Olkha rocks. Skalnik Vityaz: weekend on the Olkha plateau! The largest rivers in the region

The Olkha Plateau is the southern edge of the Central Siberian Plateau. The section of the Southern Baikal region, located between Eastern Sayan Mountains, Primorsky ridge and Lake Baikal.

Geography

It is an equilateral triangle, bounded from the south by Lake Baikal, from the east - Irkutsk reservoir, from the west - the Irkut River. It is very popular among tourists.

Climate

The climate is sharply continental, average temperature January -22 degrees Celsius, on the coast of Baikal -18 degrees (with an absolute minimum of -45), the average temperature in July is +18, on the coast of Baikal + 15 (with an absolute maximum of + 35). The snow cover falls at the end of October, its thickness is on average 1 meter, and there is no avalanche danger.

Flora and fauna

The predominant forest species are pine, birch, spruce, larch, fir, aspen, cedar, wild rosemary, Daurian rhododendron, etc. Animal world typical of Siberia and has more than 100 species of mammals. On part of the territory of the Olkha plateau is located Pribaikalsky national park. Abundant with berries and mushrooms.

The largest rivers in the region

Big Olkha
Big Half

Main settlements

Kultuk
Big Meadow
Podkamennaya.

Name

The Olkha Plateau received its name from the Bolshaya Olkha River, which flows almost the entire length of the plateau from north to south.

Just 80 – 150 km from Irkutsk is the Olkha Plateau. It is famous for its beautiful nature, dense forests and, of course, rocks. The most famous of them is Vityaz. Also in Soviet time it was chosen by novice climbers, and to this day there is a great chance to meet guys in equipment stubbornly climbing to the 40-meter height of Vityaz.

In addition to climbers, tourists often come here for 1-2 days. It’s especially crowded around the rock climbing area on a sunny September weekend. Therefore, if you want to be alone with nature, try to come to Vityaz on a weekday.

From the rock you can see a very beautiful view of the Olkha River. And although many consider this view to be the main reward of the hike, I prefer the path itself along the paths among the beautiful forest.

For a hike you need little: comfortable shoes, clothing appropriate for the weather. If you go when it’s warm, wear a T-shirt and a thin jacket/sweatshirt so you can take it off and still be in the T-shirt. It is very hot to climb the mountain. Plus water and food.

How to get to the Vityaz rock climb?

There are two ways to get to Vityaz: by car or by train to Orlyonok station. Exact (route: Irkutsk Pass. - Orlyonok), the price will also be indicated there, usually 60 -70 rubles. I don't write the schedule and price here because they change from time to time. It’s better to see accurate information first-hand.

Skalnik Vityaz, Irkutsk: how to get there by car

If you, like me, are a topographical cretin and for you descriptions of the route in the spirit of “follow the markers” are not enough - it’s not scary. Every year someone manages to get lost on the Olkha Plateau. Fortunately we have a century high technology, just download the offline map to your phone Maps.Me. It is available for both iPhones and Android phones, it automatically routes desired route, supports GPS and is generally an endlessly useful application for any traveler. Cards that require internet will not work. After 10 - 15 minutes of travel, all communication will be cut off and you will have to rely only on markers.

The route to Vityaz itself is not difficult. But if you are a city dweller and have little experience hiking in the forest, all you have to do is take a wrong turn to get lost. You can, of course, join a group of other tourists, but usually neither they nor you will be happy with such a neighborhood. On the way to Vityaz, everyone tries to spread out as much as possible along the road to enjoy nature; there are plenty of crowds in the city.

That is why I decided to describe the route in as much detail as possible and provide you with a convenient map with GPS support. On any modern smartphone, even without the Internet, you will see your position relative to the route.

So, let's go.

Olkha Plateau: walking routes

The trip to Orlyonok station takes 80 minutes. Get off at the station, wait for the train to leave and cross to the other side of the railway tracks. There, go down the stairs from the small slide and turn right. And then in a straight line, without turning anywhere until a small bridge over Malaya Olkha.

The path to the bridge on Malaya Olkha

After the bridge, continue straight for a couple of minutes and you will reach the first fork. Wherever you turn, you can't go wrong, these are two routes to Vityaz.

If you go right, take the short route (5.2 km) where you go uphill. It is on this route that you can take a wrong turn, but it offers very beautiful views.

If you turn left, you will take a longer route (about 8 km), but on a straight road with no chance of getting lost, the main thing is to follow the river.

Many people take the short road to Vityaz and return by a detour.

The long road is simple - walk along the river for a long time, then turn right to the bridge. After the bridge, turn left (to the yellow route, see map below) and again along the path along Olkha. The river is your main landmark, walk along it and don’t get lost.

The Purple Line is a bicycle route; to get there, turn right after the bridge.

And I’ll tell you more about the short route

The main rule here is stick to the best-trodden path and during forks, look at marks on trees. This could be a red stripe on a tree or a red ribbon indicating the desired turn (or maybe a different color; in 2017 there were red ones).

First, for about 20-30 minutes you will climb up the mountain through the forest. Towards the end of the climb you will see large beautiful stones, like from the movie “Avatar”. After the stones you will reach a power line. It is impossible not to notice it; it is a wide clearing in the forest.

Hurray, you've reached the power line

Just go straight, there are no forks here. A picturesque aspen alley awaits you ahead. After the alley you will find yourself at a fork. It is not indicated on the map, but in fact it is. You need to take the more trodden left path. In 2017, the adjacent right path was blocked by thick branches, and it is also more overgrown.

Having chosen the desired path, go straight again. The map shows that you will soon come to another fork. The left path is half-overgrown, just pass by, and on the right there is a forest road, it can also lead you to the wrong place. Choose the path in the middle (blue).

On the approach to Vityaz there will be a steep descent on the right. It is more convenient to go down it to get to the camp site of the same name.

If you go straight, you will come out to the top of the Vityaz rock, from where the same view of Olkha opens.

That's all. I wish you an easy journey and only pleasant adventures!

The rocks of the Olkha plateau are very famous in Irkutsk and beyond. At any time of the year, there are always visitors near them, both adults and children. You can go around them on foot or visit them by bike, but in the second case you can see more rocks in a a short time. This time we visited the rock climbing on foot - not everyone in our group has the skills to ride a two-wheeler in winter.
How to get there? Of course, by electric train. One of the options is 9 o'clock. 39 min. from Akademicheskaya station. Take tickets to Orlyonok station. The return train departs at 15:00. 58 min. See the schedule on the website BPPC.ru.
Upon arrival, you cross the railway tracks and go down the steep stairs

You turn right from the stairs, then immediately to the left, you see a path and follow it to the river, then across the bridge, on the ice in winter. A little later, the trail transforms into a road along which cars can move (soon the bridge will collapse and they won’t be able to ;)). You need to follow this road until you reach a fork where you will see a sign “Vityaz”. We walked 5.2 km to it in 1 hour 08 minutes. The fork is big, wide, you can’t confuse it.

You turn away from the sign in the direction it points (to the right). Almost immediately from the sign there will be a shortcut to the road through the swamp, which is only valid in winter.

The shortcut leads again to the road, from which you soon turn onto another shortcut, now to the left into a pine-birch forest. The forest turns into a swamp, then again into a forest, only the forest is beautiful, spruce. In the summer we rode a bicycle through a swampy area; it was a little dirty, but overall not critical. In winter, the swamp is identified only by yellow patches of snow and its smell.
Along this shortcut you go to a huge stone, in the photo:

When you reach it, you raise your head, oops, but there it is, the Vityaz climbing shoe - the head and shoulders of a warrior in enormous armor. Clickable.

You look around - do you see the bell at the top, on the rock? What about rock climbers? I may be wrong in the classification of these comrades hanging in clusters on the rock - correct me in the comments.
The distance to Vityaz from the train is 6.8 km.
From the rock climbing area we look to the left - there are houses there, a football ground, yurts - everything for relaxation. They say you can warm up and drink tea there for a fee.

Near the houses there is a stand with a map of rock climbing areas, on which it is clear where they are. Clickable.

The next interesting rock is Idol. Behind the stand the path to it begins. A narrow, beautiful, picturesque path goes past the Polytechnic and Angarsky rock climbs.

If you meet on your way the GBT sign - Great Baikal Trail and a new bridge, then you are on the right path)

Behind the bridge, the path splits - straight - to Idol, to the left - to rock climbing walls with swings. We are going according to my GPS track - to the Idol.
The idol is impressive, right? Judge the size by the person standing next to you.

And if you walk around it, then on the other side it looks normal!

The photo is also clickable. I draw your attention to the Biotex inscription.
On this weekend hike I tested thermal underwear Biotex Women's Bioflex Warm Long Sleeve Base Layer

What I noted from the positive aspects first of all:
- silky fabric, very pleasant to the touch and on the body;
- seamlessness - during classes active species This is relevant for sports, for example, under a backpack the lack of seams is a pleasant feature;
- anatomical cut, which allows you not to feel the thermal underwear on your body - it does not pull, press or pinch anywhere;
- in the cold wind (the temperature that day was +2.8o and the wind was gusting), due to the tight fit of the thermal underwear to the body, I did not feel chilly.
- at first, the high stand-up collar, as it seemed to me, was “suffocating” me, but, probably, this was purely my feeling, which gradually passed, and then I realized that it covered my neck, and the wind did not cool it;
- and the most important thing is why we put on thermal underwear - the sweat was absorbed and removed evenly, I did not feel either damp clothes or sweat on my body.
Guys, I draw your attention to such a moment as to the packaging - you won’t be ashamed to give this gift to your lady in it! They send the goods in a very solid box, not in a bag!!!
By the way, the next day, opening the road season, and having ridden 50 kilometers, I also tested Biotex thermal underwear, which gave the same results even under more intense loads. wonderful characteristics, as with walking load.

Back to our journey. On the path to the rock climbing Idol saw the phone number of the Ministry of Emergency Situations - write to yourself just in case. There are different cases - you can simply sprain your ankle. There is a connection there.

After examining the Idol rock, you go back to the small fork in front of the bridge and the sign BBT and go along it. The trail will gradually go up to the winter huts, near which there is a swing. The height to which they will lift you will take your breath away, and the feeling of flight and soaring of your body at a height of several meters above the ground evokes a fabulous, magical feeling)

It's time to get back on the train. We were already running back from time to time, and we didn’t really swing on the swing, which we sincerely regretted, so I recommend returning from Orlyonok station on a later train than 15.58.
The total distance along this route was 20.26 km, the total time - from train to train - 4 hours 58 minutes, driving time - 4 hours. 11 min.

On the territory of the Baikal region there are unique natural monuments - rocky outcrops formed as a result of weathering of rocks over hundreds of thousands of years. These stone sculptures, not inferior in their historical and cultural value to the famous Krasnoyarsk pillars, are hidden from prying eyes, although they are located only 60 km from the capital of Eastern Siberia - the city of Irkutsk.

The route to the rocks of the Olkhinsky plateau can be planned for one day off, or with an overnight stay. The plateau itself is a plateau between the Angara and Irkut valleys with numerous rock outcrops.

Placers of stones and lonely rocks on the flat tops of the mountains are a common landscape of these places. Many original shapes of climbing shoes have beautiful names- Old Fortress, Old Woman Izergil, Crow, Pharaoh, Cleopatra.

FEATURES OF THE ROUTE

Due to its accessibility, this route can be recommended as an excellent active rest on a day off in any season, but especially bright colors during the autumn period. More than half of the route runs along the bed of the picturesque Olkha River.

During the Soviet period, the most famous of the entire group of rock outcrops, the Vityaz rock climb, was extremely popular among students and novice climbers. Every Sunday, a crowded train delivered several hundred tourists to the Orlyonok station, who walked the distance of 8 km to this rock.

Climbing competitions were regularly held here. On Vityaz, 19 named routes with a length of 25-35 meters of the most difficult categories V-VI are marked with hammered pitons. The rock is an ideal climbing wall with shelves, plumbs and monolithic sections. Nowadays there are significantly fewer tourists, although it leads to Vityaz highway, and nearby on the bank of Olkha next to the rock there is a camp site with felt Mongolian yurts.
Every year in mid-September, in a clearing near the Vityaz rock mountain, the already traditional festival of bard songs takes place, which attracts performers from all over Siberia.

HOW TO GET THERE

You can get to the stone guards of the Olkhinsky plateau by car directly to the foot of the rock formations, but it is much more interesting to cover the part of the route from Orlyonok station to the Vityaz rock formation (8 km) on foot or by bicycle. IN winter time The route can be easily covered in 30-40 minutes on cross-country skis.

By car: from Irkutsk take the exit along the Kultuksky highway and further to Shelekhov immediately after refueling at the Rosneft gas station (on the right side) turn left to settlements Olkha and Bolshoy Lug. The asphalt highway runs along the railway track through the settlements of Olkha and Bolshoy Lug. At Orlyonok station you can park your car and then cycle through the wooden walls and across the Olkha River. walking no more than 7-8 km long along a picturesque dirt road along the bed of the Olkha River.

ATTRACTIONS

The most famous and accessible rock climbing site is Vityaz.

The view that opens from this rock allows you to take in the entire plateau and see the surrounding attractions and neighboring rocks from a bird's eye view.

In the neighborhood, the popular rocks among climbers are Idol, Turtle, Old Woman, and Fortress. They got their names because of their characteristic contours. The 30-meter Idol is reminiscent of the famous stone idols of Easter Island - the same columnar stone monolith with a slab and a headdress-like stone on top.

It takes about 30 minutes (2.5 km) to walk along the path from Vityaz to the Idol rock hidden in the forest. The places here are reminiscent of the famous Krasnoyarsk pillars, but the rocks of the Olkhinsky plateau are less known and are popular only among local rock climbers.

If you drive from the Bolshaya Olkha valley along the old roads up the Zyryansky 2nd stream to the top (923.7 meters), then you can walk (200 m) to the Starukha and Fortress rocks. The first is so named for its massive protruding “nose”, angry “eyes” and wrinkled “face”,

and the second - for its resemblance to a medieval castle.

The climbers' routes here are made with bolts. There are also beautiful rocks, which you can get almost close to by car, in the area of the station. Andriyanovskaya and in the upper reaches of the Zazara River. The rocks themselves are clearly visible from the Kultuksky tract, and from the tops of some rocks you can even see the blue surface of the lake.

To have a complete idea of the location of rocky outcrops and stone attractions on the territory of the Olkha Plateau, I recommend looking at this map.

To have a complete idea of the beauty and uniqueness of these places, I suggest you look

This material is intended as Guide to help, first of all, those starting to develop the Olkha Plateau.

For ease of use in the text, key fork points are indicated with their serial numbers(in blue). These numbers, along with points, are indicated on maps with tracks marked on them. In addition, all key points are listed in the final section - Appendix, and also with serial numbers highlighted in blue.

The number of tourists using GPS navigation in one form or another is growing, I hope this material will be especially useful for them, and will encourage others to use already very widespread programs for navigation and training.

We will talk primarily about cross-country ski routes. Of course, in the taiga sometimes the amount of snow is such that you may need wider skis than cross-country skis... However, after someone has walked and trampled the ski track, participants on ordinary running shoes will follow this “hero”.

If you map most of the famous ski routes, you will get a very tangled tangle that only an experienced tourist can unravel. Our goal is to help everyone who craves the wild, quiet taiga and soft, sometimes their own, ski tracks to master all the interesting paths.

To complete the picture, we will consider all the popular starting and finishing points, well-known forest roads and winter roads, as well as the main nodal points - intersections and forks, some special interesting places— rock climbing, passes, camp sites, etc.

If we approach the description formally, the start of the ski route across the Olkha plateau could be the city of Irkutsk, and the finish - the city of Slyudyanka. I know of at least one example of such a heroic one-day march. However, this is completely exotic, and in fact is already a super marathon with elements of survival. We will limit ourselves to one-day treks of a maximum of 70-80 km, no more.

From Irkutsk you can get to the Olkha Plateau by skiing along the famous Akadem-Bolshoi Lug route. It was once very popular, there were competitions, even night ones. However, due to intensive cottage development and the development of the road network, the route has lost its attractiveness, although it is still supported by enthusiasts.

The most convenient way to get to the Olkha Plateau in winter is by train.

Most popular stops: Rassokha, Eaglet, Ogonki, Difficult, Podkamennaya, Sanatorium, Glubokaya, Moving. These are both starting and finishing points. You can also get to Rassokha, Orlyonok, and Ogonki by car. However, road conditions can vary widely. This especially applies to Ogonyki, where you should not drive a car without all-wheel drive. There may also be problems with passing in the presence of oncoming traffic. To Podkamennaya, Gluboka and Pereezd - no problem by car, but what will you do then? The routes from these points are non-circular.

So, let's begin to unravel the tangle from Glubokaya station. We are not considering moving, since these are primarily routes to Baikal and Slyudyanka, or towards Irkut and, for example, to Shamanka. There are also routes towards Irkut from Glubokaya and Podkamennaya stations, they are not considered here. Related topics can be found on Angara.Net.