Rounding Elbrus from the north

Report on the campaign Elbrus region Caucasus.

I liked the route along the Northern Elbrus region a year ago. Longer, more complex (relative to the same Carpathians), there is an opportunity to test yourself in new conditions, at altitudes that may not be completely extreme, but still require gradual adaptation of the body. We were faced with repeated passes above 3 km, several overnight stays beyond 2900 m. The Caucasus beckoned with the snow-capped ridges of its ridges, and of course the opportunity to get almost close to the giant Elbrus did not leave anyone indifferent to this route.

In my narration, I will try not to adhere too much to any strict sequence of events, in terms of meeting, arriving, campfire, getting up, “under the backpack!”, halt... All this was very similar from day to day). Before our eyes, landscapes of incomparable beauty only changed from steep slopes overgrown with forest at the beginning and end of the hike, to alpine meadows and lifeless stone ridges in the highlands. Perhaps I will focus more attention on individual impressions of what I saw and felt...

Even before the hike, I read about the peculiarities of the body’s behavior under conditions of decreased atmospheric pressure, reduced oxygen content in the air against the backdrop of increased stress and a possible lack of calories in the diet (it’s still a long and long walk, it’s not easy to carry a lot of food, and often groups switch to all sorts of dried things, abandoning stewed meat, lard, condensed milk and other goodies). Looking ahead a little, I will say that all fears were in vain. On the contrary, it was quite fun to “listen” to your body and receive previously unfamiliar sensations. There was a lot of food =). Our group leader, Sasha Rudenko, made sure that those same calories were in reserve, there was always the opportunity to take a second portion of excellent kazhi with vegetables and stew, fish soup, delicious oatmeal with condensed milk and dried fruits, and numerous goodies like chocolate, gingerbread, waffles, nuts and lard!) In general, the group was provided with a royal menu for all 9 days of the hike; the numerous gophers accompanying us throughout the entire route were not left hungry. Of course, at the beginning it was not at all easy to gain 1000m of altitude with a 30kg backpack, but every day everyone had less and less food and after breakfast on the last day of the hike there was absolutely nothing left, again, everything was masterfully calculated by our instructor.

I felt the first obvious influence of altitude on the second day, somewhere at an altitude of 2400m. There is a slight noise in the head, it has actually become a little more difficult to breathe, you definitely can’t breathe through your nose – you can only get the required amount of air through your mouth). On climbs, you always really want to stop for a couple of seconds, take a breath, but you mentally count down 50 steps, and only then do you give yourself the go-ahead for a short break. At the very beginning, even in a parking lot at an altitude of 2600m, as long as you get up and walk a couple of meters to the river to wash the bowl, you already need to catch your breath). To increase your pulse to 90-100 beats per minute, at home you will have to sweat a lot, but here it was a resting pulse, even before bed it did not drop lower. The headache visited me only once on the morning of the fourth day after a long trek the day before and an overnight stay at 3000m. Although, something tells me, this was not due to altitude sickness, but still a sip of the multi-degree elixir from Sasha in honor of Zhenya’s birthday at the Chemart Pass, and two more drops of warming mulled wine before bed). Two tablets after breakfast returned everything to its place, an hour later the pain disappeared. In general, with proper acclimatization, as we had, with alternating descents and ascents, the body tolerates everything perfectly - on the penultimate day of the hike to Kyrtykaush (3232m) I felt at home, even if you turn around and go to Elbrus!

Elbrus! We were lucky enough to see him for the first time on a clear morning on the third day of the hike. Climbing onto the ridge under which our tents stood, an excellent picture opened up. Lifeless peaks appeared right before our eyes, a little to the right there was a view of the snow-capped ridges of the Main Caucasus Range, and to the left, above all these beauties, towered old Elbrus, completely covered with snow and ice, the giant shimmering in the sun with a diamond shine. The view of the main peak of Europe accompanied us almost until the very end of the hike; we almost completely went around it from the north, without looking at Elbrus only from the south. By the middle of the hike, we came as close as possible to it; there were only a couple of kilometers left to the foot. Here Sasha very opportunely decided to stop for a day, with which we were simply incredibly lucky: excellent clear weather, a gorgeous place with a turbulent river and a Narzan spring two steps from the camp, and of course an incomparable view of Elbrus. Having had a hearty early lunch, Seryoga and I decided to walk lightly along the ridge to the “Black Rock,” which is how we called the small plateau we had noticed in the morning, rising above the rocky ridge, for its dark gray volcanic hue. Thus, we would get as close as possible to Elbrus with its huge snow-white glaciers stretching almost from its very peaks...

… For a long time now I really wanted to see a glacier, invisibly flowing down from some mountain peak, but for some reason it seemed that along the route of the Elbrus region we would not be lucky enough to admire them, and if we did see them, it would probably only be from afar. As you may have already guessed, I was deeply mistaken again). The glacier, smoothly sliding down Elbrus, was very close to our camp. Divided into several tongues, it fed the Kyzylkol River, which originated from it, with its melt water, near which we set up tents. But even that glacier, near our camp, faded without a trace before the picture that opened to our eyes after we finally climbed the ridge leading to the “Black Rock” along a loose slope. Even in the most fantastic dream I could not imagine such a miraculous miracle. The glacier was of breathtaking size and stretched along the ridge right to the foot of Elbrus. The roar and howl of the wind blowing on the surface of the glacier, the noise of countless rivers running along it, seemed to revive it and as if gave it even more powerful menace.

The ice lake at the very bottom, the powerful river emanating from the base of the glacier, the incredible beauty and size of the glacier itself and the many-kilometer block of Elbrus crowning it all - a simply fabulous landscape appeared before my eyes. Wow, the surprise (while climbing the ridge, we had no idea what was hidden behind it) gave me goosebumps)). Trying to absorb as much as possible from the views that had opened up, Seryoga and I continued our “weekend” hike to the foot of Elbrus...

...So, two hours of smooth ascent along the ridge, then climbing over boulders to climb the “Black Rock” plateau, and finally, we are on the edge of a cliff, behind which there is nothing but the simply immense Elbrus. The navigator showed 3628m. Before us appeared a stunning view of a giant shapeless icefall, gradually turning into that same endless field of a huge glacier on one side of the plateau, and into several ice tongues towards the camp on the other. Directly above me, against the background of an almost cloudless sky, the western peak of Elbrus rose more than two kilometers. It’s impossible to even come close to describing those sensations, the indescribable admiration that engulfs you in these moments. Take my word for it, it’s very cool!..

The next day, after a long walk along the Irahitsyrt plateau, which served as an airfield for German aviation during the Great Patriotic War, rounding Elbrus from the north, we came to the Narzan clearing of Djily-su. Here you had to work hard to find fresh water for dinner; delicious narzan springs came out of the ground everywhere. The male half of the group did not miss the opportunity to take a dip in the bathhouse, full of mineral water bubbling like a small geyser. Girls, according to local customs, have “swimming time” only until noon... Having filled all our containers with crystal narzan (here, by the way, it turned out to be the most delicious), we continued on to our next stop. Sasha masterfully chose the place to set up the camp every time, and now we all simply gasped at the view of the river waterfall that suddenly opened before us. Karakaya-su. A huge, powerful stream of water fell from an almost seventy-meter height. The wind carried water pollen in all directions, and under the waterfall from the sun a bright rainbow appeared in a semi-ring. Here, almost at the very edge of the raging stream of the river. Malka with a view of the amazing landscape a couple of tens of meters from us, we laid out our tents...

Throughout the entire route, our hike was accompanied almost daily by a drop and gain in height of more than one hundred meters. And now, having once again admired the delightful waterfall in the rays of the morning sun and the endless power of glacial water falling from the cliff, under the command “Under your backpack!)" we moved on. From the camp level (2150m), during the day we had to cross a ridge at 3 km altitude, then a long descent and a long trek with a slight upward slope to the next overnight stop. The day was filled with a scorching sun, which then never hid; not a single cloud appeared in the sky during the day. But it’s certainly better than trudge through the rain or wet snow - in the Caucasus the weather can sometimes be very disappointing.

At night, the clear transparent sky pleased us with thousands of thousands of bright and seemingly so close stars... Tomorrow we had to cross the Kyrtykaush pass at 3232m (our group had not climbed higher with backpacks during the entire trip), and a tiring descent down the road to Upper Baksan, a few kilometers from which, on the banks of the Kyrtyk River, we decided to stop. During the day, almost 1.5 kilometers of height were dropped, lush vegetation and forested slopes appeared again. Although I didn’t want to admit it at all, the hike was inexorably approaching the end... It was followed by a three-hour drive to Mineralnye Vody through traffic jams near Pyatigorsk and, of course, a saving and revitalizing steam room in the local bathhouse!) It turned out that Seryoga and I were the first to leave our excellent team, taking the train to Adler, where we planned to continue the journey on the Black Sea coast of the post-Olympic city. But that, as they say, is a completely different story.)

In conclusion, one cannot help but say “thank you” again to the Caucasus for the gift of unforgettable days, dizzying landscapes, sunny weather, bright and rich genuine colors, an incomparable feeling when clouds float before your eyes! Respect to Sasha Rudenko for his professional, skillful and responsible approach to his work! For musical evenings with a guitar and the harmonious melody of a flute in the mornings and at rest stops, greetings to Sashka from Syktyvkar, Seryoga from Ukhta for company on morning and evening adventures, Zhenya from Kyiv for sometimes seemingly endless conversations;)). Thanks to the resource www.outdoorukraine.com represented by Kirill and Svetlana Yasko for information support and simply for everything else). Thanks to everyone who read this hiking essay to the end, and see you on the way to new heights!

Victor Kurilyonok, Minsk, Belarus.