Mountains of Kuhistan.

“Our bivouac is like Sochi...
Lapnik warms, but not very much.
We all lay down in tents,
We don't sleep very well"

Yuri Vizbor. September 1952.

Walk to Lake Chukurak from Artuch alpine camp.

The flowing, fresh lake Chukurak is located at an altitude of 2455 meters above sea level is located in the valley of the Ziorat river, in the Chukurak gorge, on the northern slope of the Gissar ridge, in the western part of the Goukhona mountains, 1.2 kilometers to the south and slightly west of the Artuch alpine camp in the Penjikent region of the Sughd region.
The length of Lake Chukurak from the south-west to the north-east is 309 meters, the greatest width in the central part of the lake is 131 meters. The perimeter of the lake is 797 meters. On the southern side, the Ziorat River flows into the lake, which flows out of the Ziorat Lake located at an altitude of 2832 meters above sea level.
There are three unique lakes in the Chukurak gorge. The lowest lake (Chukurak) is located above the mouth of the gorge, which blocks the exit to the north. Here, at the foot of a grandiose rocky bastion, under the slopes densely overgrown with dark green juniper, an oblong lake, greenish in the daytime and blue in the evening, is finely crushed under a weak breath of a gentle breeze.
Lake Chukurak is double, located in a cascade. From the upper, large lake, water overflows into the lower, small one. The inflow of water by the end of summer sharply decreases and the large lake becomes very shallow, and the small one dries up altogether.
The streams of three gorges, fed by snowfields, flow into the lake. They dry up when the melting of the snow above ends. The Chukurak river flowing out of the lake also gradually changes its regime and, finally, completely disappears among the stone rubble a little below the lake.
Climbing from Lake Chukurak along the path to the left, you can go to a small Lake Beloye, the shores of which, as the water decreases, are covered with a white coating of salt. The southern coast of the lake is densely overgrown with juniper - a species of juniper.
Its wood is so strong and durable that the trunk rings from impact. The juniper rapids of ancient madrasahs, half covered with earth, do not rot for many decades.
Geographic coordinates of Lake Chukurak: N39 ° 15'47.74 "E68 ° 08'03.18"

Authority:
Alexander Petrov. "In the juniper forest", "Reader on the physical geography of the USSR", A. Shakhov, 1981.
"Fany Mountains and Yagnob". N.V. Paganuzzi. 1968. Moscow. Physical Culture Publishing House and
sports.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.