeeps were thrown by helicopters directly onto the plateau for rides in the rocky tundra, while in the taiga tourists sometimes ran into cars stuck tightly in another swamp. And the pendulum swung the other way: the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve rushed to tighten the screws. Now Manpupuner is actually an eco-trail, where you can only walk along a path lined with stones, accompanied by an instructor. Even spending the night at Navels is allowed only as a last resort - the nearest parking lot with comfortable residential modules is located at the Vologda Edge cordon, 10 kilometers from here. The reserve has a quota of 1,500 tourists per season, and walking groups come here on average every other day, and helicopters arrive a couple of times a week - from two travel agencies and Gazprom. But no matter how you get to Pupy, here you will have several hours of time, a standard walk and tea in the gazebo. It is not worth going off the trail: although the instructors are friendly, they have every right to draw up a protocol with a fine on such an occasion.

20.

But even though the Manpupuner itself is cultivated, it is still here - the very heart of the "Virgin Komi Forests". The plateau is clear, transparent and windy. The landscape is a mountain forest-tundra, but after the snow-covered and continuing "ridge of Russia" it is almost a fertile South. Manpupuner - spur Ural mountains, cut off from them like an ax driven into the trunk. The main ridge (in the frame above) is to the east, from the path to the right, and the deep valley before it hides the source of the Pechora. And on the left - Yanypupuner, or the Big Mountain of Idols, above which Koyp (1088m), or Tambourine Mountain, rises in a right, like a volcano, cone:

21.

On the left - the remnant of Sten, which is another group of "boobs":

22.

From the house of the reserve to the Navels, go about a kilometer through the top of the plateau (809m), and as you approach the "doodles", the brain refuses to believe the signals that the eye sends. Maybe it's columns of smoke, - consciousness tries on them in vain, - or maybe it's trees after all? Well, you can’t imagine for ten minutes what usually seems for a split second, seen out of the corner of your eye! At first, navels don’t even delight - looking at them, you don’t think “what a beauty!”, But “it doesn’t happen like that!”. To the right of the nearest pillar you can see a mountain with a name similar to the mathematical term Telposis (1617m) - the Nest of the Winds, the highest point of the Northern Urals, the main shrine is no longer the Mansi, but the Komi, who, according to legend, hid the Golden Baba there from the missionary Stephen of Perm ...

23.

Where the canonical view opens, the path is made observation deck. And Mikhail took the floor on it - the weighty word of a field geologist who worked in these mountains for 9 years. I will not go into the wilds of rocks and eras natural history Earth, but nature has worked over the Navels for hundreds of millions of years. Once there was land here, then it was replaced by the sea, and then it left, and the Ural Mountains grew in place of shallow water, which once were also young, high and spiky. But they were composed of two layers: the lower - deposits of the mainland, the upper - deposits of shallow water, and as soon as the last volcanoes of the Urals died out and the last earthquakes died down, destruction took precedence over creation. In our area, the main natural sculptors are water and frost: moisture seeps through the smallest cracks to a depth of 400 meters, and then freezes, and since the ice is slightly larger than liquid water, it wedges them by fractions of a micron. Million after million years this process destroys the mountains, and numerous Stone cities and Blockheads of the Urals are the remnants of that upper "shallow" layer on the lower layer of "mainland" rocks that is not yet so fractured.

24.

And in general, it was not in vain that Mikhail prefaced his lecture with the words “Russia is a country of blockheads!”: There are many such remnant cities throughout the country, and their second “reserve” after the Urals is Yakutia, and, for example, Krasnoyarsk Pillars basically the same kind. But there is granite, and here is quartzite, and although the Indigirka "cities" are much larger, the most spectacular, according to Mikhail, is Manpupuner on its bare peak.

25.

The first "dummy" stands above the others and in the distance, he is like the thumb of a seven-fingered hand. The height of the pillars is from 30 to 42 meters, that is, much higher than the modest northern trees, the width is 10-15 meters, that is, they have the proportions of towers. However, they are closer to 40x10 than to 30x15 - the statistics are spoiled by the most squat and simple second "dummy".

26.

But with a stone climber on its side:

27.

And the smallest and most elegant, but at the same time the most spectacular - the third:

28.

Yes, and his silhouette resembles, if not a person, then a humanoid spirit from the ancient Vogul legends:

29.

Moreover, the legends about the Stone Blockheads are composed immeasurably. In general, the Chud (i.e., Finno-Ugric) word "blockhead" itself is precisely "idol", "statue", from the point of view of the Orthodox colonialist, which is a motionless and useless idol. On the one hand, the Bolvans were gods on the top of Mount Olympus, and among the Mansi, these mountaineers of the Northern Urals, long ago implanted by the Turks from present-day Bashkiria, only shamans used to go to Manpupuner. But with this image, the folk legend about the invasion of the worst enemies of the Mansi Nenets, led by 7 giants, including the leader - a cannibal shaman, coexisted peacefully. However, Yalpinger (or Yalping-Nyora), the intercessor god of the Mansi, rose above Yanypupuner, and having reflected the ray of the Sun, turned the enemies into stone, and took the tambourine of the Samoyed shaman for himself - this is how Koyp appeared. From the point of view of the peace-loving and businesslike Komi, on the contrary, the giants and the shaman were from the warlike Mansi, and the familiar Poljud turned them into stone. I don’t know exactly in whose legends the brothers were petrified, who decided to repulse the shaman who wooed their sister, or, on the contrary, the Bear and his comrades, who came by force to take the mountain king’s daughter as his wife ...

30.

It is really difficult not to see petrified people here:

31.

Modern conspiracy theorists drag here plots of Hyperborea and Vedic Rus, the ruins of ancient cities and temples ... the last pillar really looks like an altar:

32.

It seems that the Navels can collapse just about, but Mikhail expertly explained that they will stretch until the next ice age.

33.

Stone smoke, even black against the Sun:

34.

The end of the plateau looks like the bow of a ship:

35.

36.

While the essence and the matter, I darted from the crevice between the last two Navels:

37.

And having greeted the stone duck (isn't it the same one that in the legends of the Komi, Khanty and Mansi brought the Earth from the bottom of the oceans?) ...

38.

I went to look at the Stone Doodles from the other side. The latter turned out to be also double:

39.

Note that all 7 "doodles" are immediately visible only from afar, and close up, like in a Japanese rock garden, at least one is covered by others:

40.

Even better, the Wall was visible from here against the background of Yanypupuner and Koip:

41.

And if from the path her satellite remains seem low (albeit with a head!) ...

42.

It is noticeable from here that this is the very Eighth Pillar - many old-timers remembered this, and the youth considered that it had collapsed long ago:

43.

Behind the Navels, I listened to the sound of the wind, enjoyed the solitude and waited for the Sun to illuminate the rocks (combinations of dark and light pillars change every minute in partly cloudy conditions), but instead I waited for the instructor - she noticed the loss of the tourist quickly and half-jokingly threatened protocol.
-I'm... I just walked on the rocks!
-Everyone says like that!

44.

Theoretically, it is not uncommon to meet deer on the plateau - Mansi practiced mountain reindeer breeding, but since then they themselves have almost all gone to the Severnaya Sosva valley in the most remote corner of the district named after themselves and the Khanty. The deer had run wild, but still not too frightened. However, from the living creatures I came across only a partridge from the frame above. And on the stones - a stunningly beautiful lichen:

45.

And the stones themselves are good. There are no less ores in the Northern Urals than in the Middle and Southern ones, including quite rare ones for Russia (such as chromium), but even the Soviets could not bring the industry to this virgin region:

46.

We go back to the helicopter. According to the original plan, the second group was supposed to be taken from here to the Dyatlov Pass, so that they would return to the Navels on foot, but the weather deteriorated before our eyes, and the helicopter pilots flatly refused to fly somewhere else. They were also restless waiting for us, and in the midst of tea drinking in the gazebo, the helicopter very eloquently began to turn the propeller:

47.

And in general, directly on the Navels, as already mentioned, hardened hikers and pampered sightseers from a helicopter will see the same thing. A hiker, however, has the opportunity to pass Otorten and the Dyatlov Pass, but flying guests also have their own trump card - views of Manpupuner from above. On purpose or by accident, while taking off in circles, the helicopter shows the Pillars of Weathering from all sides:

48.

A gloomy shaman over the source of the Pechora:

49.

The wall of the palace destroyed by the Bear:

50.

From the trail it is not noticeable that immediately after the Navels there is a steep cliff to the Pechora upper reaches and snowfields are very close:

51.

But Pechora itself is clearly smaller here than the Dnieper in Smolensk, and is not really visible from a helicopter:

52.

Stone Doodles escort us, lined up:

53.

The wind in its distant Nest feeds the chicks:

54.

But we know that the Golden Baba is not there, but in some nondescript

The address: Russia, Komi Republic, Troitsko-Pechorsky district, Mount Man-Pupu-ner
Height: from 30 to 42 m
Coordinates: 62°15"32.4"N 59°17"42.7"E
An object cultural heritage Russian Federation

Content:

Weathering pillars, also called Mansiysk Bolvany, are located in the Komi Republic, in the Troitsko-Pechora region. Unique in its kind, seven stone pillars, the height of which is from 30 to 42 meters, beckon to the Man-Pupu-ner plateau with their mystery and many legends associated with them, tourists not only from Russia, but also researchers from all over the world.

One of the seven weathering pillars stands apart from the others, its height is 34 meters. Appearance this pillar is somewhat reminiscent of a bottle placed on the ground with its neck down. By the way, in the language of the Mansi, who are currently a little less than 12,500 people, the name of the plateau means "Small mountain of idols." Undoubtedly, this suggests that the weathering pillars at one time were a holy place for the Mansi people, who were worshiped and about which myths and legends were composed.

Conclusion of geologists

Scientists quite simply explain the occurrence of weathering pillars, which on June 12, 2008 were attributed to the "Seven Wonders of Russia". In the place where the Mansi Bolvany currently stand, huge mountains towered 200 million years ago. Most of these majestic mountains for that period of time consisted of the so-called "weak rocks".<>

Centuries passed: rains, strong winds, snow, high and low temperatures destroyed the mountains. Only weathering pillars, or, as geologists also call them, remnants, have remained untouched to this day. They consist of sericite-quartzite schists, which are not so strongly affected by the inexorable course of time and the influence of atmospheric phenomena. This conclusion, albeit dry, devoid of any mysticism, is given by modern scientists, who to this day organize expeditions to the area of the Man-Pupu-Ner plateau.

The legend of the Mansi people

In ancient times, the Mansi people were rich, great and powerful. Any man could easily kill a bear alone. Yurts were full of furs, hunting was always successful. Such prosperity to the people was ensured by the spirits that lived on a mountain called Yalping-Nyer. He ruled over the great people Kuuschai, who had a beautiful daughter Aim and a fearless son Pygrychum. A giant named Torev learned about the unearthly beauty of Aim. He decided, at all costs, to marry the Mansi beauty, but Aim refused him. When Pygrychum was hunting in the mountains, Torev appeared in front of the walls of the fortress along with his brothers. The giants entered into a fight with the Mansi. With a huge club, the giant destroyed the tower from which Aim called to the spirits. After that, the angry Torev struck a blow at the crystal castle, which shattered into hundreds of thousands of fragments throughout the Urals. The girl had to hide in the mountains under the cover of night with the surviving soldiers. Even before sunrise, Aim heard the clatter of the approaching giants, but at that moment her brother Pygrychum appeared, holding a sharp sword and a shiny shield, given to him by the spirits of the Yalping-Nyer mountain. first rays rising sun reflected from the shield and a bright light hit the giants. In the blink of an eye, Torev turned to stone.

His brothers rushed to run, but the magic of the spirits favorable to the Mansi made them turn to stone. They remained forever in the place, which the Mansi people called the "Mountain of Stone Idols". It was Torev who turned into a stone blockhead, resembling an inverted bottle.

At least, this is how the Mansi explain the remoteness from others boulders, a weathering column 34 meters high.

Journey to the Man-Pupu-Ner plateau

Since 2008, almost any tourist can see with his own eyes one of the seven wonders of Russia and feel the mystical atmosphere that is characteristic of this area. True, before heading to the Man-Pupu-Ner plateau in order to capture the majestic pillars of weathering in a photo, you should soberly assess your strengths. Otherwise, the excursion can turn into a real test of strength. The thing is that the Mansi Bolvany are located in a remote area: a hiking trail to the plateau, starting from the village of Ushma, located in the northwestern part Sverdlovsk region, is 200 kilometers. For an unprepared tourist, it is extremely difficult to overcome this path, which belongs to the third category of difficulty, in 16 days. The strongest gusts of wind, thick fogs, cold rains are just a small part of what awaits the traveler on the route.

As mentioned above, since 2008, the weathering pillars have been referred to the "Seven Wonders of Russia" which attracted even more attention from tourists. Demand, as everyone already knows, gives rise to supply, therefore, for travelers unprepared for trials, travel companies Helicopter tours were organized to the Man-Pupu-Ner plateau. True, in fairness it should be noted that getting to the Mansi Bolvanov by helicopter will be quite expensive. However, up to 200 people a year show a desire to see these unique stone idols. And this despite the fact that literally 5 years ago, only professional athletes and scientific expeditions visited the plateau.

Among the pillars of weathering

Having overcome all difficulties and being among the geological monuments that amaze the imagination with their forms, one comes to realize why the weathering pillars have become one of the seven wonders of vast Russia. In addition, after a long journey to the Man-Pupu-Ner plateau, an unshakable faith in one's own strength appears. Being next to the Mansiysk Bolvans, it seems that nothing is impossible for you anymore.

Weathering pillars or Manpupuner or Mansi blockheads - a geological monument in the Troitsko-Pechora region of the Komi Republic of Russia.

Weathering pillars are located on the territory of the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve on Mount Man-Pupu-ner (in the Mansi language - “small mountain of idols”), in the interfluve of the Ilych and Pechora rivers. The second name is "Bolvano-iz", which is translated from the Komi language as "Mountain of idols". From here came the popular simplified name of the remnants - "Doodles".

Ostantsev - 7, height from 30 to 42 m. Numerous legends are associated with the Manpupuner, before it was the object of the Mansi cult.

The Manpupuner weathering pillars are considered one of the seven wonders of Russia.

About 200 million years ago, in place of stone pillars were high mountains. Rain, snow, wind, frost and heat gradually destroyed the mountains and, first of all, weak rocks. The hard sericite-quartzite shales, of which the remnants are composed, were destroyed less and survived to this day, while the soft rocks were destroyed by weathering and carried by water and wind into relief depressions.

One pillar, 34 meters high, stands somewhat apart from the others; it resembles a huge bottle turned upside down. Six others lined up at the edge of the cliff. The pillars have bizarre outlines and, depending on the place of inspection, resemble that figure. huge man, then the head of a horse or a ram. In the past, the Mansi deified the grandiose stone sculptures, worshiped them, but climbing the Manpupuner was the greatest sin.

They are quite far from inhabited places. Only trained tourists can get to the pillars. To do this, you need to get a pass from the administration of the reserve. From the side of the Sverdlovsk region and the Perm Territory there is a walking route, from the side of the Komi Republic - a mixed route - automobile, water, foot route.

Ancient Mansi legend

“In ancient times, in the dense forests that approached the very Ural Mountains, the powerful Mansi tribe lived. The men of the tribe were so strong that they defeated a bear one on one, and so fast that they could catch up with a running deer.

In the Mansi yurts there were a lot of furs and skins of dead animals. From them, women made beautiful fur clothes. The good spirits who lived on the sacred mountain of Yalping-Nyer helped the Mansi, because the wise leader Kuuschai, who was in great friendship with them, was at the head of the tribe. The leader had a daughter - the beautiful Aim and son Pygrychum. Far beyond the ridge spread the news of the beauty of young Aim. She was slender, like a pine tree growing in a dense forest, and she sang so well that deer from the Ydzhyd-Lyagi valley came running to listen to her.

Heard about the beauty of the daughter of the leader of the Mansi and the giant Torev (Bear), whose family hunted in the mountains of Haraiz. He demanded that Kuuschai give him his daughter Aim. But she refused, laughing Aim, from this proposal. The enraged Torev called his brothers the giants and moved to the top of Torre Porre Iz in order to seize Aim by force. Suddenly, when Pygrychum was on the hunt with a part of the soldiers, giants appeared in front of the gate stone city. The whole day there was a hot battle near the fortress walls.

Under clouds of arrows, Aim climbed a high tower and shouted: - Oh, good spirits, save us from death! Send Pygrychum home! At the same moment, lightning flashed in the mountains, thunder boomed, and black clouds covered the city with a thick veil. - Insidious, - Torev growled, seeing Aim on the tower. He rushed forward, crushing everything in his path. And only Aim had time to descend from the tower, as it collapsed under the terrible blow of the giant's club. Then Torev again raised his huge club and struck at the crystal castle. The castle crumbled into small pieces, which were picked up by the wind and carried all over the Urals. Since then, transparent fragments of rock crystal have been found in the Ural Mountains.

Aim with a handful of warriors hid under the cover of darkness in the mountains. In the morning we heard the noise of the chase. And suddenly, when the giants were already ready to grab them, Pygrychum appeared in the rays of the rising sun with a shiny shield and a sharp sword in his hands, which were given to him by good spirits. Pygrychum turned the shield towards the sun, and a fiery sheaf of light hit the giant in the eyes, who threw the tambourine aside. Before the eyes of the astonished brothers, the giant and the tambourine thrown aside began to slowly turn to stone. In horror, the brothers rushed back, but, falling under the beam of Pygrychum's shield, they themselves turned into stones.

Since then, for thousands of years, they have stood on the mountain, which the people called Man-Pupu-Nyer (Mountain of stone idols), and not far from it rises the majestic peak of Koyp (Drum).

Another ancient Mansi legend tells of seven giants who walked across the plateau in order to destroy the Vogul people. But when they reached the top of Man-Pupu-Nera, they saw the sacred Vogul mountain Yalping-ner in front of them. The sight of her terrified the giants, and they turned to stone, and the drum, thrown aside by their leader-shaman, turned into mountain peak south of Manpupuner - Koip, in Vogul - is the name of a percussion musical instrument.

Excursions to the Pillars of Weathering

In 2016, the reserve was closed for hiking. Driving on vehicles is also prohibited. Helicopter excursions have become an alternative; a helipad is being prepared.

Manpupuner is a hard-to-reach, uninhabited object of nature, but in combination with unforgettable beauty - its remoteness from the infrastructure creates an unusual egregor around stone boulders.

The virgin forests surrounding the reserve, the legends floating in the air that the pillars are idols and the habitat of various spirits leave a truly fabulous, inexplicable impression of the greatness of this place.

The Man-Pupu-Ner plateau is called the Ural Stonehenge. And indeed, seeing weathering pillars, this is the word that comes to mind. There are beliefs that the plateau is a refuge for spirits.

Attractions around Manpupuner

Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve

One of the oldest nature reserves in the Urals was founded in 1930 to protect virgin forests, which are today included in the World Heritage List. natural heritage UNESCO. Objects of protection in the protected area of the Komi Republic, covering over 720 thousand hectares.

The flora of the reserve is represented by almost 660 plant species. Animal world includes over 230 species of birds and almost 50 mammals - brown bears, ermines, otters, wolverines, beavers, elks. Birds are especially numerically represented by the grouse family - hazel grouse, capercaillie, black grouse. Among the inhabitants of the water depths, salmon, grayling, and taimen are of value.

Losefarm

From the first years of the founding of the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve, the world's first farm for the domestication of elks was created. Animals were quite easily tamed. Initially, they were planned to be used as mounts in teams. During the existence of the moose farm, more than 300 animals have been raised, a significant research work for the study of the animal, the population of moose in the reserve has been increased. Smart animals living in the forest come to the farm before the appearance of offspring. You can see beautiful giants and little elk calves all year round.

Bear cave

The location of the natural and archaeological monument near the mouth of the Jordanian Log on the territory of the reserve has been known since 1960. Traces of the Upper Paleolithic site ancient man found in a cave at a depth of 2-2.5 m. People lived in a shelter about 30 thousand years ago. Scientists have found numerous bone and stone artifacts, as well as bones of fossil animals - tiger, ungulate lemming, musk ox, woolly rhinoceros, mammoth.

Plateau Man Pupu Nyor (pillars of weathering)- a natural monument on the territory of the Komi Republic, also known as the Mansi blockheads.

The height of the "idols" is from 30 to 42 meters. Weathering pillars are located far from habitats, and more or less physically fit people can get there. Man-Pupu-Ner is recognized as one of the seven wonders of Russia.

Well, it's done!!! We have been preparing for this trip for half a year - we studied reports, maps, chose the time. We gathered 6 people - a combined team, two from Perm, two from Samara and two from Moscow. On the transfer from Ivdel, 9 more people and a dog, also from different cities, but in the process of hiking on the fourth day, we, our team, separated and went to the plateau on our own.

The walking part of the route was 11 days long and 220 kilometers long. From Ivdel we threw ourselves to the so-called Ilyich base, and finished the route by passing Otorten and the Dyatlov pass, at the ford of Auspiya.

The first day. August 2. Zabroska.

Our group of 6 people and the rest seven arrive at the Ivdel railway station by train 337E from Yekaterinburg at 3:52 local time.

We are already waiting for KAMAZ with a tarpaulin-covered body. We load backpacks, we jump ourselves.

Vladimir, an employee of the Ivdel rescue team of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, throws us. Here we register groups. On the way, we stop by for a "bonus". It turns out that the local guys managed to drown the Ural truck in the swamp, and in order to pull it out, we hitch a cart with a caterpillar tractor to our KAMAZ, with which they intended to pull out the stuck car. The wheels of the cart were lowered, as a result, they waited a very long time (an hour and a half) until it was put in order.

Finally, the miracle carrial was picked up, and we moved towards the Ilyich Base, from where our route began. Having made a detour to Auspiya, they unhooked the all-terrain vehicle. By the way, the weather was disgusting. It was raining almost non-stop, with only occasional sun peeping out. Terribly cold. It feels like 5-8 degrees (most likely due to dampness). There were two guys with a lady and a dog, from Moscow, who came to Ivdel in their car with us. Of the four, the dog was the worst. She was greatly frightened by the noise of a powerful car and the large density of people in the back. A man named Slava was also found there, who, according to him, had already walked the local paths more than once and knew the way well.

Instead of 5-6 hours, the transfer lasted a total of 12. By 16.00, they arrived at Ilyich's base, quickly unloaded and set off. As a result, for the rest of the day we covered about 4 kilometers. We crossed a small stream and set up camp. They ate buckwheat with meat. The tea was healthy. Either from him, or from the air, which is colorless here, unlike the city, my head was very dizzy. There are a lot of mosquitoes and midges, and they are not afraid of smoke.

Today was the birthday of our commander Dmitry! There was no strength to congratulate him violently, so they congratulated him in a light verbal form, shook hands, hugged him and went to bed. It was terribly cold at night.

Second day. August 3rd. Forward for Glory!

Rise at 7 am. We quickly warm up yesterday's buckwheat, bring water from the stream. We have breakfast, we drink tea. We break camp and pack up. We leave at 8 o'clock. The road is good, uphill. The puddle is almost non-existent. The weather pleases - despite the pre-dawn cold and dampness, the sun is shining. Let's go easy and fun.

All 15 people go. Slava is the first with the navigator, Dima, the commander of our group, is the last one. We go quite cheerfully, but the efficiency leaves much to be desired. After 2 hours we reach the fork. The two-track turns right, we go left towards the Lozva riverbed along the forest path. Sometimes there are fallen trees on it, as well as puddles - the consequences of yesterday's bad weather. Solid dirt all around.

Gradually, small swamps begin. According to the plan of Glory, we must reach the Lozva channel, climb up, turn onto its tributary - the Sulpa, climb up its stream and come close to the mountain Yanyghachechahl, where there is a shed.

After the house, the path is lost in the green rows of Christmas trees. Glory leads us directly to Lozva. The swamps begin. Nobody cares about dry feet anymore. Many went into the quagmire up to their waists. We leave the swamp. We get up on a halt.

The people nervously smoke and shake Slava about how much is left to go through the mud and windbreaks. However, everyone is positive, they sing songs like “I so want the swamp not to end, so that it rushes after me, giving mud” or “A tree, and behind a tree is a tree, and behind a tree is a tree, and behind a tree is a forest” .

Move on. The swamp begins again. Swamp bumps can not withstand human weight and go into the swamp. All wet and dirty, we go out to the bank of Lozva. We wade through it without undressing, since the clothes are still wet to the waist and there is no point in this. We set up camp. We have supper. We dry the boots for a long time with hot stones, which we heat near the fire. Alas, they do not dry out. The way for a day is a little more than 12 kilometers.

Day three. August 4th. On foreign shores...

We woke up quite late - at 9 o'clock. The weather is wonderful - the sun, small clouds in the sky. We had breakfast and got together. Glory at this time was already kicking the others that they were slowly gathering and sleeping for a long time. He gave our group waders.

We went along the coast upstream. Sometimes there were stony placers on the banks. We went through them very quickly. Sometimes the water came up to the very roots of the trees, and one had to climb a steep bank, sometimes more than a meter high, in order to get around on dry ground. Today we were supposed to reach the Sulpa, one of the tributaries of the Lozva. Our group was somewhere between the rest. They gave Slava and Dima a walkie-talkie to make it easier for them to control the group.

A lot of streams and small rivers flowed into Lozva, which had to be crossed either over stones or climbed over fallen trees. By the way, a very time-consuming process, especially with a heavy backpack on your back. There was no passage through a couple of such rivers, you had to take off your shoes.

Despite the fact that the six of us were walking in a group, the rest were very much stretched out. Two women went forward with Slava to Sulpa, as a result they could not keep up with him and were left sitting alone on one of the rocky beaches of Lozva. We picked them up and caught up with Slava in an hour.

We reached Sulpa, set up tents. We had dinner. They fell dead. We covered 14 kilometers in one day.

Day four. 5th of August. Decay.

We got up at 9 am. For breakfast - very tasty meat soup. In general, we were very lucky with the supply manager and the commander. It was a great idea to dry the minced meat and cook the freeze-dried meat.

We set off on our journey at 11 o'clock. We move up the Sulpa. Glory leads us through all coastal bushes, windbreaks and swamps. Sometimes we go down to the shore to drink water or bypass the impenetrable blockage. We forded the Sulpa several times, taking off our shoes and then putting them on again. Some shoes did not take off and walked in wet.

The places, to be honest, are very beautiful, but you should not go there without a minimum tourist preparation. Hours up to 4 days scurrying around and got up for a snack. Together, our group of 6 people decided to separate from the team of Glory, since God forbid such a Susanin to anyone, and take Yanyghachechahl within a radius, without wasting time for a further ascent along the Sulpa. Moved northwest. In a straight line to the barn, located next to the mountain of gravel, about 7 kilometers.

At first they just walked along windbreaks, although the road was no different from the Sulpa coast, but it was dry. After about two kilometers, a smooth ascent began, which gradually gave way to a steep one. Windbreaks gradually disappeared, and we reached a height where only dwarf trees, moss, lichens and willow elfin grew. The latter created very great difficulties when passing through its thickets.

Lots of blueberries and blueberries. Occasionally there was a red currant. First we went to the bear trail. We saw the litter of the beast. Then we walked along the willow thickets for about two kilometers, which, from the knee to the neck, greatly interfered with our maneuvers.

It got dark very quickly. Seeing practically nothing, they followed the navigator through the bushes. Otorten with its snowfields is very clearly visible. The people were already tired of running that day, they really wanted to sleep.

By midnight we arrived at the shed. It turned out to be empty. We want to say a huge thank you to the Schelkovo tourist club "Vershina" for the exact coordinates of the stream where we got water. The guys have a lot of respect.

P.S. 9 people left with Slava, including a young man from Moscow with his mother, who is about 70 years old! We hope that everything will be fine with them, and they will safely reach their intended goal.

Day five. August 6th Behind the fog and the smell of the taiga.

Since they were very tired, they slept until half past one and got up extremely reluctantly. Outside it was drizzling and foggy. Visibility is not very good - 150 meters. We drank coffee and had a snack. The basic necessary things were laid out in three backpacks. We took with us only one tent - a three-ruble note. Thus, we reduced the weight of backpacks and provided ourselves, though not always cozy, but warm overnight stays. The other three backpacks were left in the barn.

At first, due to low visibility, we walked blindly on the GPS, gradually reaching the route. Underfoot - now lichens, then moss, then blueberries. From time to time, there was also a kurum, on which shoes slipped due to dampness. Shoes got wet pretty quickly.

We crossed one of the surrounding mountains and saw a rainbow over the valley. Even two, but the second is much dimmer and more inconspicuous than the first.

Then we roll over another mountain and go to the track. The weather improved, the sun was shining. On the right, the Main Ural Ridge is clearly visible.

Somewhere ahead there were 3 people, but it was not possible to catch up or contact them. Having descended from the mountain, we came to a good duh-track primer. It was getting closer to evening. We walked a few more kilometers and stopped at a parking lot about eight hundred meters from the road. The path for the day was 12 kilometers.

Day six. August 7. The road is long.

We woke up at 6 am, had breakfast, drank tea. We moved out at 8. While returning to the two-track, we got a little wet on our feet, as the dew fell quite plentifully. After the swamps, windbreaks and mountains, they went very quickly.

The road is good, sometimes with mud and streams driven by jeepers. But they did not pose any particular problems for movement, since there was always an already trodden path around.

We met three guys from Moscow, whom we saw yesterday on the slope. They only woke up at 10 am. They go with us in the same direction. Periodically on the road came across a willow elfin pressed to the ground. On the left hand stood the handsome Coyp.

We descend from one of the hills. We get up for lunch. We eat lard with chocolate paste, drink coffee. Lots of blueberries. On the next climb up the mountain, the guys from Moscow overtook us. We were met by a group of young people from Pervouralsk, who never made it to the Navels and were returning to the drop.

On the top of the mountain, the two-track was lost somewhere in the placers of the kurum and it was proposed to go not along the track, but to “cut off” the path through the forest, to the parking lot near the source of the Pechora. At first we descended along the kurum, then along a man-sized chapyzhnik, through which it was rather problematic to get through.

After a while they entered the forest. For three kilometers we walked along windbreaks, and then along bear trail(I caught sight of bear droppings). Despite the fact that we won a little in distance, we lost a lot of time and effort. We arrived at the place around half past eleven. We set up camp and had dinner. Everyone is in anticipation, because tomorrow - PUPS! To the goal - a little more than 6 kilometers.

Day seven. 8 August. Manpupuner.

Woke up at 11 o'clock. It rained intermittently. Cloud cover is low. Damp and cold. We did not get out of the tent for a long time, until the short rains more or less subsided. We had breakfast under an awning. During this time, the rain finally passed, in some places, in the distance, gaps appeared above the mountains.

In general, now only soaking wet shoes reminded me of the night rain. They dried it with small pebbles, which they collected in Pechora, put it in a cauldron with water and brought it to a boil. Engaged in this procedure for hours up to 3 days. The commander went to the tent to rest before the decisive breakthrough.

At 5 pm we moved to Pupy. We walked along the track. The first time it coincided with the path. Then the trail ended, and we walked through the forest, passing bushes and windbreaks. They moved slowly, with halts. From the parking lot on Pechora to Shaman, about 6 km along the track. The forest gradually thinned out, and later, with the climb, it stopped altogether. The forest was replaced by a rare shrub, and later it also stopped. We reached the height of the tundra. A very thick fog descended. Visibility - no more than 30 meters. Went only on the navigator.

The plateau in the fog looked like a stage for some science fiction movie. All feet were wet, as there is a lot of dew on mosses and lichens. Finally, the Shaman, the highest remnant, appeared out of the fog - an enchanting sight!!! They lost the power of speech and wandered around the plateau in silence, admiring what they saw. The dense fog, of course, was very disturbing, but it did not spoil the impressions at all. Everyone's spirit was taken...

Strong wind and rain began. We run back to the camp. Very fast. No breaks or stops. By 10 pm we return to the camp. We dry, we have supper. We go to sleep. They fell asleep for a long time, everyone tossed and turned, absorbed in the digestion of impressions, practically did not talk ...

Day eight. August 9th. March.

We got up at 8. We had breakfast. We left at 10 o'clock. According to the plan, it was necessary to walk 40 kilometers and return to the barn on Yanyghachechakhle by 12 at night. We walked along the path past the source of the Pechora. They went very fast and smoothly. In the morning there was a small short-term rain, and literally an hour and a half later the sun came out from behind the clouds. We climbed up the mountain and went out onto the same two-track by which we came here.

Closer to dinner we met with a group that had been throwing with us, but stayed with Slava. He somehow ignored us. Before the barn after the run, they walked not a day, like us, but 3 days. A little later we met Boris, a loner from Astrakhan, who has been “resting” here for more than a month. Moreover, he did not have a sleeping bag or a tent, and he spent the night wrapped in polyethylene.

Toward evening we turned off the two-track and went straight up the mountain. At that time, more than 30 kilometers had already been covered. We climbed uphill along the radius. A terribly strong wind began to blow from the southwest.

It got dark very quickly. It's dark, it's foggy, it's drizzling, but we're moving on. All with flashlights, but it's still hard to see. The speed has dropped drastically. One of the team members became ill. The time is late - about one o'clock in the morning.

We decide to get up for a cold night. We found some Christmas trees that covered the tent from the wind (one of its arches still didn’t save it). It was very damp at night, especially for those who slept on the edges. Of the planned 41 kilometers, we walked 37. At night, we heard a bear moving stones not far from the tent, because there was no one else ...

We woke up at 6, got out of the tent, drank coffee and a little "hot" to warm up. We walked another 4 kilometers and by 9 we reached the barn.

Day nine. August 10. A day in the barn.

Near the barn there were cars with Moscow numbers, there was one tent outside and two inside. Just before our arrival, the people woke up. We talked and drank coffee. We exchanged contacts with the guys. They work in a 4x4shop and often go on trips like this. They packed up and left.

We had breakfast, lit the stove in the shed, warmed up and went to bed. The weather has improved - just super. The sun is shining, it's warm. For dinner, the cake prepared in the morning (cookies, condensed milk, nuts and sugar) froze a little. Everyone woke up, the commander treated everyone to delicious sweet buckwheat with blueberries, which he had prepared.

On this day, a group of Alexander Bogdanov, a good friend of our commander from Yekaterinburg, came to the barn. The guys in Poritaitsori lost one tent, so they'll have to make room. We spent the night with nine of us, inviting three more guys from Alexander's group to the barn. We did not fall asleep for a long time - we talked, we shared our impressions, they listened attentively and analyzed.

Day ten. 11th August. I run home.

We woke up at 9 am, left at 11 after a hearty breakfast and morning tea, we move towards Otyrten. We walk along a two-track track, well-trodden by all-terrain vehicles, very quickly. The road goes uphill a little over 1000 meters in radius, and we climb it with several halts.

We make one more halt at the top, hiding from the wind behind the remnant. Despite the fact that the sun is shining brightly, the wind is quite cool at altitude, so under the backpack we go lightly dressed so as not to sweat, and sometimes we put on warm clothes at halts. Further on the same two-track we descend from the mountain, go to the lowland, bypass it, get up on a halt next to the spring, replenish water supplies and begin to storm the spur of Otorten. The two-track goes to the right, and we climb up the moss and periodically protruding kurum. Having ascended the spur of Otorten, we have a snack with nuts and the remains of sweets.

We pass Otorten by traverse, we did not climb to the very top. The speed is very low. Girls scold kurum. Although climbing it is a pleasure. We go out to the "gates of Otorten" - several remnants, which really resemble a gate somewhere. We go out to another spur, below - Lake of the Last Goose and a couple of snowfields.

We were met by a whole demonstration of the people, who also went to the Navels. Having passed another small mountain, we went down a little lower and stopped for the night with a beautiful view of Mount Holat Syahyl. On this day, a couple of deer antlers were found on the road.

After some time, we saw three guys from Moscow on the slope, with whom we had previously crossed paths. The commander fired a rocket launcher, they noticed us and camped for the night not far from our parking lot. Firewood, by the way, was kindly prepared by someone and brought from somewhere below, since, apart from willow elfin, no vegetation was observed within a radius of 500-700 meters. The water, however, boiled for a very long time. Dinner, went to bed.

Day eleven. 12th of August. In forests and mountains.

We woke up at 6 in the morning, had breakfast, broke camp, got water from the stream, which was located next to our parking lot. Moved out on the road. The speed along the small kurum, which lay on flat ground, increased significantly. We gained altitude and headed towards Kholatchakhl. The guys from Moscow had not even got up by the time we left.

Here, an inhabitant of the local plateaus appeared to our eyes - a deer, which for a long time posed in front of the lenses of our cameras at a distance of 150 meters. We walked very quickly, ideally we would like to get to Auspiya on the same day and base there. The weather was also very pleasing - the sun and a light breeze from the south.

We went out on a jeeper two-track. A little down it, we went to the spur of Holatchakhl. Climbing it, we went to the kurum, and went along the left side of the traverse. The road went over mosses and lichens to the right. On Holatchakhla, the kurum is somewhat different from the kurum on Otyrten. It is smaller and easier to slip on. A stream flowed among the stones, we made a halt, drank water and took fresh water with us. Below us, along the valley, we were overtaken by three guys from Moscow, who spent the night with us.

After walking a little more, we dropped height and reached the Dyatlov Pass. There the guys from Moscow caught up with us. We noted in a notebook, which lies in an iron can under the monument to the Dyatlov group. The guys left before us. We took pictures on the pass and started the descent to Auspiya.

The trail after the swamps and purum seemed just a high-way, and in half an hour we were on the banks of the Auspiya, where there are quite a few places for parking. Immediately after the descent, we met vacationers by the river, walked a little more and got up for a snack. We ate the stocks of halva, sugar and sweets, not counting the NZ, washed ourselves in the river. We brewed green tea, I had to drink it without sugar. Gathered, changed, moved on. We thought nothing could stop us...

The trail sometimes went through swamps, sometimes felled trees came across on it. Went to the spoon. Photographed.

The guys from Moscow got up there for the night. Some group in sneakers ran past us in the direction of the ford (place of drop) at such a speed that it would be possible to run to the Navels in 3 days. And then a thunderstorm began, but such that they have matured !!! We walked very quickly through the swamps and mud until complete darkness, while it was possible. In the end, we decided to make the last night in one tent. They stretched the awning, kindled a fire, dried things a little. We set the alarm clock for the early morning and went to bed.

Day twelve. August 13th. “And I would have celebrated for another week”

Woke up with an alarm at 5 am. We drank coffee. It rained at night and everything was damp. We broke camp. We left at 7 o'clock. There were still 8 kilometers to go before the drop. The path gradually began to move away from Auspiya to the left. There were still swamps here and there. About an hour and a half later, a two-track began to appear. After 2 hours, it took on the appearance of a rutted mud rut. We passed by several parking lots, where people were just getting up. In two places on the road there was a deep swamp, which had to be climbed through the bushes.

After another 3 kilometers, we reached the finish line, turning right, towards the ford. And then, finally, we saw the car that was throwing us, sticking out of the bushes with its cab.

Having reached the ford, they washed, ate the rest of the meat, and gave it to the people of NZ standing on Auspiya. We got into the car, the commander fired a flare into the sky, and we went to Ivdel. The release took approximately 6 hours. Only our group returned in time.

For most Russians, the word "pillars" is associated with the Yenisei pillars, but few people know that in the Urals there is an equally grandiose and bewitching natural monument - Weathering pillars in the Komi Republic (Mansi blockheads). They are also called Mansi blockheads, and wind, or wind poles. There are seven in total. The dimensions of these geological objects are truly grandiose: the height of the largest of them exceeds the height of a sixteen-story building. The smallest remnant is commensurate with a nine-story building.

In recent years, this natural site has become increasingly attractive to tourists. The Ural Pillars of weathering are included in the list of "Seven Wonders of Russia" and in our time, for safety, are under the protection of the state. To see a live natural miracle located on the territory of the reserve, you must obtain permission.

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Description and origin

The location of the remnants is the Man-Pupu-Ner plateau, almost isolated from the outside world and human habitation, sandwiched in the valley of the Pechora and Ilych rivers. On the map, this is the Troitsko-Pechorsky district of Komi.

Pillars (Mansi blockheads) are a unique geological monument in the Troitsko-Pechora region of Komi Russia on Mount Man-Pupu-ner (which in the Mansi language means “Small Mountain of Idols”), in the interfluve of the Ichotlyaga and Pechora rivers. There are 7 in total, height from 30 to 42 m

This also indicates that the area belongs to the conduct of sacred rites and rituals. Even today it is considered a place of power, which also attracts people to it.

From a scientific point of view, the Mansi blockheads are the fruit of the interaction of geological processes and natural factors. This result was achieved thanks to the winds, water and sun, which, over hundreds of millions of years, turned ordinary structures into bewitching structures that miraculously hold upright and give the impression of a frozen moment. Natural formations attract attention with fantastic outlines of human figures, animals or giant crystals hanging in the air.

Do you know that: despite the official theory of origin, locals even today we are sure of the man-made creation of blockheads. There are many legends and legends about this. Only the answer to the question "who is the creator?" remains open.

Ancient Mansi legend

The Mansi tribe, living in the Polar Urals, laid down their legend about the origin of stone formations on a plateau in the valley between the Pechora and Ilych rivers.

According to legend, six mighty giants pursued one of the Mansi tribes, leaving behind the stone belt of the Ural Mountains. At the head of the Pechora River at the pass, the giants had almost overtaken the tribe. But a little shaman with a face as white as lime blocked their way and turned the giants into six stone pillars. Since then, every shaman has always come to the sacred tract and drew his magical power from it.

The legend is sad and beautiful. It tells about the people of the Mansi tribe that once lived at the foot of the Ural Mountains. Their dwellings were rich, they were lucky in hunting. Expensive clothes were sewn from the mined skins. Good spirits favored the tribe, because the wise Kuushui, the leader of the tribe, made friends with them. And the leader had two children: the beautiful Aim and the valiant Pygrychum. The fame of the beauty of Aim spread far beyond the Mansi lands. The giant Torev wooed the girl, but she refused him. Torev became angry and, with the help of his fellow tribesmen, decided to treacherously steal Aim when her brother was out hunting. But Aim called her brother. Pygrychum hurried to help his sister with the magic shield and sword received from the spirit protectors. The giants directed their attention to the light of the sun reflected in the shield. This radiance blinded them and turned them to stone. So the petrified giants stand to this day on Man-Pupu-Ner as a warning to posterity. It is important to understand: treachery will always be punished.

Amazing animal world

Fascinating monuments of geology are located on the territory of the Pechora-Ilychevo reserve, the function of which is to protect the flora and fauna of the area. The reserve is included in the list of world natural heritage of UNESCO.

One of the oldest reserves in the Urals was founded in 1930. The flora is represented by almost 660 plant species. Brown bears, ermines, otters, wolverines, beavers, moose, etc. live here. Birds are especially numerically represented by the grouse family - hazel grouse, capercaillie, black grouse. Among the inhabitants of the water depths, salmon, grayling, taimen are of value.

The fauna of protected areas is extremely diverse. The list of fauna includes more than 4000 species of extant animals. More than 250 species of birds live here, representatives of the grouse order feel especially at ease. Mammals are represented by 50 species.

Note: The reserve is famous for its elk farm, where elks are raised and nurtured.

The rivers are full of valuable species of fish.

Meet here:

taimen;
graylings;
whitefish;
sturgeon fish species;
freshwater salmon species.

The employees of the reserve protect the delicate balance and are constantly working to preserve and increase the diversity of the animal world.

Komi Republic Tourism

The republic is located in the Polar Urals, more than 2/3 of its territory is occupied by forests, 1/6 part is swamps. The attention of tourists, adherents of ecological tourism, is attracted by the state with its pristine forests, lakes, rivers, and, of course, with its pearl - the Pechoro-Ilychevsk Biosphere Reserve with a unique monument: Weathering Pillars.

The closer you get to the Pillars, the more unusual their appearance becomes. One object, 34 m high, stands somewhat apart from the others, it resembles a huge bottle turned upside down. Six others lined up at the edge of the cliff. They have bizarre outlines and, depending on the place of inspection, either resemble the figure of a huge man, or the head of a horse or a ram. It is not surprising that in the past, the Mansi deified grandiose stone statues, worshiped them, but climbing Manpupuner was the greatest sin.

Take into account: the journey will be interesting for fans active rest, lovers of ethnography, history, cultural studies. Adepts of esoteric knowledge are attracted to the republic by places of power in which local shamans performed their rituals.

Whatever the trip, it is important that it will always be interesting and rich in impressions.

How to get there

Since the plateau, located in a remote place, is part of the reserve, you can get to it only as part of an organized group with the permission of the director of the reserve.

The objects under consideration are located quite far from inhabited places. Only trained tourists can get there. From the side of the Sverdlovsk region and the Perm region there is a walking route. The plateau can be reached by helicopter. From Syktyvkar - the capital of the republic - two and a half hours to fly. Otherwise - first by car, then by boat, and the rest of the way - on foot. It will take at least a week to overcome more than 400 kilometers in this way.

Get there in the following ways:

The easiest, fastest and most comfortable, but the most expensive one is a helicopter tour departing from Ukhta.
The most difficult one is on foot along hiking trails from the city of Ivdel, Sverdlovsk Region. The length of the route is about 100 km. The route is difficult, it passes through the Dyatlov Pass, from which it is 75 km to the plateau in a northerly direction. When choosing this route, it is important to objectively assess your own strengths.
The most reasonable is to get by train or car to the village of Yaksha. From there, climb up the river for more than 200 km, then walk about 40 km. The administration of the reserve is located in the village, where you can get advice and assistance in organizing a trip.

Popular routes

The staff of the reserve is constantly working to make the beauty more accessible. It is important that they develop new routes, pave paths, improve places for recreation, organize helipads, set information signs.

From the first years of the founding of the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve, the world's first farm for the domestication of elks was created. Animals were quite easily tamed. During the existence of the moose farm, more than 300 animals have been raised, significant research work has been carried out to study the animal, and the population of moose in the reserve has been increased. Clever animals living in the forest, before the appearance of offspring, come to the farm

The most visited places are:

Pechoro-Ilychevsky Biosphere Reserve from the Manpupuner Plateau;
National Park "Yugyd Va";
elk farm - the first in the world;
Finno-Ugric park;
holy springs.

Interesting fact: routes are not only Russians who want to see their country, but also Foreign tourists. The sights of Komi attract the ever-increasing attention of people who want to take a break from civilization and immerse themselves in nature.

Best time to visit

The appearance of the figures changes with the change of seasons. It is important to plan a trip to the plateau in summer or winter, either on snow on skis or on foot.

The season changes, and so does the landscape. The area is very impressive in winter, when the figures are completely white, like crystal

In winter, they resemble the realm of the Snow Queen. Covered with ice, they become crystal, attracting attention with the glare of the reflected sun. In addition, mosquitoes and midges, which annoy summer, do not interfere in winter. For some, skiing seems easier, while the patency increases: the swamps freeze along with the rivers. But winter here has one big minus - low temperatures with wind.

In summer, it is best to make a trip to the plateau in August. It is from August that the forests begin to turn purple-gold tones, the rivers become shallow, the number of blood-sucking insects decreases sharply, the air becomes piercingly transparent.

It is worth noting: the figures, surrounded by the crimson of golden leaves, look majestic against the background of the bottomless sky.

The rest of the year is unpredictable. For an unprepared person, it will be difficult to quickly adapt to climatic features republics. In addition, winds, snowfalls, rains on the way will negate all the admiration caused by nature. Won't let you do good photos and a memory video.

Conclusion

Traveling through local reserves does not promise warm sea, palm trees and hot sand. This is another reason to make sure that Russia is an amazing, diverse country, its regions are not similar to each other. This is interesting not for lovers of "seal rest".

The few travelers who were lucky enough to visit the stone giants from Komi unanimously claim that when they meet, the soul freezes, stunned by the magical power and antiquity of this natural monument. If you are brave and courageous, you can also experience this mystical effect with your own eyes.

This is the choice of people seeking to better know the world around them, to know its beauty, to touch its mysteries. The northern nature of Komi captivates attention and does not let go. To understand everything, you just need to visit this republic, located in the Polar Urals, walk along the chosen route, remember all the impressions of the trip, agree with those who claim that the north is more addictive than the south.

Watch a video that tells about one of the seven wonders of Russia, Weathering Pillars in the Komi Republic: