23 days, 480 km, Duluk, northern lakes, packraft rafting, Red Book white-tailed eagle and Putorana bighorn sheep.
Below is a long article with a bunch of pictures
General idea of the hike and material
This was the fifth visit to the Putorana plateau, pedestrian-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 single pedestrian-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 slight difficulties in route planning due to the reconstruction of the airport in Norilsk. As a result, it was possible to slightly see Lake Duluk on the plateau, the northwestern lakes (Negu-Iken, Neralakh, Bogatyr), the highest point of the 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 of the technical issues, safety and communication issues on the route were solved in the same way as before (described in detail in previous materials, I will not repeat myself). Only those details are mentioned that were not there before and which may be useful.
The upper reaches of the Mikchangda River and the city of Orlinaya. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Hike route, mileage, numbers
The final detailed thread turned out as follows: Norilsk - the northern part of the lake. Ayan - b. Big Khonna-Makit - northern part of Lake Ayan - vdp 100 in the upper reaches of the Duluk river - right bank of the Duluk river - Lake Duluk - vicinities of Lake Duluk - left bank of the Duluk river - northern part of Lake Ayan - the Ayan river (rafting from the source to the left large tributary east of Lake Negu-Iken) - Lake Negu-Iken - the Dulugu-Iken river - Lake Neralakh - Lake Bogatyr - Bogatyr v. (1591m) - the Yuzh River Nerakachi - the upper reaches of the Mikchangda - pass in the upper reaches of the Bucharam River - Mikchangda River (rafting from Orlinaya to Lake Lama) - Lake Lama - Norilsk.
The first half of the route (the Duluk river and the vicinity of Lake Duluk) was devoted to work for the benefit of the protected system. The second half of the route is an independent exit to Lake Lama through the northern lakes and the Mikchangdu river. The mileage of the active part was 480 km (along 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 map shows the traversed route, the numbers of the 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 Reserve is shown in black, the rafting section on the packraft is shown in blue, and the walking section of its route is shown in red.
The food distribution was moderate, 400 grams per day. For the first time in a summer hike I used bacon. Works. There were food helpers at the reserve cordon, as well as several grayling on the Ayan and Mikchangda rivers. The grayling of this year on the Ayan and Mikchangda rivers, on average, appeared more than on the Dolochi and Kutaramakan rivers in 2016, but his volitional qualities are still in full 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.
Thread of the route: river and lake Duluk
On the first evening, I ran radially to see the waterfalls on the Bol.Khonna-Makit river. The 2nd fermented the Chopko River 200-300 meters above Bol.Honna-Makita.
Upper waterfall on the Bol.Khonna-Makit river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Lower waterfall on the Bol.Khonna-Makit river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Then there was an ascent to the plateau and descent to the beginning of the canyon of the Duluk river. Quickly looked at a 100-meter waterfall on a tributary in the upper reaches of the Duluk River. Mid-July is so-so time on the plateau. On a sunny day from 7 am, the heat can already begin.
Vdp. 100m on the tributary in the upper reaches of the Duluk river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
I walked around Lake Duluk. Good. Far from hiking and even rafting routes. He slightly disturbed Buzzard.
Buzzard. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Duluk lake and Duluk river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
With Putorana bighorn sheep - everything 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 sleeping and accompanied for several hours until the morning meeting.
Putorana bighorn sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Protecting the ram's sensitive sleep, I sat for 4.5-5 hours. As usual, the ram is kimarite, dangles its head, periodically drives away the gnat. Around 05:00 it was time to go and get acquainted. Everything already disposed to come up and hug in a friendly way, but during the sitting it froze, everything went numb, on the slope I stumbled a bit, which made me lose confidence. We limited ourselves to just waving to each other and wishing a good day.
Putorana bighorn sheep against the background of Lake Duluk. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Putorana bighorn sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Putorana bighorn sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Putorana bighorn sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Putorana bighorn sheep. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
In addition to the aksakal, there was a female on Duluk, apparently with a lamb nearby, because quickly and without a trace disappeared.
The inspectors of the Putoransky Nature Reserve are so cool that they recognize the ram from the photograph and correctly indicate the location of its shooting.
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, the summer season of 2017 was able to see high water on the plateau associated with late floods and rains. The section of the river from its source to the confluence of the Kaltama River is, according to the descriptions, the simplest and should not be difficult in average water. As it turned out later from communication with colleagues in the shop, water was not everywhere. In the eastern part of the plateau, no water was poured into the rivers (the Khigdekit River).
Almost immediately after sailing along Ayan it started to rain, in the rain I swam briskly for 3 hours without stopping, walked about 20 km. We came across weird shivers with stones, some managed to pass along the edge.
Ayan river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Ayan river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Around 22-00 on the left bank I was surprised to see a camp and two trimaran. The team from Norilsk, local men, were also surprised by the meeting and the raised water. We talked sincerely, exchanged impressions and plans.
Rafting team on trimaran from Norilsk. Meeting on the bank of the Ayan river. Photo from copter Mikhail Karpov. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
They received them very hospitably, fed them densely, and gave them some baked fish. We were invited to a camping bath. It is difficult to refuse, but the schedule did not allow. Mikhail Karpov used a quadcopter to see the nearest rift. Somehow I sailed away from their parking lot (MPEG4 Video 1920x1080):
Video author Mikhail Karpov (Norilsk). The passenger of the boat and the author of the misdirection is Andrey Podkorytov. Ayan river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Ayan river. Putorana plateau. July 2017. Photo by Mikhail Karpov.
I wanted to pass 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 rifts with large ramparts began. Since it was raining almost all day, there was a lot of water. In my experience, it has not been reliably passed on packraft. Further water should have been more, the river collected tributaries. One could wait for the water to fall or climb out of the Ayan canyon onto the plateau impromptu. I decided to reduce the floatable section by 15 km and climb out onto the plateau in an unplanned place. I swam a little before the tributary, and drew several rifts along the shore. About 03-00 I went ashore. For the whole day I rafted 49 km, wet, cool, tired. Usually the main argument against irritation, fatigue, cold and hunger was a full pot (Jetboil 0.8L) 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 hard rafting day and passed 50 km, he made a little spoil in his reserves.
Ayan river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
From the river, ascent to the plateau next to the tributary almost head-on along the packed deer paths. At one fine moment, during the setting of the 13th camp, the tent was blown away by the wind. Catching up with her is so-so, but it is necessary. Fought back half-sitting, propping up the wall, a dangerous squall wind.
Route thread: lakes Negu-Iken, Neralakh, Bogatyr
At Lake Negu Iken there was an evening dinner. Then he walked along the coast. Beautiful bends of the coastline, fog, antlers left over from the aboriginal graze. Lake Negu Iken is not easy and very correct.
Lake Negu Iken. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
To fall. Lake Negu Iken. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
A female 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 ubiquitous.
Lake Neralakh. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
A night radial was organized to the top of Bogatyr. At 23-15 in the saddle lunch (overnight 16 on the map), at 00-25 I went radially to the Bogatyr mountain, at 3-10 I was on the edge of the pre-summit spur. After sunrise, I went to the highest point. He returned to the backpack at 07-35, fought back at 8-10. I was in no hurry during the day, rest for the night radial. Night radios are a proven evil, but the only way to be in a good place at the right time, if you need it for some reason. Lake Bogatyr is not easy and wrong.
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 frame for a friendly company. Summit of Bogatyr. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
We managed to cross the Yuzhnaya River over the stones, in other places it was deep. Near the lakes in the upper reaches of the Mikchangda River, deer bones are completely lying, every 100-200 meters, at each hill. Apparently, a favorite place for wolf hunting.
River Yuzh.Nerakachi. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Upper reaches of the Mikchangda river, Orlinaya town. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Instead of a typical descent to the Mikchangda river by the shortest route (through the pass from the Bucharam river), I saw a more gentle descent four kilometers to the northwest. Good.
Rafting on the Mikchangda river
At 17-40 I went to the equipped parking lot at Mikchangdy. I had a leisurely lunch, shifted, and sailed at 22-00. There are many rifts in the upper reaches, the packcraft in some places had to be carried out with our feet.
The upper reaches of the Mikchangda River. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
After the forest lake on the right bank of Mikchangda in front of the mouth of the Mikchangda-Ondodomi river, stretches begin with almost no current, periodically replaced by rifts or floods of the river into several fast channels. Often the jets are carried to the fallen trees. There are many stretches almost to the very mouth of the Talikit River. On stretches in a strong headwind, at times it was necessary to hold tightly to the bushes on the shore, so as not to swim in the opposite direction.
Mikchangda river, a tributary of the Mikchangda-Ondodomi river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Mikchangda river. Putorana plateau. August 2017.
In 1-2 km after the mouth of the Talikit River, long rifts begin, gradually turning into rifts. The river is changing, there are a lot of stones in the channel, it is inconvenient. Shivers are 100-200-300 m long, the bottom is coarse, the packraft clings. The current is everywhere, it floats quickly, there are no reaches. Shivers are often carried up trees in the water. I carried a few pieces. There are many channels on spills, sometimes you need to carry out 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 long stretches, between them there are deep rifts with small pebbles. Shivers are less frequent and quieter, in the riverbed you come across mud grains.
Mikchangda river. Putorana plateau. August 2017.
Mikchangda river. Putorana plateau. August 2017.
When approaching the right tributary of the Yuzh.Iken river, there are more and more reaches, there is no current at all. The influx itself did not notice at all. The river is getting fat and faster. Long ripples begin. First light, then more and more full-flowing, longer and more serious. Since the water was above average and the river absorbed tributaries, I considered the option from the confluence of the Yuzh.Iken to get off the river and go on foot to the south-southwest to the point of discharge on Lake Lama. I got carried away, the tributary Yuzhn. Iken did not notice, it turned out to swim further. On the section of the river after the confluence of the South Iken River and up to the Mikchangda delta there are several deepest and most serious rifts. I saw something along the shore, something swam along the edge. In the Mikchangda delta, it begins to overflow, there is no current, it is shallow, it is necessary 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 Lama it is better to swim along the coast, in other places there are shallows.
Hanging / fallen trees are an unpleasant moment for packraft, because 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 twisted turns. I don’t remember any problems with trees on Ayana at all. It's different on Mikchangda. In places of flooding, the river has a bunch of narrow winding channels with a good current and a large number of fallen trees, often the stream blows directly onto them. There are also a lot of trees in the water on the stretches of the stretch, often they are completely hidden under the water, you need to look carefully.
The Red Book inhabitants of the plateau were noted not only by rams, but also by birds in the face 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 in the tail and in the mane, on whose side there is a numerical advantage.
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, familiar in absentia by correspondence, greeted them with the words “Small world”. The guys cooked a delicious fish soup, it turned out to be a wonderful evening. The next morning, unhurried packing and dropping to Norilsk. Ilya Kalinsky helped with the release by boat from the mouth of the Mikchangda River to Lake Lama to Norilsk. I recommend - fast, convenient, reasonable prices.
Shore of Lama Lake, 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.
With high water, even the quietest described section of the Ayan River (from the source to the confluence of the left tributary of the Kaltama River) can offer rifts that are not obvious for packraft in an expedition format. My main rifts were in the area of the confluence of the Bol.Khonna-Makit river, in the area of the confluence of the Khona-Makit and Munil rivers, as well as 3 km before the left large tributary.
The Mikchangdy section below the confluence of the South Iken and up to the delta with water above average is rather severe. The river is wide, full-flowing, many long rifts (up to 200 meters) with a large number of mudflats and protruding stones in the channel, standing banks from 0.5 to 1 meter. Several shivers - well, not at all for a loaded packraft. Without insurance, viewing and the willingness to swim, you probably shouldn't go shivers directly on a loaded packraft. Something can be passed along the edge, something can be drawn along the shore. Although competent water workers said that everything described skillfully was passed on packraft without any problems. The keyword is skillful.
Raster maps of the General Staff in a satellite navigator are most convenient for typical routes, when everything is roughly clear and there are descriptions. To be able to plan and change the route of the route on the go, impromptu, or for new routes that have not been traveled, it is much more convenient to use GHZ raster maps (scales up to 500m, for fans it is even 250m). The distributing site periodically hangs, it is useful to pump out the necessary cards strongly in advance.
This year on the Putorana plateau, in addition to the standard ones, the most serious non-trivial hikes were completed: heavily hiking (630 km, https://www.marshruty.ru/travel/platoputorana/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQvs3JpjqT4&feature= youtu.be), strongly aquatic pedestrian-water (675 km, http://photopoxod.ru/putorana2017) and strongly aquatic (800 km, https://vk.com/volkovmix?w=wall52949044_1058%2Fall).
Duluk river. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
Total
A very vigorous thread did not work out, but I managed to see something.
Duluk lake area. Putorana plateau. July 2017.
A few more (many) photos https://a-podkorytov.livejournal.com/6500.html
One of the most interesting components of the local landscape. There are more than 22 thousand lakes here, and they occupy about 10% of the plateau's area. Nowhere in the world in a limited area is there such a number of long (50–150 km) and deep (50–420 m) lakes as on the Putorana plateau.
The largest Putorana lakes arose in large basalt fissures, which are very similar to the fjords of northern Norway, only not on the coast, but in the middle of the land. The total volume of water in the Putorana lakes is the second largest surface fresh water reservoir in Russia after Lake Baikal. The largest lakes (Lama, Omuk-Kyuel, Yt-Kyuel, Keta, Khantayskoe, Kutaramakan) cut into the plateau from the west.
The second place in terms of depth is occupied by lakes preserved in the old channels of large rivers that left their valleys during the restructuring of the hydraulic network. A huge number of small and medium-sized lakes by local standards are occupied by oxbow, thermokarst baths and basalt depressions.
Local lakes have almost the same composition of the main crystalline rocks, which makes it easier to identify the climatic and chemical-biological components of the landscape. All lakes on the plateau are flowing, that is, with a relatively fast water exchange. This is one of the reasons for the low salinity of waters - from 13 to 42 mg / l - which is very close to ordinary rainwater, both in purity and in taste. For comparison, the water of Lake Baikal has a mineralization of 93 to 150 mg / l. When in July-August 2015 I was on the Putorana plateau, even the hardened participants in our hike often froze because of the very "soft" water. The fact is that soap in such water is washed off the body longer, so it took a lot of effort. And the water was also cold, especially in the summit lakes - about 5 ° C!
It would seem that in constantly cold water, as in Lake Baikal, oxygen saturates the entire water column (the oxygen content does not drop below 8 mg / l even in winter), but due to the scarce aquatic vegetation and the slow soil-forming process, the content of nutrients in lake waters is extremely insignificantly, which hinders the development of life in the lakes.
The aesthetic significance of the plateau territory for sophisticated travelers is given by the numerous waterfalls, differing both in shape and in the power of the stream. Their scale and number are impressive (the Putorana plateau has the greatest concentration of waterfalls in Russia and, possibly, in the world). Here, on the Kanda River, there is one of the highest waterfalls in Russia - 108 meters high.
Perhaps, in no other region of Russia there is such a contradictory hydrographic network as in the Putorana mountains. It combines typical mountain streams with numerous rapids and waterfalls and deep basins occupied by flowing lakes and thick sediments. In some parts of the plateau, the rivers are typically flat with a silt-covered bottom - where the water did not have time to cut through the rapidly rising surface. The channels of many rivers are dotted with canyons.
Combinations of features of both a mountain and a lowland river are clearly visible on the example of the bizarrely curving Kureika. Its history is closely related to the ancient river that existed on the Putorana before the rise of the territory and crossed almost the entire middle, currently the highest part of the plateau. The source of the river was located north of Lake Ayan, and its channel ran southeast through the modern middle part of the Kureiki valley into the Lower Tunguska basin. Tectonic movements, which redistributed the flow of the ancient river about 10 thousand years ago, caused the emergence of two most beautiful fissure lakes: Ayan (55 km long, maximum depth 256 m) and Anama (54 km long, maximum depth 120 m). In the former channel of the Kureika, there are residual lakes: Monomakli, Omutachi, Yadun. Along the southwestern part of the plateau, another ancient and subsequently also rebuilt river valley, Vivi-Agatskaya, was revealed.
Due to active tectonic movements, all the fissure lakes of the plateau deepened. Almost perpendicular to their previous directions, new deep cracks have appeared, so the lakes on Putorana have angular outlines - with the exception of large lakes in the western part, which have bends only in their eastern extremities, which are located directly in the mountains. At the bottom of Lake Agata, larch trees were found standing on the vine - witnesses of the modern deepening of the lake.
Photo © Dmitry Zamorin from westsib.ru.
See also about the geography and geology of the Putorana plateau:
The stepped Putorana plateau, "Elements", 09/27/2016.
Fedor Shabalin
