A delightful journey to Lake Baskunchak and Mount Bogdo. Mount Bogdo and salt lake Baskunchak (Astrakhan region) Salt lake Baskunchak and Mount Bogdo

Yes, the distance from the regional center is serious; the round trip road is almost 800 kilometers. But it was worth it. I'll tell you and show you everything in order.

The views already on the rise are the most stunning:

The view from the top is even more stunning:

I went down and walked to the lake. From the top of the mountain the distance seemed very modest, in reality it turned out to be about 20 minutes on foot. The distance was brightened up by yet more stunning views:

Next begins the salt lake Baskunchak, which in terms of healing properties is not inferior to the Dead Sea in Israel. The water is oily and very bitter.

The return journey was accompanied by no less beautiful landscapes:

Summary: going is a must. The virgin nature made a strong impression on me - you understand that all this has been standing for thousands of years in almost the same form as it is now. A huge charge of positive energy - you leave the reserve with an absolutely clear head, in a very good mood, with the feeling that, at least a little, your soul has become purer. The energy there is very good.

Photo and text: Alexander Ralnikov

Lake Baskunchak, Mount Bolshoye Bogdo and the Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Nature Reserve are good not only in themselves and not only as popular attractions and ecological routes. The surroundings of Lake Baskunchak and Mount Bolshoye Bogdo are beautiful, but the regime of the reserve and the difficult characters of the local residents do not always allow them to be enjoyed. However, we will be able to show and tell you something.

Label of a series of articles about a trip through the south of Russia in a UAZ Patriot along the route Moscow – Elton – Baskunchak – Sea of ​​Azov – Yasenskaya crossing – Elton – Moscow in 2008 under the title “Big Steppe Ride” - .

When clicked, photos enlarge and open in a separate window.

Along the steppe, which is called the standard steppe - it is so classically beautiful - you want to walk endlessly. The steppe draws you in like the starry sky above your head. An endless, eternal space through which caravans of oxen with salt slowly walked and cruel bands of nomads raced on horses. The sun is white-hot over the withered grass. Bitter wormwood air. Heady kumiss. The taste of salt on dry lips. All this is steppe...

When walking along the steppe, you need to be careful. In the grass you may unexpectedly meet with a wise steppe viper, with a cute sexy scorpion, with a crazy active phalanx - and this meeting will not always please you. In addition, the steppe only seems as flat as a table. In the steppe in the vicinity of Lake Baskunchak and Mount Bolshoye Bogdo there are many karst sinkholes, caves and gullies. You are unlikely to fall into a deep dungeon, but you can easily injure your leg if you walk carelessly.

Funnels and hollows are scattered across the autumn yellow (the color of a madhouse) steppe. These are karst sinkholes. Layers of rock salt, limestone and other unstable rocks are washed away by rain, and gaps form in the steppe. This is part of the Shar-Bulak tract.

Gardens are grown in deep ravines (for example, in Surikovskaya ravine), because... these places are protected from the cold winter winds that sweep across the steppe at the speed of a modern train. Experimental plantings of southern fruit trees by biologists sometimes survive and bear fruit.

Caves in the steppe are a phenomenon in itself, surprising for our speculative idea of ​​the steppe as a flat area, like a table, overgrown with fluffy feather grass. But the steppe is different, and there are caves in the steppe, and some caves are large and unsafe. In addition to small karst sinkholes and sinkholes, in the vicinity of Lake Baskunchak there are eight full-fledged large caves.

photo. Author VovkaKak.

The Baskunchakskaya cave, also called Studencheskaya, in the vicinity of Lake Baskunchak and Mount Bolshoye Bogdo, is the largest and most famous in the Caspian lowland. Scientists suggest that the Baskunchak Cave began to form about 6 thousand years ago, but it apparently became known to people only about 150 years ago. The first inscription on the wall of the Baskunchakskaya cave is dated 1874, and it is difficult to imagine that the more ancient pioneers of the cave (if there were any) would not have left some kind of inscription or drawing on the walls as a keepsake. The first scientific studies of the Baskunchakskaya cave were published in 1940 by A.A. Gedeonov.

The Baskunchak cave consists of two, and in some places three, horizontal tiers with passages between them and memorable names: Skinner, Labyrinth, Main Gallery. The total length of the passages is about one and a half kilometers, the maximum depth of the cave is about 32 meters.

The history of the exploration of the Baskunchakskaya cave is bright and dramatic.

“More than 30 times from 1979 to 1998, Saratov speleologists visited the village of Baskunchakskaya. As a result of topographic surveys carried out in full three times (1979-1980, 1986, 1991), all currently passable sections of the cave were mapped. In 1980, the Malaya and Bolshaya Baskunchak caves (according to Gedeonov) were combined into one - the Baskunchak cave with three passable entrances. In 1985, faint reflections of daylight were noticed in the ceiling of one of the halls when the electric lights were turned off. A daredevil who free-climbed along the wall of the hall to a narrow hole in the ceiling was unable to either descend (without a safety net) or climb out. Friends, guided by his screams from the surface, found and widened this gap, which became the 4th entrance to the cave.”

“The study of siphons and their supposed connection (1980-1983) constitute a particularly interesting part of the history of the work of Saratov speleologists. The first attempts to pass these siphons were naive but daring. The mud-water half-siphon in the Labyrinth was passed in the absence of wetsuits using a specially constructed polyethylene pipe. The pipe rolled out ahead of the crawler in front of him. Despite the fact that the pipe naturally slammed shut behind the pioneers and they almost suffocated, the half-siphon was passed. But then there was a real water siphon, very narrow for diving. We dived into the lake near the Main Gallery in wetsuits, then also with scuba gear, but the narrowness and turbidity of the water encountered after 6-7 meters did not allow us to go further. Even underwater blasting operations were tried, but without success. Finally, the problem was approached thoroughly. A fire pump with a gasoline engine was brought to the underground lake. The siphon was successfully pumped into the Main Gallery, while an experiment was simultaneously carried out with fluorescein staining of an artificially created watercourse. Exhaust gases from the engine quickly filled the stroke volume and the authors well remembered the picture of the panicked flight of experimenters from the thundering pump to exit No. 1. Alas, the pumped out lake, up to 2 m deep and about 7 m long, ended in a clay-filled narrowness with slowly seeping water.” .

Numerous karst sinkholes, funnels, beams and caves, including the Baskunchakskaya cave, gave rise to local stories and legends that in the steppe in the vicinity of Baskunchak there are underground passages that are known only to dedicated people, which usually include mythological characters - “noble robbers” ", like Robin Hood. They also say that horses grazing in the steppe fall into karst sinkholes, and then through underground passages and rapid underground rivers they get out in the Volga region and even beyond the Volga, which in our opinion is nothing more than stories that justify widespread horse theft in the steppe.

Red Lake (or rather, what is left of it) is an unforgettable place next to Lake Baskunchak.

Once upon a time Red Lake was like this.

Photo by Stepkin N.P. photo.

It would seem that there is no need to repeat ourselves about the importance of water in the steppe and the dangers of steppe fires. But those who like to relax, drink and hunt convince us otherwise.

A beautiful oasis in the dry, hot steppe attracted numerous visitors. Primarily local hunters and poachers. Not so long ago, according to the stories of local residents, in the steppe near the Red Rocks, saigas were exterminated en masse in a simple way, preserved from Soviet times: they drove a car into the herd of saigas at high speed across the steppe, it crushed several dozen saigas, and then the “hunters” took several carcasses for meat. The remaining saigas corpses and a huge number of mutilated wounded were simply abandoned in the steppes to the mercy of fate. The animals were butchered on the shores of Red Lake, because... this is the closest source of fresh water. You can also have a picnic. Numerous lovers of nature and outdoor drinking also stayed here. Careless handling of fire led to a steppe fire, the consequences of which now cannot be overcome for years!

This is what Red Lake became. Perhaps it has become even more beautiful, but this beauty is tragic. Sometimes in the spring, melt waters and streams make an attempt to revive the lake, but then everything returns to a half-dead state. The ecological balance has been disrupted, perhaps forever.

The red clay of the lake bottom leaves an unforgettable impression. The same clays of the ancient Permian period of the late Paleozoic era emerge on the surface of the Red Rocks of Mount Bolshoye Bogdo. Crazy colors and textures in golden sunny autumn!

On the territory of the Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Nature Reserve there is another unique water body - Lake Karasun. The drainless lake, filled with rain and melt water, is located in a large karst sinkhole. The southern coast is high and steep, on other sides the banks gently slope into the steppe. Several rather deep ancient ravines with eroded slopes descend from the west. The bottom of the lake is silty, black silt with a pronounced smell of hydrogen sulfide. By the end of summer, the water level drops significantly, and the lake can dry up almost completely. The bottom cracks, forming takyr.

“Several years ago, even before the opening of the reserve, the Volga publication reported on the tragedy that took place on the shore of Lake Karasun, where several dozen decomposed corpses of saigas were discovered. As it turned out, these were trophies of poachers. After shooting, or even simply running over them at night in the light of headlights with trucks, they brought the animals to the lake for butchering. But there was so much prey that the so-called hunters abandoned some of the saigas on the shore, without even bothering to cover them. I can’t say for sure how this story ended, but it was not possible to identify the poachers and bring them to justice.” .

The surroundings of Lake Baskunchak and the Bolshoye Bogdo Mountains are attractive at any time of the year. Depending on the season, time of day, weather and lighting conditions, the colors change from rich “alien” to picturesque “pastel”.

This is where we finish introducing you to the Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Nature Reserve, Bolshoye Bogdo Mountain, Lake Baskunchak and the immediate surroundings. The description of the trip to the south of Russia is transferred to the Krasnodar region on the shores of the Sea of ​​​​Azov and to the picturesque place of Yasenskaya crossing. Great Steppe Ride continues!

Electronic media "Interesting World". 12/09/2013

Lake Baskunchak and its immediate surroundings is without a doubt one of the most fascinating places in the southern part of the country. In my opinion, this is the calling card of the stunning and diverse Astrakhan region

And remember that you can click on each picture for better viewing (Sony a7 camera)

You need to focus on the village of Nizhny Baskunchak. The road leading to it is a dead-end (a branch from the Volzhsky - Astrakhan highway), paved and of very decent quality. Then you don’t have to waste your time looking for the entrance to the mountain. Firstly, in order to leave the village in the right direction, it is better not to enter it at all, and secondly, there are so many forks inside Nizhny Baskunchak itself that it is easier to put a special boy offering services in the car and he will show you the correct exit. At first he will charge you 300 rubles for his super-guide services, but in the end it easily drops to 100-150 rubles. So, take it with you, drive 500 meters and then everything becomes clear. Time is usually more valuable

The road to the checkpoint in the Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Nature Reserve looks something like this. After the village along a well-rolled steppe road, another 15 kilometers

You hit the barrier, your aunt comes out and says 190 rubles per person. You need to go out, get a pass and listen to instructions. After the barrier is raised, you need to drive about 4 kilometers along a road reminiscent of the Tibetan highlands. It's like you're in Nepal

Fascinating pictures

If you're lucky, in such places you can hear the singing of the wind due to a certain topography and the direction of movement of air masses

You can stop, take photos, breathe

But it’s forbidden to approach the rocks. And it is right. Firstly, it’s a nature reserve, and secondly, it’s a unique place in world geology and geography, and I’ll explain why later.

The pictures are different. But in fact, it doesn’t fit in my head - how in the middle of the steppe, which stretches for many hundreds of kilometers with the most ordinary flat surface, mountains like this rise sharply...

In fact, the heights are not extreme. The base of the Big Bogdo mountain is located at an altitude of minus 20 meters from sea level, the top is plus 130 meters above sea level. It turns out that the height of the mountain is only 150 meters, but in good, clear weather without haze, this hill can be seen 50-70 kilometers away. Amazing steppe effect

After 4 kilometers you reach a parking lot, from where a view opens towards Kazakhstan. For tens of kilometers

Initially there are three routes:
1. To Mount Big Bogdo
2. Along the hills around the mountain (2.5 km)
3. To Lake Baskunchak and around it (more than 50 km)

Now only the second one is open. You can’t go to the mountain because an endangered species of lizards listed in the world’s Red Book was recently discovered there, and the third route opens on July 15, which is officially stated on the reserve’s website

Start of the route. No special training is required and there are no steep climbs. And it seems visually that the trail is less than 2.5 km

The northeastern slope of the mountain has a reddish tint. This place is called a mecca for photographers. And also for historians, geologists, geographers and many others. By the way, Buddhists consider this mountain sacred and every Kalmyk should come here on foot at least once and bow to the holy mountain. So, the red color is red clay, which is 300 million years old. Just think about this figure! While preparing to write this material, I came across a good comparison: Christianity is only 2 thousand years old, and this earth is 300 million. In this place, especially if you are not surrounded by crowds of tourists (in my case there was no one else at all), in a short time you can understand what earthly problems are insignificant in their essence.. The best psychotherapy is not a good psychoneurologist or therapist, it's a trip to such places. I don’t understand why people go to Bali for six months when there are places nearby

Stunning scenery. The trail along route number 2 is quite well developed, although, in my opinion, there is no need for these railings here

There are information boards everywhere with the history of the place, its legends, characteristics of Lake Baskunchak - one of the largest salt lakes in Europe

No color enhancement, everything is natural. The shades vary at different times of the day. It gets even redder

The Zen landscape opens up from the hilltops. On the left is a piece of Lake Baskunchak

Observation deck. You can’t believe that you are at an altitude of only 100 meters. The effect of the steppe is that any mountain seems huge

Cloud shadows

Salt has been mined on Lake Baskunchak for many years. The dead-end branch of the railway line goes directly to the lake, from where freight trains then disperse throughout the country. The first mentions date back to the 8th century, when salt was also mined here and rolled along the Great Silk Road

A special word in support of the tourism department of the Astrakhan region. Just great guys! Without unnecessary intrusiveness, trying to preserve the reserve, people here have created excellent conditions for a pleasant pastime. Using the example of the Saratov region, I can say that there are no less unique places in the region, but they are in an extremely neglected state and do not smell of any tourism. Why all these benches and railings - you ask? The answer is simple - talk to the locals. They will tell you about the dirt and devastation that was in these places before the protected area was created. Now at least some control and cleaning

...But, because... I’m an active person, and I often need everything at once; I couldn’t prioritize what was necessary and what could be sacrificed. Yes, and somehow lucrative offers from travel companies kept popping up, enticing us to distant warm countries at competitive prices. :) But one fine day the insight came that I get real pleasure traveling around Russia, believe it or not, but only on Lake Baikal did I want to scream (no, not like that... I wanted to ORAAAAAAAT) with delight, only in the Caucasus mountains did I freeze heart, only in Optina Pustina it seemed to me that time had stopped, and that the troika was about to take off, urged on by the coachman. And I decided! Without running around and rushing, without being scattered around different objects, just go to Lake Baskunchak!
The train "Moscow - Verkhniy Baskunchak" travels for 24 hours. Part of the route passes through the territory of Kazakhstan.

While still in Moscow, I decided that I would prefer accommodation in the Baskunchak sanatorium (http://www.sanbask.ru) to the private sector. I won’t post photos here, they are all on the website. And everything is true. It should be noted that the staff of the sanatorium is very friendly and responsive. And the food is very tasty and plentiful. There are a lot of procedures, but... I have no indications for treatment (ugh, ugh...) I can only say that the relaxation is absolute! And separately, of course, it is necessary to note the attentiveness of the director, who communicates with all the guests and reacts instantly to every word and wish. Literally!
And now Baskunchak himself:
Salt lake Baskunchak is located in the Akhtubinsky district of the Astrakhan region. Wikipedia says that 300 g of salt is dissolved in 1 liter of water... I haven’t checked, but salt is everywhere here... everything white in the photo is salt! It covers the shores, bottom and everything that gets into the lake...

On the other bank you can see Mount Bogdo, read about it below.

I was on the lake in mid-May, it’s not yet the season, so there are practically no people, and you can enjoy the endless landscapes, dissolving in the wind and bird trills, of which there is an unimaginable variety.

Locals say that these pillars remain from the times when salt was transported with the help of camels. Unfortunately, exactly how they were used remains a mystery to me.

And this braid is also salt!!!

It is absolutely impossible to drown in the lake; its waters push everything to the surface. But you need to be very careful, because... getting water into your eyes is extremely unpleasant and requires URGENT rinsing with fresh water...

And after bathing, the salt crystallizes on your body, and you turn into a walking salt shaker, a very funny feeling.

Mount Big Bogdo

There is also a small one, but it is located on the territory of Kazakhstan.
Because There are no organized excursions from the sanatorium, so I turned to local residents for help. They recommended Arman to me 8-927-559-07-00. In turn, I recommend it to everyone who visits these places.
Mount Bogda is located on the territory of the reserve. Entry fee, 200 rubles.

The flora and fauna of the reserve is very diverse; we were lucky to see a fox and not see any vipers. Unfortunately, the tulips have already faded, but the entire steppe is filled with wormwood and its intoxicating smell.

A wish-fulfilling stone. You need to put down the coin!

Mount Big Bogdo is considered sacred by Buddhists, and pilgrims come here.

The soils are saturated with iron. The mountain rises above sea level every year and layers of ferruginous soil are interspersed with salt, creating a stunning landscape.

View of Lake Baskunchak from Mount Bogdo

In addition to the Big Bogdo, you can climb caves. Pleasure is not for everyone. But out of curiosity, I also climbed once. According to Arman's stories, there are amateurs who descend into these labyrinths for several days, spending the night there. To each his own…
Caves appear unexpectedly. In the middle of the table-flat steppe, gaps appear...

Lake Baskunchak- This salt lake in the Astrakhan region(Akhtubinsky district), which, together with the nearby Mount Bogdo, an anomalous zone.

The area of ​​the lake is 115 km², the distance from it to Caspian Sea — almost 300 km, and to the Volga - 50 km. Since the 90s of the last century, it has been organized Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky State Reserve.

The lake and its surroundings are place of pilgrimage for tourists who are attracted here healing salt water: thanks to the high concentration of salts, a person can lie freely on the surface of the lake without making any effort.

The lake has a whole range of healing factors:

• Deposits of medicinal clays(similar in composition and usefulness to the mud of the Dead Sea), thanks to which it is possible to take mud baths and swim in brine;
• Healing air, containing bromine and phytoncides in high concentrations.

People who come to Baskunchak to improve their health get rid of many ailments, such as diseases of the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, skin diseases and many others.

Many people who have visited Baskunchak note special energy present in this space. Perhaps this is due to the unique geological structure of the lake.

Baskunchak is special a depression at the top of a salt mountain that goes thousands of meters underground, covered with sedimentary rocks.

Since ancient times in Baskunchak mined salt. It is interesting that, unlike many other salt deposits, Baskunchak can restore lost supplies due to the natural introduction of salts from the springs that feed the lake. Many centuries mining salt was hard, backbreaking labor: the only tools of the salt pans were a shovel and a pound's pick, with the help of which people, standing waist-deep in skin-corroding salt water, loosened the salt plates and loaded the salt onto carts.

Camels transported the extracted salt, as horses could not withstand the harsh conditions.

Forty thousand workers worked in Baskunchak, providing over 25% of the salt production of the Russian Empire.

After visiting Baskunchak, you should definitely visit on Mount Bogdo (height 149 meters above sea level), located on southern shore of the lake. This hill is the only mountain of natural origin in the Caspian lowland.

Eat many legends about the origin of the amazing Mount Bogdo, rising alone above the steppe. According to one of them, living in these places hero, who was herding sheep, decided that he needed a mountain to watch his flock. He went to the Urals and carried a huge mountain on his shoulders. However, approaching Baskunchak, the hero wanted to take a pinch of salt into his mouth; He bent over and was crushed by his burden. The mountain remained standing at this place, and the blood of the hero stained the earth around in red.

Especially Bogdo is beautiful in spring, when its entire surface is decorated with carpets of multi-colored tulips. The mountain is also famous mystical sounds reminiscent of singing. They arise due to many small caves, piercing the Bogdo rock massif, and the winds blowing in these parts. There are folk legends according to which in these caves The legendary Stenka Razin hid his treasures.

For Kalmyks, professing Buddhism, Bogdo is a sacred mountain, This is exactly how its name is translated. This place was revered as guardian of the souls of the dead.

Buddhists prayed on the slopes of the mountain and in a special prayer house, which, unfortunately, has not survived to this day. It is believed that in order to To recharge with the energy of the mountain and strengthen your strength, you need to lie on its soil.

According to psychics, Bogdo and Baskunchak are places of power. Here repeatedly UFOs have been observed.

The easiest way to get to Baskunchak and Bogdo is from Akhtubinsk by using a minibus.