Altyn-Arashan and Ala-Kul lake

03/11/17
In Karakol I met two french guys and together we headed to hotsprings Altyn-Arashan which are 15 kilometers away from hamlet Ak-Suu. It was a gorgeous trail even in the current season.

We soaked in the hotsprings a bit and then quite spontaneously decided to go to Ala-Kul lake with a couple from Denmark. The distance is merely 11 kilometers but significant altitude gain makes the way quite difficult. The mountain pass that was our destination is located at altitude of 3800 m, and Altyn-Arashan is only at 2500 m.

Without any acclimatisation it was very hard, everybody got altitude sickness. The only ascent in my life that was harder then this one was probably the ascent on Elbrus and by a narrow margin. It was especially difficult to climb the last mountain range from where we could see the lake.

In the end, the whole trip there and back again took us 10 hours.

Full gallery: https://supload.com/Sy5KGQ9Nf (not really full, the site is having a problem with some of the pics somehow)