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Samal gorge on Mangyshlak.

Travels on Steppe and Mountain Mangyshlak.

“When Nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it”

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Wilderness day trips from Aktau Mangyshlak.

Samal gorge is located on the northeastern slope, in the northwestern part of the Western Aktau ridge, 8.9 kilometers south-west of the Airakty cliff, 3.4 kilometers west of the Shetpe - Shayr highway, 4.7 kilometers north and slightly west of Mount Sherkala, 14 kilometers north-west of the Shetpe village in the Mangistau district of the Mangistau region.
Mangystau abounds in picturesque gorges with mountain springs. One of them is an amazing natural corner of the Western Karatau ranges - the Samal mountain gorge. The Karatau mountains do not impress with their height and snowy peaks.
The mountain range is composed of very ancient sedimentary Permian-Triassic rocks and is divided into three parts - Eastern Karatau (the highest mark is Mount Besshoky 556 meters above sea level) and Western Karatau (the highest mark is Mount Otpan 533 meters above sea level) and Karatauchik is the westernmost mountainous rise. The highland is cut through by many large and small gorges.
In the waterless deserts of Mangystau they are the keepers of beautiful spring water and rare thickets of hawthorn. Unfortunately, during hot seasons, most of the springs dry up. A rare exception to this rule is the Samal mountain gorge, where a small spring river flows all year round.
A winding gorge on the slope of the ridge (ridge height is 500 meters above sea level). A plentiful stream of fresh water flows along the bottom of the gorge for about a kilometer. The gorge is overgrown with reeds, medicinal herbs, rare thickets of hawthorn and trees, many of which are listed in the Red Book.
The gorge, meandering, forms a series of picturesque cascades, along which life-giving moisture murmurs and gleams with solar sparks. Since time immemorial, the gorge has been overgrown with hawthorn, blackthorn, reed and various medicinal herbs.
Getting into such places, you get lost in the reality of space: just now there was a harsh and hot wasteland and, suddenly, juicy colors of greenery and the attractive murmur of a cool spring. The stream flows down in multistage waterfalls to the exit from the canyon and gives coolness on the hottest day.
Getting into such places, you lose the reality of space, only that there was a harsh and hot desert and, suddenly, the juicy colors of greenery and the attractive murmur of a cool spring. It is impossible to describe all the beauties of our native land, we will just list the rest, especially since all these names are on everyone's lips, and some of our readers, I hope, were lucky enough to visit these beautiful places.
Geographic coordinates of the Samal gorge: N44 ° 12'49.56 "E51 ° 59'30.56"

Samal gorge.Samal gorge.Samal gorge.Samal gorge.

Authority:
Andrei Astafyev.

Photos by
Aleksander Petrov.