NORTHERN
TIEN SHAN
Almaty to Issyk Kul lake trekking
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| The upper
part of the road (which is accessible for cars up to "Tuyuksuu Gate"
cafe - about 30 min. walk up from Chimbulak) leads to upper "Minzhilky"
(which means "Thousand mares" in Kazakh) anti-mud flow dam. Also
it is hard to meet even one mare out there, you can found a great mountain
scenery and a lot of interesting pass-hopping and climbing routes! The "Minzhilky"
meteorological station is visible right down the dam. There is about 3-4
hrs walk from Chimbulak to that place. Above is moraine swell of Tuyuksuu
glacier. B |
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| The road
(to be precise, the trail, which is partially snow-covered up to mid-June)
leads to Tuyuk-Suu meteorological and glacial station (elevation of about
3500 m). There are a lot of pass-hopping and climbing routes out there,
for example, to Molodezhniy ("Youthful") peak - 4100 m, 1B-2A
CC UIAA, snow and ice climbing - see foto. Some mad people even skiing from
upper part of Tuyuk Suu circus to "Minzhilky dam!
B |
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| Now come
back to Chimbulak, back the cable way and go up to Talgarskiy pass at 3163 m)!
B |
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| Slightly
below the pass, every tracks of civilization disappear. You can see on the
background short gorge with small glacier and easy-to-climb Komsomol peak
(4330 m). The trail goes gentle down to the so-called Maliy (Small)
Talgarskiy pass (2870 m), then climb down steeply to the forest on
the right bank of Left Talgar river. B |
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| It is
worth to stay overnight in beautiful, practically untouched fir forest.
This gorge makes an amazing contrast to the populated area of Malaya Almaatinka
gorge. You can even make a campfire here! B |
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| The
sceneries you can see in the Left Talgar gorge, speak for themselves. Tien
Shan firs, clear springs, sub-alpine meadows, flowers, a lot of edible mushrooms,
etc, etc... B |
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| While
you cross the forest border, the scenery becomes more rigorous. The forest
and sub-alpine meadows are changing with alpine meadows... B |
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| After
so-called "Sunny field" the trail goes right-up to the relatively
short side gorge which is hiding Touristov glacier.
B |
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| The glacier
is usually snow-covered up to mid-June, so it is worth to go on the left-side
trail, which leads to the Tourists' pass (right col on the foto). B |
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 back |
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