At the station Eaglet it was crowded that day. Not only tourists with backpacks, but also dozens of picnickers gathered in the clearing in front of the bridge over the Big Olkha while we were fighting gas burner: she did not want to be friends with a balloon of unknown Chinese origin, bought in Irkutsk. The first thought is "stuck". Fortunately, from the fragments of phrases heard, it became clear that the whole cheerful company was going to Knight- one of the most "promoted" places of rest for Irkutsk people. But we are not there today. Yes, and the burner started up: a small piece of stick, placed above the valve, ensured its work for the entire trip.
Caving old woman
We deviate from the trodden "elephant" path to the right. Here begins the ascent to the rock Caving old woman, and at the same time - the real Siberian taiga. Blooming tiny irises, watersheds and ferns on the rocks brightened up the tedious ascent. And now the first rocks are already showing from the overgrown clearing.
Skalnik is called Speleostarukha not because of the presence of some caves there, but only because it has become a favorite training place for Irkutsk speleologists. But there is also a cave: a small natural grotto at the foot. The first delights, the first views from the top… Although this place turned out to be one of the most inexpressive among the Olkha rock climbers, and the impressions continued to grow, the first acquaintance impressed us.
old fortress
old fortress
The path winds along a small river seething between the stones, and soon ends completely, getting lost in the kurumnik. Heaps of stones require caution when moving: although boulders are not “alive” and do not walk underfoot, it is easy to stumble here and fall into the gap between them. Having overcome the first obstacle, we go to the other side ... and see a beautiful road parallel to our path. If they had immediately chosen the opposite coast, delays on the way could have been avoided.
"Old Fortress" Profile of a "Neanderthal" The sign at the fork in the road reads: Old fortress. This is a must see!". We believe, however, not the pointer, but the navigator - and soon we will go to a small pretty rock. It really resembles a fortress tower, but one of the walls has been sawn down: a few years ago, barbaric granite mining was carried out in these parts, and Irkutsk residents gathered rallies, defending the Old Fortress.
A feature of almost all the rocky massifs of Olkha is that even on the way to them in the taiga, small rocky outcrops, often of a bizarre shape, begin to come across. We came across one of these stones, mistaking it for the Fortress. It was followed by another one, and another ... And then we saw the main rock massif. The Old Fortress is difficult to describe: it is not a single rock, but huge complex remnants, each of which, in turn, includes dozens of stone "sculptures".
Mirrors
And again, the climbing rock is a "trick". Not really remembering what the Mirrors should look like, we gathered before dawn, and already early in the morning, having overcome the climb, we ran into a stone wall - smooth, as if made of flat stone blocks. Why not a mirror? And turning around its corner, we saw the final goal of the path, many times larger than the first rock in scale.
"Mirrors" The landscape here is reminiscent of the Arctic. Kurumnik from huge boulders, overgrown with reindeer moss and ferns, went into the distance, to a rocky ridge of almost triangular shape with a perfectly flat "facade". "Mirrors" rather resemble a huge fin and seem impregnable. However, having tumbled a lot on the kurumnik, we found a quite intelligible path that led up to the very ridge. Perhaps this is one of the most impressive rocks in the massif. There are a minimum of paths and traces of people here, and the views from above allow you to fully appreciate the scale of the Baikal taiga.
bear cubs
Winnie the Pooh with a pot of honey "Medvezhata" is a small but cute rocky rock, located a little further than the "Mirrors", if you go along the same road. It is perfectly visible already from the trail: a low compact remnant, located not even on a hill, but simply in the middle of the taiga. At first glance, the rocker does not live up to its name. But, if you go around it, in one place the figure of Winnie the Pooh with a pot of honey catches your eye. We never found the second bear cub.
Chimeras "Bears" Old Isergil
Profile of the Old Woman Dry trees scorched at the base by a fire, impenetrable windbreaks, a huge nest of a bird of prey on a dried cedar ... Baba Yaga's forest. And above him rises the wrinkled profile of the "hostess" with a hooked nose. This is the rock "Old Woman Izergil". And if you go up to a natural observation deck, a couple of hundred meters away you can see a completely different image: the ruins of a small fortress surrounded by a stone wall with a lonely tower overgrown with gnarled cedars. It even has an "entrance": a natural stone arch. This is the Bastion Rock located nearby. Although it seems that it is within easy reach, it takes quite a long time to climb stones, jump over cracks and wade through thorny thickets.
"Bastion" in the vicinity of the Old Woman The forest around is uncomfortable. The past few years of forest fires have killed most of the trees, and they rise above the freshly grown undergrowth with charred bases, ready to collapse at any moment: it is not worth pitching a tent here.
We did not meet people in these places, but shields and signs begin from the clearing in front of the Stakhukha, explaining the directions along the route "Skalniki Olkhinsky Plateau".
Despite the abundance of signs, the path from the Old Woman does not differ in constancy. Either it turns into a wide, trampled road, or it gets lost in the swamps. There are almost no flat sections on this path: climbs constantly alternate with descents from small nameless rocks. It seems that this path was laid, focusing not on convenience, but on the variety of views and panoramas.
Turtle and Idol
Skalnik "Turtle" rock "Turtle" can be identified with the reptile of the same name, having only a very rich imagination. But the next monument - "Idol"- it's hard not to know. Many people compare the vertical pillar-idol with the sculptures of Easter Island, and this comparison is justified. Here you can already meet people even on weekdays, and you come across traces of their presence everywhere. Perhaps, the Idol is the only climbing rock on which no climbs were found - except, perhaps, for very categorical options. I had to admire them from below and go around.
Idol On a low tree on the edge of a cliff, a grown chick was seen, which was not at all afraid of people and was not going to fly away, willingly posing in front of the camera almost point-blank.
Siberian
After several days spent in the taiga on sublimates, you rejoice at any variety. Potatoes, left by previous tourists in the parking lot and already bitten by mice, became a real festive dinner. And the place itself was conducive to a leisurely outdoor recreation: beautiful nature, two steps away from the river ...
Stone "bridge" of Sibiryak Skalnik "Sibiryak" in itself is of little interest: it is not too big, has rather simple forms, but powerful, monolithic: perhaps this was the reason for the name. The approaches to it are much more interesting, and especially the natural ford through the Olkha. Huge flat boulders form a natural bridge, almost a pavement, along which it is easy to cross to the other side.
Knight
On the way to Vityaz, the most famous and visited rock climb in the massif, the trail begins to change rapidly. It turns into a trampled road, and numerous shaky bridges and fords across the Olkha are replaced by almost capital bridges made of thick logs.
Vityaz profile Despite the cult of the place, in the clearing in front of the Vityaz we met only one person, and the rock was completely empty, and the profile of the hero towered lonely above the taiga. It looks impressive, although, compared to other rocks, the place is too cultivated and - as a result - littered. Under the sheer overhanging cornice - entertainment for climbers: a bell that you can ring (if you climb). But rock climbing is optional: a well-filled path goes up to a small platform, which offers magnificent views of the river and several other rock masses.
To fully enjoy nature, it is worth going here in the middle of the week: what happens on Vityaz on the weekend is not difficult to imagine, remembering the crowd getting off the train at the Orlyonok station.
Transfer to the massif Podkamennaya
Taiga horseflies Having dealt with the main massif of the Olkha rocks, it is most logical to return to Orlyonok, take the train and get to the Podkamennaya station, where several no less impressive and wilder monuments are hidden in the taiga. But we are not looking for easy ways, and therefore we decided to take a walk. At first, everything went fine: the road goes in the direction we need, the desired fork is slightly overgrown, but - nevertheless - we can easily pass. And then miracles began to happen along the way. In those places where, judging by the map, it was supposed to cross the Komuriasty key (a mixture of the words “mosquito and communal” was spinning in the language), the road first turned into an impassable clearing, and then completely lost in the swamps. There are no ruts, gates, and generally signs that since the time of the heroic Soviet surveyors who put it on the punishment, someone has used it.
In these impenetrable swamps, when a further path had not yet been found, we were attacked by horseflies. There was no escape from the huge, buzzing swarms of insects trailing behind each backpack. Repellents and mosquito nets helped very conditionally. Equally numerous ticks also caused concern, but caused much less inconvenience. In the end, they nevertheless decided to make a detour of several kilometers and go around a bad section along the road: there were no fewer insects, but it turned out to go much faster. And now - a ford through a swampy lowland with a clean (and tasty!) Spring, and behind it - a clearing and a fork in the trodden roads. With a pointer! Right in the taiga, in some places, signs with the local number of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and pointers to key settlements are hung on the trees. Exhausted, we put up a tent and fall asleep: everything interesting is tomorrow.
White church
White church So, we are in the Podkamennaya massif. Yesterday's crossing was difficult, but you still need to get to the rocks. According to the navigator White church- right above us. Fortunately, it was not necessary to storm the mountainside: a good road was found, not marked on the map and leading to its top in a serpentine. Nothing resembling a path went to the rock itself: I had to wade through the taiga for the last half a kilometer.
Perhaps any beautiful view makes the greater impression, the more effort is expended to get to it. So it happened with the White Church. Another name for this complex is Shark Fins. And to me, when the first peak appeared over a forest clearing overgrown with weeds and thorns, strewn with rounded boulders, it reminded me of the bizarre mountains of China. Not even real mountains, but those that artists depict on classical creations of Chinese painting. And another miracle: from the highest point of the Church, the phone picked up a signal from some random tower. Despite the early morning (deep night in Moscow), we took this opportunity to contact our relatives.
The "church" is indeed almost white, and the contrast of its light-coloured rocks with the surrounding dark stones is difficult to explain. And all this - on top of a mountain overgrown with impenetrable taiga, with practically no paths and traces of people, except for a rusty brazier brought by someone among thorny bushes.
Shakhtai
Compared to the exhausting transition between the Orlyonka and Podkamennaya massifs, the path from Belaya Tserkov to the mountain Stone Shakhtai seems like an easy walk. It is difficult to call this place a full-fledged rock monument: rather, it is a picturesque viewpoint on the top of a mountain strewn with many rock fragments. Moving along them requires caution and skill: the gaps between the stones are wide and deep. But at the top - a place where from a single small platform you can shoot literally a few dozen impressive panoramas. However, we are already accustomed to the endless views of the taiga to the horizon, and therefore the walk did not take much time. When I got to Shakhtai for the first time, I would certainly spend several hours there.
Views from Shakhtai The main route is almost completed. Since the last stop turned out to be only four kilometers from Podkamennaya, we decided to stop here for the remaining days in order to walk radially light on the surrounding rocks and periodically run into the store: a modest assortment of general store now seemed to us a royal feast. At the same time, there was an opportunity to slowly catch the light and take pictures of the local vegetation, which somehow had not been reached before. Blooming Baikal taiga in June was worth it.
Vinegar and Raven Stone
View from the Vinegar The last two rocks Vinegar And Raven Stone- turned out to be within a radius of small walks from the place of our parking. Vinegar is interesting primarily for its views. The collapsed hunting hut at the foot only adds color. And the Raven Stone is interesting in itself: on one side, this vertical pillar really resembles the profile of a raven. It is also interesting from a climbing point of view: several routes have been carved on the rock, signed and with difficulty categories assigned to them - up to 7A+ inclusive. No simple ones were found among them, and we had to be content with the view from below.
Raven Stone Slyudyanka
Private museum in Slyudyanka The main part of the route is completed, you can pack up the tents and start a “quiet” vacation on Baikal. But it did not turn out to be calm: there are a lot of interesting things in the vicinity. For example, the Museum of Minerals in Slyudyanka. It started as a private collection, and today it is a unique and rather large collection, which is still maintained through the efforts of the founder. No less than the collection itself, the design of the museum is interesting. Space landscapes are depicted on the ceiling, and images of miners, crystals and views of the Wild West hang on the walls. You can even spend the night in the museum - more precisely, in the guest house on the side, overlooking the impressive "rock garden". What we, after daily transitions and overnight stays in a tent, took advantage of with pleasure.
A low, lonely mountain above Slyudyanka is just asking to be climbed. Despite the lack of views of the snow-capped peaks of Khamar-Daban, there is something to see there - primarily from the point of view of botany. There is no path to the top, but the climb is not difficult, and the local flora brings new surprises literally with every step. Some slipper orchids, which are very rare in our country, and the entire Khamar-Daban is literally overgrown with them, in one small area, several species and color forms were counted. The “embankment” of the Slyudyanka River, fenced off from the village by a dam from spills, is like a city park: it is quite crowded here. On a rock near the river there is a small homemade altar, and nearby is a scree, which we greedily attacked, being impressed by the Slyudyanka mineral collections from the museum. No rarities were found, but pretty calcite crystals and, of course, images of mica were added to the collection.
In Slyudyanka, houses are already beginning to be found that have a feature characteristic of Buryatia: their walls are covered with a kind of wooden tile resembling fish scales. Surprisingly, even Soviet-style five-story buildings are finished this way.
Baikal and Warm Lakes
Baikal is always beautiful. Despite the fact that along the coast closest to our route there is Railway, take a walk is where. Between Utulik and Baikalsk, the "piece of iron" moves away from the shore, and a practically undeveloped peninsula protrudes into the lake.
The water here is icy in June: in the fast mountain streams of the Olkha basin, it was even warmer. Therefore, you have to swim quickly. A leisurely walk Utulik-Baikalsk takes two or three hours. The landscapes around are pleasant, the coast is quite clean for the outskirts of the city, and we can easily pass a small ford through a river flowing about halfway.
Koryazhka In the very Baikalsk there is practically nothing to do (except for smoked omul). Although the pulp and paper mill has recently closed, and timid attempts are being made on the city embankment to make some kind of resort area, the city feels ruined and desolated. A park with rusty, non-working Soviet-era attractions only enhances the effect, and the brightly painted plaster "monument" to strawberries looks completely strange.
Weather reports made adjustments to future plans. It's cold and wet - what kind of Khamar-Daban is there ... Let's reschedule for a day. In the meantime, let's check if they are really warm Warm Lakes in such weather.
Warm lakes Three lakes - Emerald, Warm and Dead ("renamed" on many tourist resources into "Fairy Tale") are located near the Vydrino station. To get to them, you need to climb up the Snezhnaya River. The road is wide, automobile, and "civilian" vacationers are periodically brought along it. Without checking whether the entry to the Emerald checkpoint really had a fee for visiting, we turned onto the first forest path that came across, followed it - and soon found ourselves on the lakeshore in a place much more picturesque than the “civilian” part. On the other side of this, the most inhabited of the three lakes, stands a small brick chapel. There is no road to it - only a narrow path, and materials for construction were brought by water. Several wooden benches with angels are scattered along the banks, clearly the work of the same carver. The faces of all the sculptures are unusually alive.
Despite the accumulation of people on the “civilian” beach, the other two lakes turned out to be practically deserted: one could finally feel alone with nature. The shores of all three lakes are slightly swampy, and getting out after swimming on a pillow of soft sphagnum is an inexpressible feeling. The water in them is really warm - much warmer than you might expect. Despite this, there are no hot springs below: it’s just that the lakes are shallow and warm up well, and the Dead one freezes to the very bottom in winter, which is probably why it got its first name (and that’s why there is no fish in it).
Khamar-Daban. Peak Porozhisty
Bridge The Babkha River flows from the peaks of Khamar-Daban, sometimes flooding large areas, sometimes forming narrow rocky canyons. Passing up along it and its tributaries, you can go to one of the most beautiful peaks of this mountain range - Porozhisty Peak. The route, designed for two or three days, we decided to try to cover in a day, leaving the village of Utulik at dawn, in order to return well after midnight.
The snowy peaks are not visible yet, but the low mountains around, the taiga, numerous rocks and bridges over Babkha make the road very picturesque: the path to the start of the ascent is passed quickly. The dense taiga is replaced by high-mountain woodlands, and the lower branches of trees are increasingly overgrown with long beards of lichens: the mountain tundra will soon begin.
The ascent to the Porozhisty begins from a large alpine meadow surrounded by peaks, on which even in June snow is visible here and there. You can’t call it a “path”: a stream flows down the steep slope of the mountain, winding through the rubble of stone blocks. On these blockages, sometimes slippery and difficult to pass, you have to climb up, periodically using rock-climbing skills. This is the most difficult section of the route on the route.
The nature here is already different: the height affects, and the forest-tundra is replaced by rare heaps of elfin cedar; rhododendron blooms en masse, and there are more and more lichens on the stones. The first small snowfields appear and - to our dumb joy - streams of tasty drinking water (the Babkha with its tributaries has remained below for a long time). Behind the next turn, a view suddenly opens up of the entire journey made during the day, the great lake and the city of Baikalsk are shown, which seems to be very close (in fact, fifteen kilometers in a straight line to it).
Mountain Lake A long tedious ascent through the rubble ends with a relatively flat alpine meadow with small rocky islands. It is not as extensive as the circus at the foot, but much more picturesque. Around - impressive snowfields, from which many streams originate, the foothills of Khamar-Daban remaining at the bottom, bushes of flowering rhododendron and rocks going up to the very peak.
Vertex It's impossible to find a way out of here. It is not only perfectly visible, but also marked with stone tours: from each of these signs, the next one is visible. Best Views of the entire route start in this place and do not leave the traveler to the very top of the Porozhisty peak.
The path to the top passes along a narrow ridge, among the intertwining roots of the dwarf cedar. It constantly seems that it will end at the next bend, and then you will have to balance on the stones. Suddenly, a view opens down, onto a fairly large Mountain Lake. And soon the end point of the path is shown, crowned with a kind of sign of sticks and ribbons.
Views from the top Here - the highest point of this section of the array. All the surrounding crusts remained below, you can enjoy the beautiful panorama, turn your face to the wind, admiringly turn your head in all directions and take a symbolic sip of cognac - for "taking" the peak.
The descent turned out to be easier: although several times we stopped at the edge of another sheer cliff and thought where to turn, in general, the road turned out to be more obvious than up. Time was running out: having descended to the clearing of the base camp, we found a magical evening light, but he also said that it was not worth pulling downhill: there was no question of returning before dark, but at least going down to a well-trodden path is a must. More than thirty kilometers a day in the mountains is no joke.
The next morning, after the forced march to the peak, we were no longer able to move independently over long distances: literally everything hurt. hosts guest house, Fedor and Natalia, offered us a sightseeing trip to Buryatia, famous for its mineral waters Arshan, looking along the way into one of the Buddhist datsans and into the crater extinct volcano. We agreed, although we were not interested in the opportunity to drink mineral water in a covered Soviet-style pavilion, but in nature - views of the Sayans, the river canyon and an impressive waterfall.
The scenery around is really worth seeing. Unless it's too crowded, and the most beautiful places of the route - the white rocks around the waterfall - turned out to be covered with many autographs of "civilized vacationers": I'm sure that such a thing would not have occurred to any "wild" tourist here. All in all, a pretty decent ending. interesting trip. At the end of the path, in the mouth of an extinct volcano, another “gift” was waiting for us: hundreds of bright bluebird butterflies, sitting in compact clusters, took a fancy to its foot. Early in the morning, before dawn - return train to Iruktsk.
Once again I am convinced that in order to have an interesting weekend, you do not need to buy a plane ticket. You can just take a ticket for the local train. Here, for example, here in Irkutsk, just an hour and a half drive from the city, there is fascinating places: rock climbing. They are located at some distance from each other, but the more interesting. You can plan and make a small hike to each of them along a completely simple route.
Skalnik Idol, Olkhinsky Plateau
For example, last weekend we made a small two-day excursion to two of them: Vityaz and Idol. On the Idol, we even performed a sacrifice (as we were advised by the "tourism watchmen" to these places)
How to get to the Vityaz rock?
And so, from Irkutsk, from any stop: Irkutsk-passenger, Akademicheskaya, Melnikovo, etc. we go to the railway station Orlyonok.
Trains run in the morning at 9:30, at 10:30, in the evening at 16:00, at 19:00, at 21:00.
One-way fare - 61 rubles.
Travel time is approximately 1 hour 20 minutes. 
Information sheet: Skalnik Vityaz is also called the Nest of climbers - a granite wall on the Olkhinsky plateau 40 meters high. To all future climbers who have just embarked on their "climbing" path - the "path of climbers" this rock is of great interest for its diverse terrain. Skalnik has many ledges, overhanging cornices, as well as absolutely smooth vertical surfaces.
From the station, along a well-trodden path (pay attention to the signs with arrows), we go to the Vityaz rock (about 1.5 hours on the way), admiring the winter landscapes, pure snow.
Usually on weekends, whole strings of tourists go to Vityaz, so if you are afraid of getting lost, you can join someone. The main thing is that it should not be Susanin 🙂
At the foot of the Vityaz itself there is a camp site (4 houses).
Previously, there were yurts at the camp site where you could spend the night for 300 rubles, now for some reason the yurts have been removed, although, as far as I know, they have always been in demand.
House on Vityaz
The camp site has a separate house, something like a common kitchen-dining room. There you can warm up for a small fee, drink tea, heat up and cook food, there are dishes, a gas stove and a potbelly stove. Electricity (like cellular communication) is not on Vityaz. No Wi-Fi TVs and other benefits for you, so that nothing distracts from contemplation the most beautiful places and unity with nature) as well as heart-to-heart talks and songs with a guitar (the instrument was seen in the kitchen)
What a blue sky...
There is a generator at the camp site, they give light for a short time in the evening)
The prices for accommodation on Vityaz, in my opinion, are not modest (we paid 2000 rubles per night for two), given that in the double house at night we constantly had to heat the potbelly stove, and then, from the rapid heating of the room, to air it. And so all night - every hour. If you are planning an overnight trip, decide in advance who in your company will not sleep 🙂 🙂 🙂
But all the inconveniences are compensated by the impressions)
Olkhinskoe plateau in winter, view of the tourist center Vityaz
From Vityaz, a 30-minute walk is the Idol rock. An impressive stone column rises monumentally among the snowy splendor of the winter forest. An almost regular rectangular shape of a huge stone in front of the rock evokes associations with a sacrificial altar. Fortunately, no human casualties were avoided, as well as not a single animal was harmed during the shooting of the report. Profiterole was given for the slaughter and tea with thyme was drunk for the health of all local idols and spirits.
Sacrifice 🙂 later the person was replaced by a profiterole, they decided that it was more humane 🙂
With the approach of evening, a simple illumination is turned on at the camp site. Houses, from a distance resembling alpine chalets, covered with snow, against the backdrop of mountains and forest walls, look absolutely fabulous.
And with the rising of the full moon, the sensors of romanticism went off scale. Something had to be done about it. From an excess of feelings, it was decided to climb to the top of the Vityaz in order to light sparklers, candles and admire the view of the surroundings in the moonlight. Moonlight rules for everyone. Pearl moon dust covered trees, mountains, stones, moon milk was spilled in the air. The moon seemed to be very close, so just stretch out your hand from here, from the top of the Vityaz, who, pulling on a stone helmet, is on guard.
From the Idol you can walk to the no less picturesque rocky rock of the Old Woman (we didn’t get there, the path was covered with snow, there was a lot of snow)
Read and watch what else to do in winter in Irkutsk on the weekends.
09/30/15 That day off I spent at the Olkhinsky rocks and adjacent taiga wilds in Irkutsk region.
The train departed from Irkutsk-Passenger station at about half past eight in the morning, slowly swaying and banging comfortably on the rail joints.
The sunlight for the thirtieth of September was so pale, piercingly melancholic, transparent, which only happens at the beginning of autumn, when the variegation of the passing summer still lingers in someone's flower beds, in pots on windowsills and women's dresses. The controller just checked my ticket and I went to the window - reluctance to sit on the seat, lifted the top half, which creaked in the grooves due to accumulated dust. We pass Irkutsk, already awake, but reluctantly moving, because today is Sunday and sleepy houses and cars shrouded in a pale yellowish light, like a picture from a book. The morning fog was in no hurry to float away into the bushes and trees and bridges hanging over the Angara River, because soon October and this is its territory, not like in summer, where the air temperature even in the morning approaches forty degrees and the night haze disappears, evaporates without any hint of existence. But now from the river pulled a real coolness. The Angara is the only river that flows out of Baikal and divides the city of Irkutsk in half. Somewhere approximately in the middle of the city, it merges with the Irkut River, from which, as you know, the name of the city came from, and carries its waters to the mighty Yenisei, and that to the Arctic Ocean.
Our electric train rolled out of the city to the plain. The summer forbs had shrunk and worn out a little, dried up under the inexorable August rays, but now, the grasses, soaked at dawn from the dew, emitted a pleasant, so tart and reminiscent of the steppe homeland aroma. Feather grass, shepherd's purse, yarrow, several types of wormwood, thyme, timothy and dozens of others, whose names I find it difficult to name, have created a real symphony of scents with hundreds of undertones and shades. In the fields, covered with scraps of blue banners and polyethylene, small piles of straw are waiting to be harvested. Jet swifts and boorish sparrows rush in the air, picking up already half-dead flies and clumsy horseflies on the fly.
We pass Shelekhov. The scenery outside the window is changing. The onset of autumn is not so noticeable in the city than in open nature. Here, all deciduous trees change in color. The place of the dying chlorophyll is gradually occupied by anthocyanin, which colors the leaves in orange, red and even purple colors with many transitions and shades. Yellow-green patches of vegetation with reddish veins contrast especially well with huge firs, cedars and larches protruding from the shade and half-uprooted giant stumps with clods of earth that have not fallen off, full of ants and fat larvae. Birches with aspens are the first to start to shiver from the cold and throw off pieces of their clothes, although often even in dense and deep November cold and slush, they scratch the sky with unfallen dry leaves. But now they are wonderful. Birches and aspens, mountain ash, elderberry and pear with sour, darkened sweet and sour fruits, light spots shine against the background of conifers. And above all these clouds, shreds of heavenly fog, wiping from the already clear sky.
We drive past dachas, small villages, half-stations and solitary houses.
Mostly wooden, sun-roasted, saturated with wood smoke and steppe-cedar aroma, houses. In such it is good to close oneself from everything and drink tea with gingerbread. And cranberry jam. The Rossokha station swam to the left and the train again rolled further, towards the lake. The train makes a big turn, if you look out the right window in the direction of the train, you can see how all the cars are hiding behind the slope, approaching the next station. The next stop is the Orlyonok stopping point. For us, it's the end. Total, one and a half hours in the train from the station Irkutsk-Passenger.
Once upon a time, a pioneer camp of the same name took children here, it is somewhere very nearby. Now abandoned and taken apart for firewood, it was overgrown with grass and became a haven for magpies, squirrels, and quite possibly for someone larger. From a small but neat stopping point to the left and slightly upwards, a primer leaves, soon splitting into two, more modestly. A group of 5-6 cyclists who rushed forward disappeared from sight, and my friend and I slowly walked along the left road. The right one steeply climbed up and it was shorter, soon disappeared and practically lost sight of it, it jumped over streams, slippery boulders, dived between the roots. This path to the rocks was shorter, but we were not going to rush and moved along the left road, which cyclists had recently passed. We crossed a narrow bridge across the Malaya Olkha River, a small raging stream of water with mossy stones sticking out of it, between which birch leaves and scraps of bark stuck together fluttered.
Twenty minutes later we stopped in a small birch-aspen forest to drink tea. He took water in one of the small lakes, which are enough here, hung it over the fire to boil. The fireplace is neat and tidy - there were no bottles, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, only at the table, which was also there, an apple half-eaten by someone dried up, from which, like threads of a cobweb, paths of red ants stretched to a low anthill. The water in the kettle boiled, we threw tea - between the white trunks and the wind-hewn granite remnants, the aromas of Sri Lanka or the Yunnan province stretched, tart tea aromas.
The branches under the low alder tree stirred in surprise, something whistled softly from behind a driftwood, and a shaggy shadow flopped into the water. The tea was as always tastier than at home.
After eating and drinking tea, we moved on. Kolya asked me what we would do if a bear came out now. Of course, people sometimes pass through here, sometimes even rush through, during the holiday season. After all, here at the most visited rock-climb Vityaz, which is already very close, there is a small, I would even say a small base "Vityaz", which grows with tents and tents of rock climbers, children who came on an excursion and just tourists. Now the main tourist season has already ended, and only occasionally single visitors go to the rocks and fellow bears come out of the deep taiga bolder. They, eaten over the summer, fattening up for hibernation, should not be aggressive. But if suddenly a bear comes out on the path close to you, he can attack. So we just talked - bears get scared by loud noises. You do not need to shout, but sometimes make it clear to potential predators that people are walking along the path. The claws of an adult bear are very long and a blow with a huge paw on the head or throat can instantly cut off the cries of an unfortunate tourist, so he should not suffer for long, but still it’s better not to risk it. If special bear pipes, somewhat reminiscent of those of sports fans, are very effective in preventing attacks. In Irkutsk, in an animal nursery, Asya lives, an elderly bear with small brown eyes and a faded matted coat. It was this celebrity who starred in the film "Peculiarities of the National Hunt". I saw these claws, these 10-12 cm blades on decrepit paws, though already worn out and rather reduced in length, very quickly, simply with lightning speed, turn into a weapon, albeit in eating apples, watermelons and cakes. It is impossible to be frivolous in moving around the taiga and it is desirable to walk in a group, adhering to simple rules.
The fate of the hunter Hugh Glass passed us, fortunately, and we finally reached the first rock. This is Vityaz, a forty-meter block of granite, towering over a spacious clearing, along the perimeter of which, at its southern side, there were houses of a camp site, now empty.
The rock is called the Vityaz, because if you look at it from the side of the river, it resembles a warrior in a helmet. To the left of the houses, the turbulent Olkha River flows, which merges with Malaya Olkha not far from here, forming the Big Olkha.
If you look up at the rock from the clearing at the bottom left, you will see a granite wall with many hammered pegs and rare marks - there are trails for practicing climbers and rock climbers, and a little lower there are small, but ridged sections for enthusiastic boulderers.
To the right and above all this is an observation platform, which is difficult to get to for those walking head-on from left to right along a narrow cornice, or, on the contrary, easily along the path that goes around the rocky outcrop from behind. For inexperienced climbers or for people who don't need adrenaline adventures, I recommend the second option.
The first one is also possible, but in case of an error, your remains will not lie below for long - there is someone to feast on them.
The Olkhinsky rocks are named after the river and plateau of the same name. There are many of them, but the most popular are the Knight, the Idol, the Old Woman and more distant ones: the Lizard, the Pharaoh, the Lion, the Mirrors, the White Church.
But not all of them are easily accessible. Some thickets are so thick that you have to break through the thickets to them, leaving shreds of clothes on the branches of sharp thorns and dead wood. The paths to them are completely overgrown, due to the remoteness from the main path.
Skalnik "Idol" in April
After admiring the beauty from the top of the Vityaz, we went to the southeast to the Staruha rock. This is just one of the remote granite exits, to which the paths have grown overgrown.
Finally we got to Starukha (I still hope that it was exactly the rock we were looking for), behind which there was a huge fall of trees, an innumerable number of fallen trunks reminded me of a similar fall of the forest, which can be remembered from photographs and documentary newsreels at the site of the fall of the famous Tunguska meteorite (also in the Irkutsk region). As if you are standing on the edge of something unknown and incomprehensible, the emotionality of this moment rolls over. Just imagine that you are walking along the taiga off-road, making your way through fallen thick trunks, climbing, jumping from stone to stone, seeing a maximum of thirty meters ahead of you, and then there is such a sharp space. Kolya, of course, visited the Olkhinsky plateau more than once, he did not see such a fall. Space place, I tell you.
An additional bonus to this was a huge clearing of lingonberries, brown-red bittersweet berries, which were very difficult to stop eating. There were so many that it was impossible to move without stepping on a bush, which is why bright scarlet drops scattered from under the boots.
It was possible to collect on the road, but there was no time. We had to catch the train that would take us back to the city.
We descended back to the river, adhering to the planned landmarks, tired but satisfied, filled with impressions to the very ears. It was evening. The air was filled with the chirping of insects and the distant cries of evening birds. The smell of rotting leaves intensified, mixed with the smell of mushrooms and freshly eaten lingonberries.
Soon the water murmured below and we went out onto the path. We crossed the now empty clearing with the Vityaz base, turned onto the dirt road and moved to Orlyonok.
Only 80 - 150 km from Irkutsk is the Olkha plateau. It is famous for its beautiful nature, dense forests and, of course, rock formations. The most famous of them is Vityaz. Even in Soviet times, it was chosen by novice climbers, and to this day there is a great chance to meet guys in equipment, stubbornly climbing the 40-meter height of Vityaz.
In addition to climbers, tourists often come here for 1-2 days. Especially crowded near the rock on some sunny September weekend. Therefore, if you want to be alone with nature, try to come to Vityaz on a weekday.
From the rock opens very handsome mind to 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 a little: comfortable shoes, clothes 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 stay in your T-shirt. Climbing the mountain is very hot. Plus water and food.
How to get to the Vityaz rock?
There are two ways to get to Vityaz: by car or by train to Orlyonok station. Exact (route: Irkutsk pass. - Eaglet), the price will also be indicated there, usually 60-70 rubles. I do not write the schedule and price here because they change from time to time. You better watch exact information first-hand.
Skalnik Vityaz, Irkutsk: how to get there by car
If you, like me, are a topographical cretin and route descriptions in the spirit of “follow the marks” are not enough for you, this is not a problem. Every year on the Olkhinsky plateau someone manages to get lost. Fortunately, we are in the age of high technology, just download an offline map to your phone Maps.Me. It is available for both iPhones and Android phones, it automatically plots the desired route, supports GPS and, in general, an infinitely useful application for any traveler. Cards that need internet will not work. After 10 - 15 minutes of travel, all communication will be cut off and you will only have to rely on tags.
The route to Vityaz itself is not difficult. But if you are a city dweller and you have little experience in hiking in the forest, you just have to mix up the 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 disperse as much as possible along the road in order to enjoy nature, there are enough crowds of people 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.
Olkhinskoye Plateau: hiking trails
Orlyonok station is an 80-minute drive away. Get off at the station, wait for the train to leave and cross to the other side railway tracks. There, go down the stairs from a small hill and turn right. And then in a straight line, without turning anywhere to a small bridge across the Malaya Olkha.
Way to the bridge on Malaya Olkha
After the bridge, a couple more minutes of walking straight, 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, then take a short route (5.2 km), where you need to climb the mountain. It is on this route that you can turn the wrong way, but it offers very beautiful views.
If you turn left, you will take a longer path (about 8 km), but along a straight road without a chance of getting lost, most importantly, go along the river.
Many go to Vityaz by a short road, and return bypassing.
The long road is easy - walk along the river for a long time, then turn right to the bridge. After the bridge - to the left (on the yellow route, see the map below) and again along the path along the Olkha. The river is your main landmark, go along it and don't get lost.
The purple line is cycle route to get to it, turn right after the bridge.
And I'll tell you more about the short route
The main rule here is stick to the most beaten path and during the forks look at marks on trees. It can be a red stripe on a tree or a red ribbon indicating the desired turn (or maybe a different color, in 2017 they were red).
First, 20-30 minutes you will climb uphill through the forest. Toward the end of the ascent, you will see large beautiful stones, as if from the Avatar movie. After the stones, you will reach a power line (power line). It is impossible not to notice it, it is a wide clearing in the forest.
Hooray, you have reached the power line
Just go straight, there are no forks here. Ahead of you is a picturesque aspen alley. After the alley, you will find yourself at a fork. It's not on the map, but it's actually there. You need to choose a more trodden left path. In 2017, the adjacent right path was blocked with thick branches, and besides, it is more overgrown.
After choosing the desired path, go straight again. The map shows that soon you will come to another fork. The left path is half-grown, just pass by, and on the right there is a forest road, it can also lead you in the wrong direction. Choose the path in the middle (blue).
On the way 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, then you will come to the top of the Vityaz rock, from where the same view of Olkha opens.
That's all. I wish you an easy road and only pleasant adventures!
And the low Primorsky ridge is a unique area, the so-called Olkhinsky plateau.
On the maps, this area forms the shape of a regular triangle, it is limited from the south by the waters of Lake Baikal, the waters of the large Irkutsk reservoir and the Irkut valley. This is a hill covered with mixed forests with elevations of 500-800 m with unique granite rock outcrops up to 75 m, not inferior in their natural value to the Krasnoyarsk pillars, but not so popular among tourists.
The most famous remains on the Olkhinsky plateau are the Vityaz rock, 30 m high, the Idol rock, 20 m high, the Mirror rocks, 16 m high, and the bizarre rock with a clearly visible face - the Old Woman Izergil, 25 m high. highest point the plateau became the city of Kamen Moigoty with a mark of 1222 m. The main rocks are located in the valley of the picturesque mountain river Bolshaya Olkha, which gave the name to this elevated orographic unit.
Vicinities of the Olkhinsky plateau
There are a lot of interesting natural and man-made objects in the vicinity of the Olkhinsky plateau rock formations. A very picturesque picture is the mountain river Bolshaya Olkha itself, on its banks you can have a pleasant rest on a day off, because it is located very close to Irkutsk. In the south, the plateau approaches closely, and abruptly breaks off to Baikal, forming picturesque rocky cliffs and steep cliffs.
At their foot there is a section of the Trans-Siberian Railway, often called the "golden buckle" or its Circum-Baikal section. From it, passengers can enjoy magnificent panoramas of Lake Baikal. Branch from Art. Slyudyanka II to the village. Baikal, only 89 km away, is a state-protected monument of unique engineering structures.
There are 38 tunnels in the rocky coast of the lake with a total length of 9063 m. There are also 15 rock galleries with a length of 295 m, 3 reinforced concrete galleries, 248 bridges and high viaducts, up to 270 retaining walls strengthening the route. By the number of unique engineering structures, this section of the road has no analogues in the country.
From the very north-east of the Olkhon plateau in a south-western direction, the federal highway M-55 or P258 "Baikal" passes through its territory, on the canvas of which 296 bridges were built, the road is replete with sharp turns and serpentines. The Tunkinsky tract A333 departs from this highway to Mongolia and the Kyakhtinsky tract A340 to Buryatia.
Climate
The climate on the Olkhinsky Plateau belongs to a sharply continental type, with an average January temperature of -22°C, closer to the coast of Baikal it is noticeably warmer than -18°C. The temperature minimum on the plateau is -45оС. Since the end of October, snow has been falling here, its cover during the winter reaches 1 meter, but with the absence of steep slopes, there is no avalanche danger on the plateau.
The average July temperatures on the plateau are +18°C, on the Baikal coast in summer it is noticeably cooler than +15°C. The temperature maximum in summer reaches +33оС, +35оС. In addition to northwestern winds, with the general transport of air masses, dry winds often blow from the south from Mongolia, bringing moisture from Lake Baikal and the shores of the Irkutsk reservoir. Precipitation on the plateau falls annually 400-450 mm.
Weekend on the Olkhinsky Plateau
If the weekend is ahead, a fascinating trip to the stone idols of the Olkhinsky plateau in any season of the year will be a wonderful place to relax. This route, due to its saturation and accessibility, can become a wonderful active mountain adventure. More than a half walking route from the station "Eaglet" to the rocks passes along the river Olkha, beautiful at any time.
IN Soviet years known among all rock climbers, the granite remnant "Vityaz" was very popular with climbers and vacationing students. Every weekend, a crowded train brought up to several hundred tourists to the Orlyonok station, who enjoyed spending their free time on the plateau.
Here, on the Vityaz, rock climbing competitions were regularly held by local athletes. Hammered bolts are visible on the rock, indicating 19 climbing routes, their length is from 25 to 35 meters, the highest difficulty category is V and VI. "Vityaz" is a wonderful climbing wall with many monolithic sections, shelves and plumb lines. In September, a local bard festival, which has already become traditional, is held here near the rock.
The path to the "Vityaz"
On the platform, breathing in the clean coniferous air, perhaps with a group of fellow travelers, you should go to the bridge over the Olkha. At the beginning of the journey, you should familiarize yourself with the route at a special information stand. Behind the bridge there will be a fork of two mountain paths. Now you don’t need to be interested in the gentle “lower path” that goes straight along the logging road along the Olkha, it will be convenient to return to the bridge at the end of the journey along it.
A more difficult and spectacular route should be started from the "upper path" going to the right. The most difficult here will be the first ascent to the power line, but when it ends, you can enjoy a very picturesque descent along the ridge to the very foot of the Vityaz rock. On the route, it is very important not to make a mistake with the search for the right path near the power lines, the road here will go to the right, but you need to find the path that goes to the Vityaz ridge to the left. Having come out correctly on the ridge, you can safely go down to the foot of the rock for about 1.5 hours.
If tourists have two or three days off in reserve, you can take your time to get acquainted with the surroundings and spend the night at the first rock in a log cabin or a felt yurt at the Vityaz camp site of the same name. 12 people can stay in two yurts at the same time, the cost of a daily stay at the base is 400 rubles per person.
Buildings appeared here quite recently, 5-6 years ago due to the great popularity of this route among the townspeople. When it's warm, in a large clearing near the base, you can put up a tent and make radial exits to each of the rocks, explore lesser known groups of rocks, just enjoy being in nature.
Path to the Idol
The nearest rock along the route from the Vityaz is the graceful rock rock Idol, similar to Easter idols. It is a column-like 20-meter monolith visible from a distance with a characteristic larger slab on top, resembling a headdress. It was for this accessory, which made the Siberian rock look like with overseas idols of Easter, that it got its name.
It is quite easy to walk from the Vityaz along a well-trodden, well-marked path that goes to the right to the Idol for about 3 km. In the middle of the path, after 1.5 km there will be a small wooden bridge, it can also serve as a guide. With a simple crossing, the path bifurcates again, to the left the path goes to the buildings of the Skazka winter hut, to the right you can go 1.5 km to the Idol. Very close to the "Idol" is another well-known rock "Turtle".
Path to the Old Woman
The path from the "Idol" to the rock "Old Woman" will not be so noticeable and you need to be more careful. Skalnik got its name for its resemblance to the face of an old woman, according to a clearly visible protruding "nose", angry "eyes" and a wrinkled "face". Having determined the further direction, it is necessary to prepare for the section of the path through the burnt forest. But on this 4.5 km trail, everyone will feel like the heroes of Tolkien's fantastic works because of the similarity of local landscapes.
Here it is important not to get lost and to accurately follow the marking red signs on the trees and special signs. It is from the "Old Woman", past the "Vityaz", along the "lower path" 10 km you can walk back to the station. "Eaglet". In total, the length of the circular route along the paths and rocks of the unique area will be 22 km.
By car to Vityaz
Among the members of local car clubs, the difficult road to the Vityaz rock has long been known. You can go to the famous rocks here on all-wheel drive cars. From Bolshoy Lug to the rock can be reached by forest inconspicuous roads with many fords 20.5 km, but be sure to take a guide. Numerous forest forks can easily confuse even experienced motorists.
From the village it is necessary to move to the southeast past the garbage dump in the valley of Molta. After 4 and 11 km, at well-marked forks, you need to turn right, and only at the third fork, after 12 km, turn left uphill to the pass. Along the road everywhere lie blocks of stones with holes drilled into them.
13 km after the start of the descent from the pass, you need to move to the right downhill and go along the large Zyryansky stream. After the next 14 km, turn right again and move 2 km to a small concrete bridge across the Olkha River. Having overcome the bridge, you should follow the signs “to Vityaz”, and a little later on the 19th km turn off the knurled road downhill to the foot of the rock.
How to get to the Olkhinsky plateau
From Irkutsk to the Olkhinsky plateau, you should move along the Kultuksky tract to the city of Shelekhov, here turn left at the Rosneft gas station in the direction of the villages of Bolshoi Lug and Olkha. The highway runs along the railway track according to settlements to the Orlyonok station. At the station, you can leave your car in a special parking lot and walk, or take a pleasant bike ride of 7-8 km along the Olkha riverbed to the loaches themselves.
You can go from Irkutsk to the Orlyonok station by train from the Irkutsk-Passenger station in the direction of Temnaya Pad, the journey takes up to 1.5 hours. Upon arrival at Orlyonok, you can get to organized group or take a walk on your own to the Vityaz rock climb, which is popular here. Along the well-trodden path 2.5 km into the forest to the beautiful rock "Idol", similar to the idols of Easter Island.
