Hike to Big Thach and Aceshboki

The route takes place in the Caucasus, on the border of the Republic of Adygea and the Krasnodar Territory. In these places there is a natural park "Big Thach".
The natural park is boundless, bright green expanses, above which the peaks of Big and Small Thach rise majestically, these are flowering alpine meadows and small snowfields on the slopes of the mountains.
The most interesting object on the territory of the natural park is the Big Thach mountain (2368 m) - the highest point of our route. Due to its beauty and uniqueness, this peak of the Western Caucasus was included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List in 1999 by the International Wildlife Fund.
During the route, we will climb to the tops of Big and Small Thach, see the famous Devil’s Gate and the Acheshbok Ridge, as well as visit several caves, which are so rich in these places.

Travel area: Russian Federation, Republic of Adygea, Krasnodar Territory.
Type of rest: accommodation in tents, hiking with backpacks.
Cost: 13900 rubles.

Travel dates in 2020 (7 days):

• 03-09 May
• 10-16 May
• August 30 - September 5

Route thread: Krasnodar, pos. New cool, waterfall Mankin Noise - Princely glade, cave "Lake" - cave "Crystal", cave "Sea Star", ascent to the top of the mountain Big Thach - Mount Small Thach, Umrilov clearing - Acheshbok Range, Devil's Gate, ascent to the western collar of Acheshbok (radially) - Shestakov's balagan - Yubileiny, Kuna River glade. Newly cool, Krasnodar.

Day 1

Until 07:00 - group gathering at the railway station Krasnodar-1 (near the entrance to the North wing of the station) and at the airport of Krasnodar.
Transfer by bus to post. New cool, 3.5 hours travel time.

Pos. New Cool, Mankin Noise Falls.
In the village of Novoprokladnoe we put on backpacks - and go!
Today we will visit the picturesque canyon of the Sahrai River and the Mankin Noise Falls. There will be shallow fords along the way. Soon we will come to a place called Taiwan, where two mountain rivers - Small and Great Sahrai - merge.
This place will be our first night out.
The active part of the route: 9.8 km, the height difference of 620-850 m, the duration of the route is 4 hours.

Day 2

Prince's glade, the cave "Lake".
Through the fir forest, the trail will lead us to the famous Princely glade.
Polyana "Prince" has a rich history, its name appeared at the end of the XIX century, when these places were chosen by the princes of the Romanov dynasty for the grand ducal Kuban hunting. The place for hunting was chosen very successful: from the Princely glade, stunningly beautiful views of distant mountains open, and the eastern side overlooks the gorge of the Hodz River.
Now, as many years ago, the untouched beauty of these places is preserved here, it is a real paradise for amateur photographers! It is in such a beautiful place that our camp will be set up.
The active part of the route: 7.3 km, the height difference of 850-1910 m, the duration of the route is 5-6 hours.

Day 3

Crystal Cave, Sea Star Cave, ascent to the top of Big Thach Mountain.
The princely glade is beautiful not only in the evening! In the morning, in good weather, it always pleases tourists with magnificent views: in the distance, from the night darkness, mountains appear, everything around is illuminated by the warm glow of the mountain morning and a new day begins!
We gather camp and head forward along the route. On the way we visit the Crystal and Sea Star caves.
Today we will conquer the Great Thach Mountain! Climbing the trail, from afar we will see the village of Sakhrai, the village of Dakhovskaya, over which you can see the thin light stripes of rocky ridges of Una-Koz and Azish-Tau.
Big Thach is one of the most popular peaks of the Western Caucasus. From the Adyghe language, its name is translated as “Mountain of Spirits” or “Sacred Mountain”.
On the south side, Big Thach resembles a medieval castle or Gothic cathedral, and from the north it looks like a solid stone wall. Its summit, like a majestic crown, rises proudly above the emerald meadows. The elevation difference between the top of the Big Thach and the beds of the surrounding rivers is about 1 km, and the length of the Thach wall is 10-12 km!
Today we will climb to the highest point of this mountain – 2368 m. From here, a magnificent panorama of the Main Caucasian Ridge opens, in clear weather you can see snow-white Elbrus, Lago-Naki plateau, Mount Fisht and Chugush - the highest point of Adygea.
From the top we go down to the saddle between the Small and Big Thach.
The active part of the route: 6.5 km, the height difference of 1910-2368-1990 m, the route duration is 5-6 hours.

Day 4

Mount Maly Thach, Umrilov clearing.
New day! New species!
Today we will take a closer picture of the younger brother of Big Thach - the mountain Small Thach, whose height is 2237 m. We will climb to its top to admire the panorama of the Caucasus Mountains and the magnificent crown of Great Thach.
Next we go to the Umrilovskaya glade. Long ago, the enterprising industrialist Umrilov rented this clearing and the surrounding forests to engage in logging here. The forest has not been cut down here for a long time, and the name of the Umrilov glade has remained.
Active part of the route: 5.3 km, height difference 1990-2237-2110 m, route duration 6 hours.

Day 5

Aceshbok Ridge, Devil's Gate, ascent to the western collar of Aceshbok.
Today is a very interesting day! You have all seen in the photos the spectacular and so alluring Acheshbok Ridge. Go to this mountain to take hundreds of stunning photos!
The Acheshbok Ridge consists of two peaks - Western and Eastern Acehbok. These two picturesque peaks are separated by a crevice, with which the array forms the Devil's Gate. The Acheshbok Ridge is very spectacular: its rocky teeth rest on the sky, and sheer dark gray rocks 450 m high sharply break down to the alpine meadows.
Aceshbok holds several legends! According to one of them, the devil once lived in these places. He decided to make a very powerful cannon that can shoot all the way to the Black Sea. He built a weapon, shot, but the core could not fly over the Acheshbok ridge and only made a hole in it. This is how the Devil's Gate was formed.
The active part of the route: 9 km, the height difference of 2110-2360 m, the duration of the route is 5-6 hours.

Day 6

Shestakov's ballagan.
In the morning we continue our way, the trail will pass through the alpine and coniferous forest. On the way we will admire Mount Athos, which ends the Athos ridge. This picturesque mountain stands in the middle of a dense forest of centuries-old fir, for which this area is called the Dark Christmas tree.
For the night we will stop at the forest glade in the Shestakov's shed.
Active part of the route: 7 km, height difference 2110-1860 m, route duration 3-4 hours.

Day 7

Balagan Jubilee, glade "Trough", river Kuna - pos. New-cool - Mr. Krasnodar.
In the morning, we glide a farewell look through the mountain landscapes and along the trampled path we leave these places.
The fir trail along the Kuna River will lead us to the Sahrai River. We were at the very beginning of our journey. We wait for transport and leave for Krasnodar.
22:00 – Arrival at Krasnodar railway station, departure home.
The active part of the route: 17.9 km, the height difference of 1860-620 m, the duration of the route is 7 hours.

Depending on the weather conditions, the physical condition of the participants and other factors, the route of the hike may be changed.

• Crossings along the route
• Rental of group equipment (bonfire equipment, boilers, gas burners, group first aid kit).
• Registration with the MOE
• Three meals a day.

The price does not include:

• Transportation costs to the beginning of the route and back (Krasnodar).
• Personal equipment (tent, backpack, sleeping bag, karemat).
• Insurance (optional)