Brief information on the area
Nevinnomyssk is a city in the Stavropol Territory of Russia. A large transport hub in southern Russia.
Arkhyz is a village in Zelenchuksky district of Karachay-Cherkessia. The administrative center of the Arkhyz rural settlement. Located in the Great Zelenchuk basin. The village is located at the bottom of a large hollow and on river terraces (1450-1500 m). Developed tourist and ski area. In recent years, the village has been developing. Ski resorts and camp sites are being built. The area is popular with tourists for the ease of routes and the beauty of the gorges. For many tourists, the biography of the “hiker” began precisely on the slopes of the Arkhyz mountains.
The ridge of the Abishir-Akhub ridge is flat, there are no pronounced saddles and peaks in it. The average height is about 3000 m, the highest point is Mount Rechepsta (3200 m). The southern slopes, arched towards Arkhyz, are steep and grassy, with separate rock faults, and there are few snowfields. To the north the picture is different. Sheer dissected rocks break off 200-300 m, screes stretch for kilometers; long spurs departing from the ridge, dividing the origins of the rivers Urup, Chilik, Kizylchuk, Agur-Käfar and Käfar. In their upper circuses are snowfields, karst glaciers and numerous lakes.
The Abishir-Akhub Ridge delays the flow of cold air from the north. Being on the ridge, you can often see sunny weather over Arkhyz, and the northern circuses of Abishir-Akhub are completely packed with clouds. The clouds swirl, but do not pass over the crest; if you have passed, wait in the aul for bad weather.
In the zone of the upper circuses, above 2500 m, even in July - August the temperature drops below zero, the water in the lakes is covered with a thin crust of ice. Rain is often replaced by snow. The landscape of the northern circuses resembles the mountains of the Eastern Caucasus, and the shores of the upper lakes - the tundra.
Mostly pine grows on the rivers Urup and Käfar, there is a tree-like juniper, below - centuries-old beech-hornbeam forests. In the lower part of Käfar grow sedimentary amazing thickness - я Käfar baobabs ’. On the banks of the rivers are overgrown with black and red currants. In sunflowers and avalanches, raspberries. At the border of the forest an abundance of blueberries. The peculiarity of these forests is that there is no crooked forest on the upper border (1800-1900 m), subalpine high-grass and alpine meadows immediately begin above. There are many alpine poppies in the meadows; they bloom until the very end of August.
Places here are deaf, rarely visited by humans. In inaccessible rocks nest large eagles, Ular, stone partridges. There are a lot of trout in the rivers.
Kiafara Valley in past centuries was densely populated. In the vast expanse up to Nizhny Arkhyz there are remains of settlements (mainly Alans, V — XIII centuries): dolmens (crypts from large plates, typical of the Abkhaz-Circassian tribes), ruins of temples, burial mounds. A giant dolmen was taken from the Krivoy River (the right tributary of Käfar, 2 km higher than Lesokyafar) to the Stavropol Museum of Local Lore.
Route Specifications
- The total length of the route is 100 km
- Total climb - 4559 m
- Mark the beginning of the route - 1700 m
- Mark the end of the route - 1700 m
What is included in group public equipment
Tents, main ropes, communications, gas cylinders or gasoline, burners, a first-aid kit, cooking utensils, etc.
We strongly recommend taking along:
- warm jacket or fleece jacket for the season;
- ski cap;
- fleece gloves;
- waterproof and windproof jacket and trousers;
- tracksuit;
- sleeping bag;
- polyurethane foam mat;
- trekking shoes;
- shoe covers (flashlights) on the legs;
- interchangeable shoes for ford and camp (sneakers);
- backpack 80-100l;
- a seater;
- trekking poles;
- rain cape on yourself and on a backpack;
- sun protection: panama, cream, glasses;
- work gloves;
- mug, spoon, bowl, knife;
- thermos or flask for water with a total volume of 1 l .;
- headlamp (set of spare batteries);
- individual first-aid kit.
Additional Information
- Only children under 14 years old are allowed on the route
- The host office has the right to change the route according to weather conditions and the condition of the group
- The price does not include: additional excursions, transfers outside the program, environmental fees, etc.
- It is possible to provide additional services by prior arrangement: transfer: airport (railway station) - hotel; rental of personal equipment; hotel reservation; recreation organization on the Black Sea