27-Sep-2006 -- This is the 15th confluence visit on a bicycle trip from China to Central Asia. The story starts from 32°N 107°E.
After the visit of 46°N 80°E two days earlier, I decided to go for this confluence which is 20 km straight south from the city of Almaty.
As Elionora preferred to visit the museums in Almaty, I started this trip alone from the city centre by bicycle at 7 a.m. at an altitude of 750 m. One hour later I reached the city limits at an elevation of 1200 m and continued the uphill ride until I reached the end of the road at 2030 m (due to a missing bridge). I abandoned my bike and started to hike along a steep former cable railway. Later, I learned that I could have ridden my bike almost up to the confluence, because there actually was a track that avoided the broken bridge.
At 2500 m altitude I reached the beautiful Almatiskoe Lake with its colourful water and gorgeous landscapes around it. From here it was another 6 km to the confluence. I continued the hike on a little track that later crosses the Ozerney Pass to Kyrgyzstan.
At a distance of 800 m I left the track and climbed a little glacial debris hill. The confluence is just below the debris zone on the edge of a little valley. It was a great sunny day that allowed long-distance views. From the confluence one can enjoy views to some of the nearby 4000 m peaks. I made a panorama view picture from the confluence, but I wasn’t able to see my pictures for exactly 3 years.
Why have the pictures come with a delay of 3 years? The memory flash card of my camera broke while touring in Kyrgyzstan. Several attempts to recover the data failed, until, I came across this website. It appeared to be professional, so I submitted the card one more time. A week later, they delivered all the pictures to me!
The way back was quick. I ran back to the bike (4:10 pm) and coasted back down to the city, where I met Eleonora at 5:22 pm.
CP visit details:
- Time at the CP: 1:50 pa.m.
- Distance to a track: 800 m
- Distance to a road: 9 km
- Distance of bicycle parking: 9 km
- Distance to houses: 4 km
- Topography: high alpine, just below the glacier zone, steep grades
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 0.90 m
- Position accuracy at the CP: 5 m
- GPS height: 3137 m
- Vegetation: wilted flowers, hydrophilic grass, 50% snow coverage.
- Weather: sunny (15° felt temperature at the CP)
- Description of the CP: Just south of Almaty. Impressing alpine landscape. Astonishing views to the mountain peaks which are less than 1 km away
- Given Name: The Almaty Great Hike Confluence
Story continues at 43°N 75°E