To the foot of Belukha. Hiking in Altai with horse escort

Today is going to be a busy day.

After breakfast, we will take an all—terrain vehicle to the Izekeru clearing, where horses will be waiting for us, ready to take most of our cargo - tents, groceries and other public equipment. 

There will be about 14 km to Kucherlinsky Lake, which tourists will walk light along the picturesque valley of the mountain river. 

The view of the Kucherlinsky lake from the shaft of the ancient moraine will not leave anyone indifferent!

Breakfast, a little admiring of the lake and we set off, again with a horse escort. 

It is necessary to walk about 10 km to the parking lot in the cedars under the Kara-Tyurek pass.

It is worth stocking up on water, because the trail will go gradually uphill through a dense forest for most of the time, and streams sometimes dry up in hot summers. 

At Cedar sites, century-old cedars carefully shelter travelers from the weather under their arches. 

In the distance, the high goal of tomorrow is already visible — the Kara-Tyurek pass of 3060 m.

On this day, we will climb to the highest point of our route — the Karatyurek pass — just above 3000 meters above sea level! 

From here you can enjoy a stunning view of Mount Belukha and its entire massif — the peaks of Delaunay and the Crown of Katuni. 

Climbing to the observation deck from the Cedar Stands is not easy and takes an average of 3-4 hours, but it's worth it. 

A few more hours and the group is already on Akkem Lake at the foot of Belukha. 

Here we will set up our camp for a few days and finally be able to arrange a full rest for ourselves. 

The beautiful horses that have been helping us all this time are going home.

A visit to the valley of the "Seven Lakes" is planned for today. 

The hanging valley of Ak-Oyuk (Valley of Seven Lakes) is located at altitudes from 2200 to 2600 meters, there are several lakes of different colors (actually more than seven) of glacial origin, the water from which, merging, forms the Ak-Oyuk River (White Hollow, recess - trans. from alt.). 

We walk along the valley, take pictures and return back to our base camp on Lake Akkema. 

The walk will take about 5-7 hours.

Today is going to be a very busy day, a radial exit is planned towards the Akkem glacier, to the place where the chapel of the Archangel Michael, which burned down in 2020, was restored. 

We will see the Akkema Wall and both peaks of Belukha – the Western and Eastern peaks in all their grandeur. 

Next, you will climb to the Mountain Spirits Lake, which is located at an altitude of 2600 meters in the Kara-Oyuk valley. 

In the evening we return to our camp on Lake Akkema.

We've been losing altitude along the shaded Akkem trail almost all day today.

There are many parking lots in the forest, the guide chooses the best place to spend the night and relax, so that tomorrow's day of returning to civilization will be as pleasant as possible.

The final day of the active part of the hike. 

There are several crossings to the parking lot "Three Birches", where a GAZ-66 army truck will meet us and take us along the field road to the campsite in the village of Tyungur. 

In the evening, the final festive dinner with all those goodies that were missing in the camping life.

Early ascent, departure from the village of Tyungur towards the city of Biysk (transfer is paid separately).

 The approximate arrival in Biysk is around 19-00. 

By car from Biysk 576 km. On the road, excluding traffic jams and sanitary stops and souvenirs, the time will be about 9 hours.