Ice mountain Koryak highland. Koryak Highlands (glacial system) Glaciers and snowfields. "Koryak Highlands" in books

Glacial system Koryak Highlands– one of the largest glacial systems (303.5 km 2) in the northeastern part of Russia. The Koryak Plateau is a vast rise on the coast of the Bering Sea between the Gulf of Anadyr and the Kamchatka Peninsula, where the depression of the Parapolsky Dole separates it from the Sredinny Range. The length of the highlands from northwest to southeast is about 800 km, width from 80 to 250 km. In the central part, several ridges extend from Mount Ledyanaya (2562 m), the highest point of the highland - Pikas, Ukelayat, Snegovoi. The main center of glaciation is located here. The Olyutorsky ridge stretches along the coast of the Bering Sea, and the Malinovsky ridge in the southern part. In the northeastern part of the Koryak Highlands there is the Meinypilgyn ridge. The height of the ridges, as a rule, does not exceed 1500–1800 m, increasing from the outskirts to the center of the highland.

The climate is monsoon. Winter is not very cold, but long. Just like the glaciers of the Kamchatka system, the glaciers of the Koryak Highlands receive food from the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific cyclone brings heavy rainfall in the first half of winter, the annual amount of which in different parts of the highlands ranges from 400 to 3000 mm. The amount of precipitation decreases with distance from the sea inland. The period lasts only 3 months, but the melting is intense.

Due to the large area of ​​the highlands and the scattering of glaciation centers over it, the discovery of glaciers and the calculation of their areas occurred gradually. Several centers of modern glaciation near the coast of the Bering Sea were discovered in 1937 by an employee of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences D.M. Kolosov. In 1948, a continuous aerial photograph of the area was carried out, and in 1955, using aerial photographs and maps, he provided data on 461 glaciers with a total area of ​​185 km 2 (including snowfields). In 1958 M.I. Malykh describes 282 glaciers with a total area of ​​about 180 km 2. In the summer of 1961, an employee of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences N.M. Svatkov conducted research on glaciers in the area of ​​Ledyanaya, in 1963 he published information about the glaciers of the Malinovsky ridge, and in 1982 published, which included the glaciers of the Koryak Highlands (1335 glaciers with a total area of ​​259.5 km 2), with the exception of area near Lake Pekulneyskoye (Meinypilgyn ridge). In 1984, a scientific and sports expedition discovered 40 glaciers in the area; in 2001, he was on this territory, containing information about 116 glaciers with a total area of ​​43.96 km 2.

Thus, for the territory of the Koryak Highlands there is information about 1451 glaciers with a total area of ​​303.5 km 2. Glaciers are scattered over a large area, but the bulk of them are located on the Ukelayat ridge and in the area of ​​the city of Ledyanaya (344 glaciers, 102.5 km 2), on the Snegovaya ridge (347 glaciers, 71.4 km 2). 184 glaciers with a total area of ​​19.7 km 2 are located on the Olyutorsky ridge, 136 (18.3 km 2) - on the Glacier Mountains, 200 glaciers (34 km 2) - on the Malinovsky ridge, 116 glaciers (44 km 2) - on the Meinypilgyn ridge . All glaciers of the Koryak Highlands drain into rivers flowing into the Berinovo Sea: Ukelayat, Ilpi, Apuka, Vaamychgyn, Vatyna, etc.

Glaciers are mostly small: 46% of all glaciers have an area of ​​less than 0.1 km2, accounting for 10% of the total glaciated area. A total of 11 glaciers have an area of ​​more than 2 km2. The largest are the Snegovoy glacier (length 2.9 km, area 4.8 km 2) on the Snegovoy ridge in the river basin. Vatyn and the Slozhny glacier (4.1 km, 4.4 km 2) on the Ukelayat ridge in the basin of the river of the same name. On the Malinovsky ridge, the largest glacier has an area of ​​3.7 km 2 and a length of 3.8 km; on the Meinypilgyn ridge, the largest glacier is the Perevalny glacier with an area of ​​1.8 km 2.

Almost 80% of the number and 50% of the area are in. The largest of them reach 1–1.5 km 2, but the vast majority are no more than 0.5 km 2. As a rule, they do not occupy the entire car, but are pressed against its shaded walls. Quite a lot of cirque-valley glaciers. Their firn pools have a concave surface that repeats the shape, and the tongues, when exiting the cara, often form a noticeable ledge, sometimes broken by cracks. Valley and complex valley glaciers are few (5% of the number), but they account for more than 25% of the area. Their feeding areas occupy the upper reaches of the valleys, and their tongues descend into the valleys. A small number of hanging cirques and slope glaciers occur in underdeveloped cirques or lie on slopes.

About 25% of the area of ​​glaciers is covered with moraine, the tongues of some are covered with a continuous moraine cover. Most glaciers are oriented to the north, northeast and northwest, which indicates the decisive importance of insolation conditions for their existence. Almost nowhere do glaciers occupy the top parts of ridges; they are usually confined to depressions in the relief or to the upper reaches of valleys, i.e. to those forms where snow concentration is possible. The ice thickness is usually 20–30 m, and in places where avalanche and blizzard snow accumulates, it can reach 70–80 m.

When analyzing satellite images from 2003, many glaciers noted in the Glacier Catalog were not discovered. Along with their possible disappearance due to the degradation of glaciation, which the author considers catastrophic (up to 50% of the area), it is assumed that when compiling the Catalog, snowfields in their upper reaches, which are characteristic of the Koryak Highlands, could also be mistakenly taken for glaciers.

Located on the territory of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and the Kamchatka Territory.

Geographical position

From the southeast, the Koryak mountainous country is washed by the Bering Sea, where there is a slight shelf; near the coast, depths reach 3000 m or more. To the north of Cape Navarin, an extensive shelf adjoins Koryakia, the sea depth here does not exceed 30-40 m. In the southwest, the area is washed by the waters of the shallow Penzhinsky Gulf of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, in the northeast - also by the shallow Anadyr Gulf. In the north-west, the Koryak Highlands are limited by the Penzhina-Anadyr Depression, in the north by the Anadyr River.

Relief

The Koryak mountainous country consists of short ridges, ridges and ridges of medium height. The main mountain system is oriented predominantly from northeast to southwest and extends for 880-1200 km with a width of 80 to 270 km with a total area of ​​over 500,000 km². The height ranges from 600 to 1800 m (the highest point in the central part is 2562 m - Mount Ledyanaya).

The axial part of the Koryak ridge has a typical alpine-type relief, the peaks are quite sharp with rock outcrops and the development of screes. Most mountain slopes are steep (30-70°) and concave, which shows the predominance of landslide processes.

Hydro network

The region's largest rivers, Main and Velikaya, originate in the Koryakia mountains. In the upper reaches of all mountain rivers, a large number of aufeis are formed, the length of which sometimes exceeds 1-2 km (usually up to 600 m), while all of them are located in areas located below the tributaries. The formation of aufeis causes deformation of the river bed - as a result, it is divided into several watercourses wandering along the aufeis field. Along its edge, destruction of the lower part of the slopes often occurs.

Climate

The climate in the highlands is cold and oceanic. Summers are cool, with prolonged rains and fogs, and snowfalls are possible. In winter there are strong winds with relatively little frost. Annual precipitation is over 700 mm on the southeastern slope, and 400 mm on the northwestern slope.

Snow does not melt during the year at altitudes above 1400 m on the northern slopes and 1980 m on the southern ones. The gorges of the northern and northwestern parts are filled with dense snow until August.

Permafrost is ubiquitous. The thickness of permafrost reaches 100-300 m or more in areas with blown snow cover. In the floodplains of large rivers and under large lakes, through taliks are sometimes found.

Minerals

In the Koryak mountains, deposits of primary (Amethyst) and placer gold, hard and brown coal (Beringovskoe and Korfskoe), and sulfur were discovered; found

The Koryak Highlands (Koryak Range) is a mountain system located in the Far East, on the border of Kamchatka and Chukotka. Part of it belongs to the Kamchatka region, and the other part to the Magadan region.

Where is the Koryak Highlands located?

As already mentioned, one part of the ridge belongs to the Kamchatka region, and the other part to the Magadan region. The Koryak Highlands are located near the Pacific coast, washed by the Bering Strait in the east and the waters of the northeastern tip of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the southwest. The Bering Strait in this area has a narrow shelf, beyond which the depths sharply increase to 3 km. The Sea of ​​Okhotsk in this area, on the contrary, is shallow. The northeastern extremity of the mountain system approaches Anadyr, which is also shallow.

Features of relief and geology

The Koryak Highland consists of small ridges, mountain ridges and mountain ranges. The ridges diverge in different directions from the central part of the highlands. The mountain system is elongated in the northeast - southwest direction and has a length of about 1000 km. Its width varies. In different areas, the width can range from 80 to 270 km. The area is half a million square kilometers. The height of the Koryak Highlands is also different and varies from 600 to 1800 m. The central part of the mountain system is the highest. The highest point of the Koryak Highlands is Mount Ledyanaya (2560 m).

The central (in diameter) part of the Koryak mountain system is represented by peaked mountains with pronounced rockiness and a large number of screes. Great steepness and concave type of slopes predominate. Gorges are common in the mountains. In total, there are 7 ridges, the height of which is from 1000 m to 1700 m (depending on the specific ridge).

The eastern and southern coasts are often characterized by the presence of rocky cliffs, steep and high shores indented by bays.

Glaciation occurs in the mountains, which is explained by harsh climatic conditions. The total area of ​​glaciers is 205 square kilometers, their lower limit reaches 700-1000 m above sea level, and their length reaches 4000 m.

The highlands are based on formations of the Lower Paleozoic and Mesozoic. At higher altitudes, Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic deposits predominate.

The highlands are rich in mineral resources. Gold deposits, brown and hard coal, and sulfur were found here. There are also gold veins, accumulations of copper, mercury, silver, tin, molybdenum. In addition, oil and gas deposits have been found.

Climate

The region is dominated by a cold climate of the oceanic type. Characterized by rather cold summers with frequent cloudy weather, fog and prolonged rain, sometimes with snow. Winters are not too frosty, but windy. Winds from the north and northwest directions predominate. Sometimes there are thaws. Intensive snow melting begins only in the third ten days of May. The amount of precipitation increases from northwest to southeast - from 400 to 700 mm per year. In the north, the border of the permanent snow zone is at an altitude of 1400 m, and through the gorges it descends even lower.

The duration of the frost-free period in the depths of the mountain system is 90-95 days, and on the coast - 130-145 days.

The main climatic features of the region are as follows:

1. Long and rather cold winter, short autumn and spring, rather cold summer.
2. The average annual air temperature is below 0° Celsius everywhere.
3. Frequent winds in all seasons of the year.
4. Low accumulation of snow in open areas due to its constant blowing.
5. The presence of permafrost in all areas (with the exception of certain areas).

Hydrology

The Koryak Highlands are a hydrologically important region. Such relatively large rivers as the Velikaya and Main begin from this area. They are, of course, much smaller in size than the Trans-Siberian rivers, but on the regional map they are the largest. A feature of all mountain rivers is the formation of ice deposits in their beds, which significantly change the flow of the river and deform the bed itself.

Soil cover

Soil formation occurs in harsh climatic conditions. The underlying rock is usually rocky-gravelly profiles, on which thin peaty and peat-gley soils are formed. Bare rocky outcrops, accumulations of stones, pebbles, and snow, with isolated clumps of vegetation, are common. In river valleys there may be floodplain-turf soils. Sandy and pebble soils are common on the coast.

Vegetation

Treeless spaces, covered with tundra or mountain desert, predominate. Along the river valleys there are shrubs, and on the slopes - dwarf cedar and stone birch. In the beds of mountain rivers you can find ribbon-type forests with poplar, shrubs and choicenia. Often in depressions

Thus, the Koryak Highlands are a region with unfavorable climatic conditions for human habitation. However, there are various minerals here, the development of which is not yet feasible due to the remoteness and desolation of the region.

TEA INSTEAD OF COMPOTE

Think for yourself, isn’t it surprising: you say “I want to visit here” and suddenly find yourself thousands of kilometers away, in the place where your finger stopped, wandering on the map. Apart from the enormous work involved in organizing such a transfer; not to take into account the dozens of papers that needed to be drawn up, endorsed and signed; forget how much material has been read, selected and processed; how many maps, diagrams, drawings were copied, corrected, supplemented; and if, finally, you do not think that the group should be provided with equipment, food, medicine, etc., then even then all this seems like a miracle.

We chose the Koryak Highlands - the area for our future travel - even before the autumn wind blew the leaves of the previous year across the ground. Why Koryak Highlands? It must have been boyish to save money for a whole year, drink tea instead of compote, and then go to one of the most remote corners of the Soviet Union. The dream will seem all the more strange when you look at the map and see low mountain ranges, long approaches to them, and the climate map tells about the enormous amount of precipitation that falls here in the summer. Getting to know the photographs is more optimistic: wide river valleys, mountain lakes, shiny glaciers, multi-colored tundra. Although all this can be found somewhere closer. We, however, contrary to all logic, selflessly prepared for this trip.

Half-empty bus No. 14 rolled from Moskovskaya Hill along Kuibyshev Street. I stood on the back deck with tears streaming down my cheeks. Around the corner was my beloved Irochka, who was expecting her second child in a month. Vanka sat next to her in the stroller and waved his hand at me. In the morning, the head of the department, Sergei Vladimirovich Grachev, announced that those finishing graduate school in July were not entitled to leave and I had to go to work. After tedious bickering, he agreed for me to bring a paper from the Sports Committee about where and why I was. The chairman of the UPI sports committee, Tamara Aleksandrovna Pokidova, as luck would have it, was not there. In the end, I got hold of the sports committee's form and the letter was ready.

I hope you don’t have any problems defending your dissertation,” my professor said goodbye.

Tilichiki Airport is located in the Bay of Corfu on a narrow sand spit, its width is about 500 m and its length is tens of times greater. It seems that the plane lands directly in the water. Only a second before the wheels hit the dusty strip, the ground appears in the window.

The airport village is called Korf (after the bay of the Bering Sea, named, in turn, in 1885 in honor of the first Amur Governor-General A.N. Korf), and Tilichiki is the regional center of the Olyutorsky district, located on the opposite bank of the estuary, kilometers five. There is a ferry going there.

All airports in the north and east are similar to one another, but this is still a special place. Fifty meters walk to the sea surf. Directly opposite the spit, the mountains of the Govena Peninsula, decorated with stripes of snow, turn blue. It was because of them that the gloom crept in, detaining us for a long time in Tilichiki.

The first batch left on a sanitary flight three days later. I was very worried about our people, because there was a hurricane wind. When the helicopter arrived back, he could not land on the tarmac. As soon as he approached the ground, he was thrown upward by gusts of wind. After several unsuccessful attempts, he flew to the village, where he sat down on a tiny spot, protected from the wind by buildings.

It was raining in Achaivayam. The admiral established contact with the local authorities by telephone, and our vanguard was settled in a separate shack called a hotel. Better than nothing, and much better than at Tilichiki airport - quiet, warm and dry.

Achaivayam, according to our observations, outperforms Corfu in the number of bushes and other vegetation, but loses in transport units per capita, wins in the number of sunny days and loses in the competition for the number of shops. This list can be continued endlessly.

At first impression, only Aboriginal people, dogs and crows live here. According to the second, there are more dogs than people. We also got a four-legged friend. Refined sugar christened him Beefsteak. The huge number of seagulls is striking. With what dignity they rummage through the garbage in a landfill!

It was still calm at Tilichiki airport for three more days, unfortunately, even too calm. Nothing except the Yak-40 arrived, much less flew away. They led a resort lifestyle: eating in a dining room overlooking the sea, walking along the shore, breathing in fresh sea air, playing cards, writing letters, sending telegrams.

Corfe is apparently quite a weather hole. All the nasty stuff flies here from wherever it wants and begins to rush between our coast and the Govena Peninsula. Weather experts still believe that an improvement should occur and the airport's record of 29 days of non-flying weather in a row will not be broken. Cyclones are born over the Pacific Ocean, which fly here and spoil all the weather. Our nasty cyclone is ending. The barometer is rising. Everything will be OK.

On July 7th the group reunited!

After lunch, we spent a long time and not always successfully looking for ways to reach the route. Various plans arose and immediately collapsed, from going out on foot to taking off by helicopter. In the end, we reached an agreement with four local residents, who in the morning would give us a ride on motorboats about thirty kilometers up the river. The deal was advanced by some alcohol. Let's hope that this advance will result in motor boats for us tomorrow.

Before dinner, we were visited by a whole delegation led by a huge man, whom we dubbed the Merchant. He brought red fish, after which he followed me for about forty minutes with a bucket mug, begging for alcohol:

Advance, boss. I will prepare a barrel of fish for your return. You'll take it to the mainland.

Local firefighter Alexander Rogozhin allowed me to look at his two-kilometer track marked “Secret”. Great card! I asked permission to copy on tracing paper a coastal area about which we had no information at all.

Come on, to hell with you! “Just so that no one sees,” the firefighter allowed.

CULTURAL BASE

The long-awaited launch day. At 8.30 everyone was sitting on their backpacks and waiting for our new Achaivayam friends. The three arrived, bending under the weight of huge canisters, exactly at 9.00, as agreed. There were some doubts about Lesha Denisov, who, after our advance, according to intelligence data, took Red Moscow cologne. But soon he came too, spewing out the aromas of a cheap perfume factory. They loaded for a long time, shuffled the cargo, got into the boats and finally set off.

We understood quite quickly what sailing on a motorboat on the Achaivayam River was like. On the very first roll, two propellers were broken. Stops required jumping overboard, and most of the group got wet to the waist. Seryoga and Admiral especially distinguished themselves in this regard. Soon after the roll, Lekha’s engine stalled, started smoking and finally gave up. Lekha was given his portion of alcohol, and he was sent home by self-rafting.

They scraped for a long time on the rifts, feverishly jumped overboard or onto the shore. Rafinad distinguished himself by jumping overboard in a place where the depth was almost neck-deep. This greatly surprised and amused the natives. So, in jerks, with frequent stops, we moved up the river. One day our boat ran out of gas, and the current quickly carried us down, combing trees hanging over the water. In some places, on the rifts, it seems that the boat is flying forward, but when you look at the shore, you are convinced that it can barely cope with the current.

The swim ended and we went ashore. Achaivayam, translated from the Koryak language, means “river without sand.” However, the luxurious sandy beach at our unloading point somewhat contradicts the name. We all had lunch together. Our friends had a drink at dinner. After a protracted and somewhat tedious farewell, we set off.

Our group's travel route is in the shape of a figure eight. Start and end in the village of Achaivayam. The intersection point is a hut at the sharp turn of the Achaivayam river valley to the north. We planned to store food in the hut. The top of the eight is the massif of Mount Ledyanaya, and its lower edge, crossing the Olyutorsky ridge twice, touches the shore of the Pacific Ocean. The main objectives of the trip were to climb the Ledyanaya and Lednikovaya mountains, visit Severnaya Glubokaya Bay and explore the region of the highest peaks of the Olyutorsky ridge, about which there was no information except the memories of the Sverdlovsk traveler Dmitry Shlyapnikov, who was the first to lay out a tourist route along the Koryak Highlands in 1973. Using the administrative map of the Kamchatka region, he walked from Achaivayam through the mountains to Imatra Bay, where his group was picked up by fishermen.

The tundra, as flat as a table, stretches for tens of kilometers around. It is covered with low vegetation: dwarf birch, blueberry, bearberry, tansy, cereals, and you can often find iris and even edelweiss. Here and there there are small accumulations of dwarf cedar and thickets of willow-chozenia. Dwarf pine is a descendant of the Tertiary cedar pine, which, due to the cooling of the climate, has specially adapted to successfully withstand the chilly winter winds. In late autumn, the trunks lie down and, under the cover of snow, endure the harshest time of the year. Isolated stripes of taller trees, mostly sweet poplar, stretch only along the rivers.

The road up Achaivayam at first turned out to be quite dry and was far from the river. Here the first feature of the Koryak tundra became clear: there is almost no water here. During four thirty-minute treks, we did not encounter a single stream or a single noticeable landmark. The wide valley of Villeikin, opposite which we walked almost the entire day, cannot be considered as such. We stopped for the night on the edge of the tundra, about two hundred meters from the river. We walked quite a bit, but this was enough for many to rub blisters on their feet, which were wet during the water epic. The weather is excellent - a quiet warm evening.

In the morning the entire tundra is covered in fog, there is almost no visibility. It is very easy to lose your way - there is white milk everywhere and no landmarks. There is such dew on the grass that it is enough to walk five meters for your feet to get wet through. Large drops drip from the trees near the river. If there were no all-terrain road, then walking on the tundra in the morning would be almost impossible.

We are heading towards the all-terrain road we left yesterday in search of water. It’s hard to walk without a road: you have to weave between hummocks and make your way through areas overgrown with dwarf birch trees. Even more so with our bags. Finally, we get out onto the road. Two ruts in moss and dwarf bushes - that’s our entire route. And it’s not always easy to walk along it. Gradually we reached the wetlands and it became even more difficult. The swamp chomps, clings to your feet, and prevents you from walking. In the morning, mosquitoes are very annoying, and our ointment practically does not help against them, since it is instantly washed off later, and the vile creatures dig into the body again.

The fog slid into the hollows and valleys and slowly melted away. The mountains appeared in front of us, to which we were going. The slopes of some of them are richer in vegetation: a lot of willow and cedar. And the farthest mountains are decorated with snow.

Lunch was great. The valley at the lunch spot is drier than it was before, and a strong wind blows away the mosquitoes. The sun shines brightly.

Due to austerity, we managed to achieve a weight of backpacks at the beginning of the route of 34-36 kg. Still, they were the main topic of conversation in the first days of the journey. I was constantly tormented by the question of whether it was fair to distribute the load evenly between participants whose own weight varied by 30-40 kg. But if a heavyweight carries more, then it is logical to feed him more densely, which is completely unacceptable in the conditions of camp communism.

But it's time to continue our journey. When I tried to lift my backpack, I was terribly surprised that I had been carrying it myself for so long. And the most interesting thing was that I would continue to carry it. Step by step, half an hour march, 15 minute break, half an hour march again. Hands under the straps - you load your back. If you lower the straps, the load is on your shoulders. Step by step - such entertainment for almost a month. The greatest pleasure in a hike is throwing off the annoying backbone.

We didn’t complete one thirty-minute walk (we planned five, but completed four). We camped on a cliff near the river. There is water, there is firewood, the wind blows away the mosquitoes. The place is wonderful! The Vatyna ridge is already close. Looking back, you see the tundra to the horizon and realize that you have traveled a lot. Tomorrow, perhaps, we will reach the food storage site at the Achaivayama turn. It would be good to get there, it will be easier further.

After 7 marches we reached the hut where we planned to make a bookmark. There are several dozen huts, called cultural centers, scattered across the Koryak Highlands. They serve primarily as a temporary shelter for reindeer herders roaming the vast expanses of the tundra. As a rule, the distance between huts is chosen so that it can be covered with a herd in one day. Cultural centers are deliberately located in open places or near noticeable landmarks (mounds, steep river bends, forest islands) so that the traveler can avoid unnecessary wanderings in bad weather.

The cultural base received its strange name in 1930, when a cultural base for the indigenous population was built, which included a boarding school, a hospital, a store, and a club. This village ceased to exist in 1975, and the local residents liked the name so much that it was assigned to all the detached huts.

Our cultural center is a good-quality hut: a canopy, a kitchen, two rooms with bunks, a stove, tables, benches. There is a small supply of food, matches, salt, smokes, candles. Nearby is a woodpile. The roof of the hut is covered with slate, the log walls are covered with roofing felt, which is covered with shingles. The windows are glazed. In the attic there are boxes, deer skins, some rags and other rubbish. There we hid our stash - the products that we would consume in the final third of the hike.

ALEXANDER VASILIEVICH SOLID BECAME BASALT

After the laying, we switched to the movement mode 45+15 (we walk for 45 minutes, rest for 15, timekeeper Andrei Khlepetin is incredibly pedantic). We crossed to the left bank of Achaivayam, which turned out to be much easier to walk along. We walk mainly along the terrace above the floodplain. Large poplars are no longer found, although the vegetation is still rich.

As you move up the Achaivayama valley, the mountains become harsher, their slopes more lifeless and rocky. Above the confluence of the large tributaries Etelvayama and Mannenvayam into Achaivayam, the river becomes accessible for fording at any place.

The weather is clearly spoiling us. Today the temperature has been under 30 o all day, and, to everyone’s joy, in the afternoon there were almost no mosquitoes.

Thanks to Sasha Tverdy, a great lover and expert in geology, we managed to collect a good collection of minerals. That is why the weight of our backpacks decreased slightly: the food we had eaten was replaced by more and more Koryak rarities. Although Sanya is a builder, his vocation is mountains. One day, under his native Hot Spring, he found the remains of a prehistoric whale. Since then, paleontology has also become a hobby for a full member of the Geographical Society of the USSR and a part-time student at Krasnodar University.

During the day, the initiative group led by Sanya went to collect basalt samples to complete the task of the All-Union Geological Institute, organized by my academician uncle, and I wandered aimlessly through the wide fragrant meadow at the confluence of the three main sources of Achaivayam. It was a hot afternoon. Hordes of industrious insects buzzed above the colorful carpet of flowers. They were in a hurry, probably having an unfavorable weather forecast. Heat rose from the hot stones, and through its shroud the peaks of the Olyutorsky ridge trembled in the distance.

From Achaivayam I took a magazine with a novel by the Swiss writer Max Frisch, which became very popular among the participants of the hike, both in style and content. So, according to Max Frisch, from the pen of Sasha Korzh, an unwitting participant in a geological exploration trip on the day of the day.

Notes
1 Day off for tourists.
2 Volcanic kirpidon.
3 A person who lives in Krasnodar.
4 A big fan and connoisseur of adhesive plaster.
5 Holy Virgin Mary.
6 Sounds of splitting basalts.
7 Nickname of a person who lives in Krasnodar.

HOT ICE

Studying insects on such a wonderful day, I expected the weather to worsen. However, although the clouds were continuous, they were high. The peaks of the Olyutorsky ridge were clearly visible on the horizon. Weather forecasting in the Koryak Highlands is completely useless. Everyone knows that cirrus clouds, the sun “setting in a cloud,” etc. are signs of worsening weather. Here, the next day, as if nothing had happened, the sun is shining, and mosquitoes and gadflies are going wild.

Most locals firmly believe in a four-day weather cycle. Their explanations boil down roughly to the following. Somewhere far away over the Pacific Ocean, cyclones form every four days. If they fly to Kamchatka, Koryakia and Chukotka, then the weather in these areas deteriorates. If not, it's worth a good one. In other words, if on the day determined by previous observations as the beginning of the cycle, the weather worsens, then nothing good can be expected for the next four days. And if the weather is sunny, then most likely it will last the same period. Some exceptions to the rules are allowed. I would like to say that this pseudo-scientific method of weather forecasting has generally passed the test.

We divided the basalts and set off. The first two trips differed little from the previous days: the same bushes, dwarf cedar, the same hummocks along the sides of the valley, and finally, the same mosquitoes.

On the third walk we entered the kingdom of stones. We soon became convinced that the path to our pass lay along a puny stream. We climb the pass without difficulty. There is a tour, there is a bank, there is no note! Probably, local reindeer herders used the note of our predecessors for one purpose or another. Will ours be subject to the same consideration? Pasha, who wrote the note, was laconic and tried not to waste paper.

At lunch, our team was visited by a geoshiza: everyone began to pick up, crumble, pound, and chisel various stones. To all questions, Sanka-Basalt invariably answered: “Quartz!”, which, in the end, cooled the research ardor.

After lunch, turning into the valley of the right tributary of the Yaelvayam, we met Ledyanaya. At first glance, it reminded me of Mongun-Taiga: the same snow (or ice?) dome at the top, the same slopes on which snowfields alternate with screes. A very solid rocky mountain called the Tooth is located to the right in the ridge. We climbed a little up the Ledyanoy stream and stopped to live in a grassy clearing opposite the grotto in a huge aisle. To our left rise the mysterious minarets of the local khan.

We walked along a grassy slope, then descended into a couloir clogged with small black rubble. Then we ended up either in a quarry or at a mothballed construction site. Small and large stones are scattered everywhere. All this is chaotically scattered, and getting through here is not easy. Then we climbed the snow-covered slope of the circus and, finally, climbed the Komsomolsky pass along the disgusting scree. And there is such grace: sun, snow, almost no wind and excellent visibility. We sat and climbed to the top.

“I’m dying from the heat,” I told my companions.

And I - from beauty,” said Tverdy.

Mount Ledyanaya has a height of 2562 m above sea level. Not much. But the Koryak Highlands are not a collection of gentle hills. This is a mountainous country, sharp peaks, glaciers, steep slopes, the sheer cliffs of which, combined with the proximity of the Arctic Circle, give it the appearance of a harsh highland.

The first tourists came here in 1974. Of the four groups that tried to storm the mountain that year, only one, in winter, set foot on its icy dome. Kamchatka traveler Konstantin Langburd led his team to the summit. Since then, about thirty groups have visited the area. The greatest contribution to its development was made by famous tourists I. Vostokov, E. Muldashev, B. Landa, S. Kabelev, Yu. Oksyuk, L. Starikovsky. A photocopy of the report of Ufa ophthalmologist Ernst Muldashev served as my bible for a whole year.

We climbed to the top from the pass in about 45 minutes. Everyone immediately occupied a small bubble with a tour, from which protruded an ice hook, scraps of some kind of flag and a hammer with a wooden handle covered with all sorts of inscriptions. Refined carved the word “Sverdlovsk” on it. We ate some chocolate and started taking pictures. The whole highland is in front of us. The sky is clear. The picture is fantastic! The thermometer showed 24 0 at the top.

Pasha and I went down to prepare dinner. The Primus was lit on the spot, but while the rations were being divided, it decided to explode. The valve was broken and flames were gushing out of it. The Primus was extinguished (it was heroically thrown into the snow by Rafinad who came to the rescue) and with great difficulty they were re-ignited. The caretaker Mikhalych said that there would be either soup or an enhanced dry ration. We chose the latter. For the rest of the day, the distressed Pasha convinced me that this was fatal frivolity:

The beat fooled us!

The descent was fast, but unsafe. They started one after another, like skiers, and rushed down the shallow scree, barely having time to tear their legs out of the stone bonds. The boots were worn away with terrible force. Borya suffered, having skinned his hand in the fall.

At the end of the steep section there was a huge blockage of large rock fragments. Behind him the Chigaivayam River appeared and immediately disappeared in a beautiful snowy grotto. On the slopes of Ledyanaya we saw an absolutely incomparable remnant, reminiscent of a monument in honor of the first artificial satellite of the Earth near VDNKh.

Before the hike, local residents scared us with the abundance of bears. I was afraid. As we made our way through the bush, I thought: “What if he’s here? He’s invisible, but we’ll stumble upon him.” And then we saw a bear, or rather a she-bear. She walked along the coastal terrace about seventy meters from us. The wind was blowing so hard that she couldn't smell us. We saw her first. The next moment I realized that I was running. Then I saw that I was being overtaken. Then I noticed that we had cameras in our hands. Then I realized that we were not running from a bear at all... The bear came out from behind a hillock right in front of us and sat down on the ground in surprise. Feverish photography began. Then she rushed up the slope, and I remembered that I was very afraid of bears.

SHORT MEETINGS, A HOUSE WITH A PIPE AND SALMON MILK

In the morning there is dense fog and dew. I urged them to take their time, and we walked slowly. But they moved faster and faster, soon picking up cruising speed.

Damn it, don't rush around like crazy. I’m losing my bearings: the tributaries on both sides are rushing by so quickly that I don’t have time to count them and check them with the map, - I shout to the running people.

We managed to count the tributaries, and we approached the gap leading to the Dividing Pass. The fog little by little began to rise, turning into clouds. The pass turned out to be primitive. The canyons described by E. Muldashev were filled with snow, which made it easier for us to climb. From the pass a magnificent panorama of the Snowy Range opens up. An open glacier is visible, and behind it the top of Mount Glacier, which was sometimes opened and sometimes closed by loose clouds. A strong wind was blowing, and we hurried to go down. The descent is simple and the going is easy.

The end of this day was marked by an interesting event: we met people. These were tourists from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky under the leadership of V. Tenuev. There are seven of them, but the total age of their group is a hundred years older than ours, even though there is one more of us. One more circumstance distinguished our groups: we looked simply dystrophic, perhaps only I could compare with the thinnest of the Petropavlovsk residents. However, despite their solidity, we walk somewhat faster. Their daily norm is 15 km, and we walked 30 km. Are we running around like this out of hunger? Their layout is about one and a half times heavier than ours.

The people of St. Petersburg, as they call themselves, are planning to climb Lednikovaya tomorrow just like us. They stopped about one kilometer from us and came to visit us in the evening. V. Tenuev's team treated us to red fish, which we do not know how to catch (several attempts by Rafinada to catch it on the rifts using a fork attached to the end of a pole were unsuccessful). Our hospitality was exhausted by a friendly conversation with songs, and Mikhalych was worried that he had missed their cigarettes, since they “smoked something with a filter.”

Five people went to storm Lednikova (1802 m): Mikhalych, Basalt, Pasha, Borya and me. We left quite early, did not wait for the Petropavlovsk residents, they said that they liked to sleep and would leave later. Almost to the very end of the moraine we walked along the right bank of the left tributary of the Pravaya Vatyna River. From the moraine we emerge onto the tongue of the glacier. There is a beautiful view of the cirque bordering the glacier, the Preglacial, Intermediate, Bear passes... The glacier is much more spectacular than its counterparts surrounding Mount Ledyanaya: there were rather snowfields reminiscent of glaciers.

Glacier Mountain is about 2A. In general, it resembles a house with a chimney: the slopes are the roof, the top tower is the chimney. Along the dome of the glacier we approached almost the sheer walls of the peak. We come out onto a steep rocky ridge and climb along it to the ridge. The ridge is badly destroyed, huge stone suitcases go down with a roar. From above we noticed several points on the tongue of the glacier; they were moving deeper into the circus. They realized that these were the Petropavlovsk residents going to climb.

We are at the pre-summit tower, on top of which there is a tower. When examining the tower, they concluded that the top was quite accessible. For greater reliability, they hung up the railings, and in a few minutes everyone was at the goal. Climbing Lednikovaya is the highlight of our trip. Both the view and the mountain itself were all worth the effort.

A tour was found on the saddle between the secondary and main peaks. The previous conquerors - Ufa tourists led by E. Muldashev - were at the top 8 years ago. Our note stayed on the tour... 40 minutes. The St. Petersburg people have arrived. They reached the ridge somewhat differently than we did: immediately from the glacier they went to the scree slope of the ridge and climbed up to it along the scree.

The return journey was completed almost twice as fast. We returned almost the same way. Only we descended onto the glacier along the route of the ascent of the Petropavlovsk workers. A sea of ​​edelweiss was discovered in one of the clearings.

The pass from the Vatyna basin to the Achaivayam valley is called Nezametny and fully lives up to its name. The mountains part wide and form a huge wind tunnel - the wind blowing towards you almost knocks you off your feet. In the valley lies Lake Epilchik, a beautiful body of water with intricate outlines.

About ten kilometers southwest of it stands a lonely beam - a mobile house on skids. This is how we ended up visiting the veterinarian Alexander Kolchenko, who serves the reindeer herds of the Penzhinsky district. He is 30 years old, he graduated from the Barnaul Agricultural Institute. Lives in Koryakia for 7 years.

Do I want to leave? For what? I went on vacation to Sochi. Been to Anapa. What good? The people are dark and hot. I won't go again. It's better in Talovka. Don't believe me? Come and see for yourself!

In the evening, Rafinad, Borya and Sasha Kolchenko went fishing. Dinner turned into a real celebration: none of us had ever eaten so much red fish, caviar and grayling. Menu: two coho fish soup, reminiscent of homemade hodgepodge in its thickness, fried chinook salmon, lightly salted caviar for five minutes (fresh caviar is separated from the film, mixed with salt for five minutes in the lid of the Shmel-2 primus, dumped on cheesecloth, the brine is hung on half an hour), fried salmon milk, grayling in breadcrumbs, tea with sugar. The haunting feeling of constant hunger seems to have been overcome.

GOAL - OCEAN

A hopeless four-day cycle began.

21 July. It has been raining all day. Clouds run over the tundra, clinging to the tops of the most gentle and flat hills.

Ahead is a cultural base with a bookmark. There she is, across the river. The ford across Achaivayam is almost waist-deep, but the current, thank God, is calm, and we have been soaking wet for a long time from the rain. Seryoga is the first to open the door and, shaking off the raindrops, stumbles into the house. There is a noise, a minute passes, and the Chukchi jump out of the hut one after another. The reindeer herders, in their sleep, mistook Seryoga for a bear, got scared and almost opened fire with their guns. Having come to their senses, for some reason they instantly packed up and went somewhere into the fog, rain and cold grayness.

We ate fish and caviar again. To satiety. Then we crawled to bed. Some people were thinking about the upcoming breakfast. The belly festival ended calmly. How nice it is to sit in a dry and warm house.

In the morning, I climbed onto a mound next to the cultural base for reconnaissance. The river spills into a dozen channels. Approaching it, I outlined the path of passage, but in the end I dragged the group into the deepest place, and some of the people were provided with water in their boots for the whole day.

We walked for a long time across the wide tundra. It was boring at first, but it hadn't rained yet. Then it started to rain and the landscapes came to life. We passed several picturesque lakes. Seryoga, however, expressing the general opinion, said:

I saw such beauty in the coffin, when the backpack is heavy, it’s cold and it’s raining.

At lunch, everyone eagerly rushed to help the people on duty. It is clear that the fire was lit no sooner than an hour later. Mikhalych, having analyzed the quantity of food, gave out an additional ration of egg powder. This is good, but three spoons per pot is not very noticeable. The soup was also accompanied by a bunch of dubious half-smoked sausage, which was carefully boiled. Several watery mushrooms were also dropped there. Tasty, but too salty.

After lunch, visibility worsened: the clouds crawled even lower, and the rain poured down with renewed vigor. I felt that we were going in the wrong direction, but I didn’t know where we needed to go. However, I expected that after the marshy pass we would see the straight, narrow valley of Anivayama. But a sobering uppercut followed: a straight valley took place, but the river flowed... towards us! No one knew where we were. Only later, in Achaivayam with the card of firefighter A. Rogozhin, I figured out the situation. We left the Umayolgivayama valley too early (that was the name of the river on which we had lunch with powdered eggs) and, instead of walking up it another five kilometers, we took advantage of the attractive Bolotisty pass. He led us to the Kadekkun, which flows parallel to the upper reaches of Anivayam, seven kilometers southwest of it. Below Kadekkun turns around and flows into Achaivayam near the mouth of Umayolgivayam.

Realizing that we were completely lost, I decided to stop for the night. The strategy for the next day was to move up the Kadekkun as long as movement in a south-easterly direction was possible, and at the first convenient opportunity to cross to the left into the Anivayama valley. We reached the pass only on the fifth crossing. The flat saddle seems to be lined with stones. The pass was called Paved. The slopes of the surrounding mountains are surprisingly rich in Rhodiola rosea (golden root).

After lunch near the pass we were not able to walk much. At first, there was disagreement about where it was better to go - either on top or along the riverbed. Then they lost Pasha, then Pate fell waist-deep into the river. The rain got heavier and the mood worsened. We stopped for the night. We have dinner inside the tent. First time. It's still raining. The struggle for existence continues.

It rained all night, and began to calm down in the morning. A swamp had formed in places in the sleeping bag, but there was still a strong reluctance to get out in the rain.

The Anivayam River is one of the few that completely crosses the Olyutorsky ridge; in some places it flows in a deep picturesque canyon. The sides of the valley are densely covered with wet alder thickets. The tree trunks are intricately intertwined, forming a barrier to anyone trying to go out to the ocean. The steep banks of the river alternate with thickets of impenetrable willow-chosenia, hanging over the water like animals coming to drink.

Until lunch we walked up and down. But it always fails. There was no rain until lunchtime, and in some places the sky even turned blue. After lunch, I changed tactics: we did not go down to the river, but went along the slopes high above the canyons. At times there were screes of large stones, reminiscent of the Ural Mountains. It was just wonderful to walk here.

One fine (without any irony) moment, already in the evening, we saw ahead the expanse of the ocean, above which fabulous peaked mountains protruded. And below us, somewhere in the gloomy depths of the gorge, a barely audible tributary of the Anivayam ran. We were doomed to go down. Steep muddy slope, ornate alder trunks, dense choicenia. The admiral's guitar clings to the trees, Pate is prevented from making his way through the thickets by an easel backpack: the branches strive to crawl under the frame and captivate the traveler.

Having descended to the tributary, I make a mistake. Here on a flat area we should (and it was already time) to stop for the night, but the goal - the ocean, which we had already seen, clouded my mind, and, after drinking tea, I dragged everyone further. We cut through to the river and went straight along the riverbed. Pasha, Pate and Seryoga immediately drowned. Pasha sang the song “The damp heaviness of the boot...” with renewed energy. Something roared alarmingly ahead. Basalt and I went to investigate and found out that there was no further passage along the river - a harsh, steep two-sided canyon.

Maybe with self-rafting on backpacks,” Sanya jokes. Moreover, he looks as if he has already tried this method of transportation.

We climb up again, and not just up, but up through the bushes, and this is a big difference. A flock of monkeys that happened to be here, with a joyful squeal, would rush to look for their relatives among us.

It turns out that white nights in cloudy weather are not much different from the nights in the Urals. We break into the darkness to the touch. Finally, at midnight we stop in some thickets, indiscriminately set up a tent and instantly fall asleep.

On the morning of July 24, already 30 minutes after leaving we found ourselves in Glubokaya Bay. We have reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean! He was really quiet. A short rain spattered. A rainbow lit up over the water between the steep mountains surrounding the bay, and a wave quietly rustled along the pebble beach.

We were fully rewarded for all our efforts. Northern Glubokaya Bay is a typical fjord, a narrow (2-2.5 km) and deep (20 km) bay protruding into the land. Streams flowing from small cirque glaciers scattered along the banks of the fjord cascade into noisy waterfalls directly into the ocean. Mountain peaks are reflected in the bay with spiers and towers. The steep slopes are dissected by deep gorges. Along the edge of the coast stretches a wonderful beach, covered with small, selected pebbles, behind it there are smooth green glades, a lot of firewood from driftwood, seagulls, etc. and so on.

In the afternoon, a ship entered the bay. At first he scared us, because we decided that they were border guards (according to the pass we had, we were not allowed to approach closer than 5 km to the sea area). But these turned out to be crab fishermen from Petropavlovsk. Borya went fishing, and soon several crab catchers came up to him on a motorboat and began to fish. We also got this fish.

It was a great day in Glubokaya Bay.

Our day on the ocean is over. Yesterday's gluttony made itself felt: for the first time there was soup left at breakfast! Without finishing our rations, which a week ago seemed extremely meager to us, we set off. On the second crossing there was an embarrassment. When Pasha and Seryoga, who were walking in front, got buried in the bushes, the rear comrades, without telling them anything, quietly fell to the other bank. Then they spent a long time looking for the leading two, shouting and whistling. Having crossed to the other side, they were finally reunited. It turned out that the third participant, having lost sight of the leaders, did not seek them out by shouting, but went his own way, where he carried the entire peloton. Summary: you don’t need to stretch out in the thickets, and at the same time, you don’t need to rush too fast.

The pass we chose, which can be seen almost from the beach, has cattle trails. The ascent to the pass from the turn of the Small Anivayam valley took one walk. The tour was not found at the pass. They spent a long time looking for a place for the tour on a wide saddle and, having found it, began construction. The almost finished tour collapsed, almost crushing us. Fortunately, there were no casualties, and we built the tour.

The pass is extremely beautiful. From the ocean, a rocky canyon with snowfields leads to it. The saddle is a large plateau with lakes, surrounded by steep slopes. Cirque glaciers are visible, peaks and jagged ridges rise sharply in front and behind. There are also lakes on the descent.

The Olyutorsky Mountains have some specific beauty. The Ukelayat ridge, for example, are ordinary mountains, which, in the words of Yura Ikonnikov, are “the same everywhere,” but on the Olyutorsky ridge everything is somehow different. The mountains are somehow small, but sharp and harsh; the architecture of their upper tier has an alpine appearance, although the altitude barely exceeds 1500 meters.

After much debate, the pass was named Okeansky, and it was assigned, also not without controversy, category 1A. Pasha said that the pass does not deserve such a category, it is nothing more than n/c (non-categorical), and it is unethical to organize a tour:

What kind of first ascent is this if local residents have been chasing deer through this saddle for years (this can be seen from the tracks and trails). Surely their pass has had its name for a long time.

By the end of the day's trek, we reached Lake Morennoye. I have to repeat myself, but this lake is also very beautiful.

Rafinad prepared a wonderful dinner - navy-style pasta. It was wonderful. Tomorrow is Sanya's last day of vacation, and he is worried, although he tries not to show it.

The Alovnavayam River flows from Lake Morennoye. Its right tributary, the valley of which has a direction suitable for us, flows in a canyon a la Anivayam. For quite a long time we lay in its tenacious vegetation, enduring the rising heat and disgusting mosquitoes. Mikhalych and Sanya-Basalt went along the other side. The guys started criticizing me for disbanding the “old people.” Meanwhile, it was funny to watch how two figures choose their path on the steep opposite slope. Like at the stadium!

We spent the night above a high thundering waterfall at the base of the southern slope of Mount Greben (1568 m), the highest peak of the Olyutorsky ridge. Before going to bed, I gave the last instructions regarding the attempt to climb the Ridge. He said that if it rains, the ascent will not take place. If within three hours we cannot reach the starting point - on the shoulder of the peak, then we will also not tempt fate, we will turn back. To be honest, I didn’t count on the ascent, on its reality. Moreover, the weather begins to deteriorate in the evening. Moreover, quite sharply. The Kustovka Valley was covered with some kind of scum: either clouds or fog. A light rain began to fall. The duty officers Pasha and Borya were also warned that if the weather was nasty, the personnel should not be woken up at five in the morning.

And so early in the morning we still go out. The weather is disgusting. Cloudiness covered all neighboring ridges and valleys. It is no longer possible to hope that we will see the most beautiful panoramas from the top of the Ridge. All that remains is the sporting side of the event. For a long time I did not believe in success, especially since about ten minutes after leaving the camp everything around was shrouded in dense fog and fine cold rain began to fall. They walked almost at random. The rocks of Grebny are stronger compared to Ledyanaya and Lednikova, but in this weather they are also dangerous for climbing.

We go around the two-horned remnant on the right. Along inclined shelves, screes and rocks we reach the base of the scree couloir. Small stones roll from above. We pass the couloir one by one. The rest take cover behind a massive rock outcropping. Above the couloir, along a wide fireplace, we return to the ridge.

We slowly move from one rocky bastion to another, higher one. Under one of the gendarmes we find a board and several empty tin cans - evidence that someone has already been here before us. After some time, having overcome several more fireplaces of various sizes, we saw the peak through a curtain of fog.

At the top there is a semblance of a triangulation point, or rather, a steel pipe simply sticks out of the stones. There are boards lying nearby, apparently for making a tripod, but something prevented the surveyors from building it. We make benches from boards. There is no note at the top. There is no tour either. We were the first among tourists to come here. Everyone is happy. Only Pasha says:

Bad luck again, someone was here before us!

The descent turned out to be a thousand times more difficult than the ascent. They slid along the rocks, often lost their bearings, and could not find the ridge along which they climbed. The guys who remained in the camp also began to worry and beat the metal bowl with a ladle so that we could correctly determine the location of the camp. And not in vain: we passed the camp, but when we realized this, we started yelling at the top of our lungs, and they heard us.

While waiting for dinner, I fell asleep, I dreamed of the house, Irochka, Vanya, my mother, pancakes with meat and onions.

After lunch, in complete fog, we go out to the pass to Mainimirgepil, pass a chain of lakes, again in complete fog. Only when the most difficult part was completed and we found ourselves in the Achaivayam basin, the fog cleared. It seemed that the local spirits were simply testing our strength with the weather.

The trip is coming to an end, the maximum program has been completed: all four tasks of the trip have been solved without a single mistake. All that remains is to get to Achaivayam, but this is already pure walking.

The valleys of Mainimirgepil and Kaymirgepil are full of mushrooms. Boletus mushrooms. It's slippery to walk on them, and not a single worm!

After the mushroom dinner we were entertained by bears. They were enjoying life about three hundred meters from us, not paying any attention to the bright tent. At first they ran, jumped and caressed, then they made love. At first we were worried, and later, having cast aside our fears, we began to watch them through a telescope.

Last walking day. A wildly cold wind flew into the tent. I slept on my side, my back was terribly cold because the zipper on the sleeping bag had opened. It seems it has never been colder. We ate surprisingly quickly, got ready and left. Even before the campaign, the merchant said that he walked from the cultural base on Villeikin to Achaivayam with two hares, a carbine, a partridge and that’s it (he ran a giant finger along his bull’s neck) in 8 hours. I was also guided by the same time.

At first everything went great. The road ran in accordance with D. Shlyapnikov’s scheme: first along Villeikin, then, turning sharply, it was supposed to go into the gulch formed by Gorely Sopka and the neighboring mountain. She walked along Villeikin, but at the same time she had no intention of turning anywhere. In the end, on the opposite bank of Achaivayam, a ravine appeared, from which we began our journey. It became clear that we had missed the turn. How this could happen is a mystery. I decide to go ahead towards Gorely Sopka. The first victim of my voluntarism turns out to be the Admiral, who has fallen waist-deep into the nasty muck.

We spend two hours splashing through the swamps. I remember the Grimpen Mire, Stapleton, the Hound of the Baskervilles. The only thing missing is Vova Goltsev’s trademark drawn-out scream.

Finally, there are positive aspects to wandering. The cloudberries are ripening in the sun. Transitions are shortened, parking lots are catastrophically increased. The stomach begins to swell. I inform Seryoga about this, but for some reason he doesn’t pay the slightest attention, bursts the berries on both cheeks and sends me away. There is nothing to do - I move on.

We go out onto the road, go around Gorelya Sopka, and ahead we can hear the noise of the village. A motor boat is coming towards us from the opposite bank. Handshakes. All!