The Urals are the “stone belt” of Russia. Subpolar Urals. Hiking

				Vegetation
1. Foothill forest-steppe	A) forest-steppe		Leached chernozems, gray forest soils.	Oak-hornbeam forests and meadow steppes
2. Foothill-mid-mountain forest	A) broad-leaved but-forest		Brown forest.	Oak and oak-hornbeam forests
	b) broad-leaved but-coniferous		Brown forest.	Beech-hornbeam; beech-fir forests.
	V) dark coniferous forest		Brown forest and sod-podzolic.	Spruce-fir forests.
3. Mid-mountain meadow	A) subalpine meadows		Chernozem-like	Meadows with rhododendron, crooked forests of fluffy birch and maple
	b) alpine meadows		Mountain meadow peaty:	Cobresia and grass-sedge-forb meadows
		> 2800-3000 m.

Table 10

East Caucasian(Dagestan) type of altitudinal zone.

				Vegetation
1. Foothill steppe and semi-desert	A) dry steppes		chestnut, brown at the top.	wormwood-grass steppes, shiblyak, at the top of the freegan
2. Foothill-mid-mountain forest-meadow-steppe	A) foothill meadow steppes and larch forests		mountain, brown and dark chestnut	Shibljak and freegana, oak forests.
	b) mid-mountain steppe meadows and deciduous coniferous forests		mountain chernozems and brown forest soils.	meadow steppes, areas of pine and birch forests, rarely oak
3. High-mountain meadow and meadow-steppe	A) alpine subalpine meadows and meadow steppes		mountain meadow	subalpine meadows
			mountain chernozem-like	steppe meadows
	b) high mountain alpine meadows and heathland alpine meadows,		mountain chernozem-like	Lichen-shabresia heaths, mountain xerophytes (sainfoin, astragalus)
4. High mountain glacial-nival		3200-3400 m and above

Table 11

West Transcaucasian(Pricolchis) type of altitudinal zone.

				Vegetation
	A) alder forests and swamps		peat bogs
	b) humid relict forests			forests of Colchis flora (holly, laurel)
2. Low- to mid-mountain forest	A) broad-leaved forests
	b) broad-deciduous-coniferous forests			beech-fir forests
	V) dark coniferous forests
3. Mid-mountain meadow	A) subalpine meadows			Rhododendrons
	b) alpine meadows	2500-2900-3000 m
4. High mountain glacial-nival

Table 12

East Transcaucasian(Prikurinsky) type of altitudinal zone.

				Vegetation
1 . Zone of foothill sloping plains and plateaus with semi-desert and steppe landscapes	A) semi-desert
	b) dry steppe
	V) arid woodland			pistachio, orchard tree, pallas buckthorn
2. Low- to mid-mountain forest	A) broad-leaved forests			1) oak-hornbeam, 2) beech-hornbeam, 3) oak woodland
3. Mid-mountain-high-mountain meadow	A) subalpine meadows
	b) alpine meadows
4. High mountain glacial-nival		Above 3,800 m

Table 13

Western Asian type of altitudinal zone.

				Vegetation
1. Foothill-low mountain semi-desert	A) saltwort and wormwood semi-desert		mountain chestnut
2. Mid-mountain steppe	A) mountain steppes, with areas of arid woodland		mountain black soils.	meadow steppes with open forests of juniper, pine, and eastern oak
3. Mid-mountain meadow	A) mountain subalpine meadows
	b) mountain steppe meadows
4. High mountain glacial-nival

Table 14

Talysh type of altitudinal zone.

				Vegetation
1. Foothill-low mountain forest	A) alder forests and swamps		peat bogs
	b) relict forests with elements of Hyrcanian flora		zheltozems	ironwood, chestnut, oak, maple, walnut, pomegranate, butcher's broom,
2. Mid-mountain forest	A) broad-leaved forests			beech-hornbeam, hornbeams
3. Mid-mountain steppe	A) Shiblik and mountain steppes		black soils, brown
	b) cereal dry steppes and steppe meadows		meadow-steppe, chestnut

Execution order. Using the method of conjugate analysis of tables 9-14, cartographic material and literary sources, create a scheme of altitudinal landscape zonation characteristic of one of the types of altitudinal landscape zonation in the Caucasus. Options for tasks (types): 1. Prikubansky; 2. Dagestan; 3. Prikolkhidsky; 4. Prikurinsky; 5. Western Asian; 6. Talyshsky. The circuit is carried out according to the sample presented in Figure 1.

Rice. 1. Fragment of a diagram of the type of high-altitude landscape zonation.

When implementing the scheme, special attention should be paid to filling out columns 4-5. For a more complete description of the soil and vegetation cover of a certain altitudinal zonation zone, it is necessary to actively involve literary and cartographic sources, since in the proposed tables 9-14 omissions are made in these columns.

Control methods:

Atlas of the USSR. M., 1983

Beruchashvili N.L.

Makunina A.A.

CONTROLLED INDEPENDENT WORK 3(2 hours)

Subject. Characteristics of the altitudinal zones of the Urals regions

Goal of the work: study the specifics of the altitudinal zonation of various regions of the Urals.

Form and methods: individual written work performed by analyzing literary sources and maps: physical-geographical, vegetation and a number of climatic ones.

workbook, ruler, pencil, eraser, pen.

Content. The Urals are an example of mountains that have a meridional direction, that is, crossing several latitudinal zonal regions. Within each latitudinal zone, there is a distinct range of altitudinal zones and zones. In addition, there are differences between the structure of altitudinal zones and belts of the western and eastern slopes, which manifest themselves, in some cases, in the appearance of other zones and belts, in others - in the nature of vegetation within a single zone or in changes in the height of the zone and belt. In the Urals, several regions are clearly distinguished - Polar, Subpolar, Northern, Middle, Southern Urals and Mugodzhary, differing from each other in the spectra of altitudinal zones and belts.

Execution order. The work is performed sequentially according to the options (Table 15). 1. Having transferred the form of tables 16 and 17 to the workbook, you must gradually fill in their columns using literary and cartographic sources. 2. After filling out the tables, it is necessary to analyze them. 3. At the end of the work, draw a conclusion in which to reflect the influence of the geographical location, orographic features and specific climatic conditions on the features of altitudinal zonation.

Table15

Options for characterizing the altitudinal zone of the Urals

Option No.		Option No.	Region, orographic element
	Polar Urals		Irendyk Ridge
	Western slope of the Subpolar Urals		Eastern slope of the Southern Urals
	Eastern slope of the Subpolar Urals		Western slope of the Northern Urals
	Small Ural ridge		Research Ridge
	Eastern slope of the Northern Urals		Western slope of the Middle Urals
	Ural ridge		Ridge Belt Stone
	Eastern slope of the Middle Urals		Western slope of the Southern Urals
	Ufaleysky ridge		Urenga Ridge
	Sylvinsky ridge		Yurmatau Ridge
	Uraltau Ridge		Ridge High Parma
	Ridge Yjid Parma		Ridge Yamzhachnaya Parma

Table16

Characteristics of the altitudinal zone of the Urals (option 2)

INDICATORS
Geographical position, Direction, exposure
Absolute marks
	Average t°C
	Average t°C January
	Precipitation per year, mm
Features of altitudinal zonation
			Vegetation

Control methods: teacher check, rating assessment.

Main sources of information:

Atlas of the USSR. M., 1983

Zubov S.M.

Pavlova N.N., Rodnyanskaya E.E., Sevastyanov D.V. Physical geography of Russia St. Petersburg, 1999. – 264 p.

CONTROLLED INDEPENDENT WORK 4(2 hours)

Subject. Comparative characteristics of the altitudinal structures of the Urals and the Caucasus

Goal of the work: To study the main patterns of landscape differentiation in mountainous countries and the factors of their formation using the example of meridional and latitudinal mountain systems.

Form and methods: individual written work performed by analyzing materials from practical work 2.2. and KSR 2.3, supplemented with data from literary and cartographic sources

Required materials and equipment: workbook, ruler, pencil, eraser, pen.

Content. The structure of altitudinal zonation of mountain systems is determined by a number of factors. One of the main factors influencing the nature of the structure of altitudinal zonation is the geographical position of the mountain system, and, first of all, its location in a particular latitudinal zone and longitudinal sector. Other important factors are the orographic features of a mountainous country, the extent of mountain ranges, their absolute and relative heights, and the exposure of the slopes.

Execution order. The work is carried out according to options. The Caucasus ranges proposed for consideration are listed in Table 17. To complete the task, materials from controlled independent work 2.3 are used first. They are transferred in full to KSR 4. Additionally, according to an identical plan, the features of the altitudinal zone of one of the Caucasus ridges are studied. At this stage of the work, materials from practical work 2.2, cartographic and literary sources are used. The collected data is entered into a table (Table 18). In conclusion, an analysis of the obtained material is carried out and a conclusion is drawn about the dependence of altitudinal zonation on geographical location, orographic features and other indicators in mountains of latitudinal and meridional extent.

Table17

Options for characterizing the altitudinal zones of the Caucasus

Option No.		Option No.		Option No.
	Vodorzdelny		Bogossky		Samursky
			Rachinsky
	Andean		Zangezur		Karabakh
	Gimrinsky		Kartlinsky		Vardenissky
	Meskheti		Rocky		Trialetsky
	Abkhazian		Shahdagsky		Svaneti
	Kodori		Murovdagsky		Pambaksky

Table18

Comparative characteristics of the altitudinal zones of the Urals and the Caucasus

Indicators		Small Ural		Bogossky ridge
Geographical location, direction, slope exposure
Absolute marks
	Average t°C
	Average t°C January
	Precipitation per year, mm
Altitudinal zone
			Vegetation					Vegetation

Control methods: teacher check, rating assessment.

Main sources of information:

Atlas of the USSR. M., 1983

Beruchashvili N.L. Caucasus: landscapes, models, experiments. Tbilisi, 1995. – 316 p.

Biota of ecosystems of the Greater Caucasus. M., 1990. – 250 p.

Davydova M.I., Rakovskaya E.M. Physical geography of Russia Part 1. M., 2001. – 288 p.

Zubov S.M. Physical geography of the CIS. Mn., 2001. – 312 p.

Makunina A.A. Physical geography of the USSR. M., 1985. – 294 p.

Ural! The supporting edge of the state,
Her breadwinner and blacksmith,
The same age as our ancient glory
And the creator of today's glory
A. Tvardovsky

Mountain country

The Ural mountains are quite unique. From low jagged ridges, stone rivers descend into the valleys - a pile of huge boulders, slightly polished by water; stern sentries stand along rapid rivers and on the tops of destroyed mountains there are outcrops of dilapidated rocks of bizarre shapes. There are places in the heart of the Ural Mountains where, when looking at high cliffs, sharp ridges, stones, and steep river banks, an impression of grandeur and inaccessibility is created. However, most often these mountains are not high. Low and mid-mountain areas predominate. These are smooth wooded ridges, waves stretching into the blue distances. In the mountains and plains of the Urals you can find colorful variety of landscapes . Here are the fat ones, plowed steppes Southern And Middle Urals , and blue tundra , and "alpine" peaks Polar Urals, and wavy taiga plains Northern Cis-Urals , and redheads steppe ridges Orenburg region. Along the western slope Southern Urals rise Unique linden forests , under the canopy of which fabulous grasses have grown, In Siberian Trans-Urals scattered thousands of lakes , surrounded by bronze pine forests . Extraordinarily beautiful mountain meadows Southern And Middle Urals colorful, friendly. Landscape Prikamye harsh. Mighty Brown Kama flows past the monotonous dark green spruce taiga and red clay cliffs. Chusovaya a fabulous river, famous for its “stones” giant rocks of bizarre shapes. Kungur Ice Cave-Palace attracts thousands of people with its deep silence, fantastic patterns of ice, colonnade of stalactites and stalagmites

The importance of the Ural mountainous country is great and how industrial district Russia. Back in the 18th century, the glory of the Urals thundered throughout the world. It was then called iron. But the Urals could just as easily be called copper, gold, and platinum. Here, too, in addition to ferrous, non-ferrous and precious metals, gems And gem stones . These are green emeralds, blood red rubies, purple amethysts, blue topaz, golden beryls. Ural colored stones ( malachite, jasper, orlets, marble) are decorated with monuments of Russian architecture and modern buildings, for example the halls of the Moscow Metro. He spoke brightly and colorfully about the fabulous riches of the Urals in his tales about the mistress of Copper Mountain writer P. Bazhov.

Ural Mountains magical world. Let's take a closer look at the property as guests. "Mistresses of the Copper Mountain".

"Stone Belt" of the Russian Land

Perhaps no other mountains in Russia have so many names. Ancient authors called the Ural Mountains the Riphean Mountains. “Stone Belt of the Russian Land”, “Stone”, “Earth Belt” this was the name of the Urals until the 18th century. The name “Ural” appears in the works of the famous Russian historian and geographer V.N. Tatishchev and displaces all previous names.

The name “Ural” appears in the 18th century in the works of V. N. Tatishchev

Ural border of the European and Asian parts of Russia . The Ural mountain ranges appear before your eyes ridges of low ridges and ridges, covered with taiga. Only a few peaks reach an altitude of 1500 m above sea level (the highest Mount Narodnaya 1895 m). The mountains stretch for more than 2000 km from the sultry steppes of Kazakhstan to the icy Arctic, with flat areas adjacent to the mountain ranges. The width of the mountain range is from 50 to 150 km.

The highest peak of the entire Urals Mount Narodnaya

The mountains consist of several chains that stretch parallel to each other in the meridional direction. The ridges are separated by longitudinal intermountain depressions along which rivers flow. Transverse valleys divide these chains into separate ridges and massifs. Only one main chain of mountains is almost uninterrupted by river valleys. It forms the watershed between the rivers flowing to the Russian and West Siberian plains.

History of the development of the Urals

The ancient inhabitants of the Urals were Bashkirs, Udmurts, Komi-Permyaks, Khanty (Ostyaks), Mansi (in past Voguls ), local Tatars . Their main occupations were farming, hunting, fishing, cattle breeding and beekeeping. Communication between indigenous peoples and Russians goes back centuries. Back in the 11th century. Novgorodians paved a waterway to the Urals and Siberia. They founded their first settlements in the Urals in the upper reaches of the Kama; they were attracted here by fur riches.

The first industrial enterprise was created in the Urals in 1430.

In 1430, the first industrial enterprise was created in the Urals: townspeople, merchants Kalinnikovs, founded the village of Sol-Kamskaya (modern Solikamsk) and laid the foundation for salt production. In 1471 Novgorod lands were annexed to the Moscow state. Perm the Great and its main city, Cherdyn, also came under his power.

After the conquest of the Kazan Khanate (1552), the number of Russian settlers in the Urals increased greatly. In the second half of the 16th century. vast expanses of land in the Kama region were captured by Solvychegodsk industrialists Stroganovs. They were engaged in salt making and various crafts, and later in mining.

As Russians developed and settled the territory of the region, information about its wealth gradually accumulated. The first “geologists” of the Urals were people from the people ore explorers . The first information about discoveries of valuable ores and minerals dates back to the 17th century. At the same time, they began to mine iron ore and smelt iron.

Northern Urals

Has no modern glaciers; it is dominated mid-altitude mountains (only quartzite Telpos-Iz“Stone of the Winds” has a height of 1617 m). Slopes mountains covered taiga .

The foothills are cut through through valleys. Its southern limit is considered to be the massif Konjakovsky Stone (1569 m). In the western foothills of the Northern Urals, on an area of ​​over 7 thousand km 2, there is the Pechora-Ilychsky Nature Reserve, located in the interfluve of the rivers Pechory and its tributary Ilych . It also covers the high-altitude zones of the middle mountains from mountain tundra before dark coniferous taiga, and the pine forest plains of the Pechora River. There are phenomenal natural sculptures here obelisks And pillars and high, not inferior to them in whimsicality "columns" from cemented conglomerates and other resistant rocks. Locals call them idiots .

The Northern Urals are rich minerals . They mine here bauxite (Red Cap deposit), manganese And iron ore (Midnight And Ivdel), brown coals (Karpinsk), various ore Serov group of fields.

Middle Urals

Stretches out to Yurma mountains at the source Ufa river . It has low heights. The pass crossed by the railway between Perm and Yekaterinburg barely exceeds 400 m above sea level, and if we take into account that the surrounding area is elevated to 250 m, then the Urals can be crossed here without noticing that these are mountains.

Weathering has created a lot here fancy rocks: Stone Tent, Devil's Settlement, Devil's Chair etc. The Middle Trans-Urals is rich lakes . The largest of them Itkul . The shores of the lakes are fringed burs . Dark coniferous taiga on south are replaced mixed forests, on southwest arrays linden trees. Unfortunately, due to intensive deforestation, very little forest remains.

Middle Urals kingdom mountain taiga . It's covered dark coniferous spruce-fir forests . Below 500×300 m they are replaced larch And pine , in the undergrowth of which they grow rowan, bird cherry, viburnum, elderberry, honeysuckle .

The Middle Urals and Trans-Urals account for up to half of the Ural wealth mined today iron, copper, nickel, gold, coal.

Even the names of some cities and towns do not need explanation: Asbestos, Emerald, Marble.

Southern Urals

The most diverse in natural conditions. Here lies the border of two natural zones forest And steppe.

The altitudinal zonation is more fully represented from steppes before goltsy tundra. In addition, significant differences in both tectonic structure and climatic conditions are observed between the Cis-Urals and Trans-Urals. The asymmetry of the western and eastern slopes of the Urals is clearly expressed. To the west towards the Russian Plain the mountains gradually decrease. Not high ridges and ridges with gentle slopes turn into ridges and hilly elevated plains of the Cis-Urals. To the east, the mountains drop steeply to the low foothills of the Trans-Urals.

Since the Ural Mountains are an obstacle to the Atlantic air masses, Cis-Urals and Trans-Urals receive different precipitation. The Urals are much better hydrated; there is 150 x 200 mm more precipitation here.

The climate of the Urals is less severe compared to the climate of the Trans-Urals. Therefore, in the Urals they are common spruce forests , and in the Trans-Urals with more continental climate — larches .

There are many small ones in the Urals lakes . The lakes of the Trans-Ural region are shallow, stagnant and often have slightly salty water. Rec much more in the Urals. Thus, the Cis-Urals is, as it were, a continuation of the European Plain, and the Trans-Urals is a transition to harsh Siberia. The Bakalskoye and Kusinskoye deposits are known in the forested part of the Southern Urals iron ores, copper ores Karabash. The oldest metallurgy areas in the Urals are located here Zlatoust And Beloretsk.

Further south they are developing ore Mednogorsk and Khalilovsky deposits, copper ores Gaya, Orskie jasper, asbestos.

The highest mountain peaks of the Urals

Climate Features

The climate of the territory that we call the Urals, that is, the Ural mountainous country and the plains of the Cis-Urals and Trans-Urals, is quite complex and varied.

IN tundra of the Polar Urals severe lasts seven months winter , on the slopes of the mountains the snowfields remain white all summer, and in the depths of winter the sun does not appear above the horizon for a whole month. Summer It's cool and humid here. At the same time in steppes of the Southern Urals in summer dry and hot and in winter although it is frosty, there is little snow. The local climate is almost the same as in the neighboring semi-deserts of Kazakhstan. Such are the climatic contrasts of the huge mountainous country.

The Urals lie in the depths of the Eurasian continent, located at a great distance from the Atlantic Ocean. This determines continentality its climate. In addition, from the north it is open to influence cold Arctic Ocean, and from the south arid regions of Kazakhstan, which aggravates the continental nature of the local climate and its contrasts.

IN mountains the climate is changing and vertically. With altitude, air temperature decreases, precipitation and cloudiness increase, and winds increase. The climate at the tops is much harsher and wetter than at the foot of the mountains.

Winters on Ural and in Urals (as both the Cis-Urals and Trans-Urals are called) are quite harsh everywhere. On north frosts can reach 50°С, and on Polar Urals 60°С. Even in reality south the temperature drops to 40°C. Average January temperatures V mountains of the Polar Urals 20°С, 22°С, and at plains of the Southern Urals 15°С, 17.5°С. In November, snow cover sets in everywhere in the Urals. The most snow falls on the western slope of the Northern and Subpolar Urals. By the end of winter its thickness reaches 12 meters. And strong winter winds are typical for the steppes of the Urals snowstorms, blowing snow from open, elevated places into depressions and valleys.

Summer V Ural tundra cool, in taiga zone of the plain And foothills of the Urals relatively warm, and in steppes roast. The temperature here rises to +40°C. Average July temperatures Polar Urals are +10°С, +12°С, and in the south +20°С, +22°С. in spring And in autumn Frosts are common in the Urals, and in the Polar Urals they occur even in summer.

Rivers and lakes of the mountainous country

On the Ural ridge, which separates the water basins of the Volga and Ob, many large tributaries of these rivers originate. rivers: To west drain Vishera, Chusovaya, Belaya, Ufa ; To east — Northern Sosva, Pelym, Tura, Iset . On north originates Pechora , flowing into the Arctic Ocean, and on south — Ural River , flowing through Kazakhstan and emptying into the Caspian Sea. It is not for nothing that the gray-haired Urals are called the keeper of river sources.

The main rivers originating in the foothills and mountains of the Urals

They play a significant role in the landscapes of the Urals lakes, and for some areas, for example, the forest-steppe Trans-Urals, the lake landscape is even typical. In some places large accumulations of “blue saucers” are visible here, separated by narrow isthmuses of land. There are many lakes in the eastern foothills of the Southern and Middle Urals and among the swampy taiga of the northern Trans-Urals. In a mountainous country there is fresh lakes , And brackish , and even bitter-salty . There are also karst , is there floodplain oxbow lakes And lakes-fogs .

Fish in the rivers and lakes of the Urals there is a tasty and often valuable food. Among the Ural inhabitants of reservoirs there are European grayling, whitefish, burbot, ide, brook lamprey, taimen, sculpin goby, salmon, pike, perch, roach, crucian carp, tench, carp, pike perch, trout .

Fishing allowed in many places (and even in some protected areas) and is very popular among both local residents and guests of this mountainous country.

Natural uniqueness of the Urals

Ilmensky ridge an amazing place in the Southern Urals. This ridge is not high (the highest height is 748 m), but is famous for the unique richness of its subsoil. Among the nearly 200 different minerals found here are rare And rarest, not found anywhere else in the world. For protection, a mineralogical reserve was created back in 1920. Academician A.E. Fersman called this region "mineralogical paradise".
Since 1935 Ilmensky Reserve has become comprehensive, that is, all nature is protected in it. Extraordinary in beauty topaz, corundum, amazonite, mica and many other precious and semi-precious rocks and minerals can be seen here both in the museum and directly in the bedrock, in specially protected adits and mines.

It is difficult in the whole world to name another corner of the globe where a larger number of valuable gems would be concentrated

Edge of Gems this is the name of the area north of Asbest, located between the main industrial zone of the Middle Urals and Trans-Urals. This is the edge begins from rich mines in the surrounding area Asbestos And ends in the north of the famous Murzinka . It was here in 1668 Mikhailo Tumashov found the first “white crystals, cherry and green fatis”. Here, where accumulations of precious and ornamental stones are found in pegmatite veins, the foundations of mining for the extraction and processing of “all colored and patterned stones” were laid. Academician A. E. Fersman wrote: “It is difficult in the whole world to name another corner of the globe where a greater number of valuable gems would be concentrated than in the famous Murzinka - this reserve for the mineralogist”. For almost three centuries, gems have been mined here: golden topaz And beautiful amethyst, which lights up in the evening with bloody fire. The terrain, wherever you look, is pitted with pits, trenches and pits. However, exploration in recent years has shown that the Murzinka mines are still far from complete depletion.

A few steps deep into the Ice Mountain and you find yourself in another world, the world of eternal winter, the fabulous kingdom of ice

Kungur Ice Cave a wonderful creation of nature. This is one of the largest caves in our country. It is located on the outskirts of a small industrial Kungur city , on right bank of the Sylva River, in the depths of the stone mass Ice Mountain . The cave has four tiers (floors) of passages. It was formed in the thickness of rocks as a result of the activity of groundwater, which dissolved and carried away gypsum and anhydrite. To study karst processes in the Kungur region and other places in the Urals, a special Research Institute. The total length of all 58 surveyed grottoes and transitions between them exceeds 5 km. Tourists are shown a 2-kilometer section of the Kungur Cave. A specially constructed illuminated tunnel leads to it. A few steps deep into the Ice Mountain and you find yourself in another world, the world of eternal winter, the fabulous kingdom of ice. The first grotto is called Diamond. On its walls and ceiling, multi-colored sparks flash and flicker on thousands of ice faces, fluffy clusters of ice crystals hang from the ceiling. In the next grotto, Polar, ice reigns again: ice stalactites and stalagmites, an ice waterfall descends from one of the walls of the grotto.
The further into the depths of the cave the winding underground gallery leads, the less ice becomes. If in the ice grottoes the temperature is always below zero, then in other halls of the cave it is always several degrees above this mark. Some halls reach 20 m in height and 100 m in width. Their vaulted ceilings are lost in the darkness, the walls are dotted with bizarre niches and recesses.

Kapova Cave is located right bank of the Belaya on the territory of the Shulgan-Tash nature reserve. The cave is of great attraction and scientific value. Its halls and galleries are located on three floors and have a total length of 1.8 km. In one of the halls of the cave in 1959 they were discovered cave drawings made by man of the Paleolithic era. The significance of this discovery is difficult to overestimate: after all, before this discovery, monuments of Paleolithic painting were known only in caves in Spain and France, and the remaining vast territories of Eurasia remained a “blank spot” in this regard. The paintings of the Kapova Cave are clear evidence that ancient man created centers of culture identical to those in the West in the east. Kapova Cave has been declared a valuable archaeological monument.

river in the Urals, left tributary of the Kama amazing river. One of the largest and the most beautiful rivers Ural. The name of the river comes from two roots distorted Komi-Permyak chus or Udmurt chus(fast, agile) (although the average flow of the river is considered to be 3 km/hour) and va(water). The founder of the Yekaterinburg toponymic school E.K. Matveev explains that now the name of the river is pronounced and written Chusovaya, but apparently there was once Chusva.

Original Ural gem malachite . This stone is patterned, elegant, always with imagination. The design of the stone is like a forest clearing: among the curls of foliage there are circles and ovals, like green stumps, neatly, ring in ring, one thinner, greener, the other a little wider and lighter It’s like a green sea: as if the green streams have just petrified, rose and froze rounded wave crests Ural tales involuntarily come to mind P. P. Bazhova .

More than 2 tons of malachite went into finishing the malachite hall of the Hermitage

The best, although not the only collection of original Ural gems malachite room and collection of malachite objects V Hermitage in St. Petersburg . 133 pounds (more than 2 tons) of malachite were spent on finishing the malachite hall. Malachite columns and pilasters rise from the floor, supporting the stucco cornice of the gilded patterned ceiling. Wonderful vases are reflected in the tall mirrors above the malachite fireplaces. No less stunning is the sight of eight colossal, almost ten-meter, malachite columns in the altar of the monumental St. Isaac's Cathedral . Although they, of course, are not carved from a single monolith, but are lined with the thinnest (4 mm) layer of stone using the same favorite method "Russian Ural mosaic".
Malachite is a mineral of the Cu2(OH)2 carbonate class, containing 57% pure copper. It is most often formed where copper ores reach the earth's surface. Especially large deposits of malachite are obtained if copper ore lies among limestones.
In fairy tales P. P. Bazhova malachite accompany "blue tit", "blue flowers". This is the mineral lapis lazuli. The combination of the dark blue color of lapis lazuli with bright green malachite gives the stone the elegant appearance of a peacock feather. And if malachite is used to make green paint (in the Urals they have long been accustomed to painting the roofs of village houses with malachite powder), then blue (azure) paint has been made from lapis lazuli for a long time.

Protected places of the Urals

The most important role in preserving the biological diversity of the Urals, as well as throughout Russia, is the network specially protected natural areas. Here, forest islands and steppe islets, tundras not yet covered by all-terrain vehicles, river basins and mountain landscapes are protected from massive human invasion. Such territories include nature reserves And National parks .

Nature in reserves, its wild inhabitants can live here according to their own natural laws. Nature reserves preserve the standards of Ural nature, extremely diverse nature, sometimes harsh and majestically inaccessible, often beautiful and generous. National parks open to people, their task is to effectively combine the protection of picturesque landscapes, their four-legged and feathered inhabitants with the organization of eco-tourism, active communication between people and nature.

Reserves

Pechoro-Ilychsky. Created in 1930. Within modern borders since 1959. Located on western spurs of the Northern Urals, in the southeastern part Komi Republic. Square 721.3 thousand hectares, of which 6 thousand hectares are in a separate area on the right bank of the Pechora near the village of Yaksha. Covers foothill plains, ridged foothills and a system of ridges. Here you can see sheer cliffs, karst caves and outcrops. On plains prevail pine forests And swamps . Foothills busy dark coniferous forests from Siberian spruce, cedar And Siberian fir. IN subalpine belt grow tall grass And small grass meadows, V alpine — bush thickets And mountain tundra. Flora includes , of which rare ones include Minuartia Helma, real slipper, Shiverekia Podolskaya. Among mammals (40 species) common elk, reindeer, brown bear, wolf, wolverine, ermine, badger, pine marten, sable, weasel, chipmunk And squirrel. Acclimatized muskrat, reacclimatized beaver. In the reserve you can find more than 200 species birds , including capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, large owls (eagle owl, great gray owl). In spring there are numerous different types of migratory ducks. Birds listed in the Red Book of Russia nest here white-tailed eagle, osprey And golden eagle. Found in rivers grayling, whitefish, burbot, ide, brook spawning lamprey, V upper reaches Ilych inhabits an isolated population taimen. On the rifts Pechory And Ilycha spawns salmon. On the territory of the reserve there is a large location Pleistocene fauna (mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, musk ox, cave bear And cave lion) in sediments Bear Mountains . Works in the reserve farm on domestication moose. The reserve has the status biosphere and is included (together with the Yugyd Va National Park) as part of the object World Natural Heritage "Virgin Komi Forests".

Vishersky. Created in 1991. Located on Northern Urals, on north Perm region, in the basin Vishera River and covers a single integral river catchment system. Square 241.2 thousand hectares. The reserve includes the ridges of the axial zone of the Urals with a section of the main Ural watershed (the Oshe-Nier ridge), intermountain basins and the foothills of the western slope. In the Vishera valley there are karst sinkholes, caves, and blind valleys. IN vegetation cover prevail mountain mid-taiga spruce-fir forests . Above 400 m above sea level they thin out and acquire northern taiga features. Developed here park crooked forests And tall grass subalpine meadows , changing with height mountain wastelands With Siberian juniper, ernikami, thickets ive. Even higher are mountain tundra , and then cold deserts . In flora noted 460 species of vascular plants, including 2 rare ones. Besides, in animal world meet 45 species of mammals, 136 species of birds And 7 types of fish. Common in the reserve brown bear, sable(the largest population in the Perm region), ermine, wolf, fox, elk And wild reindeer. Of rare and endangered species birds meet osprey, golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, peregrine falcon, black stork. Found in rivers grayling, taimen, sculpin goby .

Denezhkin Stone. First created in 1946, liquidated in 1961, restored in 1991. Located in center of the Northern Urals, on north Sverdlovsk region, on the watershed of the Volga-Kama and Ob-Irtysh river basins. Square 78.2 thousand hectares. On western slopes prevail mountain taiga dark coniferous forests from spruce, fir And cedar. Solid belt cedar forests located at altitudes of 600-700 m . On eastern slopes developed pine forests . IN upper rivers there are areas subalpine meadows . There is a belt mountain tundra . The reserve is inhabited by elk, brown bear, lynx, wolverine, sable, pine marten, otter, European mink, muskrat . Among birds common grouse capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, white and tundra partridge. The southern border of the distribution passes through the territory of the reserve. wild reindeer.

The Basegi ridge is the only area with indigenous taiga forests in the Middle Urals

Basegi. Organized in 1982 to protect areas of indigenous mountain taiga. Situated on western spurs of the Middle Urals, V eastern parts of the Perm region; takes Basegi mountain range, the only area with indigenous taiga forests in the Middle Urals. Square 37.9 thousand hectares. It is characterized by a combination of mountain ranges with hills and ridges, weathering remnants and tongues of rocky placers with narrow river valleys. Mountain forest belt formed by swampy dark coniferous taiga . IN subalpine belt stand out park woodlands, meadows And crooked forest. Flora totals more than 400 species of vascular plants, among which over 45 rare And valuable. More than 15 types refer to endemic And relict (Permian anemone, Rhodiola Iremelskaya, dryad dotted, cotoneaster aronia and others). They live in the reserve more than 50 types mammals . Meet elk, reindeer, roe deer, are also common pine marten, weasel, ermine, weasel, lynx And Brown bear; they enter the territory wolf, wolverine. They live here more than 150 species birds , including black grouse, capercaillie And grouse. Of the rare birds nest peregrine falcon, white-tailed eagle, marked on flight osprey And golden eagle. Valuable species spawn in rivers fish — taimen And grayling.

On the western slopes of the Ilmen Mountains there is an old pine forest

Ilmensky. Established in 1920 as a mineralogical reserve, in 1935 it was transformed into a complex reserve. Situated on eastern slopes of the Southern Urals, V northern part Chelyabinsk region. Square 34.4 thousand hectares. Mountain tops covered larch-pine forests . On south prevail pine forests , and on north — pine-birch And birch . On the western slopes of the Ilmen Mountains there is an old pine forest. There are also areas in the reserve larch, stony, grass-forb And shrub steppes, moss bogs with cranberries And wild rosemary. In flora More than 1,200 species have been recorded, including many endemic, relict and rare plants. The reserve is inhabited by ermine, forest polecat, weasel, wolf, lynx, squirrel, flying squirrel, hares hare and hare, wanders into the territory Brown bear. From birds common here grouse capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse And gray partridge. They nest in the reserve whooper swan And gray crane, such rare birds as white-tailed eagle, imperial eagle, peregrine falcon, osprey And saker falcon. The mineralogical reserve presents more than 200 various minerals , discovered in the Ilmen ridge, including topazes, corundums, amazonites and others.
In 1991, a branch was organized historical and landscape reserve "Arkaim" with an area of ​​3.8 thousand hectares. It is located in steppe foothills of the eastern Urals, in the Karagan Valley. Saved here more than 50 archaeological sites : Mesolithic And Neolithic sites, burial grounds, Bronze Age settlements, other historical objects. Of particular importance is fortified settlement Arkaim XVII-XVI centuries. BC uh .

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There is a corner in Russia whose fame has long transcended all state and geographical boundaries. This Ilmen Mountains , located in the Southern Urals, in the vicinity of a small city ​​of Miass.
Here it is Ilmensky State Reserve the oldest research institution within the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and one of the first nature reserves created in Russia. By decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR in May 1920, the Ilmen Mountains “due to exceptional scientific significance” received the status of the world's only mineralogical reserve.

The Ilmen Mountains received the status of the world's only mineralogical reserve

First Scientific research in Ilmeny began more than two hundred years ago and continues to this day. After visiting these places in 1829, a professor at the University of Berlin, a foreign member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences G. Rose wrote: “Here, in a small space, a huge variety of minerals are collected; low mountains and ridges covered with forest are like a natural museum, where you can see the most valuable minerals collected here by nature.”.
In the process of the long (more than 1.8 billion years) and complex geological history of the Ilmen Mountains, unique natural museum. The uniqueness of this place creates a great attractive force for specialists, students and natural history lovers. Many museums around the world hold collections of Ilmen minerals. What enthusiastic epithets were given to the Ilmens: “Mecca of mineralogists of the whole world”, “natural museum of mineralogical riches”, “Standard mineralogical object”. There is not a single textbook or reference book on mineralogy, not a single popular book on a similar topic, where these places are mentioned. After all, Ilmeny is one of the few places in the world where, at the whim of nature, concentrated in a small area of ​​just a few hundred square kilometers more than 70 rocks, 270 mineral species, 94 varieties, and 18 minerals discovered here for the first time in the world .

Ilmen Mountains along with rich history their studies are, as it were, a mirror of the development of domestic and foreign mineralogy. Therefore, the Ilmensky Reserve is not only a natural mineralogical, but also natural historical and mineralogical museum . It is perhaps difficult to find another, more favorable object in this capacity. The mines here are laid on small veins, so the likelihood of changes in the properties of many minerals in space within one mine is very small. These mines are numbered, and their numbering has not changed since 1882, but has only been supplemented. The Ilmen mines will serve the mineralogists of the future, as they served the mineralogists of the past and as they serve the specialists of today.

More than one generation has studied in Ilmeny geologists And mineralogists largest universities in Russia, such as Moscow, Leningrad, Kazan And South Ural University. On the basis of the Institute of Mineralogy and the Ilmensky Reserve, it was created Faculty of Geology and Mineralogy, Branch of South Ural University . The interest in Ilmen among specialists and teachers from different countries remains very high. However, access to information, much less field excursions through the mines, has until now been impossible for the general scientific community.
New computer technologies make it possible to gain access to huge amounts of historical and modern data on the geology and mineralogy of the Ilmenogorsk complex, to take virtual tours of the museum’s objects in nature, and through the halls of the natural science museum of the reserve. This information is available at website www. igz.ilmeny.ac.ru.

The Ilmensky Nature Reserve is famous not only for its minerals, but also for its nature. Since 1935, not only the subsoil, but also all natural resources began to be protected in the reserve. The Ilmensky Nature Reserve is located in a strip transition from mountain-forest Urals to the flat forest-steppe of the Trans-Urals and the West Siberian Lowland. On the territory of the reserve in the immediate vicinity you can see coniferous taiga forests And fragments of forb-grass steppes, northern sphagnum bogs And shrub steppes, light birch forests, tall grass mountain spring meadows, lowland sedge bogs And rocky areas with patches of lichens .
Mountainous terrain, deep lakes, swamps, and streams divide the territory of the reserve into separate areas with different conditions of light, humidity and slope steepness. All this creates in each such area its own microclimate, its own special environment for the life of plants and animals. Since 1935, the reserve has become complete, which ensures the preservation and study of not only the minerals and rocks of Ilmen, but the flora and fauna of this wonderful corner of Russia.

The vertebrate fauna of the reserve includes 19 species of fish, 5 species of amphibians, 6 species of reptiles, 173 species of birds and 57 species of mammals

Flora The reserve includes more than 1250 species of vascular plants, about 140 species of mosses, 483 species of algae, 566 species of fungi. The vertebrate fauna of the reserve includes 19 species of fish, 5 species of amphibians, 6 species of reptiles, 173 species of birds and 57 species of mammals.

Currently, the reserve has the status of a research institute of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and carries out environmental, research and environmental education activities.

The pride of the reserve, its visit center is natural science museum.
The museum's funds contain more than 25,000 exhibits . Some of the funds are presented in the museum's exhibitions. The museum's seven showrooms, with a total area of ​​about 2000 m, occupy three floors.
On ground floor There are three halls. The first of them presents magnificent crystals And rocks from different types of deposits in our country. Nearby is a systematic collection minerals, numbering more than 1500 samples. This is also where lecture hall where visitors can watch thematic videos, computer lectures and do it using a computer, “virtual” tours of the museum and reserve. Scientific conferences and training sessions for students and schoolchildren are often held here.
Second floor occupied by the expositions of the Ilmensky Nature Reserve, presented in two halls. In the first samples minerals And rocks of the Ilmeno-Vishnegorsk complex, its analogues, in the second hall is presented history of discovery And studying this unique corner of our earth.
On third floor , V biological hall , one of the largest three-dimensional dioramas in Russia is presented, which demonstrates species biodiversity and landscape complexes of the reserve and adjacent territories of the Southern Urals.

Reserved land inviolable. On it you cannot hunt birds and animals, fish in lakes, pick mushrooms and berries in the forests, cut down trees, make fires and, most importantly, extract minerals. But you can admire the grandeur and generous beauty of the unique Ural nature and marvel at its riches.

Material on the Ilmensky Nature Reserve was provided by Natalya Petrovna Korikova

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South Ural. Created in 1978. Located, as the name suggests, on Southern Urals, in the Republic of Bashkortostan and partly in the Chelyabinsk region. Covers natural complexes Great Yamantau mountain range And Zigalga ridge. Square 255 thousand hectares. Vegetation cover comprises mountain taiga fir-spruce forests ; common in the lower plant layer ferns, frequent areas with tall grass. They also grow mountain taiga pine forests .
Peaks busy grass-moss mountain tundras And loaches , there is also mountain meadows . From rare plant species listed in the Red Book of Russia are noted orchis orchis. A lot of endemic species we rock Ural, Anemonastrum Permian, Rhodiola Iremelskaya, China Litvinov, Tsitserbeta uralensis, Tatarian barkweed. From mammals live in the reserve elk, brown bear, wolf, lynx, pine marten. Among birds the group is fully represented grouse species capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse. From rare birds can be found golden eagle. There are also many rare species here butterflies , including mnemosyne, included in the Red Book of Russia. Found in rivers sculpin And European grayling .

Bashkir. Created in 1930, from 1951 to 1958. did not function; in 1958 it was reopened and consisted of three sections: Ural-Tau, South Krak and Pribelsky. The latter was transformed into an independent reserve “Shulgan-Tash” in 1986. Is located in center of the Southern Urals, in the Republic of Bashkortostan. IN vegetation cover well expressed altitudinal zone: lower slopes busy pine forests mixed with broadleaf species And birch trees, which higher are replaced by rarefied larch trees . On top southern slopes are dry rocky steppes with feather grass . By river valleys meet tall grass glades . Found in the reserve European And Siberian flora And fauna . Among birds groups are well represented grouse And diurnal predators. Of the last 4 species ( osprey, golden eagle, imperial eagle, peregrine falcon) are listed in the Red Book of Russia. There's a lot here ungulate mammals — introduced deer, elk, roe deer, and large predators — brown bear, lynx And wolf.

In Shulgan-Tash, the population of wild Central Russian bees is protected, and beekeeping is also supported

Shulgan-Tash. Established in 1958 as the Pribelsky branch Bashkir Nature Reserve, since 1986 independent reserve. Situated on spurs of the Southern Urals, in the bend of the Belaya River. Square 22.5 thousand hectares. Relief The terrain here is very dissected, with many rocky outcrops and karst formations. Located on the border forest And steppe zones . Prevail broadleaf old growth forests interspersed tall grass glades And meadow steppes . The reserve grows heart-shaped linden, pedunculate oak, Norway maple, smooth and rough elm, Scots pine, Siberian spruce, silver and downy birch, aspen, gray alder, black poplar. These species form more than 60 plant groups. Over 100 types flora belong to categories rare And disappearing . From rare birds meet osprey, peregrine falcon, golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, black stork And snake eagle; from mammals — marmot; from insects — wax hermit, mnemosyne, apollo, variable bumblebee and others. The reserve is also interesting because the population of wild Central Russian bees is protected here, and the ancient trade traditional for the local population - beekeeping, consistent with the reserve regime - is supported. To unique natural monuments And stories applies Kapova Cave with wall paintings from Paleolithic times.

Orenburgsky. Created in 1989. Located at southern border Orenburg region. Consists of 4 sections remote from each other: Talovskaya steppe on the southwestern outskirts of General Syrt; Burtinskaya steppe on the left bank of the Ural River within the Ural-Ilek Cis-Ural region; Aituar steppe on the left bank of the Urals, the section of the basin from the valley to the watershed; Ashchisay steppe with the lake basin Zhurmankol in the eastern Cis-Urals, on the western slope of the Turgai plateau. Distributed meadow, forb-grass, real And rocky steppes , formed feather grass (Lessing, Zalessky), black wormwood, fescue, woolly breastwort and others. Meet solonetz-steppe complexes With grassy saltwort, Gmelin and Caspian kermeks, thickets of shrubs (low almond, caragana, spirea). There are also forest pegs from birch trees And aspen. On the bottoms of beams grow black alder forests. All in all, Flora comprises more than 500 species of vascular plants, many of which endemic, relict And rare (helmeted orchis, Schrenk's tulip, Zalessky feather grass and others). Included fauna Representatives of steppes, semi-deserts and forests are uniquely combined. A lot of rodents steppe pied, small gopher, marmot. Common here and steppe polecat. Also found corsac, badger, brown hare. The reserve is famous for its great diversity birds — more than 150 species. Among them European bee-eater, demoiselle crane, steppe eagle and others. There are many on reservoirs waterfowl And shorebirds : gray goose, whooper swan and mute swan, ogre, shelduck and others. From rare birds , listed in the Red Book of Russia, live here bustard, little bustard, lapwing, imperial eagle, saker falcon.

National parks

Yugyd Va is the largest national park in Russia

Yugyd Va. Created in 1994. Located on western macroslope of the Subpolar And Northern Urals in the Komi Republic, in the basins of the right tributaries Pechory from Podcherema River before B. Synya River. Square 1.691.7 thousand hectares. This is the largest national park in Russia. Its name, translated from the language Komi, means "Light Water". This is so because all the rivers of the park carry their waters to Pechora — the cleanest river in Europe. In the highlands of the north there are more than 30 small cirque glaciers , the largest of them is located on Saber ridge. Also, the Yugyd Va park is the only corner in Europe where nature has been preserved almost undisturbed in the form of an array of northern forests.

Yugyd Va is the only place in Europe where nature has been preserved undisturbed in the form of an array of northern forests

The pronounced altitudinal zone and the almost 300 km extension from north to south determine the richness of the local landscapes. Forests the low and ridge parts of the park are formed spruce And fluffy birch. Above 250 m above sea level they take turns mountain dark coniferous taiga , consisting of fir (in the Northern Urals) And cedar. The western border of the range runs through the park Siberian cedar. The upper part of the forest vegetation on Subpolar Urals comprises larch woodlands , on Northern from birch, fir And spruce woodlands , even higher from the thickets elfin fir. Golets belt busy shrubby, lichen And moss-lichen tundra . Near the snowfields there are alpine meadows .

Yugyd Va Park and the Pechora-Ilychsky Reserve are included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List under the general name “Virgin Forests of Komi”

There are a lot of rocky screes and piles of rock debris throughout the area. Find shelter in the park 30 types mammals And 190 species birds . They live here permanently elk, sable, pine marten, ermine, wolverine, brown bear and wolf, and in mountain tundra — wild reindeer. From waterfowl nests in the park 17 types, from rare carnivores — golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, osprey. More than half of the Pechora herd reproduces at the sources of local rivers salmon. The territory of the Yugyd Va park is rich in endemic and relict species of plants and animals, rare minerals, geological and landscape natural monuments. The park is included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List (together with the Pechora-Ilych Biosphere Reserve) under the general name “Virgin Komi Forests”.

The landscapes of the park are among the unique natural phenomena of the Trans-Urals

Pripyshminskie Bors. Formed in 1993. Located on Middle Urals in the Sverdlovsk region, in the basin Pyshma River(2 plots Talitskaya And Tugulymskaya dacha ). Square 49.2 thousand hectares. The landscapes of the park are among the unique natural phenomena of the Trans-Urals. Unique natural complexes are preserved here pine forests on ancient river terraces. Main array hog stretches out along Pyshma almost 200 km. The park is dominated pine forests lingonberry-blueberry, blueberry And cereal-forb . There are areas with spruce, birch And aspen. In the territory Tugulymskaya dacha meet lichens And heather-lingonberry-green moss pine forests . They also grow here spruce And Linden. There are small populations Siberian larch And fir. On "Abraham's Island" on Bakhmetsky Island growing cedar. From rare plants , listed in the Red Book of Russia, are found in the park lady's slipper, common orchis, feather grass. fauna are the inhabitants southern taiga And forest-steppe pine-birch forests(Total about 50 species mammals , more than 140 breeding species birds , 5 types reptiles ), among which: brown bear, elk, roe deer, pine marten, lynx, ermine, badger And beaver. From rare birds , subject to protection, you can find in the park golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, peregrine falcon, osprey, eagle owl And gray shrike. Lives in reservoirs 17 types fish (pike, perch, roach, crucian carp, tench, carp and others) and 5 species of reptiles.

Taganay. Created in 1991 located on Southern Urals in the Chelyabinsk region. Covers the node of the Taganay ranges from Mount Yurma in the north to the Two-headed Taganay in the south. Translated from Turkic Tagan-Ai "Moon Stand". Square 56.8 thousand hectares. The park is dominated by mountain dark conifers (spruce-fir) And light coniferous southern taiga forests . The belt of dark coniferous forests is located at altitudes of 650-1000 m above sea level; subalpine meadows, mountain tundras and rocky char deposits are common above. These valuable natural complexes are almost untouched by humans.
On the territory of the park there are ancient mineral mines And mines , where you can see up to 70 types of minerals in one place. Here, on a relatively small area of ​​land, there are plants and animals characteristic of a wide variety of regions: the central zone of the European part of Russia, the Russian North, the Povodzhye region, the Urals, Western and Central Siberia, as well as Kazakhstan. In flora noted about 800 species of higher vascular plants, of them 28 refer to rare And disappearing (Lady's slipper, Helm's minuartia, feather feather grass, thin-legged stiff-leaved). A lot of endemics Ural. Animal world presented more than 50 species of mammals. They live here roe deer, wild boar, elk, beaver, brown bear, lynx, wolf, marten, ermine, weasel, otter. Nests in the park 145 species birds , including rare (peregrine falcon, golden eagle). Also a lot upland game . Found in mountain rivers 7 types fish , such as whitefish, taimen, trout.

Zyuratkul. Founded in 1993. Located in the Chelyabinsk region. Created to preserve one of the most beautiful lakes in the Urals Zyuratkul . Translated from Bashkir language "yurak-kul" means "heart-lake". The lake is surrounded by mountain ranges. This is the most mountainous part of the Southern Urals. The park is located at the junction of two natural zones taiga And forest-steppe . Here they prevail southern taiga mountain forests from pine trees And ate with minor areas fir And larches. IN subalpine belt common birch-spruce woodlands With subalpine lawns . Mountain tops busy mountain tundras, alpine meadows And rocky placers (kurumami). In flora registered about 600 species of vascular plants, of which there are many endemics Southern Urals, growing in the highlands ( Lagotis uralensis, tsitserbita uralensis, godson Igoshina and others). IN fauna noted 46 species of mammals And 160 species of birds. Widespread taiga species predominate, including: brown bear, lynx, pine marten, capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse. From rare birds meets golden eagle.
On coast of Lake Zyuratkul available historical And archaeological sites ancient human sites dating back to the XIII-XII centuries. and VIIIII centuries. BC e. (Cape Dolgiy Elonik, Kamenny Cape). On the slopes ridge B. Moskal located ancient sacred stones And temples .

Bashkiria. Created in 1986. Located in 3 districts of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Covers the lowlands and plateau-like uplands of the Southern Urals (Kibiz, Utyamysh ridges, partially Bash-Ala-Tau), the water area of ​​the Nugush reservoir. Karst is widely developed. Its rare manifestations include natural bridge on the Kuperlya river . Also a lot caves with sinter formations. IN vegetation cover prevail broadleaf forests from oak, linden, maple And elm. Sometimes they meet spruce And pine forests. Flora higher plants of the park include 650 species. The features of steppe, broad-leaved, taiga and mountain-meadow vegetation are combined here. From rare And endangered species marked minuartia Helma, slender-legged stiff-leaved, lady's slippers true and large-flowered, pollenhead red. Animal world parka is common for deciduous and mixed forests Southern Urals. They live here pine marten, brown bear, wolf, elk, roe deer and others. Also in the park a little more than 200 species birds , of which 130 — nesting. Lives in rivers and reservoirs more than 30 types fish , including pike, common taimen, European grayling, pike perch. The park is guarded Bashkir bee .

To the website

SUPPOLAR URAL

Report on a pedestrian journey of the fourth category of difficulty
held in August 1998

Supervisor: Gabidullin Albert Khalilevich

Information about the hike:

Reference information about the participants of the hike:

№	FULL NAME	Year of birth, address	Experience	Responsibilities
1	Gabidullin Albert Khalilevich	1947, Kazan, Ave. Pobeda 17-165, tel. 07/35/92	Ts Tien Shan (4P) Center. Caucasus (5U) Fan Mountains (5U)	Supervisor
2	Zamaletdinov Ildar Valiulovich	1947, Kazan, Ave. Amirkhana 71-80, tel. 56-33-15	Baikal ridge (6U) Horn. Altai (4P)	caretaker
3	Lapin Konstantin Alexandrovich	1974, Kazan, October 25 St. 11-28, tel. 31-35-59 [email protected]		Photographer
4	Popov Vladimir Alexandrovich	1949, Kazan, St. Gabisheva 19B-65	Central Caucasus (4P) Fan Mountains (5U)	Medic
5	Matveev Vladislav Alexandrovich	1949, Kazan, St. Gabisheva 23-167, tel. 62-74-16	Center. Caucasus (2P) West. Caucasus (3U) Horn. Altai (3U)	Photographer
6	Delimov Igor Petrovich	1960, Kazan, Narimanov, 10-22, tel. 31-35-97	West. Caucasus (3U) East. Sayan (2U)	Repairer
7	Khabibullin Renat Kadyrovich	1947, Kazan, St. Br. Kasimov, 62-82, tel. 05/35/58	Zap. Tien Shan (3U), Horn. Altai (2U)	Timekeeper

Hiking area Subpolar Urals

The Ural Mountains are the Stone Belt, stretching for 2500 km from the hot steppes of Kazakhstan to the shores of the Arctic Ocean. From a geographical point of view, the Urals are divided into five regions - Southern, Middle, Northern, Subpolar and Polar.

The widest part of the Urals, consisting of dozens of parallel ridges, bounded in the north and south, respectively, by the valleys of the Ufaley and Ural rivers, is called the Southern Urals. The foothills of this part of the Urals are characterized by steppe and forest-steppe landscapes, the higher mountain slopes are covered with mixed forests, and the most significant peaks, like islands, rise above the green ocean of forest. In the western row of ridges there are largest mountains Southern Urals - Yamantau 1640m and Bolshoy Iremel 1582m.

North of the valley of the Ufaley River, to the latitude of the Basegi ridge, a relatively low and narrowed section of the Ural Mountains extends. This is the Middle Urals. The southern taiga completely covers its low, gentle hills. The Middle Urals is the most populated part of the Urals; the main transport routes connecting Europe with Siberia are concentrated here. The legendary Chusovaya flows here - the only river in the Urals that crosses mountain ranges from east to west.

The Northern Urals stretches strictly in the meridional direction to the latitudinal section of the Shchuger River. Telpoz-Iz is a nest of winds - its highest mountain is 1617 m. The axial part of the ridges is formed by short watershed ridges - Belt Stone, Khozatump, Kvarkush and others. Higher mountains, including the popular Konzhakovsky and Denezhkin Stones, are located in the eastern massifs. The western foothills of the Northern Urals are characterized by wide hilly ridges - parmas. In the north of the region there are the most remote and untouched corners of the region.

To the north of the latitudinal section of Shchuger, the mountains expand again, scattering their numerous ridges with rays. This is the highest region of the Belt - the Subpolar Urals. Here are the highest peak of the entire Urals - Mount Naroda 1895 m, and a number of mountains characterized by their alpine outlines - Saber and Manaraga. This part of the Urals is covered with northern sparse taiga. Most of the mountain slopes are painted with the multicolored alpine meadows and mountain tundras. North of Naroda, the mountains narrow sharply and slope toward the northeast.

At the junctions of the Subpolar and Polar Urals at the sources of the Khulga River, the ridge is represented by a narrow chain of mountains, practically treeless, devoid of any foothills and open to all winds. Not far from here, Payer 1472 m is the highest point of the Polar Urals and one of the most severe mountains of the entire Stone Belt. Beyond the valley of the Sob River, along which the northernmost trans-Ural highway stretches like a thin ribbon, the Seida - Labytnangi railway, the Ural Mountains, before finally dissolving into the coastal plain, are expanding again. The last corners of the Ural forest are found in cozy valleys hidden from harsh winds. Above them, high in the mountains, there are real glaciers, and behind the mountains there is tundra all the way to the shores of the Kara Sea, on which huge blocks of ice float even in summer.

CLIMATE
The climate of the Subpolar Urals is sharply continental (subarctic), with short summers and long winters. It is characterized as moderately cold and excessively humid, the amount of precipitation exceeds the evaporation rate. The average annual air temperature is about -3°C. The duration of the frost-free period is about 60 days. The average January temperature is -20°C (absolute minimum -54°C), for July these values ​​are +16°C (+29°C). The amplitude of annual temperature fluctuations reaches 83°C. Sharp fluctuations are also observed during the day and can be 20-25°C.

Annual precipitation is 750 mm. The duration of stable snow cover is 200-210 days. The average height of snow cover is 100 cm, and in some places 150 cm. In the mountains, the temperature decreases with altitude, and the annual amount of precipitation increases to 800 mm or more. The climate features are favorable for the development of permafrost. Tundra, forest-tundra, and partly northern taiga lie in the area of ​​development of permafrost, the thickness of permafrost rocks is 200 m. At the southern border of the tundra, the frozen mass is of an island nature and its thickness is constantly decreasing. Under moss and peat cover, it thaws in the summer by only a few tens of centimeters. In areas with intense snow accumulation, on sandy soils, in runoff hollows, the upper limit of the frozen mass lies at a depth of 5-6, sometimes 10-20 m. In the valleys of large rivers, frozen rocks may be absent.

The Subpolar Urals are an avalanche-prone area. Particularly powerful avalanches come down from the steep leeward eastern slopes of the highest ridges.

GEOLOGY AND RELIEF

The Subpolar Urals are the highest part of the mountainous country. Individual peaks of its ridges rise more than 1800 m above sea level, and the width of the mountain strip reaches 150 km. The highest peaks - Naroda (1895.0), Karpinsky (1803.4), Mansiner (1778.7), Yanchenko (1740.9), Manaraga (1662.7), Kolokolnya (1640), Neroika (1645) - are located in the central part. In this section, the Ural Mountains cross the tundra, forest-tundra, steppe and forest-steppe zones.

The eastern slope of the Subpolar Urals gradually turns into the flat spaces of the West Siberian Lowland. The ridges of the western slope abruptly end towards the Pechora Plain.

In the Subpolar Urals, an alpine type of relief has formed, which is characterized by sawtooth ridges, carlings, punishments, niches, cirques, and gorges. The mountain ranges are separated by wide, deeply incised valleys. There are a variety of ancient and modern sculptural and accumulative glacial forms, kurums and mountain terraces here. There are plateau-like peaks with mountain terraces in the zone of development of rocks unstable to weathering. Steep (up to 40-50°) slopes of valleys have a convex profile with avalanche chutes and narrow erosional valleys of small watercourses and landslide craters.

The area belongs to the province of ancient and modern glacial forms. The axial zone of the Subpolar Urals is composed mainly of the most ancient metamorphic rocks of Proterozoic and Lower Paleozoic age. These rocks are intruded by powerful intrusions of granites and granodiorites, which are associated with deposits of rock crystal and rare earth mineralization.

HYDROGRAPHY
Largest rivers on the western slope - Kosyu, Shchuger, Bolshaya Synya - carry their waters to Pechora, and form a significant part of its flow. Rivers on the western slope are characterized by an alternation of longitudinal and transverse sections of valleys. The Kozhim rivers in the upper reaches and its left tributaries - Balaban-Yu, Limbeko-Yu, Khambal-Yu, Durnaya - flow between the ridges in wide (up to 12 km), often swampy longitudinal valleys. When rivers break through ridges, ridges, ridges, their valleys narrow, forming in places deep gorges (Vangyr, Kosyu, Bolshoy and Maly Patok). Stormy and rapid rapids and riffles with a large drop appear in the riverbed. In small mountain streams, the fall of the bed often reaches several tens of meters per kilometer. In some places, streams cascade down from steep cliffs into picturesque waterfalls.

In terms of the density of the river network and specific water content, the territory of the subpolar Urals has no equal in the entire Urals.

The rivers originate in the highlands from lakes and cirque glaciers and are characterized by sharp daily and seasonal fluctuations in water levels, rapids, shoals and riffles, and steep rocky banks.

The Subpolar Urals are rich in lakes. Only in mountainous region there are more than 800 lakes. Lakes of glacial origin are widespread. They are located in karas and circuses, on the bottoms of trough valleys, as well as on pass saddles, on above-floodplain and floodplain terraces. Tarn lakes are distinguished by their high location (above 800 m), great depth (more than 20 m), rounded shape, rocky shores almost devoid of vegetation, and the absence of fish and waterfowl.

In the Subpolar Urals, in the area of ​​Mount Narody, on the Eastern Saledy and Sablya ridges, there are 50 glaciers with a total area of ​​7.5 km2. The largest glaciers are Mansi under the peak of Manciner and Hoffman under the Sabre. Most glaciers are located in deep cirques and cirques on the leeward eastern and southeastern slopes of the ridges, and the height of the lower ends of the glacier tongues ranges from 600 to 1350 m.

SOILS
Within the mountainous region, the pattern of soil distribution corresponds to altitudinal zonation. In the elevated areas of the char belt there are crushed stone soils of char on crystalline acidic and basic rocks. In the mountain-tundra belt there are mountain-tundra soils. In river valleys, the distribution of soils is highly variegated. Characteristic features are the presence of a layer of moderately decomposed litter of mosses, podzolic and illuvial soil horizons, and layers of peat. In riverine areas and along drained slopes of ridges, mountain forest podzolized illuvial humus soils are developed.

FLORA AND VEGETATION

The main types of vegetation are northern taiga pine and dark coniferous forests, subalpine woodlands and meadows, mountain tundra and char.

The plant flora has not yet been studied in detail, but it can be assumed that it consists of at least 600 species. The vegetation of the area is rich and varied. In the mountains you can find taiga, mixed forests, subalpine and alpine meadows, mountain tundra and petrophilic vegetation within a short distance. The altitudinal zonation is clearly visible. The forest rises into the mountains up to 450-650 m above sea level. The taiga of the European slope is damp and very swampy. The tree belt is dominated by spruce, with occasional birch and fir. Under the forest canopy grow taiga boreal species - bilberry, European honeybee, and three-parted holocum. In the upper reaches of the Kosyu there are individual cedars, and along the Pechora and in the lower reaches of the Kosyu there are pine trees. In the lower mountain belt, in addition to spruce and spruce-fir forests tracts of sphagnum bogs with cotton grass, wild rosemary, dwarf birch, blueberries, cloudberries and cranberries are widespread. The most extensive wetlands are located between the Pechora River and the Sablinsky Range.

The forests belong to the only large area of ​​virgin northern taiga in Europe. Their upper border on the European slope is made up of larch, open forests of spruce and downy birch. The moist macroslopes are occupied by birch forests with clearings of tall grass meadows. Among the subalpine tall grasses you can find radiola rosea (golden root), larkspur, angelica, and reed grass. Above the upper boundary of the forest in the lower part of the mountain-tundra belt there are difficult-to-pass willow forests with gray willow, hairy willow, etc. Above, shrub-moss and moss-lichen species are common, and above 100-1200 m the slopes of the ridges are almost devoid of vegetation. On the territory of the Yugyd-Va Park there are populations of rare and endemic species listed in the Red Book of Russia.

FAUNA AND ANIMAL WORLD

More than 30 species of mammals have been recorded in the Subpolar Urals. Among large and medium-sized animals there are squirrel, chipmunk, arctic fox, fox, wolf, brown bear, reindeer, wolverine. The avifauna is represented by wood grouse, black grouse, hazel grouse, tundra and white partridge, and whooper swan. Osprey, peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon and white-tailed eagle, listed in the Red Book, nest here. The most common fish in mountain rivers is European grayling. The lakes contain a lot of perch, pike, and a rare lake form of Arctic char. In spring and autumn, salmon rushes from the Barents Sea to the sources of many tributaries of the Pechora.

The largest national park in Europe, Yugyd-Va (Clean Water), is located in the Subpolar Urals. It is included in the list of objects world heritage UNESCO.

DETAILED ROUTE
Pos. Kozhim Rudny - Kozhimsky tract - ridge. Oba-Iz - the source of the river. Syvyu - r. Syvyu - hr. Oba-Iz - r. Kosyu - the mouth of the river. Indysey - mouth of the river. Nidysey - r. Kapkan-Vozh - lane. Student - peak of Manaraga - r. Manaraga - lane Kar-Kar - the sources of the river. Balaban-Yu - Peak of the People 1895 m. - lane. No. 23 - peak of Karpinsky 1803.4 m. - river. Balaban-Yu - lakes Balaban-Ty - Base "Zhelannaya" - river valley. Balaban-Yu - ridge. Maldy-Nyrd - the mouth of the river. Limbeko-Yu - ridge. Eastern Saledy - ridge. Western. Saledy - r. Bad Spruce - hr. Oba-Iz - r. Syvyu - village. Kozhim Rudny.

Route section Kozhim Rudny village (platform 1952 km) - Kozhimsky Trakt - r. Syvyu - hr. Both-Of 28 km long, the group had to overcome it in two directions, which is due to its greatest suitability as an approach to the route area. This is also due to the fact that platform 1952 km is the most convenient access point - even fast trains stop there.

GENERAL IDEA OF THE HIKE

The idea of ​​organizing a tourist trip to the Subpolar Urals from a group from the Kazan Technical College of Light Industry arose after a series of trips with technical school students to various regions of Russia. This is due, firstly, to the fact that in tourist clubs in the city of Kazan there is almost completely no information about the region of the Subpolar Urals. Kazan tourists made winter hikes in this area, and data on summer hikes is minimal. During the preparation of the hike, we managed to find only two reports on summer hikes in the archives of tourist clubs, which had significant shortcomings - a minimal description of the area, black and white photographic material of very poor quality, and a lack of sensible recommendations.
On the other hand, from the literature, which is mainly of a descriptive nature, it is clear that the region of the Subpolar Urals can become an excellent training base for preparing tourists for more technically and physically complex routes, which undoubtedly interested four participants in the trip, teaching physical education in various educational institutions. This area has a wide range of natural obstacles and landscapes, the diversity of which allows for routes of varying degrees of difficulty - from the lowest to routes of 4-5 difficulty categories. Here there are alpine-type mountain ranges, vast rocky spaces - kurumniks, scree and grassy slopes of valleys and ridges, glaciers, taiga, swamps, and various water obstacles. These obstacles, against the backdrop of the harsh northern climate, supplemented by midges and mosquitoes, make this relatively remote area extremely interesting and promising.

The second purpose of our trip is to collect photographic material - let us remind you that there are practically no color photographs of the area in Kazan. From a sporting point of view, with this route the Technical College group Light industry plans to take part in the Championships of Russia and the Republic of Tatarstan in sports trekking.

The route is laid out in such a way as to connect the pearl of the Ural Mountains, Manaragu, and the two highest peaks in the Research Ridge - Narodu and Karpinsky. As an aside, at the request of relatives and understandable moral considerations, the group planned to visit the site of the death of six members of a group of Kazan tourists rafting along the Kosyu River, which is located not far from the gorges formed by the spurs of the Obe-Iz ridge approaching the river. After climbing the peaks, a classic exit from the area along the Kozhimsky Highway is planned, with a visit to the Balaban-Ty lakes.

Route changes and their reasons

In accordance with the realities that arise along the route, the group slightly changed certain details of the passage.
Due to the lack of visibility and unfavorable weather conditions, on the river section. Syvyu - hr. Oba-Iz - r. The mowing group did not pass the upper reaches of the Obe-Iz ridge, but moved forward along the ridge through the taiga and swamps. This change had virtually no effect on the time schedule of the hike, since movement along the kurumniks that form the tops of the Obe-Iz ridge was replaced by movement through the windfall swampy taiga and swamps that form the foot of the Obe-Iz.

The ascent to the top of Karpinsky was carried out not in the classical way, from a scree pass north of the peak in the rather wide ridge of Karpinsky, which must be climbed from the valley of the Balaban-Yu River. Due to poor visibility, we decided to climb to the top from Lake Eight (Upper Balaban-Ty), the ascent path is more difficult than the classic one, but we saw it earlier when climbing Naroda, when the weather was clear. Therefore, based on our observations, we climbed to the top along the steep western slope, adhering to the small ridge descending from Karpinsky to Eight. The decision to use this route was also supported by the group having all the necessary equipment. Before reaching the small pre-summit plateau, a rocky area consisting of smooth rocks was overcome and partially bypassed. The detour route took us from the ridge into a canopy-shaped hollow between two adjacent ridges, but we did not have to use the existing equipment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TRIP

August 6, day one...
Our route begins in the village of Kozhim Rudny. You can get to it by commuter train from Pechora or from Inta and other points of the Vorkuta railway. This village is hidden on railway maps under the name “Platform 1952 km”. This is where the road to the mountains begins. This tract is a dirt road, the first kilometers of which are even lined with concrete slabs. This is where we set off. Along the sides of the tract there is a low and stunted forest, standing mainly on a swampy floor. In the distance, the distant ridges of the Urals loom dimly in the cloud mass - the nearest of them is the Obe-Iz ridge. After a few kilometers, the area on the sides of the road takes on an even more depressing appearance - swamps stretch for many kilometers around. The sun doesn't show up, but it starts to rain periodically. After three transitions we begin a gradual ascent. Fortunately, the climb is quite gentle, and we can easily overcome this climb with our starting weight. Further along the path there is a bridge over a stream, and after that the path stretches higher and higher. After 4 hours of travel we reach a depression, which turns out to be a wide valley of the Syvyu River. Soon the river itself appears before us. Its width is about 30 meters, the depth in a wide place near the rift, which is just below the road, is no more than 30-40 cm. The speed of the current is low and the river is crossed calmly. After Syvyu, the tract again climbs up another gentle ridge, and after a few kilometers we passed a fork (24 km of the tract), which leads to a granite quarry, where that same red granite is mined, which can be seen in almost every city in Russia.

Further, the road continued to lead upward, but soon we overcame one of the side spurs of the Obe-Iz ridge, and sharply descended down to where a small river flowed, flowing below into Kozhim. Our further path was planned up this river to the upper reaches, that is, to the tundra zone of the Obe-Iz ridge, to the upper reaches of Syvyu. Having left the road, we immediately found a passing path, which, however, soon disappeared. The search turned out to be fruitful, from the point of view that we found out that there is no well-trodden path here - or rather, it immediately becomes overgrown. There are many traces of this path, implicit and unclear. So we had to walk through this very wet and overgrown forest. Occasionally, in order to keep the right direction, I had to walk along the river, sometimes, for convenience, crossing it from bank to bank. Tall grass and bushes got in the way, and sometimes it was impossible to see where one was stepping, the thickets were so dense.

Two passages through this forest brought us to the right (orographically) bank of the river, where the trees parted and a clear and well-traveled path immediately appeared. We walked along it to the last larch forest and camped for the night on the high bank of the river. During the day we covered about 35 km, of which 28 km were along the highway.

August 7, day two...
The second day in the mountains began with getting up at 7 am. It was quite cold behind the tent canopy, the sky was overcast with low clouds, and we, having quickly had breakfast, set out on the road. Soon it became inconvenient to walk along the right bank, and we moved to the left bank, where in some places, on higher elevations, the path appeared among low thickets of dwarf birch. But soon she too disappeared. The river valley is wide and it is convenient to walk along it. Soon the river finally moved to the right side of the valley, where it originates, and we found ourselves on an almost undefined watershed. Ahead, a river valley opened up, falling in a westerly direction - somewhere on its bank, below, there are quarries. It flows in a gorge with steep scree slopes of a bright red color, very unusual, especially in contrast with the white patches of snow. We began to turn left, going around this river and, soon, crossed it over the stones. After that, having climbed to the other bank, we found ourselves at the watershed between this river and Syvy. There is exactly one hour's trek between the two watersheds. From the place where we were now, below to the right, a tour piled on a stone placer was clearly visible. There was no note in it, and its purpose is not entirely clear to us, in any case, perhaps this tour was organized by Mansi shepherds, who bring huge herds of deer here from the Tyumen region for the summer.

After one crossing we crossed Syvya again, now at its very source. A little lower we saw a large herd of deer, standing out like a motley spot against the green background of the gorge. For all of us, this is our first date with reindeer. Having completed another full trek, we decided to stop for lunch, finding some dry wood among the growing three small fir trees. While we were cooking, Mansi came up to us - two reindeer herders on horses and with traditional dogs. We treated them to lunch and asked them about life and the road. Having received a return invitation to a reindeer shish kebab, we regretfully declined, as we would have had to deviate noticeably to the side.

After lunch, on the advice of the Mansi, we began to climb to the left slope of the valley, bypassing a vast swampy area. For the first time here we saw and tasted the famous northern berry - cloudberry, an orange large juicy berry with an original taste. Sometimes we came across the beginnings of a trail, but more often we saw traces of deer. After an hour of travel, vast spaces opened up before us, swampy and overgrown with forest. On the left they were limited by the Obe-Iz ridge, which looked much more impressive from here, on the right they were limited by nothing else. We stood on the spur of the ridge, the valley of the Syvyu River now remained to the right below us.

From here we looked around and decided not to go directly to the ridge, but to follow the direction along it, moving through the forest. Soon we left the tundra slopes mixed with scattering stones and entered the forest, which descended in terraces into the valley. There was a wet swamp underfoot, and the rare dry areas generally made it impossible to pitch a tent. We had difficulty finding one place suitable for a tent. We walked 15 kilometers during the day.

The morning started out lousy - it was drizzling and cold. We left at 9 am. At first, it was decided to move along the small river, the left tributary of the Syvyu, which flowed in the direction we needed. At first we planned to go along the upper reaches of the Obe-Iz ridge, but in such weather no ridge was visible at all, and there was no point in going there. We moved along the river, sometimes jumping from stone to stone, sometimes moving along the damp litter, which sometimes turned into an ordinary swamp. After one full-fledged transition, the compass showed that the group began to depart to the west, and we had to leave the river.

The group went deeper into the forest. For the northern regions, this forest amazed us, who were in the north for the first time, with its density. Despite the fact that the forest practically stood in a swamp, the thickets were comparable to tropical ones. The windbreak was very annoying; we had to go around it, which slowed down the movement. We had to follow the compass, since the person in front involuntarily deviated to the west, where the streams flowed. We walked through the forest for three more treks, heading south, before we decided to stop for lunch. True, lunch took place in a place that was not very pleasant for that place, but I no longer wanted to look for others - the main thing was that firewood and water were at hand.

After lunch, having decided on the direction, the group moved on. Essentially, we continued to move along the Obe-Iz ridge. After two transitions, the forest ended, and we were already walking through a huge swamp - the moss bed champed under our feet, sometimes we had to fall between hummocks, moving towards the next forest visible ahead. Fortunately, there were no open swamps, but we understood one thing - the one who entered the route in rubber boots undoubtedly won. True, the experience of that day was that on such a hike you need not simple boots, but hunting boots - over the knee boots. Otherwise, falling into an unnoticed hole between hummocks, you can experience all the charm of the local slurry. On this day, everyone experienced the freshness of the local swamps, not to mention the photographer who walked in mountain boots, which is why his feet did not dry out at all.

Two good treks through the swamps with heavy (still starting) backpacks quite exhausted the group, so it was decided to stop for the night a little earlier than usual, especially since among the swamps a more or less tolerable place was found for this - a small island grown on ourselves a sea of ​​blueberries and spruce, necessary for us. We found water nearby in a small, but relatively deep, puddle. Its quality was not the best and there was a swamp branded film floating on top, but we were happy with it. To avoid dampness, we had to protect the tent from below, in purely winter fashion, using spruce branches, otherwise we would have woken up in a puddle. Having decided to make this sacrifice, we paid tribute to it in the morning - when spending the night in a swamp, such barbarity can be indispensable. The highlight of this day, to top it all off, was the nasty rain that ruined our dinner. But, however, the mood was fighting, especially since it was warmed up by the grams given by the caretaker. For getting everyone wet and putting up with it throughout the day.

August 9, day four...
The morning did not bring a change in the weather. It was true that there was no rain, but the sun did not appear either. Collections for this day were extended due to the redistribution of products.

The very first steps of the fourth day through the swamp turned into a small swim for the leader, just more than waist-deep, which he endured stoically. Four 50-minute hikes were completed before lunch. All the transitions were monotonous - swamps with a small admixture of the same wet forest. To the left, the Obe-Iz ridge was hidden in the fog, showing only as a shadow in its clouds. He basically served as our guide. We also moved south, cherishing the hope of seeing Kosyu. The only joy for us during this period of the hike was the almost complete absence of midges. True, of course there were mosquitoes, but not as bothersome as the witnesses described to us, but some kind of sluggish, boring mosquitoes. The midge just died out. All our carefully prepared anti-midge means of physical and chemical protection were openly idle. But this did not sadden anyone. Apparently the unusually hot June and July and very rainy August did something to the blood-sucking and biting human-eating insects, and we walked through the swamps without nets and “Taiga”! But sometimes we began to encounter completely dull areas of open swamps, which we tried to avoid. Three times we had to cross small rivers, six meters wide and knee-deep, which carried their waters to Kosya. They, of course, were not marked on our map, but there was no doubt about their direction.

After lunch, when the group made another trek, it became obvious that the terrain began to change. The swamp, which had previously blocked our path everywhere, stretched out into a rather narrow strip (no more than a kilometer), and we walked along the birch forest that grew along these swamps. On the left, where the Obe-Iz ridge was located, its depression was visible, which apparently indicates the proximity of Kosyu. We walked two times through meadow areas stretching along swamps; occasionally our path was blocked by dense thickets adjacent to another stream or swamp. Everywhere where birch trees grew, we came across white milk mushrooms and boletus mushrooms, which we first encountered in these parts.

On our next trek we found ourselves in a forest that blocked the path to the Kosyu River. The direction of our movement began to deviate to the east, since we did not want to cross the swamps again, strictly adhering to the southern direction. Walking through the forest again became difficult, since the forest in these parts was heavily littered with windbreaks and heavily rugged. One passage along it became so exhausting that we sharply turned to the right, to the south, and after another half hour we reached Kosyu.

Kosyu is a wide, large river that carries its waters to the west, to Pechora. Its banks at the place where we came out turned out to be steep, apparently due to the fact that in these places the river made its way through the gorges past the Obe-Iz ridge. We had to walk upstream for about an hour until we found a somewhat acceptable place to spend the night. It was located at a bend in the river at the confluence of a small, and also dry, stream. Here traces of a camp were visible, apparently of watermen, since no paths were visible either up or down the river. We took advantage of this parking lot, quickly settling in for the night, since all the participants were tired and exhausted from the day.

Our last small observation was the fact that in the evening the weather improves somewhat compared to what we have in the morning.

August 10, day five...
The morning brought a slight improvement in the weather. It's quite cold in the morning, but we see blue skies. Leaving our backpacks, we went down the river to the place where a group of Kazan tourists died. We reached this place after about an hour and a half. The sign left by another Kazan group a year later at the site of the tragedy has been preserved, but is in poor condition - the names can be hardly read. From this place it is not far to the ravine marked on the map. Now, on the site of this beam, a three-story hut has been built, which is favored, in particular, by workers and inspectors of the Yugyd-Va National Park. We didn't stay long in these sad places and walked back quite cheerfully.

Taking our luggage, our group went up the Kosyu River. The banks of Kosyu in this place go steeply upward, and are densely littered with windbreaks above. There is no path and you have to choose the road yourself. Sometimes we climb the slope, then go down to the water itself, making our way through thickets of bushes and rubble of stones. Sometimes you have to move straight through the water, since walking along the shore is very difficult, and the stones on the shore, wet from rain, slow down the movement even more. But it’s also not possible to move in the water everywhere, since in general the bottom drops sharply down. This Kosyu Canyon was formed in the place where the river crosses the spurs of the Obe-Iz ridge. Sometimes we climb up and walk through the heavily rugged and windfall taiga. But here we have to involuntarily move away from the river, which is our only landmark.

After four crossings, the canyon ended and a flatter section began. In some places the bank stretches gently and is heavily overgrown with tall grass or bushes standing like a wall. What follows is a rather steep climb to a low terrace, where we came across the remains of the old path several times. Its age and degree of neglect can be judged by the fir trees that have grown on it, which are taller than any of us. A similar path accompanied us further. Finally, we decided to stop for lunch on the banks of Kosyu, having discovered traces of a campsite. According to our calculations, the Indysey River, named on our map Southern Bad Spruce, should already be nearby.

After lunch, which took place in an uncomfortable environment, we moved on. The path suddenly became rough and went along a high bank. Several times we came across traces of campsites, and soon we came to a rather large house in which several local leaders were resting. The house was built recently, very well and equipped with other buildings, such as a bathhouse, a shed with a huge table and something else. The authorities were very surprised to see living people in this wilderness, because they themselves flew here by helicopter.

Having rested a little, we went to the shore of Indysey. At this point it was a wide and fairly calm river, although its depth was above the knee. The banks were densely overgrown with bushes, and we, having made our way through its nets, crossed the Indysey ford. During the rainy season, apparently, Indysay can become a serious obstacle. The width of the river is about 50 meters, the depth only at the right bank is 70 cm.

Having reached the left bank, we moved on, almost immediately losing the path. She was either found or lost, and we always had to focus on Kosya. During this day, everyone was pretty exhausted, but still decided to push on until Nidysey, our next obstacle. For four and a half treks we made our way through the taiga until we finally came to the shore of Nidysey. This river is much more serious than the Indysey, the current is strong, the depth is up to 70-80 cm, and the width is up to 70 meters. At the very mouth, the river is divided into two branches by an island, so you can cross it in two stages. Using the sticks that came to hand, we crossed Nidysey just above the island, immediately stopping for the night at a good but abandoned parking lot on the left bank.

August 11, day six...
The first impression of the sixth day was a deer that settled down not far from our tent while we were sleeping. He calmly curled up and slept peacefully next to him. He wasn’t afraid of us, although he didn’t let us get very close. Very close, in this case, it is closer than three meters. Apparently, this creature once strayed from the Mansi herd, otherwise we could not explain its attitude towards us.

From that day on, he became our travel companion, accompanying us through the taiga. Sometimes he paved the way in front, sometimes he walked behind, sometimes he plucked moss, of which there were many around, sometimes we watched as he swam across with some goals known only to him, Kosyu. And it was so natural and simple that we were envious.

Our plan for this day is to reach the mouth of Kapkan Vozh. The path didn't really appear. It was clear to us that, at least this year, we were the first to walk along Kosyu - no permanent traces were visible. Sometimes we stuck to the remnants of the path, but this did not help our successful progress along the shore - there was a mass of windbreaks and thickets, wetlands, when we had to walk on a soft moss bed, plunging into it up to our ankles or more. The terrain was such that, after suffering for half a day, we more or less determined the optimal distance from the coast, where it was possible to walk at least somehow effectively. Closer to the river there were terrible thickets, further - swamps. True, there are no laws there - you still have to find a way. Sometimes we moved knee-deep in water along the channel of the channels into which the Kosyu riverbed is divided, which allowed us to look around a little. True, the slopes of the nearest ridges were not visible - gray drizzle had followed us since the morning and we had already despaired of seeing the sun.

In one place a powerful well-trodden path suddenly appeared. We came to an amazingly beautiful place - after the roll, Kosyu made a sharp turn and then there was a quiet stretch. The depth of the river in this place is very significant, and the bottom is visible through the clear emerald water. On the shore above this beauty, rocks rise at several levels like springboards. We bitterly regretted that the weather did not allow us to swim here, jumping from the rocks into the deep river. Walking higher, we came across a sad sight - the remains of a fire, excellent parking, a lonely sign hanging on a tree “Fontanka River Embankment”, dragged by one of the residents of the Northern Capital. Apparently we came to a burnt beam, known as Alekrinsky beams (we cannot vouch for the correctness of the spelling). It’s a pity that such an amazing place was visited by such irresponsible people.

During the day we went to the place where Kapkan Vozh flowed into Kosyu. Overnight - right on the shore - on the sand of a rare beach, although under the threat of accidental night flooding. But we didn’t have to spend the night on the damp forest floor.

The most striking impression from this cloudy day was the extraordinary mushrooms that followed us in huge numbers all day. They were the kind that children draw in pictures - huge, regular in shape and absolutely free of worms. And there were so many of them that we regretted the impossibility of salting, drying and pickling them all. We cooked them with all our might, then ate them, but they were still around... In general, the richness of the local taiga defies description - a sea of ​​​​blueberries, honeysuckle, currants, mushrooms, fish in the rivers, among which grayling and brown trout (red fish) stand out - everything in such quantities that it defies description.

August 12, day seven...
Having decided not to cross the Vozh Kapkan right away, we begin to climb up its valley along the right bank. The first two crossings we walk through the taiga, out of habit - without any trail. The taiga, like everywhere else, is damp and damp, and we climb higher, moving away from the river. But windfall areas and involuntary meandering force us to go out again to the river and wade through it. At the crossing point, Kapkan has a narrow channel, sandwiched on both sides by high banks, and a strong current, depth up to 70-80 cm. We cross with a wall for safety, not trusting the specially stored high sticks. There is also no path on the opposite side. Having walked up the left bank, we again move along the river, if possible choosing a path on a narrow section between the windfall forest and the wet, swampy bald patches scattered throughout the forest. At this time it begins to rain, turning into a short downpour. Fortunately, it ends quickly, giving way to the usual drizzle. We move along the left bank for two more crossings, noting for ourselves that our direction is changing from northern to eastern. This is the turn of the valley, which brought a change to the landscape - the forest became more sparse and easier to pass through, but the height of the grass in the meadows exceeded all our ideas about the Subpolar Region. It would have been more reminiscent of the tropics if not for the unbearable weather. After two more transitions, the group emerged from the forest onto the bank of the Kapkan Vozh.

On the opposite bank a rocky spit began, where we crossed to make lunch. They cooked on a primus stove, lighting a large fire only for drying.

From this spit we moved up along a half-shallowed side channel, which soon connected with the main one. After we tried to make our way through the bushes on the right bank, we decided to move along the shore straight along the Kapkan Vozh channel. In any case, it was simpler and provided variety, since everyone was already quite tired of the thickets. The river allowed us to walk like this for four to five hundred meters, then we went out to the left bank, focusing on the amount of bushes and realized that we were mistaken, since it was only an appearance. Soon the thickets became unbearable and the group crossed the river once again. There was a vast moss swamp, which we crossed over the course of a couple of treks. The Kapkan Vozh valley opened up as the low clouds began to swell. It was quite wide and ahead we could already see our turn towards Manaraga to the right in the direction of travel. The main channel of the Kapkan Vozh was straight and led to a beautiful large circus that dumped a gray cloud into the valley. We walked through the tall grass, heading towards the shore. At the confluence of the main and our sources, Kapkan Vozh, we crossed the stream and, walking a little lower to a group of larches, came across an almost ideal parking lot. It was thoroughly trampled and brought us the joy of the first human footprints on the approaches to Manaraga. Apparently it is used mainly during transitions from Manaragi to the upper reaches of Kapkan Vozh, which before our eyes were now plunging into gray foam.

In the evening the weather cleared up and we finally saw the blue evening sky and pink clouds from the sunset.

August 13, day eight...
The sky is finally clear in the morning and it takes us quite a while to get ready. We left only at half past ten in the morning. But we managed to dry our sleeping bags and things a little, and we also warmed up a little.

We went up our stream - the left tributary of Kapkan Vozh. There was an excellent trail leading up from the parking lot. During the first passage, she took us out of the main valley and led us over a gorge where a tributary flows in a small canyon, sandwiched on both sides by low, smooth slabs. In one place on the tributary there was a small but picturesque drainage, unfortunately, absolutely not photogenic. During the second passage, the trail climbed to the left bank until it led us into a wide circus, in the center of which there were rocky outcrops with a waterfall cascading down from them. Above these exits were the rocky scree rises of Manaragi, which from this side looks like a single peak, not at all divided into towers. On the left, in the long ridge, there was a decrease in the Student Pass, towards which we moved. The trail was lost in this place, as the surface was littered with kurumnik with wide clearings of swampy streams. Occasionally there are traces, but the trail is not needed, since the area is open to view. Halfway through the hike we begin our ascent to the pass.

The ascent point is to the right of the saddle and the serpentine tracks lead straight up. The steepness of the grassy slope, not generously flavored with fragments of stones, reaches 35-40 degrees. We climbed the slope for about 50 minutes. After this, coming out onto a flattening that rises obliquely to the pass, we turned left and came out onto the wide saddle of the pass. In the west there was a view of the valley of the Manaragi River; in the distance the peaks were visible in the airy haze. Among them we found People, Karpinsky, Yanchenko, who marked our further path. A note from tourists from the St. Petersburg Club of Tourist Geographers (director M. S. Ananyeva) dated August 12, 1998 was discovered at the pass. And Manaraga towered above the ridge. Its towers looked grandiose from here. Having rested a little and left our backpacks, we walked back a little in order to climb the ridge in a more convenient place. The ridge is a rubble of stones, along which it is quite easy to reach the slope of Manaraga. The slope itself is a rather unpleasant obstacle - steep (up to 60 degrees in some areas), littered with huge debris, the size of a car or more. It is not convenient to move along it, but we all overcame this climb in an hour. The first part of the climb ended on the edge of Manaraga, and ahead were rocky outcrops. We quite quickly found a road among them - it is something similar to a path that leads slightly around the dangerous rocky areas along the shelves and leads to the top. In two places on the rocky section you have to pull yourself up a little.

The top of the tower is small, the most noticeable thing on it is an impressive tripod with a flag fluttering on it. After staying at the top for half an hour, we began our descent along the ascent path. The sky began to become filled with a light haze and all the colors acquired rich tones. Having descended to the pass, we calculated that we spent a little over 3 hours on Manaraga. Several small rock crystal druses were discovered near the pass.

From the pass, along a gentle grassy slope, we reached the first thickets in one trek. The descent is quite steep only at first, then there is a gradual flattening, timed to coincide with the transition to the meadow section of the descent. Here we turned to the right in order to overcome a small side spur to get to the stream that we saw below. A long-awaited lunch on the bank of the stream.

Starting from the lunch spot, quickly crossing the open forest, we almost immediately went deeper into the forest wilds. There was no path here and we had to wade through the tangle of local thickets. And it, perhaps, even surpasses those nightmarish thickets of Kapkan Vozh. Moving all the time down to the Manaraga River, we spent more than two crossings crossing the forest. Towards the end we came across traces of a path, or rather, traces of someone walking here. Then these tracks turned into a path that led us to a dirt path leading along the Manaraga valley. At the branch site there is a small pile of rusty iron (something like a tank and something else). Several lazy mosquitoes appeared, from which we smeared ourselves with all kinds of ointments. And it helped...

We made two more treks up the Manaragi valley. True, we were in no particular hurry to look for a parking spot. In one place on the left, a fairly decent-sized, piercingly blue lake opened up. The photographer stayed in this place for more than half an hour, photographing Manaraga against this background.

Now we have seen that it was in vain that they scolded and kicked him then - the pictures turned out to be quite good. During the next transition we crossed a low side spur, blocking a flat and wide valley. After this spur on the right, we saw a small ravine, hidden from tourists somewhat away from the path. His name is Balok "Oleniy". Having settled down in it, we lit the stove and felt that these places were not so inhospitable. The beam has a broken roof in several places, and inside we found discarded fingers and druses of rock crystal scattered on the bunks. Despite this, the beam is quite suitable for overnight stays.

In the evening we met a small group from St. Petersburg, but not the same one that we met at the top. Its leader turned out to be a certain Sorokin, whose Internet page, dedicated to a hike in the Subpolar Urals, we found before our trip. Quite surprisingly, the world is a very small place. We looked at the maps that Leningraders had and learned a lot of useful information from them.

August 14, day nine...
Since there were beams at hand, we decided to dry ourselves and sunbathe in the cool northern sun. The weather was most favorable and the day became a wonderful seasoning for our taiga life. A lot of mushrooms and berries around diversified our menu. Everyone rested and slept. In addition, they remembered - everyone is on vacation, and we need to take advantage of this.

August 15, day ten...
We left the ravine at half past nine. The weather is most favorable, sunny, and even a fairly strong wind helps to walk.

After one ford we cross the Oleniy stream. The ford is simple, the depth is no more than 40-50 cm, and the current is calm. Beyond the stream the trail leads through a rather sparse forest. Occasionally, near the trail there are small and very picturesque lakes, which add even more attractiveness to the landscape. Because of these lakes, our photographer is always behind.

The valley of the Manaraga River is wide and flat. Apparently there is permafrost beneath us, this is exactly the idea that lakes, swamps, and crooked trees suggest. In three trips we reached the arrow of the two sources of Manaragi. One of them occupied a valley that was a continuation of the Manaraga valley, and the other tributary on the left flowed into it. In its upper reaches there is the peak of the People, from here there is a path to the beautiful peak of Yanchenko. We had lunch in a vast clearing, not far from the spit. There was even firewood that someone had carefully stored here, and there were traces of a recently abandoned fire, which was important, because we had already passed the border of the forest.

Immediately after lunch, a ford awaited us through the above-mentioned tributary. The ford is not very difficult, but despite this, the current is quite decent. The depth of the inflow is 50-60cm, and the width is 15 meters. After the inflow, having made our way through dense thickets of some bushes, we climbed onto a small hill, densely overgrown with blueberries and some other berries, which are definitely not found in Tatarstan. On the hill we found a path leading in the direction we needed. She walked along a vast meadow that rose above the river, from which a lovely view of the Manaraga valley opened up. The path led to the river and through the passage on the right a branch of its valley opened, which was closed by the highest peak of the Urals, Mount Poznurr, or People, shrouded in cloud.

We could already see the drop of our pass in the ridge ahead of us. A powerful moraine rampart led to it, half overgrown with grass, half decorated with scree outcrops. We climbed this shaft for two passages, going high away from the main channel of Manaraga. The group split into two detachments, walking along parallel routes, and one detachment could correct the actions of the other, since its route was much better visible from afar. Soon we climbed to the first lakes, which completely enchanted the photographer. He insisted that time be taken to photograph these high mountain lakes. The result of this stop was a series of photographs.

The upper part of the moraine shaft passed into the bottom of a huge cirque. Right in front of us, the powerful rocks of Kara fell down like a wall. From above, these rocks should have ended on the pre-summit plateau of Peoples. On the right, the rocks rose up and looked like some kind of peak rising above an extraordinary emerald lake. On the left, the cliffs passed with a cliff to a grassy-talus ridge, in which the Kar-Kar pass stood out with a small depression. Under the take-off to the pass there is an elongated milky-greenish lake. From there we started climbing, first along the middle kurumnik, then along the large quarry. Walking with a backpack is not convenient, but soon the quarry gives way to a rather steep (40-50 degrees) grassy-talus slope, on which there is a path. It climbs up the pass in a small serpentine, and sometimes head-on, right before the saddle, turning to the left and leading out to the ridge.

The ridge is quite wide and littered with large stones. From the pass there is a beautiful view of the circus from which we climbed - no less than five lakes are scattered along it, whose milky-greenish, turquoise, dark emerald colors force our photographer to reload the film in his two ZENIT cameras for the fifth time. In the south, the cone of Yanchenko Peak stands out above the ridge. In the north, under our feet, there is the steel surface of a large lake with an island in the middle. The Peoples Plateau ends with steep cliffs towards this lake and it becomes clear why the pass is called Kar-Kar. It connects two powerful karas, although Ildar Zamaletdinov put forward his own version, according to which the name comes from the Tatar, and therefore, in general, Turkic, word “kar”, which means “snow”. At the same time, he pointed to the snowfields scattered around, but they did not support him.

Having examined the possible route to the Peoples Plateau from the pass tomorrow, we began our descent. It follows rocky shelves that emerge above a large scree and traverses to the left to skirt the lake below. After this section there is a descent along the scree to the lake, which ends on a grassy bank. The descent took 20 minutes, and we headed past the lake to the right side of the valley, diagonally crossing a beautiful circus. At the stream flowing out of the lake, which is one of the sources of Balaban-Yu, we stop for the night under the cover of a scree. The evening gives us a beautiful sunset, which, like a fire, flared up in the entire sky available to us. The last impression of the day was a wonderful dinner of millet with lard, that is, cracklings, fried on a primus stove. We are pleased with the carnivorous nature of our Tatars, who, like the rest, crack mushrooms and lard, about which there are many jokes in the camp. Appetite inspires hope for a successful completion of the route.

In the morning we plan to climb Narodu. The ascent begins right from the camp, along the scree. Half an hour, and we are already looking at yesterday’s lake from the other side. At the bottom of the Kar-Kar pass, first a beautiful cone-shaped peak appears, then Manaraga appears, from here looking lonely, like a cruiser plowing through the taiga.

Soon we come out onto a huge plateau, at the end of which rises the huge tent of the People. A path leads to it along stone scatterings. We approach the opposite slope of the plateau, which ends with another slope leading to another green lake. Opposite us is the bulk of the Karpinsky peak, with steep slopes and a dim peak, rising only slightly above the long, flat ridge. Further along the plateau we come to a possible descent to Lake Dlinnoe, or Goluboe (on other maps). This lake is located in the upper reaches of the Karpin-Shor River, which carries its waters to the east. We leave our backpacks and continue to climb lightly.

Having first climbed along the plateau to the right, and then overcome a small fold in the rubble of stones, we continue our leisurely ascent to the Narody saddle. On the way there are characteristic sections of white blocks, which from a distance makes the People seem to be covered with snow. Two and a half hours later we are at the saddle between two peaks. Already from here an unforgettable panorama of the Ural Mountains opens up. Above the saddle rises a large wooden cross with the inscription “Save and Preserve,” installed here, judging by the inscriptions, in 1998. Having photographed it and managed to spend three films on the climb, the photographer said that we could go higher.

There are several tours at the top, not counting heaps of various rubbish. In one of them, a note was found from a climber from Novouralsk (Sverdlovsk 44) dated August 10, 1998; the reverse side was also signed by 9 “just passers-by” from Ukhta. There are several plaques with statements from past climbers. In the tripod that stands on the top, another note was found, written on an application form for the sale of tickets - a group of tourists from St. Petersburg, numbering 20 people, was on the People on August 9, 1998. The manager's last name is not indicated. We stayed at the top for half an hour, thoroughly admiring the landscape in all directions, and from Naroda all the main peaks were visible, even the distant Saber loomed in the pinkish sky from the haze. We went straight down to the plateau without going to the saddle. The descent took about an hour and a half.

Taking our backpacks, we examine Blue Lake from above. Or rather, there are two lakes. One is large and long, has a really bluish-greenish tint, but the second is green. We begin our descent along the ridge leading from the Peoples Plateau to pass No. 23. The descent along the scree ridge, initially covered with grass, and then including even small rocky areas, is difficult. The feeling is not the most pleasant, since the legs are already tired, but everyone goes down without lunch.

Then the group pulled up to pass No. 23, as it is written about on the maps. From the side of Karpin Shore, it can be called a pass at a stretch, but simply resembles a break in the wall. However, the descent is much more serious. A small rocky area and a steep rocky slope. There are rock outcrops all around, and on the left as you move, the rocky massif of the ridge rises steeply into the sky. At the pass, we took a note from a female group of four people and “Mukhtar’s dog” from Syktyvkar dated July 24, 1998. The name of the leader is completely illegible, perhaps T. Ploshova. The descent lasted for an hour. The most unpleasant section is at the beginning of the descent - here we took a little to the right, hugging the rocks. Underfoot is the previously seen green lake. To the right of the pass there is a blade-sharp ridge leading to the massif of Karpinsky Peak. Having descended, we walked down to the next lake, locally called Eight (from above it resembles this figure). In fact, this is Lake Verkhneye Balaban-Ty, although there is another lake above it, which we passed by. Having stopped for the night to the right of the lake, from the side of our tomorrow’s peak - Karpinsky, everything after quick dinner, combined with lunch, we fell asleep much earlier than usual, exhausted from the past day.

August 17, day twelve...
Bad weather arose at night. Just yesterday, a thin veil of haze covered the sky, which in the evening turned into a layer of clouds, and closed over us overnight. In the morning, wild gusts of wind are trying to tear off the polyethylene over our tent area. Visibility drops to 40-50 meters. The most unpleasant feeling is that despite the wind, dense clouds of fog fly in and there is no break in the bad weather. For the whole day we did not see our peak and, by the silent agreement of all group members, we arranged a day's rest. It was overshadowed by the efforts to strengthen the tent in the torrential downpour, which completed the picture. The downpour began in the morning and continued until the evening without letting up. The entire valley instantly turned into a wet sponge, but it was impossible to fight it. We built a low wall, which somehow protected the tent from the gusts of wind, and surrendered to a restless sleep, trying not to poke our noses out of the shelter unnecessarily.

August 18, day thirteen...
After getting up in the morning, it became clear that the weather had not changed. The downpour gave way to a sudden drizzle, and the fog, perhaps, intensified. But since there was little time allotted to the group for the hike due to various circumstances, it was decided to begin climbing Karpinsky in any conditions, with the secret hope that the weather would improve.

We started climbing along the ridge closest to Lake Eight. This ridge is a medium scree consisting of stones, mostly covered with lichen. The last circumstance is the main difficulty for us - in the rain, the lichen, once wet, does not hold up at all.

We continue our ascent with little effort. The ridge goes somewhere into the fog, and you have to walk almost by touch - to the nearest landmark, a large stone, then to the next one. On the left, in the fog, the neighboring ridge is barely visible, which seems more difficult to us, since the rocky outcrops look too impressive. Nothing is visible to the right, since we hid under our ridge during the ascent. If you don’t do this, then furious gusts of wind will literally blow a person away from his place. We climb the slope, noting for ourselves the constant increase in the steepness of the slope. It soon turns out that we came to smooth and unpleasant rocky outcrops, which we went around to the left, ending up right in the square. The steepness of the slope in the square reaches 60-65 degrees in places, and since the end of the slope is not visible in the fog, we almost decided to return. However, soon, and after three hours of general ascent, the group suddenly finds itself on a plateau, which is made of turf, but in terms of the evenness of the surface it can compete with the best football fields.

We go left at random in the fog and approach a hill, at the top of which we see an obelisk. At this moment, already under completely wild gusts of wind, cereals begin to pour out of the fog. It hits you in the face, so everyone rushes to take cover under the slope, refusing even to take pictures. At the top there is an obelisk to Karpinsky with a modest inscription indicating the height of the peak - 1803.4 meters. In the obelisk stand we found a wet note from the Shelukhanov “family” group dated August 4, 1998 - tourists from Novouralsk. It is wrapped in cellophane and in almost obscene condition, so our photographer sacrifices a film pencil case to hide our note there. We are trying to go a little north, in search of the second peak, or rather the second obelisk, but there is a continuous decline there. This means the obelisk is to the south, and we are groping our way to the south. After half an hour we go to the second obelisk. In the impenetrable fog, having found a place to descend, we set out into a rock-talus couloir. It's hard to walk, the scree is moving. Once, a large stone that Renat Kadyrov decided to lean on fell into two parts, so that he barely had time to bounce off. Fortunately, the stone did not go down and Renat, having come to his senses, moved on. Below the couloir is clogged with snow, which, however, can be walked around. Even lower under the stream there is a waterfall. After a little over two hours we find ourselves at the foot of the slope. The entire ascent took just over six hours.

The polyethylene that was secured to one of our tents was blown away by the wind in an unknown direction. Not particularly grieving over this loss, since it can no longer poison our mood, we prepare dinner, according to tradition, on a primus stove. After an hour and a half we find ourselves, if not in the center of a herd of reindeer, then almost at the head of it. Deer are not the shy type, although they won’t let you get close to them. We try to take photographs, although not as successfully as we would like. After eating lunch, we decide to weigh anchor, although packing takes a long time. But we can't wait to find the beam, which must be here somewhere.

He really turns out to be close. No more than an hour's walk brought us to the main valley of Balaban-Yu, where the three sources of this river merge. On the right bank, below the confluence, near the river there was a ravine that became our shelter. It turned out that the level of Balaban-Yu had risen so much that there was water around the gully, and to get there we had to jump over rocks. Two local miners and four tourists from Sverdlovsk have already taken shelter under the roof. From them we learned new information about the area, and the most interesting thing turned out to be that on the opposite slope from the ravine there is a uranium mine.

In the evening, five more Muscovites approached - watermen, naturally wet from head to toe, who were heading to Kosya, and whom we provided with our information.

August 19, day fourteen...
The morning greeted with a cloudy veil, through which the cold disk of the sun somehow peeked through. Enjoying the warmth of the stove and taking advantage of the opportunity to dry wet accessories, we take time before leaving. The water level in the river dropped so much overnight that we were happy. Everyone would have continued to bask in the warmth if the leader had not started shouting.

The plans for this day of the hike are to reach the “Zhelannaya” base, which is located on the shore of Lake Bolshoye Balaban-Ty (we cannot guarantee, but, unfortunately, not knowing the true meaning of the name of the lake, we incline it this way). There are eighteen kilometers to it, which mark the beginning of the return movement - to the exit.

We walk along the left bank of Balaban-Yu, straight along low birch bushes and grass litter. As we were informed, the trail and even the all-terrain track run along the left bank, and we, reluctantly, cross to the other side. The depth of water in the river is up to 70 cm, width is 20 meters. The current is strong, but compared to yesterday, it is already acceptable, and the depth may be even less. Having got out to the opposite bank, we rise to a hill along which there really is an all-terrain track. With a certain solemn feeling we pass by the dump of a uranium mine, hidden on the left side of the valley. Not far away lies the skeleton of an abandoned Ural, and even lower are some pieces of iron. You can feel the approach of civilization.

The valley of the Balaban-Yu River is very wide, flat, rising symmetrically to the ridges on both sides. It’s easy to navigate – you can see it for many kilometers ahead. From behind we cannot see either Naroda or Karpinsky - in the upper reaches the peaks, as usual, are hidden.

We walk quickly, and through the passage we come to a wide rocky area through which a river flows. The tracks clearly lead to the opposite bank, and we cross back, cursing to ourselves about the unnecessary previous ford. There is almost no ford here, since the river spreads over a large area. The water level is no more than 30 cm, and we quickly cross the river.

On the right bank again nothing remarkable was found - everything was the same as on the left. Besides the big problem - the track seems to be being resurfaced by all-terrain vehicles and it has turned into a dirty mess. We walk along the road, trying to avoid the thickets of birch trees and some other bushes that are scattered throughout the valley.

Two passages lead us to the shore of the Small Lake Balaban-Ty. The lake, however, is quite large. Above it on the right along the way rises the massif of Mount Starukha-Iz, or, in our language, simply the Starukha. Further, the valley expands, taking in the tributary valley on the right. On the shore of the lake, the tundra is enlivened by the Mansi chum, from which an old woman emerges. There is no one else, everyone else is with herds of deer. For us, this old woman with her tent, living under Mount Starukha-Iz, became the personification of the tundra. After talking, taking photographs, and getting to know primitive life, we move on. Below, the track is unimaginably broken, and we, cursing civilization, head over heels dirty, make almost three more crossings until we find ourselves on the shore of Big Balaban-Ty. The lake is very large and probably beautiful, but to be honest, we have no time for it. And the cloudy sky, which does not allow the photographer to develop his vigorous activity, does not really decorate the landscape. As we were later told, there are few fish in the lake, but there are some higher up. The lake is constantly monitored by hydrogeologists from Vorkuta, whom we met later. They told us that the water in it had become worse - dirtier than before.

We pass by placers of quartz sand and places where they did something with it. From here, from the hill, the Zhelannaya base opens up, consisting of a couple of dozen barracks lined up in three rows. It feels like half of them are empty.

However, several people still work here, including geologists from Vorkuta. It's hard to find firewood here - some barracks are being dismantled for firewood. Once upon a time, life was in full swing here - there was even a “bar”, whose sign is still preserved above the dilapidated building. The slopes of Mount Barkova above the village are pitted and littered with white quartz dumps. Several mines go downhill, but no working equipment is visible. One mine was famous for the rock crystal it produced, and we saw several fine examples of it. Currently, quartz mining is barely glimmering.

The local population seems to live from hangover to hangover and is in constant search of alcohol - they even tried to promote us a little, but our supplies consisted only of N/W. The opposite of the locals are the Vorkuta geologists, who seem to be working tirelessly. In any case, we observed how they processed some samples in the evening, after returning to the village around 8 pm, and early in the morning they went to their work.

In the evening, we were kept company by four watermen who stopped next to us. They were from Ivanovo and Kostroma.

August 20, day fifteen...
We planned for this day a trek along the valley of the Balaban-Yu River. Early rise, quick breakfast, and we are back on the mountain road where our route began. But now it’s 123 km to the beginning of the road (according to local residents). The end of the road, which we reached in the morning, is in good condition - it is not as broken as the all-terrain track above Zhelannaya. It’s easy to walk in the morning chill, especially since the backpacks are lightened to the limit.

The Balaban-Yu valley in this place is blocked by an ancient moraine ridge. In addition to the Big Lake, along the road there are a dozen small lakes, scattered to the left and right of the road and hidden in the folds of the moraine ridge. Having climbed to the top of the latter, we begin the descent into a wide, spacious valley, which stretches between two ridges - Maldy-Nyrd on the left, Wolverine ridge on the right. The valley can be seen for many kilometers, right down to the lowering of the ridges towards the Kozhim River. Going lower, we see on the slope on the right a branch of the road leading to the Pelingich valley. This valley is separated from Balaban-Yu by a beautiful rock pyramid of peak 1248, which stands out in this place with its powerful faults against the background of the smoothed relief of the surrounding mountains.

Then the road continues downhill, and soon a long straight section appears, even equipped with kilometer posts. True, what the mileage is tied to is not very clear, but most likely it means the distance from the village of Kozhim Rudny. On the shore of Balaban-Yu we choose a place for lunch and indulge in leisurely gluttony.

The second part of the day we also walk along the highway. At 95 km of the road we come across a gold mining village, which was organized by Tumanov in the 80s. There was even a program on central television in honor of this village, and now we got to see it for ourselves. A couple of half-drunk men, a dozen dogs, several houses in good condition. And also about 20 or 30 abandoned vehicles - dead all-terrain vehicles, tractors.

We walk a few more kilometers and decide to stop for the night, since we don’t know whether water will appear soon. Everyone is tired of the road and wants to eat...

August 21, day sixteen...
Having closed the camp, the group, slightly stretched out, goes out in a northerly direction. Soon after this, the tract, having passed over the Balaban-Yu River, begins to go to the left into the forest-tundra zone of the Maldy-Nyrd ridge. Rare low-growing larches grown on permafrost, endless spaces overgrown with moss or lichens, low blueberry and birch bushes. The dull slopes of the ridges, here and there decorated with dead screes - this monotonous picture, stretching for several kilometers, deserves to be described by more capable writers.

After ten kilometers the forest became larger, the slopes on the right came closer. In the area of ​​76 km there is a destroyed settlement. A small sign announces that this is “TsGRP”. A short thought allows us to assume that the Central Geological Exploration Party stood here, but now only memories and a sign remain of this. One house has somehow been preserved - or rather, there is a roof, but everything else is missing. Kilometer pillars continue to appear. In some places, winter roads branch off to the side of the road, which usually connect near crossings or simply join the main highway. We recommend following the main road to avoid getting wet from head to toe.

Behind the central gas station, the Kozhim River, to which the road approaches, flows framed by rocky cliffs on the right bank, which look very picturesque. There is even a section where the river flows in a kind of canyon, breaking through the rocks. Here it makes a sharp turn to the left, to the west. Here, not far away (about 74 km), is a branch from the road leading to the Limbeko-Yu valley. And after a few more kilometers we come to the mouth of the Limbeko-Yu River. At the place of the switch there are excellent places to spend the night, but we decide to cross Limbeko today. After admiring a little beautiful landscape, which was given to us by two rivers - the majestic Kozhim and the restless Limbeko, we went along the tract to look for a ford.

Half a kilometer from the arrow the road crosses to the other bank, and at the same place you should ford the river. The water level reaches the waist, especially deep on the right bank, but the current is quite calm and we cross the river without incident. It should be noted that we wandered the river when there was not too much water, but in rainy times the river can become a serious obstacle.

Having found a parking place, we set up camp. The leader is trying to fish, others are busy with dinner, the photographer is walking with his camera. Everyone understands that the route is ending, and everyone is a little sad.

August 22, day seventeen...
Right from the river, the road leads us up, and within an hour we can admire the valleys of two rivers. Below, Kozhim curls like a light ribbon behind you, and the wide Limbeko-Yu valley stretches right under your feet.

The disk of the sun barely breaks through the curtain of clouds, and ahead of us there is a gray gloom. As we ascend to the forest-tundra zone of the Eastern Saledy ridge, we are greeted by light rain. Landscapes already familiar to us stretch for many kilometers around - stunted trees, damp moss litter, thickets of low-growing bushes. The monotony of these pictures does not prevent us from walking at a decent pace, despite the state of the highway, which in this place is broken to the limit. We choose the road on the edge of the highway, trying to stick to the crushed bushes.

The second half of the day is no different from the first - only the rain sometimes intensifies. The road rises to a gloomy valley leading to the axial part of the Western Saledy ridge. There is no pass point as such - just the flat bottom of the valley begins to gradually decrease. The watershed has several small lakes and parking areas, although there are problems with firewood here. The steep slopes of the valley complete the gloomy picture, and we want to quickly descend to the foot of the ridge. The path leads down in wide loops and soon deepens into the forest. Here it changes direction and, almost without looping, leads us to the west.

The final adventure of this have a long day there was a crossing over the Durnoy El River. The river, as they explained to us, is called Bad because it does not freeze in winter. And the word "Spruce" means a stream or river. According to our information obtained earlier on Zhelannaya, almost no fish are caught in Durnaya, although there is some there. The crossing turned out to be not as difficult as on Limbeko. The water level in the Bad River is lower, although the current is quite strong. The depth reaches 70 cm, and the width exceeds 50 meters.

Not far from the highway we stop for the night, tired from the long day's marches. In the evening there is a festive banquet - double portions of dinner and the remains of lard, which could still be enough for several days. The caretaker, who saved us the entire route, gave the order to finish eating everything we could, and we got busy with this.

August 23, day eighteen...
Bad Spruce - typical taiga river. Having turned up the bivouac, we immediately went out onto the road. The road went through the taiga gradually rising to the low ridges of the Obe-Iz ridge. Nothing remarkable happened along this route, except that at half past twelve in the afternoon we met a URAL car traveling in the opposite direction. As it turned out, it was a rotation vehicle that once a week goes somewhere in the mountains, perhaps even to the Zhelannaya area.

We continued on our way and soon crossed the small valley from which we began our journey towards Kosyu. It is memorable because from the road on one slope of the valley you can see the continuation of the road on its other slope. It feels like a clearing was made along a line, they complement each other so flawlessly. From here, as we knew, no more than 28 km remained to Kozhim, and we had to speed up. Feeling a way out, everyone walked very briskly, many even changed their shoes to lighter sneakers, fortunately the road in these places allowed such freedom.

Two hours later we reached Syvya and overcame it for the second time during this hike. From Syvyu to Kozhim Rudny station we made three hour-long treks, covering 18 km at a record speed for us. And already on the platform we were warmly greeted by midges, clinging to our faces, necks and arms, like never before on this trip. Having waited for the first train towards Pechora, we board it and sadly watch from the window the mountains, which are gradually moving away and disappearing into the haze. Our route is over.

Defining obstacles of the route
The defining obstacles of the route include the following: the peaks of Manaraga, Naroda, Karpinsky, the Studenchesky, Kar-Kar, No. 23 passes, the Syvyu river (ford twice), Indysey, Nidysey, Kapkan-Vozh (ford five times), Manaraga, Balaban-Yu , Limbeko-Yu, Bad Spruce. It is also necessary to stop at approximately 36 km of swamps along the Obe-Iz ridge, areas of taiga without trails there and on the Kosyu (more than 28 km) and Kapkan-Vozh (15 km) rivers.

Mount Manaraga, 1662 m, stands quite apart. The traditional (classic) version of climbing it from the Student Pass. You ascend to the pass along a grassy slope, which then gives way to a small scree area. The categorization of the pass is unknown, but most likely no more than n/a. From the pass along the crest of the ridge, which is a quarry, one approaches the foot of Manaraga, from where it is about an hour’s climb to the edge of the peak along large and medium-sized very steep scree. Along the ridge you go under the rocks, which are partially traversed and partially walked along rocky shelves with a climb to the top. The rocky section will also take about an hour, although it can be less. Some of the teeth of Manaragi are so inaccessible that they require very serious preparation and equipment. Overall the climb is close to category 1B.

Peak of the People, or Poznurr, is the highest point of the Narodo-Itinsky ridge, 1895 m. It dominates all the peaks of the Urals. From the northern side it is quite accessible if you climb to the summit vast plateau from the side of the lake with an island at the far source of Balaban-Yu or from the side of lakes Eight or Goluboe. The climbs are grassy everywhere, except for the loose ones on the side of the Blue Lake. Further along the tundra plateau they come to stone placers, gradually leading to a saddle between two peaks. The left one (East) is much higher, and the right one is just an elevation above the ridge going down. From the saddle where the cross is now installed, it’s another fifteen to twenty minutes of ascent to the top. The southern and eastern slopes are steep cliffs with cliffs going down.

Peak Karpinsky, 1803.4 m, is the second highest in the area. This massive mountain, stretched from south to north in a powerful ridge rising above the adjacent ridges, has a slight rise in the center. This is the peak with a bas-relief of Karpinsky installed on it (the city of Karpinsk in the Urals is named after this scientist). This ridge also has a southern peak, which is also almost invisible, but has the same bas-relief on it. We climbed from the side of Lake Vosmerka along the ridge running from the top along medium and large scree. Above there are smooth rocky outcrops that must be walked around along the moving scree. If you come to an “unfortunate” ridge, and there are several of them moving away from the top to the west, then the rocky outcrops will be heavier, and it will be inconvenient and even dangerous to go around them. It is better to descend along the ascent path, without experimenting with the descent along neighboring ribs. After the ascent, it is better to set up a tour in order to later find the place of descent, since the monotonous “football field” that the pre-summit plateau appears to be makes orientation very difficult, at least in the fog. It is possible that the ascent to the summit from the north, first along the scree to the ridge, and from there directly along the ridge, is easier. We didn't see him. The climb on our side can be rated 1B category of difficulty. The descent from the southern peak is possible only along a single long couloir and it is more difficult. At the end of the couloir there is a large snowfield and a waterfall.

The Kar-Kar pass is not very difficult if you navigate correctly. From the south it is a rather steep scree-grass slope, with scree only at the beginning of the ascent. To the north, descend along wide shelves leading with a traverse to the left scree slope of the valley above the lake with the island. The approach to the pass from the south along moraine ridges is somewhat labor-intensive, but the pass is visible in the ridge, and it is not difficult to navigate in good weather. The categorization of the pass is of the order of n/k.

Pass No. 23 from the north is a rather steep scree slope with rocky outcrops along the edges. Finding it is very simple - on one side there is a sharp ridge rising to the southern peak of Karpinskoye, on the other side there are massive rocks leading to the Peoples Plateau. The deep opening between them is the described pass. In the south it almost immediately opens to the Blue Lake located here. From the south, rocky outcrops are not visible, but scree ridges are visible. The category of the pass is n/k-1A.

The rivers that had to be forded varied in both character and difficulty. The Syvyu is not a dangerous obstacle - the flow speed is not very high, the depth is 40 cm, and the width is 30-35 m. Indysey is a wide river (up to 50 m), depth up to 70 cm at the washed-out bank. Nidysey is much more difficult to overcome - the speed of the current is much higher, but the fact that the river spreads quite widely (up to 70 m) and splits into two branches makes fording somewhat easier. Kapkan-Vozh in the lower reaches becomes a serious obstacle. A large drainage of water, deep sections up to (70-90 cm), forced us to overcome the river below with a wall. It cannot be said that we could not have managed without so many fords through Kapkan-Vozh. It was quite possible to cross the river once and walk along one bank, but we were looking for a more convenient road, and we had to make 5 crossings from bank to bank. From the point of view of the convenience of walking on the virgin soil that covers the Kapkan-Vozh valley, we were probably right in making crossings, and even walking along the river in knee-deep water.

The Manaraga River, after the confluence of its sources (after which it flows south), is a deep river, but there are several acceptable crossing points. We crossed it at the arrow (or rather, one of its sources). The depth is approximately 60 cm, the width is up to 10 m and the current is rather weak. Balaban-Yu in the upper reaches resembles Manaragu in its description. Already in the middle reaches it is a very serious full-flowing river. All these rivers gain full strength during the rains - sometimes they become impossible to cross even in the upper reaches.

Probably the most serious water obstacle is Limbeko-Yu. The depth of the river reaches a meter, and the width is about 50-70 m. With a calm flow (that is, not during the rainy season), the river is passable, but it can become dangerous in the rain. Bad Spruce, up to 70 cm deep, up to 60 m wide, is not as deep as, say, Nidysey, but quite serious.

List of the most interesting objects
The most interesting objects include the peaks, among which Manaraga stands out both on the map and in terms of beauty and unusualness. Its unforgettable forms are certainly unique, although we saw “Little Manaraga” (like a smaller copy of the peak) from Naroda in the west.

Very interesting, at least for photography, are the numerous lakes that exist in almost every valley. In the valley of the Kosyu River, the most beautiful places are located near the burnt hut of Alekrinsky; there are also parking places at the site of the fire and next to it. Other places on Kosyu suffer from the lack of good parking, except perhaps an excellent place on the high left bank of the Nidysey. The tourists we met along the way said that it was very beautiful on the Pyvsyan-shor stream, but, unfortunately, we were not there.

In more populated places, such as the upper reaches of Balaban-Yu, you can meet Mansi, with their almost primitive way of life. In the vicinity of the Zhelannaya base, tourists may be interested in mines where quartz sand is mined and rock crystal is found.

In general, the entire territory through which our route passed was not in vain allocated to the Yugyd-Va National Park, and this park is not in vain the only European park that is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The beauty of the landscapes, the unusualness of the landscapes, the rare beauty of mountains and rivers, in themselves, are worthy of being called “the most interesting objects.”

Additional information about the hike

Weather
Weather conditions in the Subpolar Urals are characterized by northern severity. There is frequent rain here, which can occur simultaneously with fog, wind or snow. Snowfall in the highlands is possible in any month of summer. All mountain rivers rise strongly during prolonged rains, and some rivers that are easily passable in good weather become almost impassable obstacles. One of the easiest ways to deal with them is to wait out the bad weather, since when the rains stop, the river regime quickly returns to normal.

It is worth noting such an undoubted feature of the local weather as a possible improvement in the weather, the cessation of rain or the appearance of the Sun in the evening. There are often situations when the weather is bad in the morning and all day, but gets better in the evening.

For groups traveling in summer, polar ice can be of great benefit White Night. It significantly extends daylight hours even in August, not to mention June and July. For able-bodied groups, it is possible to use evening time, as well as night ascents.

Equipment
For hiking in the Subpolar Urals, in addition to the usual equipment, as well as special equipment that is selected depending on the goals set by the group, the following tips may be useful.

Despite the popular belief that walking in boots is inconvenient, it should be noted that for this region boots are the most comfortable form of footwear. Moreover, what is desirable is not simple boots, but hunting boots - high boots. This eliminates most of the problems - such as overcoming fords (allowing you to save time and heat on them), and eternal wet feet from the surrounding swamps. In addition, on rocky areas the boots are quite acceptable footwear and hold up well. We met two groups who were wearing rubber pants from a hazmat suit, which they used at the crossings. This method is good, but it requires quite a lot of time to cross.

For groups planning to climb, it is advisable to have a kerosene stove with gasoline refill or gas burners. In some valleys, such as Balaban-Yu, the border of the forest area is far from the watershed ridges and problems with firewood are obvious. Therefore, artificial fuel will be very useful.

An essential item should be a mosquito net - a mosquito net. The fact that we did not encounter the scourge of these places, the midge, only means that year to year does not happen. Other years they spoil the mood along the entire route. Usually the month of June-July belongs to mosquitoes, and in August the mosquitoes disappear and midges appear.

The Ural ridge stretches from the Kazakhstan steppes to the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The width of the mountain range ranges from 100 to 400 km, and the length exceeds 2.5 thousand km. The natural zones of the Urals include all diversity: from the polar tundra to the southern steppes.

The mountain range is divided into regions depending on geological, climatic and other conditions. By looking at their detailed characteristics, you can understand which natural zones of the Urals are richer and which are poorer in terms of existing flora and fauna.

Polar Urals

Natural zones are represented by tundra and forest-tundra. The relief of this section of the mountain range was formed due to frost weathering, which formed scatterings of stones (kurums and structural soils). Permafrost and temperature contrasts soil cover in summer lead to solifluction.

The dominant type of relief is a plateau on which traces of glaciation have been preserved. Its outskirts have valleys in the form of troughs. Only the highest peaks have a sharp tip. Alpine relief appears in the southern part of the Polar Urals in the vicinity of Narodnaya and Sabli.

The Polar Urals have humid and cold climatic conditions. In summer there are many clouds and frequent rains. The average monthly temperature in July is from 8 to 14 ºC. Winter is long and very cold. The average January temperature does not exceed -20 ºC. Areas of permafrost are common. In the lowlands, thanks to snowstorms, large snowdrifts form. During the year, precipitation falls from 500 (in the north) to 800 (in the south) mm.

Soils and vegetation of the Polar Urals

The natural zones of the Urals affect soils and vegetation, which are not very diverse here. In the north, the tundra of the flat areas turns into mountainous ones. In the center there are scatterings of stones with virtually no plants. At the foot of the tundra flora is represented by mosses, lichens and shrubs. In the southern part there are areas of forest, but their importance in the landscape is small.

The first dwarf larch sparse forests appear in the valleys located on the eastern slope near 68º N. w. This part of the mountain range is characterized by thin snow cover and a more pronounced continental climate. Therefore, conditions here are more favorable for plant life. Near the Arctic Circle, larch forests are diluted with spruce and cedar trees, and further south - with fir and pine trees.

One interesting pattern has been established regarding the growth of larch and spruce forests. Conditions for them at the top are better than in the flat areas. The reason is good drainage and temperature conditions.

Northern Urals

The area is located exactly along the 59th meridian, begins south of the Saber, and ends with the Konzhakovsky Stone. The average height of the central part is about 700 m above sea level. It includes the eastern and western ridges. The first of these is the watershed. Most mountain peaks are not sharp, but rounded.

3-4 ancient alignment surfaces are clearly visible. Another typical feature of the relief is the many mountain terraces located above the level of forests or on their upper border. These formations vary greatly not only on different mountains, but also on opposite slopes. Climatic conditions similar to the previous area, but not as severe. Over 800 mm of precipitation falls per year, especially on slopes facing west. The evaporation of water from the surface of the earth is much less than this value, which is the reason for the prevalence of swampy places.

Flora and fauna of the Northern Urals

Taiga forests cover the mountain slopes in a continuous layer. The tundra has been preserved only on hills and rocks located at an altitude of 700-800 m. The dark coniferous taiga consists mainly of spruce. Fir grows in places where the soil is more fertile. Cedar prefers swampy and rocky slopes. Spruce forests with green moss dominate, as well as blueberry forests, which are typical of the middle taiga. At the northernmost tip they turn into sparse forests with a large number of swamps.

Pine forest is a rare occurrence here. Its noticeable role in the landscape appears south of 62º N. sh., on the eastern slope. Only here there are favorable conditions for the growth of pine trees: rocky soils and a continental dry climate. The proportion of Sukachev larches in forests is much lower than in the Polar Urals. They grow together with shrubby alder and birch bushes.

The natural zones of the Northern Urals are mainly taiga and small areas of tundra. The local fauna consists of typical representatives of dark coniferous forests. Sable lives there, wolverines, red-gray voles and reindeer are also found. The following representatives of avifauna live: hawk owl, waxwing, nutcracker, etc.

On the western slope, in the upper reaches of the river of the same name, the Pechora-Ilychsky Nature Reserve is located, demonstrating some of the natural zones of the Urals. It is one of the largest in Russia. It preserves the original appearance of the mountain taiga, transitioning into the middle one.

Middle Urals

The Middle Urals have practically not changed their appearance due to recent tectonic shifts. For this reason, mountain peaks are flattened and low. The largest of them are located at an elevation of about 800 m. The Perm - Yekaterinburg railway crosses the ridge at an altitude of 410 m. The mountains are quite destroyed, which has led to the loss of the watershed function. This is confirmed by Ufa, which originates on the eastern slopes and goes towards the west. The river valleys are wide and developed, as demonstrated by the picturesque rocks hanging over the riverbeds.

The Middle Urals, whose natural zones are represented by the southern taiga and forest-steppe, are much more comfortable for human habitation than the Northern Urals. The summer period is much warmer and longer, the annual precipitation is from 500 to 600 mm. The average July temperature is from 16 to 18 ºC. The climate affected soils and vegetation. Southern taiga is located in the northern areas, and forest-steppe is closer to the south.

Flora and fauna of the Middle Urals

The eastern and western slopes differ markedly in vegetation cover. In the Trans-Urals, the steppes have advanced much further north than in the Cis-Urals, where they are found only in isolated islands. The mountains are covered with a continuous layer of forest, only rare peaks rise above the border of the taiga zone. The predominant taiga consists of spruce and fir with areas of pine forests. (spruce, fir, birch, linden) are typical for the southwestern regions.

A large number of birch forests are located throughout the Middle Urals. They arose in places where coniferous forests were cleared. The natural zones of the Urals have a characteristic composition of the animal world. Diverse forests and a warm climate contributed to the increase in the number of fauna from the south. Typical inhabitants of the Middle Urals are the hedgehog, polecat, hamster, and badger. Among the avifauna, nightingale, oriole, and greenfinch are typical. Reptiles are represented by snakes, copperheads, and lizards.

Landscape provinces of the Middle Urals

• Middle Urals. This is a plateau raised to a height of 500 to 600 m. It is cut by a dense network of river valleys. Active karst processes led to the formation of many lakes, caves and sinkholes. Good drainage prevents the formation of swamps, despite high rainfall. Coniferous and mixed forests with areas of forest-steppe predominate.
• The center of the Middle Urals is represented by the highest part of the ridge. Its height is small, so it is almost completely covered with taiga.
• Middle Trans-Urals. It is an elevated plain with a gradual eastern slope. It has outcrops, granite ridges and lake basins. Pure pine forests and their mixture with other trees predominate. There are many wetlands in the northern part. The forest-steppe has advanced much further north compared to the Cis-Urals. Birch trees give the landscape a Siberian look.

Southern Urals

This area of ​​the Ural ridge differs from the Middle one in its high peaks (Iremel, 1582 m; Yamantau, 1640 m). The watershed is carried out along the Uraltau ridge, which is located to the east and does not have a great height. It is made of crystalline slate. The region is dominated by medium mountain topography. Some alpine peaks extend beyond the forest zone. Their surface is flat, but has steep rocky slopes with many terraces. Ancient glaciation left traces of its movement on the Zigalga and Iremel ridges.

The South Ural peneplain is an elevated plain with a folded base. It is dissected by river valleys resembling canyons. The Trans-Ural peneplain is located on the eastern slope, characterized by a lower location and smooth surface. In its northern part there are many lakes with amazing rocks along the banks.

The climatic conditions of the Southern Urals are even more continental than the previous regions. The summer period is warm, droughts and hot winds occur in the Urals region. The average temperature of the warmest month is from 20 to 22 ºC. The winter period is cold, snow cover is significant. During frosty winters, rivers freeze completely with the formation of ice, and a large number of birds and moles die. Annual precipitation ranges from 400 in the south to 600 in the north of the region.

Flora and fauna of the Southern Urals

The Southern Urals are represented by steppe and forest-steppe areas. Flora and soil cover have altitudinal zonation. Chernozem steppes are typical for the lowest areas of the foothills. In places where granites emerge, you can see a pine forest with an admixture of deciduous trees.

The forest-steppe occupies the South Ural peneplain, the eastern slopes and northern sections of the region. The fauna consists of a mixture of steppe and taiga inhabitants.

Table: natural zones of the Urals

The natural zonation of the Ural Range is presented in the table below.

The natural zones of the Urals, briefly indicated in the table, make it possible to trace their gradual change in the direction from north to south.

Ural Mountains: Polar Urals, Subpolar Urals, Northern Urals, Middle Urals, Southern Urals.

Ural- The Russian Plain is limited from the east by a well-defined natural boundary - the Ural Mountains. The Ural Mountains have long been considered to be the border of two parts of the world - Europe and Asia. Despite its low altitude, the Urals are quite well isolated as a mountainous country, which is greatly facilitated by the presence of low-lying plains to the west and east of it - the Russian and West Siberian.

« Ural" is a word of Turkic origin, translated meaning "belt". Indeed, the Ural Mountains resemble a narrow belt or ribbon stretching across the plains Northern Eurasia from the shores of the Kara Sea to the steppes of Kazakhstan. The total length of this belt from north to south is about 2000 km (from 68°30" to 51° N), and the width is 40-60 km and only in places more than 100 km. In the northwest through the Pai-Khoi ridge and the island of Vaigach Ural passes into the mountains of Novaya Zemlya, so some researchers consider it as part of the Ural-Novaya Zemlya natural country.In the south, the Mugodzhary serve as a continuation of the Urals.
Many Russian and Soviet researchers took part in the study of the Urals. The first of them were P.I. Rychkov and I.I. Lepekhin (second half of the 18th century). In the middle of the 19th century. E.K. Hoffman worked for many years in the Northern and Middle Urals. Soviet scientists V. A. Varsanofyeva (geologist and geomorphologist) and I. M. Krasheninnikov (geobotanist) made a great contribution to the knowledge of the landscapes of the Urals.
The Urals are the oldest mining region in our country. Its depths contain huge reserves of a wide variety of minerals. Iron, copper, nickel, chromites, aluminum raw materials, platinum, gold, potassium salts, precious stones, asbestos - it is difficult to list everything that the Ural Mountains are rich in. The reason for such wealth is the unique geological history of the Urals, which also determines the relief and many other elements of the landscape of this mountainous country.

The Urals is a geographical region in Russia that is located at the junction of Europe and Asia. From north to south, according to the nature of the relief and landscape, and other climatic characteristics, the territory of the Urals can be divided into:, and.

Geological structure

The Urals are one of the ancient folded mountains. In its place in the Paleozoic there was a geosyncline; the seas rarely left its territory then. They changed their boundaries and depth, leaving behind thick layers of sediment. The Urals experienced several mountain-building processes. The Caledonian folding, which appeared in the Lower Paleozoic (including the Salair folding in the Cambrian), although it covered a significant area, was not the main one for the Ural Mountains. The main folding was the Hercynian. It began in the Middle Carboniferous in the east of the Urals, and in the Permian it spread to the western slopes.
The most intense was the Hercynian folding in the east of the ridge. It manifested itself here in the formation of highly compressed, often overturned and recumbent folds, complicated by large thrusts, leading to the appearance of imbricated structures. Folding in the east of the Urals was accompanied by deep splits and the introduction of powerful granite intrusions. Some of the intrusions reach enormous sizes in the Southern and Northern Urals - up to 100-120 km in length and 50-60 km in width.
Folding on the western slope was significantly less energetic. Therefore, simple folds prevail there; thrusts are rarely observed; there are no intrusions.
Tectonic pressure, as a result of which folding occurred, was directed from east to west. The rigid foundation of the Russian Platform prevented the spread of folding in this direction. The folds are most compressed in the area of ​​the Ufa Plateau, where they are highly complex even on the western slope.
After the Hercynian orogeny, folded mountains arose on the site of the Ural geosyncline, and later tectonic movements here were in the nature of block uplifts and subsidences, which were accompanied in places, in a limited area, by intensive folding and faulting. In the Triassic-Jurassic, most of the territory of the Urals remained dry, erosional processing of the mountainous terrain occurred, and coal-bearing strata accumulated on its surface, mainly along the eastern slope of the ridge. In Neogene-Quaternary times, differentiated tectonic movements were observed in the Urals.
Tectonically, the entire Urals is a large meganticlinorium, consisting of a complex system of anticlinoriums and synclinoriums, separated by deep faults. In the cores of the anticlinoriums the most ancient rocks emerge - crystalline schists, quartzites and granites of the Proterozoic and Cambrian. In synclinoriums, thick strata of Paleozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks are observed. From west to east in the Urals, a change in structural-tectonic zones is clearly visible, and with them a change in rocks that differ from one another in lithology, age and origin.

These structural-tectonic zones are as follows:
1) zone of marginal and periclinal troughs;
2) zone of marginal anticlinoria;
3) zone of shale synclinoriums;
4) zone of the Central Ural anticlipory;
5) zone of the Greenstone Synclinorpium;
6) zone of the East Ural anticlinorium;
7) zone of the East Ural synclinorium.
The last two zones are north of 59° N. w. sink, overlain by Meso-Cenozoic sediments common on the West Siberian Plain.
The distribution of minerals in the Urals is also subject to meridional zoning. Associated with the Paleozoic sedimentary deposits of the western slope are deposits of oil, coal (Vorkuta), potassium salt (Solikamsk), rock salt, gypsum, and bauxite (eastern slope). Deposits of platinum and pyrite ores gravitate towards intrusions of basic and ultrabasic rocks. The most famous locations of iron ores - Magnitnaya, Blagodat, Vysokaya mountains - are associated with intrusions of granites and syenites. Deposits of indigenous gold and precious stones are concentrated in granite intrusions, among which the Ural emerald has gained world fame.

Orography and geomorphology

Ural Mountains - Ural- This the whole system mountain ranges extending parallel to one another in the meridional direction. As a rule, there are two or three such parallel ridges, but in some places, as the mountain system expands, their number increases to four or more. For example, the Southern Urals between 55 and 54° N are very complex orographically. sh., where there are at least six ridges. Between the ridges lie vast depressions occupied by river valleys.
The orography of the Urals is closely related to its tectonic structure. Most often, ridges and ridges are confined to anticlinal zones, and depressions - to synclinal zones. Inverted relief is less common and is associated with the presence in synclinal zones of rocks that are more resistant to destruction than in adjacent anticlinal zones. This is the nature of, for example, the Zilair plateau, or the South Ural Plateau, within the Zilair synclinorium.
In the Urals, low-lying areas are replaced by elevated ones - a kind of mountain nodes in which the mountains reach not only their maximum heights, but also their greatest width. It is remarkable that such nodes coincide with places in which the strike of the Ural mountain system changes. The main ones are Subpolar, Sredneuralsky and Yuzhnouralsky. In the Subpolar Node, which lies at 65° N, the Urals deviate from the southwestern direction to the south. Here rises the highest peak of the Ural Mountains - Mount Narodnaya (1894 m). The Sredneuralsky junction is located about 60° N. sh., where the strike of the Urals changes from south to south-southeast. Among the peaks of this node, Mount Konzhakovsky Kamen (1569 m) stands out. The South Ural node is located between 55 and 54° N. w. Here the direction of the Ural ridges becomes south instead of southwestern, and the peaks that attract attention are Iremel (1582 m) and Yamantau (1640 m).
A common feature of the relief of the Urals is the asymmetry of its western and eastern slopes. The western slope is gentle, passes into the Russian Plain more gradually than the eastern slope, which descends steeply towards the West Siberian Plain. The asymmetry of the Urals is due to tectonics, the history of its geological development.
Another orographic feature of the Urals is associated with asymmetry - the displacement of the main watershed ridge separating the rivers of the Russian Plain from the rivers of Western Siberia to the east, closer to the West Siberian Plain. This ridge bears in different parts of the Urals different names: Uraltau on , Belt Stone on . Moreover, he is not the tallest almost everywhere; the largest peaks, as a rule, lie to the west of it. Such hydrographic asymmetry of the Urals is the result of the increased “aggressiveness” of the rivers of the western slope, caused by a sharper and faster uplift of the Cis-Urals in the Neogene compared to the Trans-Urals.
Even with a cursory glance at the hydrographic pattern of the Urals, it is striking that most of the rivers on the western slope have sharp, elbowed turns. In the upper reaches, rivers flow in a meridional direction, following longitudinal intermountain depressions. Then they turn sharply to the west, often cutting through high ridges, after which they again flow in the meridional direction or retain the old latitudinal direction. Such sharp turns are well expressed in Pechora, Shchugor, Ilych, Belaya, Aya, Sakmara and many others. It has been established that rivers cut through ridges in places where fold axes are lowered. In addition, many of them are apparently older than the mountain ranges, and their incision occurred simultaneously with the uplift of the mountains.
The low absolute altitude determines the dominance of low-mountain and mid-mountain geomorphological landscapes in the Urals. The peaks of many ridges are flat, while some mountains are dome-shaped with more or less soft contours of the slopes. In the Northern and Polar Urals, near the upper border of the forest and above it, where frost weathering is vigorously manifested, stone seas (kurums) are widespread. For these same places, mountain terraces are very characteristic, resulting from solifluction processes and frost weathering.
Alpine landforms in the Ural Mountains are extremely rare. They are known only in the most elevated parts of the Polar and Subpolar Urals. The bulk of modern glaciers in the Urals are associated with these same mountain ranges.
“Glaciers” is not a random expression in relation to the glaciers of the Urals. Compared to the glaciers of the Alps and the Caucasus, the Ural glaciers look like dwarfs. All of them belong to the cirque and cirque-valley types and are located below the climatic snow line. The total number of glaciers in the Urals is 122, and the entire glaciated area is only slightly more than 25 km2. Most of them are in the polar watershed part of the Urals between 67-68° N. w. Caravan glaciers up to 1.5-2.2 km in length have been found here. The second glacial region is located in the Subpolar Urals between 64 and 65° N. w.
The main part of the glaciers is concentrated on the more humid western slope of the Urals. It is noteworthy that all Ural glaciers lie in cirques with eastern, southeastern and northeastern exposures. This is explained by the fact that they are inspired, that is, they were formed as a result of the deposition of blizzard snow in the wind shadow of mountain slopes.
The ancient Quaternary glaciation was also not very intense in the Urals. Reliable traces of it can be traced to the south no further than 61° N. w. Glacial relief forms such as cirques, cirques and hanging valleys are quite well expressed here. At the same time, attention is drawn to the absence of sheep's foreheads and well-preserved glacial-accumulative forms: drumlins, eskers and terminal moraine levees. The latter suggests that the ice cover in the Urals was thin and not active everywhere; significant areas were apparently occupied by sedentary firn and ice.
A remarkable feature of the relief of the Urals is the ancient leveling surfaces. They were first studied in detail by V. A. Varsanofeva in 1932 in the Northern Urals and later by others in the Middle and Southern Urals. Various researchers in different places of the Urals count from one to seven leveled surfaces. These ancient planation surfaces provide convincing evidence of the uneven rise of the Urals over time. The highest of them corresponds to the most ancient cycle of peneplanation, falling into the lower Mesozoic, the youngest, lower surface is of Tertiary age.
I.P. Gerasimov denies the presence of leveling surfaces of different ages in the Urals. In his opinion, there is only one leveling surface here, formed during the Jurassic-Paleogene and then subjected to deformation as a result of recent tectonic movements and erosion.
It is difficult to agree that for such a long time as the Jurassic-Paleogene, there was only one, undisturbed denudation cycle. But I.P. Gerasimov is undoubtedly right in emphasizing the large role of neotectonic movements in the formation of the modern relief of the Urals. After the Cimmerian folding, which did not affect the deep Paleozoic structures, the Urals throughout the Cretaceous and Paleogene existed as a strongly peneplanated country, along the outskirts of which there were also shallow seas. The Urals acquired their modern mountainous appearance only as a result of tectonic movements that occurred in the Neogene and Quaternary periods. Where they reached great scale, the highest mountains now rise, and where tectonic activity was weak, little changed ancient peneplains lie.
Karst landforms are widespread in the Urals. They are typical for the western slope and the Cis-Urals, where Paleozoic limestones, gypsum and salts karst. The intensity of karst manifestation here can be judged by the following example: for Perm region 15 thousand karst sinkholes have been described in a detailed survey of 1000 km2. The largest in the Urals is the Sumgan Cave (8 km long), the Kungur Ice Cave with its numerous grottoes and underground lakes is very famous. Other large caves are Divya in the Polyudova Ridge area and Kapova on the right bank of the Belaya River.

Climate

The enormous extent of the Urals from north to south is manifested in the zonal change in its climate types from tundra in the north to steppe in the south. The contrasts between north and south are most pronounced in summer. The average air temperature in July in the north of the Urals is 6-8°, and in the south about 22°. In winter, these differences are smoothed out, and the average January temperature is equally low both in the north (-20°) and in the south (-15, -16°).
The small height of the mountain belt and its insignificant width cannot determine the formation of its own special climate in the Urals. Here, in a slightly modified form, the climate of the neighboring plains is repeated. But the climate types in the Urals seem to be shifting to the south. For example, the mountain-tundra climate continues to dominate here at a latitude at which the taiga climate is already common in adjacent lowland areas; mountain-taiga climate is common at the latitude of the forest-steppe climate of the plains, etc.
The Urals are stretched across the direction of the dominant western winds. In this regard, its western slope encounters cyclones more often and is better moistened than the eastern one; On average, it receives 100-150 mm more precipitation than the east. Thus, the annual precipitation in Kizel (260 m above sea level) is 688 mm, in Ufa (173 m) - 585 mm; on the eastern slope in Sverdlovsk (281 m) it is 438 mm, in Chelyabinsk (228 m) - 361 mm. The differences in the amount of precipitation between the western and eastern slopes are very clearly visible in winter. If on the western slope the Ural taiga is buried in snowdrifts, then on the eastern slope there is little snow all winter. Thus, the average maximum thickness of snow cover along the Ust-Shchugor - Saranpaul line (north of 64° N) is as follows: in the near-Ural part of the Pechora Lowland - about 90 cm, at the western foot of the Urals - 120-130 cm, in the watershed part of the western slope Ural - more than 150 cm, on the eastern slope - about 60 cm.
The most precipitation - up to 1000, and according to some data - up to 1400 mm per year - falls on the western slope of the Subpolar, Polar and northern parts of the Southern Urals. In the extreme north and south of the Ural Mountains, their number decreases, which is associated, as on the Russian Plain, with the weakening of cyclonic activity.
The rugged mountainous terrain results in an exceptional variety of local climates. Mountains of unequal heights, slopes of different exposures, intermountain valleys and basins - they all have their own special climate. In winter and during the transitional seasons of the year, cold air rolls down the mountain slopes into basins, where it stagnates, resulting in the phenomenon of temperature inversion, which is very common in the mountains. In the Ivanovsky mine (856 m a.s.l.) in winter the temperature is higher or the same as in Zlatoust, located 400 m below the Ivanovsky mine.
Climatic features in some cases, a clearly expressed vegetation inversion is determined. In the Middle Urals, broad-leaved species (narrow maple, elm, linden) are found mainly in the middle part of mountain slopes and avoid the frost-hazardous lower parts of mountain slopes and basins.

Rivers and lakes

The Urals have a developed river network belonging to the basins of the Caspian, Kara and Barents seas.
The amount of river flow in the Urals is much greater than on the adjacent Russian and West Siberian plains. Opa increases when moving from the southeast to the northwest of the Urals and from the foothills to the tops of the mountains. The river flow reaches its maximum in the most humidified, western part of the Polar and Subpolar Urals. Here, the average annual runoff module in some places exceeds 40 l/sec per 1 km2 of area. A significant part of the Mountain Urals, located between 60 and 68° N. sh., has a drainage module of more than 25 l/sec. The runoff modulus sharply decreases in the southeastern Trans-Urals, where it is only 1-3 l/sec.
In accordance with the distribution of flow, the river network on the western slope of the Urals is better developed and richer in water than on the eastern slope. The most water-bearing rivers are the Pechora basin and the northern tributaries of the Kama, the least water-bearing is the Ural River. According to calculations by A. O. Kemmerich, the volume of average annual runoff from the territory of the Urals is 153.8 km3 (9.3 l/sec per 1 km2 area), of which 95.5 km3 (62%) falls on the Pechora and Kama basin.
An important feature of most rivers of the Urals is the relatively small variability of annual flow. The ratio of annual water flows of the most high-water year to the water flows of the least-water year usually ranges from 1.5 to 3. The exception is the forest-steppe and steppe rivers of the Southern Urals, where this ratio increases significantly.
Many rivers of the Urals suffer from pollution from industrial waste, so the issues of protection and purification of river waters are especially relevant here.
There are relatively few lakes in the Urals and their areas are small. The largest lake Argazi (Miass river basin) has an area of ​​101 km2. According to their genesis, lakes are grouped into tectonic, glacial, karst, and suffusion lakes. Glacial lakes are confined to the mountain belt of the Subpolar and Polar Urals, lakes of suffusion-subsidence origin are common in the forest-steppe and steppe Trans-Urals. Some tectonic lakes, subsequently developed by glaciers, have significant depths (such as the deepest lake in the Urals, Bolshoye Shchuchye - 136 m).
Several thousand reservoir ponds are known in the Urals, including 200 factory ponds.

Soils and vegetation

The soils and vegetation of the Urals exhibit a special, mountain-latitude zonation (from the tundra in the north to the steppes in the south), which differs from the zonation on the plains in that the soil-vegetation zones here are shifted far to the south. In the foothills the barrier role of the Urals is noticeably affected. Thus, as a result of the barrier factor in the Southern Urals (foothills, lower parts of mountain slopes), instead of the usual steppe and southern forest-steppe landscapes, forest and northern forest-steppe landscapes were formed (F. A. Maksyutov).
The far north of the Urals is covered with mountain tundra from the foothills to the peaks. However, they very soon (north of 67° N) move into the high-altitude landscape zone, being replaced at the foot by mountain taiga forests.
Forests are the most common type of vegetation in the Urals. They stretch like a solid green wall along the ridge from the Arctic Circle to 52° N. sh., interrupted at the high peaks by mountain tundras, and in the south - at the foot - by steppes.
These forests are diverse in composition: coniferous, broad-leaved and small-leaved. The Ural coniferous forests have a completely Siberian appearance: in addition to Siberian spruce (Picea obovata) and pine (Pinus silvestris) they also contain Siberian fir(Abies sibirica), Sukachev larch (Larix sucaczewii) and cedar (Pinus sibirica). The Ural does not pose a serious obstacle to the spread of Siberian coniferous species; they all cross the ridge, and the western border of their range runs along the Russian Plain.
Coniferous forests are most common in the northern part of the Urals, north of 58° N. w. True, they are also found further south, but their role here sharply decreases, as the areas of small-leaved and broad-leaved forests increase. The least demanding coniferous species in terms of climate and soil is Sukachev larch. It goes further north than other rocks, reaching 68° N. sh., and together with the pine tree it extends farther than others to the south, only slightly short of reaching the latitudinal section of the Ural River.
Despite the fact that the range of larch is so vast, it does not occupy large areas and almost does not form pure stands. The main role in the coniferous forests of the Urals belongs to spruce-fir plantations. A third of the forest region of the Urals is occupied by pine, plantings of which, with an admixture of Sukachev larch, gravitate towards the eastern slope of the mountainous country.
Broad-leaved forests play a significant role only on the western slope of the Southern Urals. They occupy approximately 4-5% of the forested Urals area - oak, linden, Norway maple, elm (Ulmus scabra). All of them, with the exception of the linden tree, do not go east further than the Urals. But the coincidence of the eastern border of their distribution with the Urals is an accidental phenomenon. The movement of these rocks into Siberia is hampered not by the heavily destroyed Ural Mountains, but by the Siberian continental climate.
Small-leaved forests are scattered throughout the Urals, mostly in its southern part. Their origin is twofold - primary and secondary. Birch is one of the most common species in the Urals.
Under the forests there are mountain-podzolic soils of varying degrees of swampiness. In the south of the region of coniferous forests, where they take on the southern taiga appearance, typical mountain-podzolic soils give way to mountain sod-podzolic soils.
Even further south, under the mixed, broad-leaved and small-leaved forests of the Southern Urals, gray forest soils are common.
The further you go south, the higher and higher the forest belt of the Urals rises into the mountains. Its upper limit in the south of the Polar Urals lies at an altitude of 200 - 300 m, in the Northern Urals - at an altitude of 450 - 600 m, in the Middle Urals it rises to 600 - 800 m, and in the Southern Urals - to 1100 - 1200 m.
Between the mountain-forest belt and the treeless mountain tundra stretches a narrow transitional zone, which P. L. Gorchakovsky calls subgoltsy. In this belt, thickets of bushes and twisted low-growing forests alternate with clearings of wet meadows on dark mountain-meadow soils. The birch (Betula tortuosa), cedar, fir and spruce that come here form a dwarf form in some places.
South of 57° N. w. first on the foothill plains, and then on the mountain slopes, the forest belt is replaced by forest-steppe and steppe on chernozem soils. The extreme south of the Urals, like its extreme north, is treeless. Mountain chernozem steppes, interrupted in places by mountain forest-steppe, cover the entire ridge here, including its peneplained axial part. In addition to mountain-podzolic soils, unique mountain-forest acidic non-podzolized soils are widespread in the axial part of the Northern and partly Middle Urals. They are characterized by an acidic reaction, unsaturation with bases, a relatively high humus content and a gradual decrease with depth.

Animal world

The fauna of the Urals consists of three main complexes: tundra, forest and steppe. Following the vegetation, northern animals move far to the south in their distribution across the Ural mountain belt. Suffice it to say that until recently reindeer lived in the Southern Urals, and brown bears still occasionally enter the Orenburg region from mountainous Bashkiria.
Typical tundra animals inhabiting the Polar Urals include reindeer, arctic fox, hoofed lemming (Dуcrostonyx torquatus), Middendorff's vole (Microtus middendorfi), partridge (white partridge - Lagopus lagopus, tundra partridge - L. mutus); In summer there is a lot of waterfowl (ducks, geese).
The forest complex of animals is best preserved in the Northern Urals, where it is represented by taiga species: brown bear, sable, wolverine, otter (Lutra lutra), lynx, squirrel, chipmunk, red vole (Clethrionomys rutilus); of birds - hazel grouse and capercaillie.
The distribution of steppe animals is limited to the Southern Urals. As on the plains, in the steppes of the Urals there are many rodents: ground squirrels (small - Citelluspigmaeus and reddish - C. major), large jerboa (Allactaga jaculus), marmot, steppe pika (Ochotona pusilla), common hamster (Cricetuscricetus), common vole (Microtus arvalis) and others. Common predators are the wolf, corsac fox, and steppe polecat. Birds are diverse in the steppe: steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis), steppe harrier (Circus macrourus), kite (Milvus korschun), bustard, little bustard, saker falcon (Falco cherruy), gray partridge (Perdix perdix), demoiselle crane ( Anthropoides virgo), horned lark (Otocorus alpestris), black lark (Melanocorypha yeltoniensis).
Of the 76 species of mammals known in the Urals, 35 species are commercial.

From the history of the development of landscapes of the Urals

In the Paleogene, in place of the Ural Mountains, a low hilly plain rose, reminiscent of the modern Kazakh small hills. It was surrounded by shallow seas to the east and south. The climate then was hot, evergreen tropical forests and dry woodlands with palm trees and laurel grew in the Urals.
By the end of the Paleogene, the evergreen Poltava flora was replaced by the Turgai deciduous flora of temperate latitudes. Already at the very beginning of the Neogene, forests of oak, beech, hornbeam, chestnut, alder, and birch dominated in the Urals. During this period, major changes occur in the topography: as a result of vertical uplifts, the Urals turn from small hills into a mid-mountain country. Along with this, altitudinal differentiation of vegetation occurs: the peaks of the mountains are captured by mountain taiga, the vegetation of chars is gradually formed, which is facilitated by the restoration in the Neogene of the continental connection of the Urals with Siberia, the homeland of the mountain tundra.
At the very end of the Neogene, the Akchagyl Sea approached the southwestern slopes of the Urals. The climate at that time was cold, the Ice Age was approaching; Coniferous taiga became the dominant type of vegetation.
During the era of the Dnieper glaciation, the northern half of the Urals disappeared under the ice cover, and the south at that time was occupied by cold birch-pine-larch forest-steppe, sometimes spruce forests, and near the valley of the Ural River and on the slopes of the General Syrt, the remains of broad-leaved forests remained.
After the death of the glacier, forests moved to the north of the Urals, and the role of dark coniferous species increased in their composition. In the south, broad-leaved forests became more widespread, while the birch-pine-larch forest-steppe gradually degraded. The birch and larch groves found in the Southern Urals are direct descendants of those birch and larch forests that were characteristic of the cold Pleistocene forest-steppe.
In the mountains it is impossible to distinguish landscape zones similar to the plains, therefore mountainous countries are divided not into zones, but into mountain landscape areas. They are identified on the basis of geological, geomorphological and bioclimatic features, as well as the structure of altitudinal zonation.

Landscape areas of the Urals

1. Tundra and forest-tundra region

The tundra and forest-tundra region of the Polar Urals extends from the northern edge of the Ural belt to 64° 30" N latitude. Together with the Pai-Khoi ridge, the Polar Urals forms an arc with its convex side facing the east. The axial part of the Polar Urals lies at 66° E. longitude. - 7° east of the Northern and Middle Urals.
The Pai-Khoi ridge, which is a small hill (up to 467 m), is separated from the Polar Urals by a strip of low-lying tundra. The Polar Urals proper begins with the low mountain Konstantinov Kamen (492 m) on the shore of Baydaratskaya Bay. To the south, the height of the mountains increases sharply (up to 1200-1350m), and Mount Pai-Er, north of the Arctic Circle, has a height of 1499 m. Maximum heights concentrated in the southern part of the region around 65° N. sh., where Mount Narodnaya rises (1894 m). Here, the Polar Urals greatly expands - up to 125 km, breaking up into no less than five or six parallel elongated ridges, the most significant of which are Research in the west and Narodo-Itinsky in the east. In the south of the Polar Urals, the Sablya mountain range (1425 m) extended far to the west towards the Pechora Lowland.
In the formation of the relief of the Polar Urals, the role of frost weathering, accompanied by the formation of stone placers - kurums and structural (polygonal) soils, is extremely important. Permafrost and frequent fluctuations in the temperature of the upper layers of soil in summer contribute to the development of solifluction processes.
The predominant type of relief here is a smoothed plateau-like surface with traces of cover glaciation, dissected along the outskirts by deep trough-like valleys. Peak alpine forms are found only on the highest mountain peaks. The alpine relief is better represented only in the very south of the Polar Urals, in the region of 65° N. w. Here, in the area of ​​the Narodnaya and Sabli mountains, modern glaciers are found, the tops of the mountains end in sharp, jagged ridges, and their slopes are corroded by steep-walled cirques and cirques.
The climate of the Polar Urals is cold and humid. Summer is cloudy and rainy, the average temperature in July at the foothills is 8-14°. Winter is long and cold (the average temperature in January is below -20°), with blizzards blowing huge drifts of snow in depressions of the relief. Permafrost is common here. The annual amount of precipitation increases in the southern direction from 500 to 800 mm.
The soil and vegetation cover of the Polar Urals is monotonous. In its northern part, the lowland tundra merges with the mountainous one. In the foothills there is moss, lichen and shrub tundra; in the central part of the mountainous region there are rocky areas, almost devoid of vegetation. There are forests in the south, but their role in the landscape is insignificant. The first low-growing larch woodlands are found along the river valleys of the eastern slope around 68° N. w. The fact that they appear for the first time precisely on the eastern slope is not accidental: there is less snowfall here, the climate is generally more continental, and therefore more favorable for forests compared to the western slope. Near the Arctic Circle, larch forests are joined by spruce forests, at 66° N. w. cedar begins to appear, south of 65° N. w. - pine and fir. On Sablya Mountain, spruce-fir forests rise to 400-450 m above sea level, higher they are replaced by larch woodlands and meadows, which at an altitude of 500-550 m turn into mountain tundra.
It has been noticed that near the Arctic Circle, spruce and larch forests grow better on the ridge itself than in the foothills and plains covered with forest-tundra open forests. The reason for this is better drainage of the mountains and temperature inversion.
The Polar Urals are still economically poorly developed. But this remote mountainous region is gradually being transformed by the Soviet people. From west to east it is crossed by the railway line connecting Ust-Vorkuta with Salekhard.

This region of the Urals extends from 64° 30" to 59° 30" N. w. It begins immediately south of the Sablya mountain range and ends with the Konzhakovsky Kamen peak (1569 m). Throughout this entire section, the Urals stretches strictly along the meridian 59° east. d.
The central, axial part of the Northern Urals has an average height of about 700 m and consists mainly of two longitudinal ridges, of which the eastern, watershed, is known as the Belt Stone. On the western ridge south of 64° N. w. the double-headed mountain Telpos-Iz (Stone of the Winds) is the highest peak in the region (1617 m). Alpine landforms are not common in the Northern Urals; most peaks are dome-shaped.
Three or four ancient planation surfaces are clearly visible in the Northern Urals. Another, no less characteristic feature of the relief is the wide distribution of mountain terraces, developed mainly above the upper forest boundary or near it. The number and size of terraces, their width, length and height of the ledge are not the same not only on different mountain peaks, but also on different slopes of the same mountain.
From the west, the axial part of the Northern Urals is bordered by a wide strip of foothills formed by low flat-topped ridges of Paleozoic rocks. Such ridges, stretched parallel to the main ridge, received the name Parm (High Parma, Ydzhidparma, etc.).
The strip of foothills on the eastern slope of the Northern Urals is less wide than on the western slope. It is represented here by low (300-600 m) ridges of Devonian, highly crushed rocks, cut by intrusions. The transverse valleys of the Northern Sosva, Lozva and their tributaries divide these ridges into short isolated massifs.
The climate of the Northern Urals is cold and humid, but it is less severe than the climate of the Polar Urals. The average temperature in the foothills rises to 14 - 16°. There is a lot of precipitation - up to 800 mm or more (on the western slope), which significantly exceeds the evaporation value. That's why there are a lot of swamps in the Northern Urals.
The Northern Urals differs sharply from the Polar Urals in the nature of vegetation and soils: in the Polar Urals tundra and bare rocks dominate, forests with a narrow green border cling to the foothills, and even then only in the south of the region, and in the Northern Urals the mountains are completely covered with dense coniferous taiga; treeless tundra is found only on isolated ridges and peaks rising above 700-800 m above sea level.
The taiga of the Northern Urals is dark coniferous. The championship belongs to Siberian spruce; on more fertile and well-drained soils, fir predominates, and on swampy and rocky soils, cedar predominates. As on the Russian Plain, the taiga of the Northern Urals is dominated by green spruce forests, and among them there are blueberry spruce forests, which, as is known, are characteristic of the landscape of a typical (middle) taiga. Only near the Polar Urals (north of 64° N) at the foot of the mountains does the typical taiga give way to northern taiga, with more sparse and swampy forests.
The area of ​​pine forests in the Northern Urals is small. Green moss pine trees acquire landscape significance only on the eastern slope south of 62° N. w. Their development is facilitated here by a drier continental climate and the presence of rocky gravelly soils.
Sukachev's larch, common in the Polar Urals, is rarely observed in the Northern Urals, and almost exclusively as an admixture with other coniferous trees. It is somewhat more common at the upper border of the forest and in the subalpine belt, which is especially characterized by crooked birch forests, and in the north of the region - thickets of shrubby alder.
The coniferous taiga vegetation of the Northern Urals determines the characteristics of its soil cover. This is an area of ​​distribution of mountain podzolic soils. In the north, in the foothills, gley-podzolic soils are common, in the south, in the typical taiga zone, podzolic soils are common. Along with typical podzols, weakly podzolic (cryptopodzolic) soils are often found. The reason for their appearance is the presence of aluminum in the absorbing soil complex and the weak energy of microbiological processes. In the south of the region in the axial part of the Urals, at an altitude of 400 to 800 m, mountain forest acidic neopodzolized soils are developed, formed on eluvium and colluvium of greenstone rocks, amphibolites and granites. In different places on Devonian limestones, “northern carbonate soils” are described, boiling at a depth of 20-30 cm.
The most characteristic representatives of the taiga fauna are concentrated in the Northern Urals. Only here is the sable found, adhering to cedar forests. Almost no wolverine, red-gray vole (Clethrionomys rufocanus) go south of the Northern Urals, and among birds - nutcracker (nutcracker - Nucifraga caryocatactes), waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus), spruce crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), hawk owl (Surnia ulula). Reindeer, which is no longer found in the Middle and Southern Urals, is still known here.
In the upper reaches of the Pechora, along the western slopes of the Urals and the adjacent Pechora Lowland, is located one of the largest in our country, the Pechora-Ilych State Nature Reserve. It protects the landscapes of the mountain taiga of the Urals, which in the west passes into the middle taiga of the Russian Plain.
The vast expanses of the Northern Urals are still dominated by virgin mountain-taiga landscapes. Human intervention becomes noticeable only in the south of this region, where such industrial centers as Ivdel, Krasnovishersk, Severouralsk, Karpinsk are located.

3. Region of southern taiga and mixed forests

This area is limited by the latitudes of Konzhakovsky Kamen in the north (59С30" N) and Mount Yurma (55С25" N) in the south. The Middle Urals are well isolated orographically; The Ural Mountains decrease here, and the strictly meridional strike of the mountain belt gives way to south-southeast. Together with the Southern Urals, the Middle Urals forms a giant arc, with its convex side facing east; the arc goes around the Ufa Plateau - the eastern ledge of the Russian Platform.
The latest tectonic movements have had little effect on the Middle Urals. Therefore, it appears before us in the form of a low peneplain with isolated, softly outlined peaks and ridges, composed of the most dense crystalline rocks. The Perm - Sverdlovsk railway line crosses the Urals at an altitude of 410 m. The highest peaks are 700-800 m, rarely more.
Due to severe destruction, the Middle Urals essentially lost their watershed significance. The Chusovaya and Ufa rivers begin on its eastern slopes and cut through its axial part. The river valleys in the Middle Urals are relatively wide and developed. Only in some places do picturesque cliffs and cliffs hang directly above the riverbed.
The zone of western and eastern foothills in the Middle Urals is represented even more widely than in the Northern Urals. The western foothills abound in karst forms resulting from the dissolution of Paleozoic limestones and gypsum. The Ufa Plateau, dissected by the deep valleys of the Ai and Yuryuzan rivers, is especially famous for them. The landscape feature of the eastern foothills is formed by lakes of tectonic and partially karst origin. Among them, two groups stand out: Sverdlovsk (lakes Ayatskoye, Tavotuy, Isetskoye) and Kaslinskaya (lakes Itkul, Irtyash, Uvildy, Argazi). The lakes, with their picturesque shores, attract a lot of tourists.
Climatically, the Middle Urals are more favorable for humans than the Northern Urals. Summers here are warmer and longer, and at the same time there is less precipitation. The average July temperature in the foothills is 16-18°C, the annual precipitation is 500-600 mm, in some places more than 600 mm in the mountains. These climate change immediately affect soils and vegetation. The foothills of the Middle Urals in the north are covered with southern taiga, and to the south - with forest-steppe. The steppe nature of the Middle Urals is much stronger along the eastern slope. If on the western slope there are only isolated forest-steppe islands, surrounded on all sides by southern taiga (Kungursky and Krasnoufimsky), then in the Trans-Ural region the forest-steppe runs as a continuous strip up to 57° 30" N latitude.
However, the Middle Urals itself is not a forest-steppe region, but a forest landscape. Forests here completely cover the mountains; in contrast to the Northern Urals, only very few mountain peaks rise above the upper border of the forest. The main background is provided by spruce-fir southern taiga forests, interrupted by pine forests on the eastern slope of the ridge. In the southwest of the region there are mixed coniferous-deciduous forests, which contain a lot of linden. Throughout the Middle Urals, especially in its southern half, birch forests are widespread, many of which arose on the site of cleared spruce-fir taiga.
Under the southern taiga forests of the Middle Urals, as well as on the plains, soddy-podzolic soils are developed. At the foothills in the south of the region they are replaced by gray forest soils, in places by leached chernozems, and in the upper part of the forest belt by mountain forest and acidic non-podzolized soils, which we have already encountered in the south of the Northern Urals.
The fauna in the Middle Urals is changing significantly. Due to the warmer climate and diverse forest composition, it is enriched with southern species. Along with taiga animals that also live in the Northern Urals, the common hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), the steppe and black polecat (Putorius putorius), the common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) are found here, and the badger (Meles meles) is more common; The birds of the Northern Urals are joined by the nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), oriole (Oriolus oriolus), and greenfinch (Chloris chloris); The fauna of reptiles becomes much more diverse: the legless spindle lizard (Angnis fragilis), the viviparous lizard, the common grass snake, and the copperhead (Coronella austriaca) appear.
Distinct foothills make it possible to distinguish three landscape provinces in the region of the southern taiga and mixed forests of the Middle Urals.
The province of the Middle Urals occupies an elevated (up to 500-600 m) plain - a plateau, densely indented by river valleys. The core of the province is the Ufa Plateau. Its landscape feature is the widespread development of karst (sinkholes, lakes, caves), associated with the dissolution of Upper Paleozoic limestones and gypsum. Despite the increased moisture, there are few swamps, which is explained by good drainage. The vegetation cover is dominated by southern taiga spruce-fir and mixed (dark-coniferous-broad-leaved) forests, sometimes disturbed by islands of northern forest-steppe.
The central province of the Middle Urals corresponds to the axial, most elevated part of the Ural Mountains, characterized here by a relatively low height and almost continuous forest cover (dark coniferous and small-leaved forests).
The province of the Middle Trans-Urals is an elevated plain - a peneplain, gently sloping to the east, towards the West Siberian Plain. Its surface is broken by remnant hills and ridges composed of granites and gneisses, as well as numerous lake basins. Unlike the Cis-Urals, pine and pine-larch forests dominate here, and in the north significant areas are covered with swamps. Due to the general increase in dryness and continentality of the climate, forest-steppe with a Siberian appearance (with birch tufts) is moving further north here than in the Cis-Ural region.
The Middle Urals are the most densely populated landscape region of the Ural Mountains. Here are the bulk of the old industrial cities of the Urals, including Sverdlovsk, Nizhny Tagil, etc. Therefore, virgin forest landscapes in many places of the Middle Urals are no longer preserved.

4. Forest-steppe and steppe region with widespread development of forest altitudinal zones

The Southern Urals occupies the territory from Mount Yurma in the north to the latitudinal section of the Ural River in the south. It differs from the Middle Urals by significant heights, reaching 1582 m (Mount Iremel) and 1640 m (Mount Yamantau). As in other places of the Urals, the Uraltau watershed ridge, composed of crystalline shales, is shifted to the east and is not the highest in the Southern Urals. The predominant type of relief is mid-mountain. Some char peaks rise above the upper border of the forest. They are flat, but with steep rocky slopes, complicated by mountain terraces. Recently, traces of ancient glaciation (trough valleys, remains of cirques and moraines) have been discovered on the Zigalga ridge, on Iremel and some other high peaks of the Southern Urals.
To the south of the latitudinal section of the Belaya River there is a general drop in heights. The South Ural peneplain is clearly expressed here - a highly elevated plain with a folded base, dissected by deep canyon-like valleys of the Sakmara, Guberli and other tributaries of the Urals. Erosion in some places has given the peneplain a wild, picturesque appearance. These are the Guberlinsky Mountains on the right bank of the Urals, below the city of Orsk, composed of igneous gabbro-peridotite rocks. In other areas, different lithologies caused the alternation of large meridional ridges (absolute heights of 450-500 m or more) and wide depressions.
In the east, the axial part of the Southern Urals passes into the Trans-Ural peneplain - a lower and smoother plain compared to the South Ural peneplain. In its leveling, in addition to the processes of general denudation, the abrasion and accumulative activity of the Paleogene sea was important. The foothills are characterized by small hilly ridges with ridge-hilly plains. In the north of the Trans-Ural peneplain there are many lakes with picturesque rocky shores scattered.
The climate of the Southern Urals is drier and more continental than the Middle and Northern Urals. Summer is warm, with droughts and hot winds in the Urals. The average July temperature in the foothills rises to 20-22°. Winter continues to be cold, with significant snow cover. In cold winters, rivers freeze to the bottom and ice forms; mass deaths of moles and some birds are observed. Precipitation falls 400-500 mm per year, in the mountains in the north up to 600 mm or more.
Soils and vegetation in the Southern Urals exhibit a clearly defined altitudinal zonation. The low foothills in the extreme south and southeast of the region are covered with cereal steppes on ordinary and southern chernozems. Thickets of steppe shrubs are very typical for the Cis-Ural steppes: chiliga (Caragana frutex), blackthorn (Prunus stepposa), - and in the Trans-Ural steppes along granite outcrops one can find pine forests with birch and even larch.
In addition to the steppes, the forest-steppe zone is widespread in the Southern Urals. It occupies the entire South Ural peneplain, the small hills of the Trans-Urals, and in the north of the region it descends to the low foothills.
The forest-steppe is not the same on the western and eastern slopes of the ridge. The west is characterized by broadleaf forests including linden, oak, Norway maple, smooth elm (Ulmus laevis) and elm. In the east and in the center of the ridge light colors predominate birch groves, pine forests and larch plantings; The Pribelsky district is occupied by pine forests and small-leaved forest. Due to the dissected topography and variegated lithological composition of rocks, forests and mixed-grass steppe are intricately combined here, and the highest areas with outcrops of dense bedrock are usually covered with forest.
The birch and pine-deciduous forests of the zone are sparse (especially on the eastern slopes of the Uraltau), highly lightened, so many steppe plants penetrate under their canopy and there is almost no sharp line between the steppe and forest flora in the Southern Urals. The soils developed under light forests and mixed-grass steppes - from gray forest soils to leached and typical chernozems - are characterized by a high humus content. It is interesting to note that the highest humus content, reaching 15-20%, is observed not in typical chernozems, but in podzolized mountain soils, which may be associated with the meadow stage of development of these soils in the past.
The spruce-fir taiga on mountain-podzolic soils forms the third soil-vegetation zone. It is distributed only in the northern, most elevated part of the Southern Urals, occurring at altitudes from 600 to 1000-1100 m.
At the highest peaks there is a zone of mountain meadows and mountain tundras. The peaks of the Iremel and Yamantau mountains are covered with spotted tundra. High into the mountains, breaking away from the upper border of the taiga, there are groves of low-growing spruce forests and crooked birch forests.
The fauna of the Southern Urals is a motley mixture of taiga-forest and steppe species. In the forests of the Bashkir Urals, brown bear, elk, marten, squirrel, capercaillie, and hazel grouse are common, and next to them in the open steppe live the ground squirrel (Citellus citellus), jerboa, bustard, and little bustard. In the Southern Urals, the ranges of not only northern and southern, but also western and eastern animal species overlap one another. Thus, along with the garden dormouse (Elyomys quercinus) - a typical inhabitant of deciduous forests of the west - in the Southern Urals you can find such eastern species as the small (steppe) pika or Eversmann's hamster (Allocrlcetulus eversmanni).
The mountain forest landscapes of the Southern Urals are very picturesque with spots of meadow glades, less often rocky steppes on the territory of the Bashkir State Reserve. One of the sections of the reserve is located on the Uraltau ridge, the second - on the South Kraka mountain range, the third section, the lowest, is Pribelsky.

There are four landscape provinces in the Southern Urals:

The province of the Southern Urals covers the elevated ridges of General Syrt and the low foothills of the Southern Urals. The rugged topography and continental climate contribute to the sharp manifestation of vertical differentiation of landscapes: ridges and foothills are covered with broad-leaved forests (oak, linden, elm, Norway maple) growing on gray forest soils, and relief depressions, especially wide above-floodplain river terraces, are covered with steppe vegetation on black earth soils. soils. The southern part of the province is a syrt steppe with dense thickets of forests along the slopes.
The central mountainous part of the region belongs to the Mid-Mountain Province of the Southern Urals. Along the highest peaks of the province (Yamantau, Iremel, Zigalga ridge, etc.) the goltsy and pre-goltsy belts with extensive stone placers and mountain terraces on the slopes are clearly visible. The forest zone is formed by spruce-fir and pine-larch forests, and in the southwest - coniferous-deciduous forests. In the northeast of the province, on the border with the Trans-Urals, rises the low Ilmensky ridge - a mineralogical paradise, as A.E. Fersman puts it. Here is one of the oldest state reserves in the country - Ilmensky named after V.I. Lenin.
The low-mountain province of the Southern Urals includes southern part The Ural Mountains from the latitudinal section of the Belaya River in the north to the Ural River in the south. Basically, this is the South Ural peneplain - a plateau with small absolute elevations - about 500-800 m above sea level. Its relatively flat surface, often covered with ancient weathering crust, is dissected by deep river valleys of the Sakmara basin. Forest-steppe landscapes predominate, and in the south steppe landscapes. In the north, large areas are covered with pine-larch forests; birch groves are common everywhere, and especially in the east of the province.
The province of the Southern Trans-Urals is formed by an elevated, undulating plain, corresponding to the Trans-Ural peneplain, with a wide distribution of sedimentary rocks, sometimes interrupted by granite outcrops. In the eastern, weakly dissected part of the province there are many basins - steppe depressions, and in places (in the north) shallow lakes. The southern Trans-Urals have the driest, continental climate in the Urals. The annual precipitation in the south is less than 300 mm with an average July temperature of about 22°. The landscape is dominated by treeless steppes on ordinary and southern chernozems; occasionally, along granite outcrops, pine forests are found. In the north of the province, birch-spruce forest-steppe is developed. Significant areas in the Southern Trans-Urals are plowed under wheat crops.

The Southern Urals are rich in iron, copper, nickel, pyrite ores, ornamental stones and other minerals. During the years of Soviet power, old industrial cities grew and changed beyond recognition here, and new centers of socialist industry appeared - Magnitogorsk, Mednogorsk, Novotroitsk, Sibay, etc. In terms of the degree of disturbance of natural landscapes, the Southern Urals in many places approaches the Middle Urals.
Intensive economic development of the Urals was accompanied by the emergence and growth of areas of anthropogenic landscapes. The lower altitudinal zones of the Middle and Southern Urals are characterized by field agricultural landscapes. Meadow-pasture complexes are even more widespread, including the forest belt and the Polar Urals. Almost everywhere you can find artificial forest plantings, as well as birch and aspen forests that have arisen on the site of cleared spruce, fir, pine forests and oak forests. Large reservoirs have been created on the Kama, Ural and other rivers, and ponds have been created along small rivers and hollows. In areas of open-pit mining of brown coal, iron ores and other minerals, there are significant areas of quarry-dump landscapes; in areas of underground mining, pseudokarst sinkholes are common.
The unique beauty of the Ural Mountains attracts tourists from all over the country. Particularly picturesque are the valleys of the Vishera, Chusovaya, Belaya and many other large and small rivers with their noisy, talkative water and bizarre cliffs - “stones”. The legendary “stones” of Vishera remain in the memory for a long time: Vetlan, Polyud, Pomenny. No one is left indifferent by the unusual, sometimes fantastic underground landscapes of the Kungur Ice Cave Reserve. Climbing to the peaks of the Urals, such as Iremel or Yamantau, is always of great interest. The view from there of the undulating forested Ural distances lying below will reward you for all the hardships of the mountain climb. In the Southern Urals, in the immediate vicinity of the city of Orsk, the Guberlinsky Mountains, a low-mountain small hill, attract attention with their unique landscapes, the “Pearl of the Southern Urals,” and not without reason, it is customary to call Lake Turgoyak, located at the western foot of the Ilmen Mountains. The lake (area about 26 km2), characterized by heavily indented rocky shores, is used for recreational purposes.