May 2-6
“Okay really, no more snow hiking.” -Tim, on the snow-pack near Ala-kul alpine lake.
Our next stop as we circumnavigate Issyk Kol is Karakol, a little “big” town of 70k on the eastern shore. Our good weather streak ran out and we looked ahead at a rainy forecast. The original hope was to do some through hiking in the mountains while staying at yurt camps, but the passes were closed due to snow and none of the camps had opened yet for the year. This gave us a convenient excuse to relax for a day, do laundry, and get a massage. We found a restaurant that did a delicious beef/veg stir fry. We liked it so much we went back! And back...
We did a day trip to Jeti Oguz, a nearby town with a beautiful red rock formation called the Seven Bulls. Our taxi took us straight to the Jeti Oguz resort, a Soviet-era sanitarium that was still a bustling place despite its (very) dated interior and crumbling facade. We walked up the nearby hill to a lookout point for the Seven Bulls, then hiked a few miles up the Valley of Flowers. It started to rain, then hail, with pretty crazy lightning. We sheltered under a pine tree and ate our lunch of sausage, bread, and an apple. A close lightning strike startled us and made us question our choice of cover, but we were at the bottom of a steep valley with taller trees on all sides...probably safe, right?
The next day we headed out to hike to Ala-kul, one of the destinations on our through hike we didn't get to do. Our one day itinerary had us skipping about 5 miles of easier terrain from the park entry gate by taking a 4x4 to the edge of the forest. Our 4x4 was a little gremlin of a bare bones Jeep, driven by a Russian man with a 90's rain jacket, a solid mullet, and finger-less leather gloves. He was skilled, though. There were a few really dicey areas and super deep puddles he navigated without getting stuck or rolling (was pretty sure one of those would happen). After being bounced around for an hour we were happy to hop out and start the hike. The remaining hike was only 5 km, but had about 1500m elevation gain, and the Ecotrek office that arranged our transportation suggested it would take 5 hours up, 3 hours down.
We wound up a valley through forest, with the trail growing increasingly steep and rocky. Still, we made good time, expecting to finish the hike in about three hours, until we got to the last km and saw a super steep, rocky slope covered in fresh snow. It would have been a scramble even without the snow. We said no more snow hiking after Mt. Nantai, but there we were and we couldn't bring ourselves to turn back. I had sent my waterproof hiking shoes home because they hurt my feet, so spent the next 90 minutes carefully picking my way through the snow, falling, getting back up, and worrying about frostbite in my soaked and slippery New Balance street sneakers. Anticipation building as we finally scrambled up the last few boulders to see the lake, but it was snowed over. No signature turquoise alpine lake view for us. I took off my shoes, wrung out my rocks, and stuck my feet and legs inside my pack while we ate our lunch. Cold!
Two Russian ladies were doing the through hike and had camped lakeside. They had waded through waist-deep snow to cross the pass the night before. No thank you! Clouds condensed around us shortly after we started eating, the fog limiting our view to just a few dozen feet, then the sleet started, so we quickly packed up and started the hike/slide back down. I fell on my butt more times than I remember, and I could feel the water puddles splooshing in my shoes. Not the most fun hike, but the sleet stopped and then was replaced by rain and then drizzle, eventually warming up and getting sunny as we lost altitude.
Jeti-Oguz
Ala-kul
Karakol
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