Nature of Kokshaal-Too mountains.

 “...From the pass, a wonderfully beautiful view of the Kok-shaal ridge opens up. Rarely where in the Tien Shan you can find such a picturesque and grandiose panorama. The Kokshaal-Too ridge faces the pass in this way. which is visible to the eye for a considerable distance along its length, directed from east to west.
First of all, the viewer is struck by white sparkling colors, which break away from the dark foundation of the mountains in an even line and stretch out over a blue background with bizarre strokes. These are snows that have enveloped the ridge to the very foot.
Winter tundra snatched from the polar country. The crest of the mountains is cut by deep gorges. It seems that each vertex is not connected to the other by anything. Pointed steep peaks soared upward, as if trying to get further away from each other.
In the midst of a continuous snow shroud, bare sheer cliffs protrude, like terrible ulcers. Millions of centuries of hostile inaccessibility gravitate over lonely peaks. If it were not for these white clothes, then what gloom, preserved from the primitive days of the Earth, would have pressed from there from above onto the valley lying at the foot.
But the severity of grandeur was softened by boundless eternal beauty. An inexhaustible variety of forms, bold wild curves, and the inconsistency of content for a long time chain the poor thought of a person."

N.N. Palgov. 1929.

Trip to Kagalyachap plateau from Naryn.

Kagalyachap watershed plateau is located: in the southern part at an altitude of 4323.4 meters above sea level and in the northern part at an altitude of 3097.2 meters above sea level (Kubyurgenty pass), located south of the Kyzyl-Asker massif, between the northern slopes of the Western Kokshaal-Too ridge and the southern slopes of the western part of the Borkoldoy ridge and the eastern part of the Naryn-Tau ridge in the Naryn region and only a small part of the northeastern part lies in the Issyk-Kul region.
In the southern part of the plateau borders on glaciers flowing down from the northern slopes of the Kyzyl-Asker massif. Here the plateau narrows to 2.5 kilometers, bounded by the Kotur glacier with a length of 9.7 kilometers in the west, the Kyzylunet East glacier with a length of 8.1 kilometers and the Kyzylunet (Komarova) West glacier with a length of 9.3 kilometers in the east.
To the north, the Kagalyachap plateau expands and is more elongated from west to east up to 6 kilometers. The northern border of the plateau is the Kubyurgenty pass. The length of the plateau from the south to the north is 14 kilometers, the area reaches 57 square kilometers, the perimeter is 48 kilometers.
The watershed divides the basins of Uzengegush in the east and the basins of Eastern and Western Aksai with Muduryum and Kokshaal in the west. There is an opinion that the Kagalachap watershed plateau is conditional and, ultimately, is not a pronounced obstacle to the flow of rivers of western exposure to the east, and rivers of eastern exposure to the west.
We did not notice anything like this during our visit to the plateau in August 2022. The bed of the Kotur River from the tongue of the glacier of the same name located at an altitude of 3989 meters flows in a well-developed bed.
The stream flows along the western part of the plateau and gradually turns to the west, leaving no hint that the waters of Kotur may turn to the west. The bed of the Kotur River to the west of Kagalyachap Lake is located at an altitude of 3780 meters above sea level, the lake is located at an altitude of 3789 meters above sea level.
The tangible ratio of the level of the river and the lake is visually noticeable. Moreover, we made a walk from Lake Kagalyachap to the upper, southern part of the plateau. The upper, southern part of the plateau is a gentle, huge hill, which breaks off to the south to the tongues of glaciers.
The tongue of the Kotur glacier is located at an altitude of 3989 meters above sea level, the tongue of the Kyzylunet East glacier is located at an altitude of 4043 meters above sea level. Three lakes are located on the Kagalyachap plateau: Kagalyachap located at an altitude of 3789 meters above sea level, Kagalyachap North located at an altitude of 3758 meters above sea level and Kagalyachap South with a height of 3781 meters above sea level.
Geographical coordinates of Kagalyachap plateau: N41°10'57.34" E77°23'21.49"

Authority and photos by
Alexander Petrov.