Weekend routes in "Kolsai Kolderi" park.

"The basic law of nature is the preservation of humanity."

 John Locke.

Excursion sights in "Kolsai Kolderi" park.

The Karasai gorge is located on the northern slope of the Kungey Alatau ridge, on the territory of the Kolsai Kolderi natural park in the Kegen district of the Almaty region. The gorge is located between the Karakiya gorges in the east and Tulkisay in the west.
The length of the gorge from the crest of the Kungey Alatau ridge to the confluence with the Chilik River is 20.5 kilometers. The sources of the Karasai River are located at an altitude of 3803.2, the mouth at an altitude of 2084 meters above sea level.
The road is laid along the Karasai gorge for 6 kilometers. On the right tributary of the Kaskasu River, the road, bypassing the bridge over the Karasai River, passes to the left side of the Kaskasu River and bypassing the three right tributaries continues to the Karasu River and higher.
There are three bridges on the Karasai River, the first bridge from the Chilik River was restored in 2019. The old house of foresters is located 7 kilometers from the mouth of the Karasai, 24 meters from the right bank of the river.
At this time, it is a dilapidated, emergency structure with window openings, which consisted of two rooms in which metal furnaces were installed. On some ends of the logs of the house, oriented to the northeast, the forest markings in a circle with numbers are engraved.
Such marking was indicated by foresters to obtain brief information about the forest, in this case about a log: grade, diameter, logs for mechanical engineering or construction, etc. In the upper reaches of the gorge, in the crest of the Kungey Alatau ridge, there is a summit with a height of 4252.4 meters above sea level.
In the watershed of the Karasai and Tulkisay gorges, there is a summit with a height of 4117.2 meters above sea level. On the northwestern slopes in the lower part of the gorge, a spruce forest grows along the gorge for 8.3 kilometers from the mouth along the gorge.
In 1 kilometer from the border of the forest, the gorge is included in the syrt zone. Four large valley glaciers with a length of 1 to 2.5 kilometers represent glaciation in the gorge. The sources of Karasai are located on the northern slope of the Kungey Alatau ridge and begin from two lakes located in a cascade 220 meters from one another - the Lower Karasai Lake and the Upper Karasai Lake.
The lower moraine, flowing lake Karasai, is located at an altitude of 3376 meters above sea level. It stretches from south-east to north-west 546 meters and the greatest width in the southern part - 308 meters. The upper moraine, flowing, dammed lake Karasai is located 220 meters south of the Lower Lake at an altitude of 3414 meters above sea level.
It is 487 meters long and 290 meters wide in the southern part. These are the most beautiful lakes of the northern slope of the Kungey Alatau in the Kolsai Kolderi park. At 15 km from the source, Karasai receives a tributary from the right - Kaskasu with a length of 13 km.
Kaskasu originates from a lake located at an altitude of 3710 meters above sea level, the lake is located 2.7 kilometers northeast of the Burgu-Suu pass with a height of 3755.5 meters above sea level. In the upper reaches of the Kaskasu River there are 6 moraine dammed lakes.
One of them - Blue Lake Kaskasu is located at an altitude of 3165.4 meters above sea level. The lake has an elongated shape and is directed downward with a length of 290 meters and a width in the southern part of up to 105 meters.
The unique blue color adds a truly magical color to natural creation. The state border between the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Kazakhstan runs along the main ridge of the Kungey Alatau ridge. In the upper reaches of the Karasai and Kaskasu rivers, on the crest of the ridge, there are four passes through which the path leads to the basin of Lake Issyk-Kul - Karasai, Western Karasai, Eastern Karasai and Western Baisaur.
The Pass of Expectations is located in the watershed of the Tyulkisay and Karasai gorges. The Karasai Pass of the same name is located at an altitude of 3870 meters above sea level to the east of the Western Karasai Pass and to the west of the summit at an altitude of 4252.4 meters above sea level.
The type of passes is snow, ice and talus. Pass Karasai West is located at an altitude of 3850 meters above sea level. The type of the pass is ice, snow and talus. The pass is located to the west of the Karasai pass and to the south of the summit with a height of 3977.1 meters above sea level.
Geographic coordinates of the Karasai gorge: N43 ° 00'33.44 "E77 ° 46'24.15"

Authors:
Alexander Petrov.
Vukolov V. N. “Across the Northern Tien Shan. Mountain tourist routes along the Trans-Ili Alatau and Kungey Alatau. Speaker: Master of Sports of the USSR A.F. Kharchenko. M . Profizdat, 1991.208 p.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.