The Lost World of Ayan. Notes for the violent

Lake Ayan is located in the Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets district, in the very center of the Putorana plateau, composed of ancient basalts. The length of the reservoir is 58 kilometers, its northern and central parts have a north-northwest - south-southeast direction. Then the reservoir changes direction several times, following the contours of the fault; its southern part is oriented strictly from north to south. The width of the lake is variable, in the northern part it is narrower (about one kilometer), in the southern part the width of the reservoir reaches two and a half kilometers. Here the lake is divided into two deep bays. The length of each bay is about 10 kilometers, the average width is about 800 meters. One of the bays extends from north to south, the other from east to west. The bays are located almost perpendicular to each other. A river with the same name – Ayan – flows out of the lake.

The water in the lake is clean, very slightly mineralized; from a boat the reservoir can be seen to a depth of almost twenty meters. The shores are flat in some places, steep in others, steep cliffs go straight to the water.

Lake Ayan is surrounded high mountains with steep slopes and flat, leveled peaks. The tops of the mountains are either completely devoid of vegetation or covered with sparse bushes, lichens grow on the rocks, and northern mosses grow in the depressions between the rocks. On the steepest mountain slopes (60-90 degrees) there is no vegetation; where the steepness is less than 60 degrees, shrubs, dwarf birch, and low larch grow, which descend to streams, rivers and the lake.

The mountains, combined with the smooth surface of the lake and stormy rivers, create unique, inimitable landscapes, but visitation to this region is limited by the fact that most of The Putorana plateau is the territory of the State Putorana Nature Reserve. To hunt and fish in these places, you must obtain permission from the management of the reserve and submit an application in advance.

The waters of Lake Ayan are home to one and a half dozen species of fish, the most common being whitefish (whitefish, redfish), several types of char, peled, perch, grayling, vendace, burbot, and pike. Visiting tourists fish using spinning rods; the best bait is considered to be artificial flies and insects. Rowing boats are permitted on the lake, but motorized boats are restricted to reserve staff only. On the shore of the lake, in Kapchug Bay, there is a cordon in which rangers are constantly working (who can deliver fishermen to the right place).

The administrative center of the Ayano-Maisky district and the rural settlement “Selo Ayan”. This term has other meanings, Ayan is a polysemantic term: Ayan Male name Ayan is a river in Russia, a tributary of the Kheta River. Ayan Bay in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Ayan is a populated area in Russia, Bauntovsky Evenki district of Buryatia.

Ayan is a lake beyond the Arctic Circle, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in the center of the Putorana Plateau, in the northwestern part of the Central Siberian Plateau, in the river basin. Khatangi.

The catchment area, according to the State Water Register, is 1869 km2. In the north, the river flows out of the lake. Ayan, left component of the river. Khety, a tributary of the river. Khatangi.

The lake is of glacial-tectonic origin, located in a narrow tectonic depression.

The water's edge is located at an altitude of about 470 m above sea level. The area of ​​the water surface, according to the State Water Register, is 89.6 km2, the length of the lake is about 60 km, the greatest width is 3.2 km, the depth is up to 250 m. Ayan is the 23rd lake Krasnoyarsk Territory and the 130th lake in Russia in terms of water surface area.

The lake stretches in a long narrow strip among the mountains from north-northwest to south-southeast, forming two long bays in the southern part - the so-called “pants”, as the locals call them. The banks are mostly steep and steep, in some places rising above the water surface to a height of more than 1 km. In the northern part of the lake, at the source of the river. Ayan a wide valley is formed. The region has a developed trap topography - a complex of high flat-topped massifs separated by deep and wide stepped canyons. The watershed is located on the border of the northern sparse taiga and forest-tundra.

The lake is flowing, with clean, transparent water of low mineralization, with a favorable oxygen regime; the content of nutrients is low. Characterized as oligotrophic. The lake is little studied.

The lake is fed by snow and rain. The spring rise in levels begins even during freeze-up, with maximum values ​​occurring at the end of July - beginning of August. Usually the lake is covered with ice for about ten months; it is cleared of ice very late - sometimes ice floes float on its surface even in August.

The valley of the lake and the Ayan River is one of the highways for the reindeer’s movement to the north every spring.

In the area between the rivers Ayan and Kholohit, including lake. Ayan, Putoransky was founded in 1988 nature reserve federal significance with an area of ​​1,887 thousand hectares, the main objects of research and protection of which were the Putorana subspecies of snow sheep, Arctic lesser goose, white-tailed eagle and gyrfalcon listed in the Red Book of Russia. In 2010, the Putorana Plateau was included in the list of UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites.

Permanent settlements not on the lake shore. In Kapchug Bay at the southern end of the lake there is a cordon of the Putorana Nature Reserve.

The seasonal part of the work at the Northern Ayan cordon has been completed. Our employee Ivan Kobilyakov participated in the expedition for about three months, and now, having returned, he shared with us his impressions and some of the results of his work. The main work of the cordon continues, and in the meantime we will learn about it from a direct participant.

Work at the cordon of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Taimyr Nature Reserves” looks very romantic from afar. Beautiful landscapes, rare animals and birds, harmony with nature... This is what it really is. But at the same time, in order to achieve your goals and objectives, you cannot relax even for a minute.

Together with the inspector of our organization Vasily Sarana, we flew to the Northern Ayan cordon (the central part of the Putorana plateau) on April 24. I returned back on July 12, having stayed on Ayan for a total of 80 days. Vasily remained at the cordon at least until the fall. Now his partner will be Timofey Volkov, an employee of the environmental education department.

Thanks to the measured rhythm and regularity of our activities, we managed to accomplish quite a lot during the spring-summer stage of the expedition. First of all, we studied the spring migration of wild reindeer. From the first day, our small detachment conducted regular routes in the vicinity of the cordon, set up camera traps, and recorded tracks that appeared in the snow. Further processing of the information will make it possible to give a more accurate estimate of the number of deer, but it is already clear: compared to previous years, there are much fewer of them in the Ayana Valley.

Deer is the basis of natural life on the Putorana plateau. The predatory animals that live in the valley of Lake Ayan were waiting for the migration of deer no less than we were. What is a source of statistics for scientists is long-awaited food for wolves, bears and wolverines after severe winter frosts and the polar night. We were lucky to capture very interesting shot. A bear that has recently awakened from hibernation, shaking its shaggy sides, is trying to catch up with the herd. Deer are rushing about. The bear makes a dash to catch up with at least one. But - failure! Deer easily hide from pursuit. The bear walks back and forth, puzzled, as if thinking about when else will there be an opportunity to sneak up so close to the prey and will he be lucky next time? “Eh, chewing roots again!” - the omnivorous bear probably thinks as he exits the field of view of the camera trap...

Due to the decline in the number of deer, wolves and wolverines have an even tougher time - they are poorly adapted for roots. The wolverine in the frame looks completely thin. But its Latin name Gulo gulo means “glutton”.

Only the birds really pleased us with their abundance. We watched with pleasure how our permanent neighbors, white-tailed eagles, fished at the source of the Ayan River in the second half of May, and then, after loud mating games, flew down the valley and sat on the nest. In the 20th of May, geese and... Bean bean birds were the first to fly over the cordon. Immediately behind them are mergansers, pintails, wigeons and other representatives of the noisy waterfowl. They landed on the opened water in large flocks and staged demonstration maneuvers right in front of the cordon. Sandpipers and snow buntings completed the picture of spring. Along the river bank they tirelessly collected mayflies directly from the ice, not paying any attention to us.

Although there were several timid thaws at the beginning of May, the spring of 2017 turned out to be stormy and rapid. Vasily Sarana, who spent the last five springs on Ayana, says that he has never seen such a high flood as this year in these parts. The maximum water level occurred on May 16-17. During these days, the river overflowed its banks and flooded not only the floodplain, but also the depressions of the first terrace above the floodplain. After several sunny days, heavy, prolonged rains began, which quickly melted the remaining snow.

The summer season truly began when the larch needles bloomed and the first flowers began to appear. The forest was filled with the singing of birds and somehow suddenly became empty. The deer migration has come to an end. Predators have also become less common in camera traps.

My part of the expedition to Lake Ayan is completed. Ahead is processing the collected materials and writing a report. Vasily Sarana still remains at the cordon. Now his partner is Timofey Volkov, an employee of the environmental education department. We wish good luck to the workers of the Northern Ayan cordon and the inviolability of the beauty of its surroundings!

23 days, 480 km, Duluk, northern lakes, packrafting, Red-listed white-tailed eagle and Putorana bighorn sheep.

Below is a long article with a lot of pictures.

General idea of ​​the hike and material

This was the fifth visit to the Putorana plateau, walking and water format. The first walking visit took place in the summer of 2013 with a group (http://www.marshruty.ru/travel/putorana2013/). The second solo walking visit was in the summer of 2015 - http://a-podkorytov.livejournal.com/2790.html (22 days, 269 km). The third solo walking and water visit was in the summer of 2016 - http://a-podkorytov.livejournal.com/4194.html (30 days, 580 km). The fourth solo ski visit was in April 2017 - http://a-podkorytov.livejournal.com/5286.html (14 days, 175 km). In the summer of 2017, there were minor difficulties in route planning due to the reconstruction of the airport in Norilsk. As a result, on the plateau we were able to briefly see Lake Duluk, the northwestern lakes (Negu-Iken, Neralakh, Bogatyr), highest point western part of the plateau (Bogatyr) and raft, like a big one, along the Mikchangda river.

Below is more of a photo report than a story. Most technical issues, security and communication issues on the route were resolved in the same way as before (described in detail in previous materials, I will not repeat). Only those details are mentioned that were not there before and that may be useful.

The upper reaches of the Mikchangda River and the city of Orlinaya. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Hiking route, mileage, numbers

The final detailed thread turned out like this: Norilsk - Northern part lake Ayan - r. Big Honna-Makit – northern part of Lake Ayan – vdp.100 in the upper reaches of the Duluk River – right bank of the Duluk River – Lake Duluk – surroundings of Lake Duluk – left bank of the Duluk River – northern part of Lake Ayan – Ayan River (rafting from the source to the left large tributary east of Lake Negu-Iken) – Lake Negu-Iken – river Dulugu-Iken – Lake Neralakh – Lake Bogatyr – V. Bogatyr (1591m) – river Yuzh.Nerakachi – upper reaches of the river. Mikchangda - pass in the upper reaches of the Bucharama river - Mikchangda river (rafting from the city of Orlinaya to Lake Lama) - Lake Lama - Norilsk.

The first half of the route (the Duluk River and the surroundings of Lake Duluk) was devoted to work for the benefit of the reserve system. The second half of the route is an independent exit to Lake Lama through the northern lakes and the Mikchangdu River. The distance covered by the active part was 480 km (according to the navigator track, without coefficients), of which the walking part was 306 km, the water part was 174 km (53 km of the Ayan River, 121 km of the Mikchangda River). Spent 23 days on the route (12.07-03.08). The schematic map shows the route traveled, the numbers of overnight stays correspond to the days of the route.

Route map. Putorana plateau. July-August 2017.

The walking section of the route in the interests of the Putorana Nature Reserve is shown in black, the rafting section of the packraft is shown in blue, the walking section of the route is shown in red.
The food distribution was moderate, 400 grams per day. I used lard for the first time on a summer hike. Works. For food there was help at the reserve's cordon, as well as several graylings on the Ayan and Mikchangda rivers. This year's grayling on the Ayan and Mikchangda rivers appeared larger on average than on the Delochi and Kutaramakan rivers in 2016, but his strong-willed qualities are still in perfect order.

Lake Ayan and the flood of the Ayan River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Lake Sobachye, mouth of the Khoronen River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Route thread: river and lake Duluk

The first evening I went radially to see the waterfalls on the Bol. Honna-Makit river. The 2nd Chopko River fermented 200-300 meters above Bol.Honna-Makita.


Upper waterfall on the river Bol.Honna-Makit. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Lower waterfall on the Bol.Honna-Makit river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Then there was an ascent to the plateau and a descent to the beginning of the Duluk River canyon. I quickly looked at a 100-meter waterfall on a tributary in the upper reaches of the Duluk River. Mid-July is a so-so time on the plateau. On a sunny day, the heat can already begin from 7 am.


Vdp.100m on a tributary in the upper reaches of the Duluk River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

I walked around Lake Duluk. Fine. Very far from tourist hiking and even rafting routes. Slightly disturbed Buzzard.


Buzzard. Putorana plateau. July 2017.


Lake Duluk and the Duluk River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

With Putorana snow sheep - everything is according to the April agreement. This time he was friends with a seasoned male. An over-aged retired ram with a broken horn was caught at midnight while sleeping and escorted for several hours until the morning meeting.



Putorana snow sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Protecting the light sleep of the ram, I sat for 4.5-5 hours. As usual, the ram crows, shakes its head, and periodically drives away vile creatures. Around 05 am it was time to go get acquainted. Everything was already conducive to approaching and hugging in a friendly manner, but while sitting there I was frozen, everything became numb, and I slightly stumbled on the slope, which left me out of confidence. We limited ourselves to simply waving to each other and wishing each other a good day.

Putorana bighorn sheep against the backdrop of Lake Duluk. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Putorana snow sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Putorana snow sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Putorana snow sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Putorana snow sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

In addition to the elder, there was a female on Duluk, apparently with a lamb nearby, because quickly and without a trace disappeared.
The inspectors of the Putorana Nature Reserve are so cool that they recognize a ram from a photograph and correctly indicate the place where it was filmed.

Lake Duluk. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Waterfall on a tributary of the Duluk River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Rafting on the river Ayan

For a change after the droughts of 2013 and 2016 summer season 2017 we were able to see high water on the plateau associated with late floods and rains. According to the descriptions, the section of the river from the source to the confluence of the Kaltama River is the simplest and in medium water Shouldn't be difficult. As it turned out later from conversations with colleagues in the workshop, water was not everywhere. In the eastern part of the plateau, water was not poured into the rivers (the Khigdekit river).

Almost immediately after sailing, it started to rain along the Ayan River; in the rain, without stopping, I swam cheerfully for 3 hours and covered about 20 km. There were creepy shivers with stones, some of them managed to pass by the edge.

Ayan River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Ayan River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

At around 22-00 on the left bank I was surprised to see a camp and two trimarans. The team from Norilsk, local men, were also surprised by the meeting and the rising water. We had a heartfelt talk, exchanged impressions and plans.

Rafting team on trimarans from Norilsk. Meeting on the banks of the Ayan River. Photo from Mikhail Karpov's copter. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

They received us very hospitably, fed us well, and gave us baked fish. We were invited to a camp bathhouse. It’s difficult to refuse, but the schedule didn’t allow it. Mikhail Karpov guided the quadcopter to the nearest rift. Said something like this from their anchorage (MPEG4 Video 1920x1080):

The author of the video materials is Mikhail Karpov (Norilsk). The passenger of the boat and the author of the under-installation is Andrey Podkorytov. Ayan River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Ayan River. Putorana plateau. July 2017. Photo by Mikhail Karpov.

I wanted to cross the left large tributary in order to spend the night closer to the mouth of the Kaltama River. About 3 km before the left tributary, difficult shifts with large swells began. Since it rained almost all day, there was quite a lot of water. In my experience, it couldn’t be done reliably on packraft. Further on there should have been more water; the river collected tributaries. You could wait for the water to fall or climb out of the Ayana canyon onto the plateau impromptu. I decided to shorten the rafting section by 15 km and climb out onto a plateau in an unplanned place. I swam a little to the tributary and passed a few rifts along the shore. At about 03-00 he came ashore. I rafted 49 km the whole day, wet, cool, tired. Usually the main argument against irritation, fatigue, cold and hunger was a full pot (Jetboil 0.8l) of Ivan tea with the addition of super-herbs. The next day there was no rain and the water fell, but the decision to leave the water had already been made. After Ayan, an audit of the products was carried out, during which, unable to resist, under the pretext of a difficult rafting day and the 50 km traveled, he looted a little of his reserves.

Ayan River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

From the river, the ascent to the plateau next to the tributary is almost head-on along crowded deer paths. At one point, when setting up the 13th camp, the tent was blown away by the wind. It’s not easy to catch up with her, but it’s necessary. Half-sitting, propping up the wall, a dangerous squall wind fought back.

Route: lakes Negu-Iken, Neralakh, Bogatyr

There was evening lunch at Lake Negu-Iken. Then he walked along the shore. Beautiful curves coastline, fog, deer antlers left over from the mouths of the aborigines. Lake Negu-Iken is complex and very regular.


Lake Negu-Iken. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Mouth. Lake Negu-Iken. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

A mother bear with two cubs was walking on the slopes of Lake Neralakh. In the valley of the lake, bones of deer eaten by wolves are found everywhere.

Lake Neralakh. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

A night radial route was organized to the top of Bogatyr. At 23-15 we had lunch in the saddle (overnight 16 on the map), at 00-25 we went radially towards Bogatyr, at 3-10 we were on the edge of the pre-summit spur. After sunrise I went to the highest point. I returned to my backpack at 07:35 and left at 8:10. I was in no hurry during the day, resting at night. Night radials are a proven evil, but the only way to be in good location at the right time, if necessary for some reason. Lake Bogatyr is complex and irregular.

Lake Bogatyr. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Lake Bogatyr, view from the top of Bogatyr. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Lake Bogatyr and the top of the Bogatyr massif. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Promotional shot for a friendly company. The top of Bogatyr. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

We managed to cross the Yuzh.Nerakachi River on rocks; in other places it was deep. Near the lakes in the upper reaches of the Mikchangda River there are deer bones all over the place, every 100-200 meters, on every hill. Apparently favorite place wolf hunt.

River South Nerakachi. Putorana plateau. July 2017.


Upper reaches of the Mikchangda river, Orlinaya city. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Instead of the typical descent to the Mikchangda River by the shortest route (through the pass from the Bucharama River), I looked at a more gradual descent four kilometers to the northwest. Good.

Rafting on the Mikchangda River

At 17-40 I went to the equipped parking lot near Mikchangda. I had a leisurely lunch, shifted, and set sail at 10 p.m. There are a lot of riffles in the upper reaches; in some places the packraft had to be done with your feet.

The upper reaches of the Mikchangda river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

After forest lake on the right bank of the Mikchangda, before the mouth of the Mikchangda-Ondodomi river, stretches begin with almost no current, periodically replaced by riffles or floods of the river into several fast channels. Jets often blow onto fallen trees. There are many stretches almost to the very mouth of the Talikit River. In stretches of water, in a strong headwind, at times I had to hold on tightly to the bushes on the shore so as not to swim in the opposite direction.

Mikchangda River, tributary area of ​​the Mikchangda-Ondodomi River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.


Mikchangda River. Putorana plateau. August 2017.

1-2 km after the mouth of the Talikit River, long riffles begin, gradually turning into rifts. The river is changing, there are a lot of stones in the riverbed, it’s uncomfortable. Shivers are 100-200-300 m long, the bottom is coarse rocky, the packraft catches. There is a current everywhere, it moves quickly, there are no reaches. Shivers are often carried out onto trees in water. I wore a few pieces. There are many channels in the spills; sometimes you need to packraft with your feet (the deepest channel is not obvious). After the right tributary of the Yuzh. Abagalakh River, the character of the Mikchangda River changes again, again there are long reaches, between them there are deep riffles with small pebbles. Shivers are rarer and calmer; in the riverbed there are bluffs.

Mikchangda River. Putorana plateau. August 2017.

Mikchangda River. Putorana plateau. August 2017.

As you approach the right tributary of the Yuzh.Iken River, there are more and more reaches, there is no current at all. I didn't notice the influx at all. The river is getting fuller and faster. Long shivers begin. At first light, then more and more full-bodied, longer and more serious. Since the water was above average and the river was absorbing tributaries, I considered the option of leaving the river from the confluence of the South Iken River and walking south-southwest to the release point on Lake Lama. I got carried away, didn’t notice the Yuzh.Iken tributary, so I decided to sail on. In the section of the river after the confluence of the South Iken River and up to the Mikchangda delta there are several of the deepest and most serious rifts. Some he spent along the shore, some he swam along the edge. In the delta, Mikchangda begins to overflow, there is no current, it is shallow, you need to choose channels so as not to run aground, the fairway is not obvious. In some places the depth is 10-15 centimeters. Directly to Lamu it is better to swim along the shore; in other places there are shallows.

An unpleasant moment for packrafting are hanging/fallen trees, because... They threaten not just a coup, but an accident with damage to the boat. This is a bottleneck, because packraft is still a compromise between weight and reliability. From the source to the Kaltama River, the Ayan River is wide, with pebble banks, without twisting turns. I don’t remember any problems with trees on Ayana at all. On Mikchangda everything is different. In places where it overflows, the river has a bunch of narrow winding channels with good flow and big amount fallen trees, the stream often blows directly onto them. In stretches of trees there are also a lot of trees in the water, often they are completely hidden under water, you need to look carefully.
The Red Book inhabitants of the plateau were noted not only by sheep, but also by birds in the person of the white-tailed eagle.

White-tailed eagle. Putorana plateau. August 2017.

White-tailed eagle, chick. Putorana plateau. August 2017.

Arctic terns attack not only people, they even chase white-tailed eagles, who have a numerical advantage, into their tails and manes.

Arctic tern and white-tailed eagles. Putorana plateau. August 2017.

Somehow I finished on Lama:

Lake Lama. Putorana plateau. August 2017. Photo by Ilya Kalinsky.

A group of tourists we knew through correspondence greeted us with the words “It’s a small world.” The guys prepared a delicious fish soup, it was a wonderful evening. The next morning, leisurely preparations and transfer to Norilsk. Ilya Kalinsky helped with the boat ride from the mouth of the Mikchangda River to Lake Lama to Norilsk. I recommend it - fast, convenient, reasonable prices.

The shore of Lake Lama, the night before the drop. Putorana plateau. August 2017.

Notes for the violent

There is no ropeless descent to Lake Duluk along the couloir opposite the prominent peninsula in the northern part of the lake.
When the water is high, even the calmest section of the Ayan River according to the descriptions (from the source to the confluence of the left tributary of the Kaltama River) can offer rifts that are not obvious for packrafting in an expedition format. My main rifts were in the area of ​​the confluence of the Bol. Honna-Makit river, in the area of ​​​​the confluence of the Honna-Makit river and the Munil river, as well as 3 km in front of the left large tributary.
The Mikchangdy section below the confluence of the South Iken and up to the delta is quite harsh with above-average water. The river is wide, full-flowing, many long rifts (up to 200 meters) with a large number of sloughs and protruding stones in the bed, standing shafts from 0.5 to 1 meter. A few shivers - well, not at all for a loaded packraft. Without insurance, inspection and a willingness to swim, it’s probably not worth going straight on a loaded packraft. Some things can be passed by the edge, some things can be passed along the shore. Although competent watermen said that with skill, everything described can be done on a packraft without any problems. The key word is skillfully.
Raster maps of the General Staff in a satellite navigator are most convenient for typical routes, when everything is approximately clear and there are descriptions. To be able to plan and change the route on the go, impromptu, or for untrodden new routes, it is much more convenient to use GHC raster maps (scales up to 500m, for fans there are even 250m). The distribution site hangs periodically, it is useful to pump out the necessary cards in advance.

This year, on the Putorana plateau, in addition to the standard ones, serious non-trivial hikes were completed: extensively on foot (630 km, https://www.marshruty.ru/travel/platoputorana/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQvs3JpjqT4&feature= youtu.be), very water pedestrian-water (675 km, http://photopoxod.ru/putorana2017) and very water (800 km, https://vk.com/volkovmix?w=wall52949044_1058%2Fall).

Duluk River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

Total

It didn’t turn out to be a very exciting thread, but we managed to see something.

Lake Duluk area. Putorana plateau. July 2017.

A few more (many) photos https://a-podkorytov.livejournal.com/6500.html

Passing the Putorana plateau from west to east entirely on foot, throughout July 2017. Route thread Lake Lama - r. Bucharama - r. Geological - lake Rotary - r. Minkchangda - lake Bogatyr - lake Neralakh - lake Negu – Iken – r. Ayan - r. Porogistaya - r. Holokit, along the river along the plateau to the source - the river. Nirakachi - r. Oran (upstream, downstream) - r. Khibarba - waterfall on the river. Kanda - r. Nurakachi-Sen – r. Nirukachi - r. Khigdekit - r. Amudkachi-Dyl - r. Hoikta - r. Lupaga - r. Ivan-Yuryakh - lake. Sebyaki - r. Arbakun - r. Yangisa - lake Yangisa - r. Maymecha - r. Antykit - r. Chigidy – top. 742 – top. 820 – r. Sumna - village Essene.

Through the Putorana plateau to Essey

The idea of ​​the hike was charged in the head of Alexander Beloglazov back in 2013, in a cloudberry field on the Main Ural Range, in the north of the Sverdlovsk region, when they were picking berries for future compote. Boldly declaring to conquer the Putorana plateau. I hadn't heard much about the place at the time, and especially the logistics of getting around the place. It seemed to me like something impossible in my head - the places are extremely wild and harsh, but I thought that nothing is impossible if there is a positive combination of factors such as a specific goal, precise planning, physical training, the presence of some technical means (like Parkcraft, previously unknown) and Of course, there is some financial component.

With a new idea in his head that appeared literally out of the blue, on a wonderful cloudberry field, he enthusiastically continued the conquest of the Main Ural Range, using every opportunity for physical and psychological development in real conditions.

We finished that hike as the initial stage of conquering the plateau, the purpose of which, at least for me, in addition to walking from Severouralsk to Ivdel through the mountains, was also to test my physical fitness. The ability to travel many kilometers throughout the day in difficult conditions of absolute off-road conditions.

The Putorana Plateau is considered one of the most inaccessible places in Russia and the world, despite the fact that it is the geographical center of Russia; in these places not far from the Putorana Plateau, on Lake Vivi, on its southeastern shore, its center is located. Those places with a harsh climate, with absolutely uncertain weather, where there can be snow, heavy rains, strong winds in summer, combined with multiple midges. Uncertain natural conditions, lack of information on routes, high cost of logistics of these places keep many people interested in tourism far from Putorana, which is why many kilometers will be considered a first ascent, in many sections of the route in particular.

The main uncertain factor for the event is the weather at Lake Lama. Because the starting point had to be reached by motor boat. In the worst cases, ice on Lake Lama can last until July. In our case, literally at the beginning of the hike, it was not clear whether we would be able to start on time.

Five hours to Tyumen by train, I tried to get some sleep, managed to sleep for a couple of hours, the conductor woke me up in advance. The weather was beautiful in Tyumen, the sun was rising over the horizon. 40 minutes waiting for a bus to the airport and almost 40 minutes on a deserted Friday road.

At the check-in desk they offered to pay for excess luggage (and this is hand luggage that I wanted to take with me on the plane), I didn’t think long, I, of course, said that I would throw away the excess. I ate the rest of the pies that I took with me, put on some clothes and hid a couple of kilos under an anorak in a small backpack, which I put on myself, it turned out to be a hunchback, it’s good that they still put hunchbacks on the plane.

The old Boeing was landed in Novy Urengoy after three hours of flight, where suddenly, before leaving, they checked the luggage I had received to see if it belonged to me. However, they checked everyone so that they did not leave without their luggage. As usual, I was afraid for my luggage, since situations with problematic delivery do happen and I have encountered, my backpack was one of the last to leave in a black ribbon, I breathed a sigh of relief. The flight was not transit, we had to check in again and weigh our luggage, this time to hand luggage didn't find fault. On this day there were two flights to Norilsk, one was literally 30 minutes from the other. Just in case the plane from Tyumen was delayed, I took the second plane to Norilsk. But in the end it turned out that the first plane was delayed, so it went after the second, if it went at all. I flew to Norilsk on schedule, tried to get some more sleep, I felt sleep deprived upon landing in Norilsk. From the plane window there was a sad picture; the sky was overcast for hundreds of kilometers in all directions. At the airport, for some reason, they checked my documents, like everyone else, I’ve never encountered this before. The guys were already waiting on the Norilka River by the boat that was going to take us to the starting point at Lake Lama. And while I was waiting for the bus to Norilsk, I quickly checked the information on where to get off and where to transfer to the bus to this river. It was raining lightly, cool, 9 degrees Celsius. On the bus I prepared for the hike, tied my foot wraps and put on rubber boots. Sometimes there was snow along the roads, the woman was surprised and shared her surprises with me, it was beautiful in its own way, endless pipes along the endless tundra, steam coming from artificial reservoirs, as if the hot springs were not far from the city. The weather is gloomy, as is the city itself. Norilsk airport is located far from the city, 42 km, it took more than an hour just to get to the city, then waited another 20 minutes for a transfer at Central Market, and drove another forty minutes to the stop at the bridge where the pier is located. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to really see the city; we quickly passed through the entire city and immediately ran to the boat, where we met our “captain” Ilya, who gave us special thick, orange, rubber clothes, since it was supposed to be cold and wet. I took the missing elements of the layout, which the guys who had arrived earlier on the ship from Krasnoyarsk kindly brought across “the whole country” so that I could not overpay for baggage on the plane.

Each person carried approximately 30 kg to the start of the route, including food supplies for 27 days.

Before this, there were some fears that there might be a lot of ice on the lake and we might not be able to swim, but apparently, Ilya somehow found out information about the state of the water through his channels - we sailed according to schedule. About seven o'clock our time, local time plus two hours. It was agreed that the entire hike would take place on our time, and the full daylight hours did not interfere with our plans. By 12 midnight they were supposed to sail to the mouth of the Bucharama River.

We passed Lake Melkoe. As Ilya said, it is “Shallow” because the water is usually knee-deep in it, but at this time there was clearly more water, the bottom was not visible, the trees closest to the shore were flooded with water, apparently the season had just begun and the water was even greater. We stopped at some island, felt that it was very cold, put on extra warm clothes - especially when the splashes of the crashing waves motor boat, driven by the side wind, flooded my hands and sometimes my face. The water was cold, and the deeper we went into the Putorana “fjords,” the more we froze. Sometimes the waves reached one and a half meters, it was quite fun to swim, especially when the boat was able to jump over the waves with acceleration. In some places the wind died down, so it was possible to swim along the water surface at greater speed. Sometimes we stopped to add gasoline to empty tanks. The first Putorana flat peaks began to appear on the sides, on which snowfields still lay somewhere, and sometimes waterfalls were visible. Approximately in the middle of the lake we stopped for a snack; the stop was near some hut, there were axes and firewood lying there. Batteries were not interesting, and with the help of firewood and an ax you could warm up a little. Low clouds advanced, licking the flat peaks, slowly rolling over them. There was no rain; in the evening the sun sometimes peeked through the clouds, so it became noticeably warmer. There was almost no ice on the lake, only a couple of small ice patches adjacent to the right bank

Local residents, and not only in Norilsk, but throughout the north, call the rest of Russia “the mainland,” and this is due to whether this place is connected by rail or road. The only way to get out is by air or water. Indeed, it seems that the places are so inaccessible that you live as if across the sea.

There is a lot of water in all the rivers and in the lake itself; the shore goes 150 meters towards the mountains. According to the plan, they wanted to land on the left bank of the Bucherama River, but they couldn’t find a place to get off; the water flooded the dense bushes and strewn garbage. As a result, we stopped on the shore, where there were ufologists’ houses. There were two or three houses where one could sleep; there was no roof as such; the entire house was wrapped in thick polyethylene, made from small larch trees. There was a swing in the water, it was flooded with Lama's flood, one of the houses was flooded in the corner. We decided to settle in the largest house, it was clean inside, there was a stove, but since it was not very cold, we decided to just put a tent inside, just in case to escape from mosquitoes, although for some reason there were none, despite the warning from the Ministry of Emergency Situations that they a lot of. By the way, they also warned that they would not rescue us by helicopter under our insurance if something happened, since operating a private helicopter costs 190 thousand per hour.

I didn’t want to have dinner, I wanted to sleep, since it was already past midnight, and I had to get up at seven in the morning.

A tourist from Norilsk, Vladimir Kuzmin, published a report on a hike along the Putoran plateau. He went through the beginning of the hike together with, at Lake Ayan they parted (this was planned from the very beginning): Vladimir went back to Lake Lama, Andrey continued his route, intending to cross the Putorana plateau alone. September 1, 10 km from the mouth of Kotui into Lake Dyupkun. Dobrynin did not reach the Odnolko base by about 40 km.

Putorana Chronicles 2013. Four mountains or a lucky one-way ticket

Route traveled: Lake Lama (drop), ufologists base - Bucharama river - Geologicheskaya river - pass 950m - river. Big Honna-Makit - r. Ayan - Lake Ayan (passed together with Andrey Dobrynin) - pass 1200m - peak 1547 m (glad sunrise) - Lake Negu - river. Negu Iken - pass 1250 m - r. Chopko 1st - pass 1450m - r. Gulami Iken - peak 1621 m (rad. sunrise) - Mount One and a Half Thousand (1446 m, rad. sunrise) - river. Gulami Iken - pass 1200m - r. Hikikal - Mount Elden (1222 m, radial) - descent along the left tributary of the river. Bunisyak - Bunisyak Canyon - Lake Lama, base of Oleg Krashevsky

Sports experience:
Vladimir Kuzmin, installation engineer (1988) – 3 ski, 2 foot (in Putorana).
Andrey Dobrynin, hydrobiologist (1977) – absent (Note: quite rich expedition experience).

I had a dream - to get to the central part of the mysterious Putorana plateau. I was lucky enough to visit there once in 2007. It was a walking “two” from the Norilsk tourist club “Taimyr”, then our goal was the top of the ridge of the Bogatyr mountains 1591 m, lakes Bogatyr and Neralakh. We reached the summit, but bad weather and constant rains greatly affected the return route. We did not see the Taloi and Bunisyak canyons. Since then, thoughts of visiting there again have constantly been in my head. And certainly in the summer, for which I took a vacation in advance. Lines of various options gradually emerged on the map, but there was no certain clarity about where to go.

Another question is who to go with. All my friends, for various reasons, could not join me for the summer. Going alone, besides being unsafe, is simply boring.

Hiking route, red - there (together), blue - back (alone)

In March, I was on a business trip to Moscow, and on occasion, I stopped by a fairly famous shopping mall“Extreme”, buy different equipment. I unobtrusively got into conversation with one seller, it turned out to be R. Yangalychev, who casually mentioned their 2011 trip to eastern Putorana. Then they walked from the village of Chirinda to Lake Kharpicha. This information interested me, primarily because of its unusualness. After all, in these places hiking walking is “not accepted.” I sat with such thoughts in a Moscow cafe. I went to the “free” Internet and wrote to Andrey Dobrynin. Dyukha (Andrey introduced himself as Dyukha - for friends and acquaintances) replied that he was going on his own route, and due to the lack of partners he was going alone. Let me remind you that Dobrynin planned to autonomously cross the Putorana plateau from Lake Lama to the village of Chirinda. I thought - great option join and combine our plans for the summer, at least at the beginning. Both as an interest and as mutual assistance. I subsequently greatly regretted this decision, but more on that later.

I had a vacation from July 15 to August 5 (I agreed that I would be at work on the 15th). Thus, I could not join Dobrynin for the entire route. And there was no desire - the entire route of Dyukha (as he compiled it) consists of huge monotonous runs along the valleys of rivers and lakes, and he did not even consider other options. And much more interesting is a hike with canyons, passes and snow-capped peaks - which is why everyone goes to Putorana.

Speaking of peaks. It’s not so easy to get to the eastern mountains like Kamen, Kotuyskaya, Holokit and 1701 on foot in the summer - they’re far away. If you start and end at Lake Lama, a more realistic option is the peaks of the western part of the Plateau, and they are there in abundance. In general, we agreed that we would go together to Lake Ayan, along the traditional route of watermen: Lake Lama - river. Bucharama - r. Geological – pass 950 m – river. Big Hona-Makit - r. Ayan - Lake Ayan. This is about 100 km. I took care of obtaining permission to visit the reserve and getting to Lama. According to the permit, it turned out that this year there was an administrative merger of the reserves, all the management was replaced, and the old one was removed from the staff. In short, due to confusion, we were not given permission. Then I found out that permission was not given to any of the tourists. Andrey could have sent an official letter to the reserve from the Institute of Hydrobiology, where he worked, but did not have time, since the decision to refuse was received only in June. It’s a shame that you can now get to Putorana only as an illegal immigrant. Getting to Lama turned out to be easier; our friend Ruslan Bychkov decided to help us and asked for 10 thousand rubles. for two. This is a fairly modest amount - it only covers fuel consumption (a powerful water-jet boat). Ruslan is not specifically involved in casting, his plans (to relax and go fishing on Lama) coincided with ours. The start was scheduled for July 15; according to average statistics, the second half of July is a fairly convenient time to start. Meanwhile... the weather was alarming. Starting from April, unusual sunny weather with a complete lack of precipitation set in. In the spring, the snow (of which there was very little anyway) literally burned away in the sun. Dry May, hot June, in general, navigation began in the second half of June (this is half a month earlier than usual) with a record low water level for Norilsk rivers.

Before this trip, to improve my physical fitness, from April to July I participated in 5 multi-day sports trips, including a ski trip of the 1st class. in April, participation in the alpiniad in May (1B, 2A ascents in the Lama Mountains) and others. Every weekend – walking “walks” around local mountains. Speed ​​“races” with a 20 kg backpack against the clock brought tangible benefits.

Andrey arrived in Norilsk on July 13, settled in rented apartment. On weekends we stock up on groceries together, on Sunday evening Andrey comes to see me and discuss the details of the route over tea. The real version of the “transputoran” transition, as I see it, is moving at a fast sporting pace, relying on intermediate points where you can rest and theoretically gain food. These are the cordon hut on Ayan, the hut on Lake Kharpicha, Oleg Odnolko’s base on Dyupkun. Andrey noted that he doesn’t really count on intermediate points, since his plan is to make a completely autonomous transition. And he added that for his loved ones, we are walking his entire route together. Nobody warned me about such things. It smelled like pure adventurism; it was the first call, which I didn’t attach any importance to at the time.

The starting weight of my backpack was 32 kg. Layout at the rate of 600g/day, 5 liters of gasoline (gasoline Primus), two-person tent, etc. I don’t pay much attention to the selection of equipment, so if I wanted, I could save on weight. Dobrynin has about 42 kg (of which 1.5 kg are cigarettes), and he was very thorough in the selection, down to the smallest detail. All equipment is branded/custom. Against his background, I looked somewhat ridiculous with my “killed” old equipment.

I expected that with the expectedly good pace of walking from Lama to Lake Ayan, we would easily reach Lake Ayan in 5-6 days. As it turned out later, it took eight days.

We start at 10:00 from the pier of the Norilskaya River. The water level is very low for the month of July – how late autumn. We dashingly pass the difficult section at the entrance to the Talaya River, the captain’s skill is obvious. We arrange wonderful fishing on the Taloy rifts. About 15 graylings for 5 people. Guess what, rest, of course. There was a lot of fishing for char on Lake Lama; we caught only one, from which Dyuha took samples for the Irish laboratory. We spend the night at the base of “ufologists” (aka “Gervinists”) on the river. Bucharama.

We sleep for a long time, start at 11 o'clock. We walk quickly and quickly reach the mouth of the Bucharama. To my great surprise, I discover that there is almost no water in the river. You can walk calmly along the dry stone riverbed. I remember how we made our way along the shore through the willow thickets here in 2007. We walk in 50-minute walks, 15 minutes rest. By 14:00 we reach the mouth of Geologicheskaya. The same story - there is no water in the rivers. Let's have lunch. On the riverbed we meet a single tourist from Nizhny Novgorod, who introduced himself as Nikolai. He heads towards the river. Ayan is going to Volochanka with a 20 kg backpack (yes, the guys don’t go modestly, I don’t know how his event ended). Nikolai overtakes us. Then the pace of walking drops, Andrey walks heavily. We make allowances for the first day, the weight of the backpack and the heat (very humid and stuffy). We get up early for the night. We cook dinner on a primus stove in one pot for two. I took a lot of gasoline; it’s easier for me to carry gasoline than to cook on wood. We spend the night in my Nova Tour Smart 2 tent. It is a two-person tent, Dyukha and I fit comfortably there (Andrey had a single-person ultralight one). Gone 14 km.

In the morning it begins to rain lightly, which quickly ends. I can't find my tea. It turned out that I left it on the boat. We drink Andrey's tea. We go straight along the riverbed itself. Walking is generally comfortable. At a rest stop, Andrei turns inside out. I'm wondering what's causing the vomiting and what to do. He said that from overload, and that’s nonsense, it happens in the first days. By 13:00 we reach the confluence of two tributaries of the Geologicheskaya and have lunch. Next we smoothly climb onto the (orographically) right terrace. The pace drops, Andrey lags behind, he says, he hoped that the walk would be easier. We reduce the transition time to 40 minutes.

There is practically no snow left in the gorges. In the evening we climb to the beginning of the ascent to the plateau. The height is about 500m. We agree to climb the plateau the next day in the morning. We set up camp. To pass the time, I lightly take a bag with 5 kg of Andrei’s things and alone climb 400 m up to the plateau. I photograph local landscapes and go to the cascade of Geologicheskaya waterfalls. Many skulls of mountain Putorana sheep. I leave my things on the plateau at the source of the Geological. We hope that living creatures will not spoil it overnight.

We leave at 5 am. It's cold, so we climb quickly. By 9 o'clock we leave for mountain lake at the source of the Geological. My backpack is torn again. In total, by the end of the hike there was not a single intact place left on it. Plastic fasteners for belts burst, zippers burst, etc. Dobrynin comes with a custom KVN - the backpack is durable and comfortable. The height of the pass is 950 meters. We reach the beginning of the swampy valley of B. Hona Makita. We have lunch and sleep. I sleep right under open air. The gnats are all hidden from the scorching sun, you can rest without any problems. Alone, light, I walk 3 km towards the lake. Rotary. In one of the rocks in 2007, we made a warehouse there - gasoline and some products remained there. The warehouse was destroyed, probably visited by a bear.

We reduced the duration of transitions to 30 minutes, with a 15-minute rest. By 22 o'clock we reach the river. Andrey caught one grayling (about 500 g) using a spinning rod.

In the morning we prepare a delicious fish soup. We walk along the side of the river, through a dried-up swamp and small stones. The walking is very easy, but the heat is oppressive, I can’t even believe that this is possible in the Far North. The sky is absolutely clear, completely calm, just like in the Rostov steppes. Dyukha has stomach problems again. Repacks the backpack several times. We're wasting more than an hour. I think to myself that at this rate I won’t have time to run to Lake Negu-Iken (later I didn’t go there). I asked Andrey about the pace of walking, he replied that he planned to walk the first third of the hike 10 km a day, then 15 and at the end of his route 20 km a day. I say that this is unrealistic, usually everything happens the other way around, you need to raise the pace to at least 15 km per day. 6 transitions of 30 minutes before lunch, 5 transitions after. Dyukha agrees and says that we are going twice as fast as they were in 2011. We drink tea with lemon against the backdrop of Sculpture Mountain, the impressions are fabulous. In the sun, my hands burned to the point of blistering, I lubricate them with vegetable oil, since I didn’t take any sun protection creams. By 10 p.m. I go out to the river. I set up camp and wait for Andrey for a long time. Passed the order 16 km.

The heat is over thirty since the morning. There is no wind at all, the heat is terrible. I can't remember such heat in previous years. This is the Far North. We leave at 10 o'clock. Dripping with sweat, we arrive at the Paday River by lunchtime; there is little water in the river; we easily cross it in light shoes. We get up for the afternoon. We eat soup with wild sorrel. To avoid the heat of the day, we switched to the night schedule (at first I really didn’t want to go at night). We leave at 21:00, it becomes a little cooler.

We walk along the Hona Makita riverbed; around the bend in the riverbed, the first trees begin to appear. The forest boundary rose higher along the riverbed, 2 kilometers higher than indicated on the map. Height is about 750 meters. Larch cones of an unusual red-violet color. In general, the vegetation is different from the Lama Forest. We take pictures, this is already a protected area. By 2 am we go out to Gulemi-Iken, easily cross the river, the water is no more than half a meter. We have lunch in a tent. We start at 5 am; along the shore there are many old fox traps (“mouths”). By 10 am we set up camp on the river bank. We walked about 17 km. Fishing is not going well: the only grayling has escaped. I sleep all day in the open air in the shade of the tent.

The relief changes dramatically. The river turns into numerous creeks with steep banks. We cross Chopko 1st. Oddly enough, there is quite a lot of water in it. We spend some time looking for a ford. It becomes more difficult to walk, the forest “shelves” are short and steep.

I suggest walking along the river, along an open, dry riverbed. Andrey tells me that he has flat feet and he had better walk through the forest. What a news. We walk through the forest, then we finally cross onto a stone riverbed. We walk slowly over the stones, constantly waiting for Dyukha. Somewhere in the distance you can see the end of the Hona Makita canyon - this is the Ayan River. This fact is encouraging. We traverse several steep forested hills. We set up camp in a convenient place on the shore. Further, the river bank turns into a 30-meter steep cliff, about a kilometer long. It only goes over the top. In the evening we get ready and go to the Big Honna-Makita waterfall, 3 kilometers away.

The waterfall is impressive; a huge volume of water is thrown into a stone bowl, and then falls into a steep canyon. We find a traditional parking place for watermen. Comfortable spot under tents, as well as a sign tree with signs of tourists who have been here. It turned out that a few days before us, two water tourists from Moscow passed here. Kryukov Sergey and Kryukov Sasha (father and son). We were heading to the solid route Lama-Ayan-Kotui-Hakoma-Kochechum-Tura. There is no water in the river for rafting; we walked for 7 days. I liked the end of the note: “We’ll probably get through, but they’ll kick us out of work.” Whether they arrived or not, I don’t know. We leave our note.

From Chopko 2 there is a crowded deer trail, we follow it easily. Soon we turn off and walk through the forest. The terrain is dense, I would never have thought that at altitudes of about 500 meters there was such a dense forest. By 4 am we go out to the Ayan River. The mood is lifted. Let's have lunch. Along the shore we see traces of a person who had recently passed, he was walking alone (perhaps this is the same Nikolai). On the other bank we see a hut - the northern cordon of the reserve. According to my estimates, the Ayan River could easily be forded in many places. Summer is very dry. At the bottom of the river there are many transparent stones of different shapes. By 7 am we go to Lake Ayan. Here it is, the heart of the plateau. Lots of unafraid partridges, not afraid of people. We set up camp in the “corner” of the lake. I draw your attention to an even circle made of stones, 4 meters in diameter - this is probably a place for a tent. We set up camp and have a half-day break. This extreme point joint route. So far everything is going according to plan. We relax all evening, eat pasta and stew, and are in a great mood. Once again I sew up my backpack.

We discuss Dyukha’s route, I say that the secret of his success is to walk at a good sporting pace, and in no case procrastinate. Andrey agrees.

Andrey plans to walk along the shore of Lake Ayan, and closer to the mouth of Gulami, to cross on his one-kilogram boat to the other side, to the reserve’s cordon. Subsequently I learned that he succeeded. In the area of ​​the Kapchuk River, he met a group of water tourists, they shared food. Then it turned out that they were the last to see him alive.

The heart of the Putorana plateau is Lake Ayan

Get up at 4 am. We agree that Andrey will call me on a satellite phone (Iridium) upon my return to Norilsk. I tell him to call whenever you want, we’ll discuss the route and just like that. In parting, I wish him good luck and most importantly, don’t break your neck. Andrei did not answer anything, only smiled strangely. At 5 am we split up.

Full text of the report: driverotor.ru/putorana2013.html

As practice has shown, sunscreen and a light windbreaker are not superfluous in summer Putorana. It is important to work out the issue with shoes; walking in rubber boots is uncomfortable for a long time; you can easily pull a tendon.

Veles took an expensive suit from Siver especially for the trip. As it turned out, the jacket is completely unsuitable for a hike in Putorana (perhaps not for any hikes at all). She doesn’t breathe at all, it’s stuffy, and in cold weather it’s cold. It gets wet in the water. This miracle is clearly not worth the money (Veles is like the god of cattle). As a result, the entire hike was spent in a T-shirt and sweater.

Preliminary physical preparation is important; long training sessions are required before the hike. Moreover, physical preparation may be even more important than the selection of equipment (this is my opinion). Good preparation allows you to quickly solve the problems posed on the route, and most importantly, enjoy it.

You can go on such a hike alone, but it’s too unsafe. On my next trip to the central Plateau, I will not go alone. And probably with a gun.

Further chronicle of events

Andrey Dobrynin is calling. He says that he is on the Kotui River, 30 km from the pass. He said that he had been resting for a couple of days, so it wasn’t going as fast as he expected. I ask how it’s going, he says it’s easy, you can easily walk 15 km a day. He thinks that in 3-4 days (8-9th) he will be at Lake Kharpicha. I tell you that I only got there yesterday and that I need to be careful because there are bears. The connection was interrupted. Neither the next Monday (Monday was a communication day for Dyukha), nor then did he call me. The peculiarity of his tariff (or handset capabilities) is that I cannot call him, only he can call me.

I remembered about Andrey, and for some reason I began to worry a little. According to my estimates, he should have been with Odnolko on Dyupkun or headed further to Chirinda. I called to inquire about his contact, Nikolai Komarov (I had not contacted him before). Does not answer the phone. But he calls me back in the evening. He says that the last communication session was on Monday, and everything seemed to be normal, but Andrei had not yet reached Dyupkun, according to him, he should have reached it just about now. I'm surprised at how slow it is.

In the evening Komarov calls and asks if Dobrynin called me, I answer that no. He says something bad happened and added, we’ll look for it. A couple of hours later he calls me again with the phrase: “Dobrynin is dead, the body is in Tours.”

Nobody expected such a gloomy outcome. Yes, Dobrynin himself probably didn’t expect it either. I still hoped that he would get to Odnolko and stay at his base until the winter. Then they will fly away together for the winter in Tura.

And the events were as follows. August 31 Having decided to cancel his route, on Saturday morning he began calling the insurance company with a request for evacuation. The insurance company probably ignored his request, then he started calling the Turin Ministry of Emergency Situations. The sunflight took off from Tura on September 1 at 6 am.

The place where Dobrynin was located is on the Kotui River up 12 km from Lake Dyupkun. In total, Andrei had walked about 400 km by that time.

They took him away already dead. Andrei never received help. The cause of death was probably gastric bleeding. Andrei did not reach the Odnolko base, housing and food on Dyupkun 40 kilometers. So a chain of wrong decisions and an old sore led to the grave.

Perhaps the reader will have the following question: Was it possible to avoid the tragedy? Is it even possible to go this route? I think yes. In the late eighties, a group of tourists led by Valery Kiselyov (later master of sports) completed a 6th class ski trip. along the Talnakh - Chirinda route, then with difficulty and not without adventure they crossed the Plateau on skis and won the Union Championship.

I admit that in life there is always a place for chance and no one is safe from death on the route, from various accidents. But there are basic rules sports tourism that must be observed.

I think that among the moments contributed to the tragedies were:

1. Andrey continued his journey alone. It is safer, more comfortable and more correct to do such a route with a prepared group (not alone). I asked Andrey about this. He replied that he did not have the time or desire to prepare a team for himself. But he didn’t want to join me.

2. It is necessary to do such a route in a sporting style (not in an expeditionary style!!) with a strictly scheduled daily movement schedule. If there is a serious delay behind the schedule, cancel the route. Let me remind you that the average statistical norm for tourist-athletes is 18 kilometers per day - discipline is necessary in sports trips.

3. Andrey was not in good enough sports shape for his idea. Long-term training is necessary, primarily physical fitness. Walking on rocks, climbing rough terrain, climbing passes with a load. Putorana - after all, this is not a forest near Moscow, this is harsh Taimyr, this is the North. The weather can be very unstable, you must always be on alert and always have an “emergency reserve”. Fuel, food, clothing, physical strength, mental strength, enthusiasm. There should always be backup options... For people who live in the tundra, in the North, this is something taken for granted...

And from my own modest experience I will say that with proper preparation you can go without obvious risk and, most importantly, with pleasure.

4. Andrey had some illnesses that he did not report (with his stomach and his feet). Perhaps he did not attach due importance to them, but remaining silent and going on the route with them is very dangerous. Both for the route, and, as we see, for life.

5. Andrey was a very persistent, strong-willed person. But in some cases you can’t wait until the end; sometimes it’s better to give up and get off the route. And then return there again, taking into account previous experience.

I was unable to convince Dyukha to reconsider his views on the route.

And regarding the hike itself in the summer, I still agree with Dobrynin and believe that it is more than real. You just need to work out the route. Do not go to the bad river valley Kotuya between Kharpicha and Dyupkun. There is nothing good for a pedestrian there. Probably it would be possible to immediately roll over in front of Kharpich onto Lyuksina, perhaps this would save time and effort...