During a long stopover in North Ossetia, I went on four trips with the Your Height club. I wrote about the first two trips earlier – Climbing Mount Kai-hokh in North Ossetia and A trip to the Tsmyakom gorge for rhododendron blooming.
In this post, I will tell you about my third trip – a visit to Kabardino-Balkaria, namely the Chegem waterfalls, the Aktoprak pass and Lake Gizhgit (Formerly).
Parking near Adai-Su
We left Vladikavkaz around 7:30 a.m., and 3 hours later we reached our first destination, the Small Chegemsky Waterfall. Its second name is the Adai-Su Waterfall. I was lucky, at some point I was left alone at the waterfall, no one bothered. I managed to take a photo without people and stand very close to it. We spent a total of 40 minutes here and went to other waterfalls.
Adai-Su Waterfall, June 2022
Approximately 8.5 kilometers from Adai-Su is the second Main group of Chegem waterfalls. They are inferior to the Small Ones in terms of entertainment, but they benefit from their location, as they are located in a narrow, long gorge. If it weren’t for the merchants who littered the entire gorge with their cafes, stalls and goods, this place could be very photogenic.
Chegem gorge, June 2022
Chegemsky Waterfalls, June 2022
Chegem gorge and waterfalls, June 2022
We spent two hours here, during which time we saw all the waterfalls and had lunch. I wrote a separate post about visiting the Chegem waterfalls – you can read it here.
The Chegem waterfalls are on the way to the pass, which is why they are actually included in this trip. This is a good starting point when traveling through the pass – here you can have lunch, go to the toilet and buy something to eat on the way.
At 12:30 p.m., we drove on to the most interesting part of this route, the 22-kilometer Aktoprak pass. After leaving the gorge, magnificent Alpine landscapes opened up in front of us. I was just blown away by the beauty of the surrounding scenery on both sides of the road. On one side were high rocky mountains, on the other – mountains and hills overgrown with all kinds of plants, flowers and coniferous trees. Wild horses grazed on the slopes.
We only had two stops. The first one is 45 minutes after departure, and the second one is an hour later.Each stop is about 20-30 minutes
Our first stop:
dirt road of the Aktoprak pass
Aktoprak pass, nature
Aktoprak pass, landscapes
Aktoprak Pass,June
Aktoprak Pass,June 2022
trip through the Aktoprak pass,June 2022
Aktoprak Pass,Kabardino-Balkaria
Aktoprak Pass,wild horses
Aktoprak pass, plants
Our second stop:
Aktoprak pass,alpine meadows
Aktoprak Pass, second stop
alpine meadows of the Aktoprak pass
alpine meadows of the Aktoprak pass, June
alpine meadows of the Aktoprak pass, June 2022
alpine meadows of the Aktoprak pass, June 22
landscapes of the Aktoprak pass
landscapes of the Aktoprak pass
The flower world of the Aktoprak pass
Of course, if I were driving, my stops would be every 5-10 minutes. To be honest, I have never seen such unforgettable landscapes before. Before that, I thought that the nature of North Ossetia occupies the first place in beauty in my heart, but after the trip here, I still admit that the mountains of Kabardino-Balkaria are still more beautiful for me..
The most ideal way to visit the Aktoprak pass is to travel here by car on your own or by taking an individual tour. Then you will not depend on the group, and you will be able to stay wherever you want and spend time at your discretion. I will definitely come here next year, and I will do just that.
In total, we spent a little more than three hours on the pass, and drove on to the last point of our route – the turquoise mountain lake Gizhgit (Bylym Lake or Bylym).
We arrived at the shore of Lake Bylym at 15:50. There are two main platforms here – downstairs there is a stable with horses, a cafe and a free toilet, and upstairs there is a natural observation deck with stunning views of the lake and the surrounding area.
horseback riding on Lake Gizhgit
the shore of Lake Gizhgit
shore of Lake Bylym
lake Bylym
There’s not much to do downstairs, since you can’t swim in the lake. It is believed that the water in it is poisonous, due to the fact that toxic and poisonous waste from the Tyrnyauz production (extraction of tungsten and molybdenum) was drained into this artificial reservoir. It is said that toxic dust still settles on the shores of this reservoir, whose water has a turquoise-acid hue. Nevertheless, there are reed beds and frogs here. Probably, only a chemical examination, which has not yet been announced, will be able to make a final verdict on its environmental friendliness.
View of Lake Gizhgit from the observation deck
View of Lake Bylym from the observation deck
Dangerous road along the edge of Lake Gizhgit
Panorama of Bylym lake
A dangerous narrow unpaved single-lane road leads to the observation deck, along which it is best to carefully climb an SUV. Riding a gazelle was scary, it seemed like it was about to fall down. In 2017, a Chevrolet Niva with five people in it crashed into Lake Gizhgit on this road. Three of them died. That is, the danger here is quite real.
There is a gazebo and parking spaces upstairs. For most tourists, this is the final destination here. I climbed a little higher at 300 meters, from where I had a wonderful view of the observation deck, the lake, and the high rocky mountains surrounding it.
Gizhgit Lake observation deck
Observation deck of Lake Gizhgit, top view
We spent about an hour here and drove back to Vladikavkaz. We returned to Ossetia not through the pass, but by another faster road. The return trip took about three hours.
Also read:
Trip to the Tsmyakom gorge for rhododendron blooming
Climbing Mount Kai-khokh in North Ossetia
Chegem waterfalls — what to see, and is it worth going here at all?
