In the morning we woke up in a great mood – from the expectation of a beautiful transition, from the fact that we rested, and from the incredible beauty of the Fisht shelter.
At the same time, we considered the shelter in detail.
We packed up our basics and went to prepare our meals in the tent on the right. It's also a clothes dryer, and just a collection point, because it's under the roof.
By the way, it was here that our pathfinder (https://www.sportmaster.ru/product/20129870299/) gas cylinder ended. It lasted 2 full days, the morning of the third; 6 persons; heating the stew, water for tea, and boiling the rice. Excellent result. But as it should be in the reserve, all the garbage is packed and goes with you.
After breakfast, the weather began to change – rain clouds began to approach, a cool wind blew.
At the last time before going out, our forester said: "I agreed, it will be sunny weather all day." We thanked him and went.
The first thing we see when we leave the camp is a monument to the fallen climbers.
The road starts through the forest, up the hill. Along the way, we warmed up with a group of climbers.
And after just a couple of steps, the forest thinned and a divine view opened.
Here we decided to take photos for everyone on the avatar 🙂
The mountains with the forest are well lit by the sun, and the faces are not very good. So Alexander arranged for Roma to stand with a telephoto with a flashlight and illuminate his face. Creative personality.
And our road continues to pass through the forest.
Then the terrain becomes more open. And the clouds keep coming up to us.
And on the other
On the route there are a huge number of monuments, flags and commemorative plaques
Two yellow stripes with red in the middle – the mark of the route, so we are going the right way. But there is no other road.
Our road lies on the Belorechensky Pass. The road is difficult, there is dirt everywhere, and if you do not probe with sticks, you can go knee-deep, as Ruslan did. The group of Maxim and Ilya was a little behind, but the connection was confident.
Finally, we crossed another climb and came to the pass.
The road goes again through the mountains and passes through the clouds.
Then something happens that we expected, but hoped it would not happen. What happens when you make a beginner's mistake and divide the group. Lost connection.
The main walkie-talkie failed due to the fact that the battery died. I did not expect, because according to my assessment and experience, the walkie-talkie (Baofeng UV-5R) lives at least 3 days of active use. In this case, there was a backup radio. And it was flooded with rain, which all the buttons on the keyboard refused. The walkie-talkie worked at the reception. This is a problem, but not critical, you need to dry the radio. And then the second test fell on his head.
We came to a small clearing where the fog from the cloud became so dense that there was absolutely no visibility. Only the navigator (OsmAnd) was able to reach the next label. And how to bring the second group? We decided to leave a mark of stones.
We set it up and realized that the idea was not very good. We decided to wait a bit. In case of failure of the radio, there was a signal – you hear a whistle (fortunately they were on every backpack), give a return whistle.
We stood, whistled, there is no response signal. Here came another group of tourists who will still play their role more than once on this day. They asked them for a walkie-talkie, set the frequency and began to call. There is no signal.
A beginner's mistake. The entire group must have an electronic card.
They made probably the only right decision in such a situation – to remove the maximum amount of weight from Alexander and send him to meet the second group. They took the stew, some of the team equipment and the tent. Alexander, who knew the way, went to meet them. And off we went.
After walking a bit, on the horizon appeared jokes in the fog, similar more to the location from Silent Hill.
There, the walkie-talkie dried up and the buttons worked, there was a signal because the guys climbed to a higher ground. We bought a couple of tortillas, took a break and moved on.
Our road goes through the Cherkessky Pass to the forest, then to the "Veselyi Descent" and from there there is a direct road to the checkpoint and shelter Babuk-Aul.
Out into the woods
We crossed paths with a group of tourists that gave us a walkie-talkie to communicate with. They rested on a small extension. We talked to them. They also go to the shelter, but decided to spend the night here (although it is forbidden). And we moved on.
The clock time is 18:00. The sun begins to set quietly and you need to speed up. We went to a small clearing, and caught a mobile connection. We got a call from the guys from the second group – Maxim, Ilya and Alexander. They have just crossed the pass and entered the forest. And we're almost out on "Merry Descent." The guys decided to continue the journey, but according to the situation to return and set up camp.
And we went to go through the "Merry Descent". Doing this in the evening is an extremely risky venture – when the sun sets, visibility will drop to zero.
Why is the descent called "fun"? The length of the descent is about 7 km. Everything is simple, the slope is up to 45 degrees, which is extremely difficult to pass. But we're moving on.
We decided to take a little break.
We decided to go to the "Clean Springs" that tourists told us about. We went to the springs, but we decided not to set up camp and go all the way to the end. But before that, eat a little.
It got dark. We packed our things, put on our flashlights and then everyone caught a panic. 2 eyes-like lights were looking at us from where we came from. Why can't I cook outside the shelter? Because bears can come.
Slowly approach each other and begin to step back. And then the eyes begin to move away. "Squint-eyed bear," I thought. But there were only fireflies. Extremely bright.
Meanwhile, the sun had completely set and had to walk in complete darkness.
To understand the complexity of what is happening – everything that is beyond the light spot of the lantern is absolutely invisible. Also, due to the high humidity, the vapor from the mouth remains at eye level, so each exhalation blocks visibility for a few seconds.
Finally, we went downhill and went straight to the checkpoint. They began to ask the foresters drunk in the hollow to stay with them, because there was no more strength to go. But the conversation did not work out, we were sent to an orphanage.
After discussing, we decided to reach the river (1.5 km) and make a decision whether to spend the night nearby or continue the way to the shelter.
When we reached the river, we agreed to continue on our way. After walking another 2.5 km we finally came to the shelter. Our emotions were indescribable.
After dropping our backpacks, we sat on the arson and almost fell asleep on them. Somehow finding the last strength we set up our tents and fell asleep.
We decided to start the day as early as possible, but it turned out as always – a rise at 7, breakfast at 7:20, packing and checking out of the shelter at 10.50. Get off at 11 am on a route of 22 km? Of course, the plan is perfect. In addition, there was another problem – Maxim last day was tired of cooking food for everyone and his rice was undercooked, and in the morning he felt extremely bad.
Decided to go
Last day, a forester was asked if there was any way to get to the next shelter not on foot. Of course, he replied. Helicopter or horses (but only things). We prepared to walk.
We climbed through the forest to the Belorechensky Pass, and a strong fog covers us. And then it's like in a horror movie.
Visibility is 2-3 meters, part of the group (Maxim and Ilya) are lost due to different speeds of passage, the main walkie-talkie sits on the far side from the cold (at night +3-5), the backup radio is flooded with water, and it works exclusively for reception. Communication with the second group is lost. In addition, the road goes into the fog with zero visibility, and only the navigator knows how to pass it. And the navigator is only mine.
They took everything they could from Sani and sent him to meet the second group. Sanya successfully got there, found out that they turned off the trail and left in the other direction. I took them to the right path and went.
We got to the stalls, had a little snack and went to the Cherkessky Pass. After it there are no climbs, the road is exclusively down.
Nice forest with small waterfalls, which we practically ran. And then, what is called "Merry Descent" – a passage through the forest, with a slope of 45 degrees. Most of the descent (7 km) we passed by light, the remaining 2 km to the checkpoint and another 4 to the shelter we walked at night.
At this time, the second group (Max, Ilya, Sanya) was just entering the forest. On a small plot there was a mobile connection, we called and they decided to spend the night in the forest, because it was already very dark, and going through the whole fun descent can be life-threatening. They were lucky to meet tourists from the LizaAlert group, and the fact that they had a tent. We agreed to go early in the morning to get to us.
The passage of the forest at night cannot be expressed in words: due to humidity, the vapor from the mouth does not rise, and remains at eye level; due to the lack of illumination of the city, complete darkness. You can safely crash into a tree, simply because it is a centimeter farther than the light spot of a lantern.
After wiping our feet to the point where there were no fingerprints on our fingers, we still made it to the checkpoint. We asked with tears in our eyes for permission to set up tents and spend the night, but the foresters who were booing in the hollow sent us to an orphanage. And we went.
When we got to the shelter, we just fell to the ground and almost fell asleep. We barely set up a tent and fell asleep.