Traveling the Old Way: Altyn Arashan Trek

From Karakol we went trekking for 6 days into the mountains from Jete Oguz to Altyn Arashan with the petite, but completely capable Ainura as our guide.

Her name means moonlight and she was a treat to be with for several days in the wilderness though we didn't always agree with the slow pace of the trek. We found Ainura working with one of the community-based trekking companies in Karakol. This means that you might pay a little more but local guides are employed and paid decent wages to carry quite a lot of stuff, which probably accounts for the pace, whereas we were always feeling energetic, but with relatively little to carry. Still we noticed that food preparation took 10 daylight hours a day while we trekked for only 4.

Sometimes the time spent in food preparation was worth it :-)

In this shot I have just broken my finger trying to come down the mountain too fast

After a few days we fell into the rhythm and while not stretched, we accomplished our objectives, two 3800 meter passes, camping by lake Ala Kol at the base of a glacier at 3500 meters, and generally an invigorating experience with the occasional panorama of 5000 meter peaks. We got very near 4000 meters ourselves on two occasions. Sleeping in a small tent, getting rained on, no joke in such mountains, but a great experience.

Although we weren't forced to walk for long periods each day the trek still posed challenges of Alpine hiking at 3000-4000 meter altitudes. There were dangerous streams to cross, with standing waves over washed-out bridges, and rainstorms including one day of rain when we happened to have camped at S. Camp with its bizarre wood carvings, a base for KG alpinists in summer and winter when they do ice climbing up the frozen waterfalls near there.

The camp had a hut where we stoked a fire and sat out the drizzle thru breakfast. We stayed put until it was time to have lunch, which lasted till 2 pm, and then we could wait no more but had to climb the mountain in the rain to Ala Kul lake, a welcome site in the miserable downpour.

But our porters had reached there first and erected our tent, so it was still a cushy life we led, rain on the tentflaps protecting us from all but a little mud, and it was cozy warm in tent when I returned there from a lull in the rain teeth chattering after dashing out to grab our ponchos before the next rain squall. At sundown, our view of the lake through the tent flaps revealed a sun patch on the glacier.

By morning the skies had cleared and we dried out in the morning sunshine and entertained ourselves watching marmots while awaiting our entourage to prepare our breakfast and move on up to Ala Kol Pass.

At the pass we met these Russian hikers, who took a group photo and sent it to us later. The one without a shirt had been romping in the snow like that, reveling in piling snow onto his bare chest. They all descended the mountain at a trot and were soon down the other side and were on their way. Ainura was very careful with our group, walking backwards and using her walking stick to point out to Bobbi where she should step. Over Ainura's objections, I declared I would follow the Russians the fast way down. Bobbi had two walking sticks and insisted I take one to help in the descent. About halfway down I indeed upended myself and the extra walking stick wrapped abruptly upwards around my left hand, cracking my little finger. There's a lesson in there somewhere.