Tours to moraine lakes in Zailiskiy Alatau mountains.

“Don’t laugh, you know, mountains are life,
In the steppe only death finds shelter.
We run from her here for an hour
And then we go back centuries.”

Irina Trubacheva. 1988.

Alpine lakes in Northern Tien-Shan mountains.

Moraine, flowing, fresh lake Muzkol is located at an altitude of 3400 meters above sea level, located in upper reaches of Kok-Bulak River, on northern slope of Zailiysky Alatau ridge, on territory of Almaty Nature Reserve, in Talgar district, in south of Almaty region. 
The area of Lake Muzkol is 13,155.56 square meters, the length of the coastline reaches 508.24 meters, and the depth of the lake is 25.5 meters. The length of the lake from north to south is 171 meters, the greatest width in the central part is 117 meters.
The main filling of the lake occurs from the eastern and central branches of the Grigoriev glacier located in the northern part of the lake. The distance from the end of the central branch of the Grigoriev glacier to the lake is 1.4 kilometers. A stream 1.1 kilometers long flows out of the lake, which becomes the right tributary of the Kok-Bulak River.
There is an opinion that in the upper reaches of the Issyk River the largest moraine lake is Muzkol, in fact the largest lake is Akkol, which is located 1.7 kilometers northeast of Lake Muzkol.
Geographic coordinates of Lake Muzkol: N43°06'31 E77°28'47

Authority and photos:
Alexander Petrov.