Trekking in Kungei Ala-Too mountains.

“No one comes back from a trip as it was before”

Chinese proverb.

Sights of Kungei Ala-Too mountains.

Kyungey-Ala-Too (Kungey Alatau), a ridge in the Northern Tien Shan, located in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, bordering the Issyk-Kul basin from the north. It stretches from west to east from the Boom Gorge to the source of the Charyn River for almost 200 kilometers.
Southeast of the Kungei Ala-Too spur adjoins the Terskey-Ala-Too ridge. It is connected by the Chiliko-Kemin bridge with the Zailiysky Alatau ridge, which divides the Kungei Ala-Too into Western Kungoy and Eastern Kungoy.
The highest altitude is up to 4771 meters above sea level - Chok-Tal peak. The northern slopes are weakly dissected by short spurs and bounded by the valleys of the Chong-Kemin and Chilik rivers, the southern slopes are spurs 25 - 30 km long and go down to the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul.
The longest span is the Kum-Bel spur with the peak of Soviet Topographers, 4,550 meters above sea level. The valleys of the tributaries of the Chong-Kemin and Chilik rivers rise from an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level and to a height of passes of 3,960 - 4,000 meters above sea level, side valleys have elevations ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 meters above sea level.
The valleys of the southern slope descend from a height of 4000 meters above sea level to the level of Issyk-Kul Lake, 1609 meters above sea level. The height of the snow line is from 3800 to 4200 meters above sea level.
The total area of ​​glaciation is 237 square kilometers. The northern slopes are covered with alpine meadows, alternating above the landscapes of the glacial-nival zone. On the southern slopes of the forest, from the Tien-Shan spruce at an altitude of 2600 - 2800 meters above sea level, they pass into tall grass subalpine meadows with juniper thickets and above 3000 meters above sea level into alpine meadows.
The total glaciation area of ​​the Kungei-Ala-Too ridge exceeds 237 square kilometers, the number of glaciers is 427.
The icing of the northern slope (64%) is significantly superior to the glaciation of the southern, which, however, is understandable, since more humid air masses are intercepted mainly by the Zailiysky Alatau. The rest falls in the form of precipitation on the northern slopes of Kungei-Ala-Too and only a small part on its southern slopes.
On the southern slopes of Kungei Alatau in the summer there are torrential rains in the afternoon, which come with thunderclouds from the side of Lake Issyk-Kul, but they do not significantly affect the size of the glaciers.
The largest glaciation nodes are Central, Aksuysky, Syutbulaksky, Chong-Aksuysky and Choktalsky. More than half of the glaciers are small forms of glaciation, caravan and hanging, various types of valley glaciers are widespread.
The largest of them are Zhangyryk, with a length of 8.9 kilometers, South Zhangyryk, with a length of 8.0 kilometers, Atajayloo (Chon-Ak-Suu), 7.6 kilometers long, Novy, 6.4 kilometers long. Glaciers fall respectively to heights of 3550 - 3600 and 3650 - 3700 meters above sea level.
The total area of ​​glaciation of the Kungei Ala-Too ridge is 237 square kilometers.
The largest glaciers of the Kungei-Ala-Too ridge.
Zhangaryk Glacier, with a length of 8.0 kilometers, an area of ​​17.7 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3370 to 4520 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chilik River Basin.
The South Zhangaryk Glacier, with a length of 8.0 kilometers, an area of ​​9.2 square kilometers, is located at an altitude of 3370 to 4640 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chilik River Basin.
The Novyi Glacier, with a length of 6.4 kilometers, an area of ​​13.2 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3370 to 4690 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chilik River Basin.
The Chong-Ak-Suu glacier, with a length of 6.1 kilometers, an area of ​​8.1 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3380 to 4060 meters above sea level, belongs to the basin of Lake Issyk-Kul.
5.2 km long Mashkovtsev Glacier, an area of ​​6.9 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3570 to 4490 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chong-Kemin River Basin.
The Ak-Suu East Glacier, with a length of 4.9 kilometers, an area of ​​6.9 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3520 to 4338 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chu and Chong-Kemin rivers.
The Korumduk Glacier, with a length of 4.9 kilometers, an area of ​​6.0 square kilometers, is located at an altitude of 3350 to 4260 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chilik River Basin.
The Chong-Kemin Glacier, with a length of 4.7 kilometers, an area of ​​11.0 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3450 to 4640 meters above sea level, belongs to the basin of the Chu and Chong-Kemin rivers.
The Ak-Suu West Glacier, with a length of 4.6 kilometers, an area of ​​4.7 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3480 to 4470 meters above sea level, belongs to the basin of the Chong-Kemin and Chu rivers.
The Kara-Kya glacier, with a length of 4.3 kilometers, an area of ​​2.9 square kilometers, is located at an altitude of 3150 to 3980 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chilik River Basin.
Glacier No. 529, with a length of 4.1 kilometers, an area of ​​6.3 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3360 to 4600 meters above sea level, belongs to the basin of Lake Issyk-Kul.
The Syut-Bulak glacier, with a length of 4.0 kilometers, an area of ​​6.4 square kilometers, located at an altitude of 3480 to 4240 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chilik River Basin.
The 4.0 km long Olonata Glacier, an area of ​​3.2 square kilometers, is located at an altitude of 3490 to 4440 meters above sea level, belongs to the basin of the Chong-Kemin and Chu rivers.
The Kairakty Glacier, with a length of 3.9 kilometers, an area of ​​2.8 square kilometers, is located at an altitude of 3380 to 3240 meters above sea level, belongs to the Chilik River Basin.

Authority:
"Glaciers." L.D. Dolgushin, G.B. Osipova. Series "Nature of the world." Moscow, the publishing house "Thought". 1989.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.