Indigirka River: geographical information. The Indigirka River and its seven wonderful places Where is the Indigirka River located

Indigirka (Yakut. Indigiir) is a river in the northeast of Yakutia.
The hydronym Indigirka is based on the Even generic name Indigir - “people of the Indi clan” (-gir Even suffix plural). Or Dog River.
The length of the river is 1726 km, the basin area is 360 thousand km². The beginning of the Indigirka is taken to be the confluence of two rivers - Tuora-Yuryakh (Khastakh, Khalkan or Kalkan - 251 km) and Taryn-Yuryakh (63 km), which originate on the northern slopes of the Khalkan ridge; flows into the East Siberian Sea. The total length of Indigirka and Tuora-Yuryakh (Khastakh or Kalkan) is 1977 km. The Indigirka basin is located in the area of ​​permafrost development rocks, and therefore its rivers are characterized by the formation of giant aufeis.

According to the structure of the valley and channel and the speed of the flow, Indigirka is divided into two sections: the upper mountain (640 km) and the lower plain (1086 km). After the confluence of the Tuora-Yuryakh and Taryn-Yuryakh rivers, the Indigirka flows northwest along the lowest part of the Oymyakon Highlands, turning north, cutting through a number of mountain ranges of the Chersky ridge. The width of the valley here is from 0.5-1 to 20 km, the bed is pebbly, there are many rivers, the flow speed is 2-3.5 m/s. When crossing the Chemalginsky ridge, the Indigirka flows in a deep gorge and forms rapids; flow speed 4 m/s. This area is unsuitable even for rafting. Above the mouth of the Moma River, where the Indigirka River enters the Momo-Selennyakh depression, the lower section begins. The Indigirka Valley is expanding, the channel is replete with shoals and spits, and in some places it breaks into branches. Having rounded the Momsky ridge, the Indigirka flows further along the low-lying plain. On the Abyi lowland it is very winding; on the Yana-Indigirka lowland, the Indigirka is characterized by straight long reaches 350-500 m wide. 130 km from the mouth, the Indigirka breaks into branches (the main ones: Russian mouth, Sredniy - the largest, Kolyma), forming a delta (with an area of ​​5500 km²). The mouth of the Indigirka is separated from the sea by a shallow bar.

INDIGIRKA RIVER
The Indigirka River flows in the northeast of Siberia, through the territory of Yakutia. The name of the river comes from the Even family name Indigir - “people of the Indi clan”. Russian explorers of the 17th century. they pronounced this name as Indigirka - just like the names of other large Siberian rivers: Kureika, Tunguska, Kamchatka.
The Indigirka is formed by the confluence of the Khastakh and Taryn-Yuryakh rivers, in the upper reaches it flows along the Oymyakon plateau, cuts through the Chersky ridge along a narrow deep valley, in the lower reaches it flows along the Yana-Indigirka lowland. The riverbed of the Indigirka is very winding. The Indigirka is divided into two sections according to the structure of the valley and channel, as well as the speed of the current: the upper mountain (length 640 km) and the lower plain (length 1086 km).
When it flows into the East Siberian Sea, 130 km from the mouth, the Indigirka breaks into branches (Russkoe estuary, Sredniy and Kolyma), forming a delta with an area of ​​5.5 thousand km2.
Almost half of the annual flow occurs during the flood period in May - July. Due to the permafrost rocks through which the river flows, it is characterized by the formation of giant ice dams, and in winter the Indigirka in its lower reaches completely freezes over.
Since the river is filled with rapids and rifts in many places, navigation along the Indigirka is possible only in the middle and lower reaches, from the confluence of the Moma River (406 km).
Compared to other rivers of North-Eastern Siberia, the Indigirka is not rich in fish, but what is available is valuable species: sterlet, burbot, shooting range, muksun, peled, vendace, whitefish, nelma, omul, whitefish, and flounder enters the river mouth.
The Indigirka basin is a famous gold mining area.
“All the rifts, and the rifts...” - this line from the song of the bard Alexander Gorodnitsky perfectly describes the nature of the bed of the Indigirka River.
The Indigirka flows from southern to northern border Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), crossing four geographical zones (from south to north): taiga forests, forest-tundra, tundra and arctic desert.
It was possible to explore the bed of the Indigirka in detail only in 1926 by the expedition of the Soviet geologist and future academician Sergei Vladimirovich Obruchev (1891-1965), son famous traveler and researcher Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (1863-1956). In 1926-1935 S. Obruchev studied the Indigirka basin and for the first time established that there were industrial reserves of gold there. S. Obruchev continued and completed a large study mountain system in the Indigirka basin, begun by I. D. Chersky (1845-1892), and named it after the discoverer - the Chersky Ridge.
Currently, Indigirka remains one of the main water transport arteries in the North-East of Russia. On its shore is North Pole cold - Oymyakon village. In 1933, a temperature of -67.7°C was recorded here. True, a number of experts consider Verkhoyansk to be the pole of cold.
Another less famous attraction of Indigirka is the abandoned city of Zashiversk. It was founded in 1639, in 1783-1805. was a county town, but after the smallpox epidemic of 1812-1856. the inhabitants abandoned it, and by the end of the 19th century it was completely deserted.

CLIMATE AND WEATHER
Sharply continental.
Long winter, short summer.
Average January temperature: -40.7°C.
Average July temperature: +14°C.
Average annual precipitation: 218 mm.
Relative humidity: 70%.
Freeze-up from October to May, ice drift for 3-4 days.

ECONOMY
Minerals: gold, coal (Moma basin).
River navigation.
Tourism (rafting and amateur fishing).

ATTRACTIONS
■ Natural: Oymyakon - the northern pole of cold, the Indigirka delta with its sleeves.
■ Historical: the abandoned city of Zashiversk.
■ Cult: Zashiverskaya Chapel (2000).
■ In the village of Chokurdakh, at the mouth of the Indigirka, one of the northern ports of Russia is located: the duration of navigation is less than three months.

Hydrology
Indigirka is fed by rain and melt (snow, glacial and ice) waters. High water in warm part year; The spring flow is 32%, summer 52%, autumn about 16%, winter less than 1% and the river freezes in places (Crest Major, Chokurdakh). The average flow rate at Ust-Nera is 428 m³/s, the maximum is 10,600 m³/s, at Vorontsov, respectively, 1570 m³/s and 11,500 m³/s. The range of level fluctuations is 7.5 and 11.2 m, the highest levels in June - early July. Annual flow at the mouth is 58.3 km³; solid waste 13.7 million tons. Freezes in October, opens at the end of May - beginning of June.

Tributaries
In its upper reaches, the Indigirka receives its main tributaries: on the left - Kuidusun, Kuente, Elgi, on the right - Nera. The main tributaries of the lower reaches: on the right - Moma, Badyarikha, on the left - Selennyakh, Uyandina, Allaikha, Boryolekh.

Settlements
On Indigirka there are Oymyakon, Ust-Nera, Khonuu, White Mountain, Chokurdakh.
Navigable from the mouth of the Moma River (1134 km). Main piers: Khonuu, Druzhina, Chokurdakh, Tabor. In the Indigirka basin there is gold mining.

Nature
The Indigirka is rich in fish; at the mouth there is a fishery for vendace, broad whitefish, muksun, nelma, omul, and whitefish.

Attractions
On Indigirka there is the northern pole of cold - the village of Oymyakon and the monument city of Zashiversk, which died out from smallpox in the 19th century.

CHERSKY RIDGE
The Chersky Ridge is located in the North-East of Siberia, but is not a ridge in the usual sense of the word, but is a mountain system extending over 1500 km. The highest point is Mount Pobeda, 3003 meters (according to outdated data 3147 meters).
The Chersky Ridge is one of the last large geographical objects to appear on the map of our country. It was discovered by S. V. Obruchev in 1926 and named after the researcher I. D. Chersky, who died during an expedition to North-Eastern Siberia in 1892. The boundaries of the mountain system are the Yano-Oymyakon Highlands in the southwest and the Momo-Selennyakh rift depression in the northeast. It extends across the territory of Yakutia and the Magadan region.
In the western part of the mountain system, between the Yana and Indigirka rivers, there are the Hadaranya (up to 2185 m), Tas-Khayakhtakh (2356 m), Chemalginsky (2547 m), Kurundya (1919 m), Dogdo (2272 m), Chibagalakhsky (2449 m) ridges ), Borong (2681 m), Silyapsky (2703 m), etc. In the east, in the upper reaches of the Kolyma, there are the Ulakhan-Chistai ridges (the highest point of Pobeda - 3003 m), Cherge (2332 m), etc. Often to the system The Chersky ridge also includes the Momo-Selennyakh intermountain depression and the Selennyakhsky, Momsky and some others ridges rising above it in the north.
The Chersky Ridge was formed during the Mesozoic folding, then gradually penetrified, and during the Alpine folding it split into separate blocks, some of which rose (horsts), while others sank (grabens). Medium-altitude mountains predominate. The ridges rising to 2000-2500 m (Ulakhan-Chistai, Chibagalakhsky, etc.) are distinguished by alpine relief and bear modern glaciers. The axial parts of the mountain system are composed of highly dislocated and metamorphosed Paleozoic carbonate rocks, and the margins are composed of marine and continental strata of the Permian, Triassic and Jurassic periods (shales, sandstones and siltstones); in many places these rocks are intruded by powerful intrusions of granitoids, which are associated with deposits of gold, tin and other minerals.
The climate is harsh, sharply continental. In winter, a temperature inversion is observed when the temperature drops from the tops of the ridges (−34 ... −40 °C) to the lows (−60 °C). Summers are short and cool, with frequent frosts and snowfalls. The average July temperature rises from 3 °C in the highlands to 13 °C in some valleys. Precipitation is from 300 to 700 mm per year (up to 75% of its amount falls in summer). Permafrost is everywhere.
Many rivers, including the Indigirka and its tributaries, cross the ridges in very narrow valleys; The Moma and Selennyakh flow in intermountain basins and have wide, sometimes swampy valleys. The rivers are fed by melting snow and summer rains. Over 60% of the annual runoff occurs in summer, winter runoff is no more than 5% of the annual flow. In winter, ice dams are common, and small rivers freeze to the bottom.
The altitudinal zonation is represented by tall poplar-chozenia forests at the bottom of river valleys, sparse larch forests in the lower part of the slopes of ridges and thickets of dwarf cedar and alder, as well as rocky, lichen and shrub tundras in the highlands. At the tops of the highest ridges there are cold rocky deserts.

Yakut Santa Claus

POLE OF COLD
Oymyakon (Yakut: Өimөkөөn) is a village in the Oymyakonsky ulus of Yakutia, on the left bank of the Indigirka River.
Oymyakon is best known as one of the “Poles of Cold” on the planet; according to a number of parameters, the Oymyakon Valley is the most severe place on Earth where a permanent population lives.

Oymyakon is the center of the rural settlement “Borogonsky 1st Nasleg”.
Oymyakon is located in high latitudes (but south of the Arctic Circle), day length varies from 4 hours 36 minutes on December 22 to 20 hours 28 minutes on June 22, from May 24 to July 21, there are white nights and light all day long. From May 14 to July, the height of the sun at noon is above 45 degrees and the midday shadow is shorter than the vertical object; from August to May 13, the height of the sun at noon is below 45 degrees and the midday shadow is longer than the vertical object; from May to August 13, nights with navigational twilight last, with Twilight nights with astronomical twilight continue from April 13 to August. The first night with navigational twilight is celebrated on the first day of the last month of calendar spring, the last day with a sun height at noon above 45 degrees is celebrated on the last day of the second month of calendar summer.
The village is located at an altitude of 745 meters above sea level.
The settlements closest to the village are Khara-tumul (the closest) and Bereg-yurdya. Also very close to the village are Tomtor, Yuchyugey and the Airport.

Climate
Oymyakon has a rather complex climate. The climate is influenced by the latitude of the village, equal to 63.27 degrees (subpolar latitudes), great distance from the ocean (sharply continental climate), and location at an altitude of 741 meters above sea level (affected by altitudinal zone). Altitude lowers the temperature by 4 degrees compared to what it would be at sea level and speeds up the cooling of the air at night. In winter, cold air flows into the village, since it is located in a basin. Summer is short, with a large difference in daily temperatures; during the day it can be +30 °C and above, but at night the temperature can drop by 15-20 °C. The average annual atmospheric pressure in Oymyakon is 689 millimeters mercury. The absolute minimum temperature at the Airport is −64.3 degrees.

At the moment, the authorities of Yakutia have resolved the dispute in favor of Verkhoyansk, but the question remains open: a number of scientists and meteorological observations clearly indicate the advantage of Oymyakon in the dispute for the “frosty championship of the Northern Hemisphere.” Although the minimum average monthly temperature in Verkhoyansk in January is 3 degrees lower than in Oymyakon (-57.1 in 1892), and is also lower on average in January, February, April, June, July, August and December, according to today's data the annual average the temperature in Oymyakon is 0.3 degrees lower than in Verkhoyansk, and the absolute minimum, according to unofficial data, is 12.2 degrees lower. If we take official data, the temperature will rise by 4.4 degrees.

Temperature observation technique
It is necessary to clarify the location of meteorological observations. Regular weather observations are carried out at Oymyakon airport, which is located 40 km from the village of the same name and 2 km from the village of Tomtor. However, when talking about minimum temperatures, the name Oymyakon is always used. This is due to the fact that Oymyakon is not only the name of the village, but also the name of the area.
In addition to the extreme cold in winter, in summer Oymyakon experiences temperatures above +30 °C. On July 28, 2010, a heat record (as well as monthly and absolute) was recorded in the village. Then the air warmed up to +34.6 °C. The difference between the absolute maximum and minimum temperatures is more than one hundred degrees, and according to this indicator, Oymyakon ranks one of the first places in the world.
According to unofficial data, in 1938 the temperature in the village was -77.8°C. On Antarctic station"East" was noted as the most low temperature on Earth (-89.2 °C), however, the station is located at an altitude of 3488 m above sea level, and if both temperature indicators are adjusted to sea level, then Oymyakon will be recognized as the coldest place on the planet (-68.3 and -77 ,6 degrees respectively).

FISHING ON INDIGIRKA
Fishing report: January 14, 2013 - January 15, 2013, Indigirka river
Fishing date: January 14, 2013 - January 15, 2013
Body of water: Indigirka river
Place - region/district: Sakha (Yakutia)
Detailed description of the place:
Route Yakutsk - Khandyga - Yuchugei - Tomtor. Indigirka River.
Description of the road:
Road M56 “Kolyma” (Kolyma highway), the distance from Yakutsk to the village of Tomtor (Oymyakonsky ulus) is approximately 940 km. The condition of the route is satisfactory.
Weather: The weather is stable, constantly minus 48-52 degrees Celsius. There is no wind.
Condition of the reservoir:
The strength of the current is very strong, approximately 3 meters per second.
Fishing method: Spinning, Jig
My tackle:
Ice drill Mora Ice Arctic 130, Extreme Fishing fishing rod D70mm, winter fishing line Salmo Ice 0.15, 0.30 mm.
My lures:
Flies of light colors, “snitch” for catching burbot.
Bait: The “snitch” was baited with shrimp and pieces of squid.
What kind of fish did you catch: grayling, burbot
Biting/fish activity: Sluggish, but catchable during daylight hours.
My catch: 5-10 kilograms
The most big fish burbot, 4.5 kg.
Detailed fishing report
The other day I went to the Oymyakonsky ulus, the village of Tomtor (Pole of Cold). The impetus for this trip was an acquaintance who flew in from Moscow for this purpose, he is also a “cold hunter”. The purpose of the "expedition" was not fishing, but viewing the sights of the Pole of Cold.
But, we still found time to go fishing for a few hours (Indigirka River). On the advice of local fishermen, who knew all the habits of local fish (grayling, lenok, burbot), we trusted their gear.
To catch grayling, you need flies (preferably with a light color), monofilament 0.15-18 mm, and a weight of 20-30 grams. We knit a weight at the end of the fishing line and alternately 2 flies, the interval between the flies is 30-40 cm. It turned out something like a DROPSHOT. Mostly grayling fish bite on this rig. Game: without lifting the load too much from the bottom, gently tug with a nod. Grayling bites are very gentle, as they say, barely “audible” when you nod.
Tackle for catching burbot, here you need a thicker monofilament line: 0.30 mm, or even 0.40 mm, a weight from 40 to 50 grams, two leashes of 20 cm, 2 tees. Tap the bottom at intervals of 10 seconds.
Bait: shrimp on a hook with pieces of squid, a kind of sandwich.
Of course, we didn’t catch many fish. But, several graylings and burbots were caught. Nalimov took a photo with his camera, and it seemed to work out well. Well, the locals took pictures of the Kharyuz, and I, being carried away by the process of extreme fishing, completely forgot about the camera. Valentin was lucky; a burbot weighing more than 4 kg pecked at his “snitch”; he even had to widen the hole with an ice pick.
I was surprised that the ice of the Indigirka River is not at all thick, in some places up to 40 cm, and in other reservoirs of Yakutia the thickness of the ice is already more than a meter.
In general, I was left with a good impression of Oymyakon; although the landscape is winter, it still exudes the beauty and severity of our northern region.
Pysy: in the summer they were officially invited to go fishing in Lake Labynkyr, where, according to local legends, there lives a monster described as similar to a plesiosaur. Old residents of Tomtor believe that the animal, called the “devil,” has lived in the lake since time immemorial and behaves extremely aggressively.
Stories are passed down from mouth to mouth about how one day an unknown creature climbed onto the shore and chased a Yakut fisherman until he died of fear. Another time, the “devil” stuck his head out of the water and, in front of the village residents, swallowed a swimming dog. The most common object of hunting is deer. They tell how a local shepherd tied a reindeer team to some kind of tusk sticking out of the ice, and while he was making a fire on the shore he heard a crash - the tusk swayed, the ice fell apart, and something huge carried the deer into the abyss.
The most big fish Lake Labynkyr - burbot (“master”). In addition to it, at least 20 species of fish live in the lake (pike, tom, grayling, lenok, alimba, whitefish, whitefish, char, dolly malma...). So there is more than enough food for a potential giant animal
Well, we will wait for the onset of the summer season.
General summary: In winter the fish are sluggish, you need to go in the summer. Fishing at -50 degrees, to put it mildly: very uncomfortable. In winter, temperatures sometimes reach -60% Celsius. The highest recorded low temperature in Tomtor is -71.2
So the show “The Last Hero” nervously smokes on the sidelines. Indigirka River

TRAVEL AROUND INDIGIRKA (YAKUTIA)
(article by Sergei Karpukhin)

So, on June 19, in the evening we managed to get on the water and walk the first kilometers of the river on our catamaran. I’ll immediately point out that this part of Indigirka is far from the most interesting and I had no illusions about this. However, in this part it was also necessary to film and show this part of the river somehow. And from the very beginning it was clear that the river would have to be developed photographically with the active use of the upper points. That is, you need to run around the nearby hills to find good angles from above. It is from above that one can most likely show the river in the most representative way. But in this part of the river the peas are exactly the problem. No, there are quite a few of them in the surrounding area, but they are all somehow far from the river.
However, already at the first parking lot I had my eye on one place where the river approaches a low hill and even slightly cuts it along the right bank, about 15-20 kilometers below the bridge. This is almost reaching the mouth of Kuidusun. It was already at night on June 20th and we arrived there, fortunately there is no night here at this time of year. It must be said that in this part of the river, on top of everything else, a good parking place is difficult to find. Moreover, even getting pregnant turned out to be not so easy. Perhaps simply because there is too much water in the river.
As is usually the case in landscape photography, finding an angle is not enough, you also need good light and condition. But nothing amazing happened in two days at the chosen point; what’s more, the weather turned bad, we had to wait it out, and when it got better, it didn’t show anything outstanding either. The harvest turned out to be meager, so today’s post will be short. But I don’t set myself the task of showing only beautiful cards from the expedition, this can be collected in one post and that’s it. Imagining the river and its appearance as much as possible is what I want. And as I already promised, I give the location of the shooting point in coordinates - 63°N 23.934-143°E 19.235, and under the cut is a piece of the map where I marked this point.
This is what the river looks like below the parking point. It’s hard to see in the photo, but the village of Tomtor is visible under the mountains in the upper right part of the frame. And from this point on the mountain there is mobile communication from the village. Further up to Ust-Nera it is deaf.

Even when we were just getting ready to go to Yakutia, information came that Ysyakh, an annual and traditional Yakut holiday, was being started in Tomtor. Until now, I somehow never managed to get on it, despite the fact that this is not the first time in Yakutia. And here everything seems to be going well, and if we arrive as planned, then it would be quite possible to visit and photograph this spring festival. However, as I described earlier, the flood that occurred and the destroyed Kolyma highway made adjustments not only to our plans, but also to the plans of the local administration. After all, this time a grandiose youth Ysyakh was planned and young people from all over Yakutia were supposed to gather in Tomtor. How will people come if there is no road? Therefore, the opening of the holiday was postponed to June 22. We arrived in Tomtor on June 18th and, of course, we couldn’t afford to wait that long for the event. But I also didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get interesting material. That's why I came up with this arrangement...
For now we are starting rafting along the Indigirka, the first days of which I already described in the previous post, but we are going only to the village of Oymyakon, which is located on the left bank of the Indigirka, about forty kilometers from the start of the rafting. There we slow down and from there I find the opportunity to go to Tomtor on Ysyakh, and Valera will remain to look after the entire household. There is a road between the villages, the distance is only 40 kilometers, so the plans are quite feasible. And on June 21, we left the first stop, which I told you about last time, and went to Oymyakon, where we ended up in the evening of that day.

Oymyakon is a pole of cold. Indeed, this region has the coldest winters in the entire northern hemisphere. And this is the main local attraction.

I must say that in the first days of the rafting we still couldn’t get along with our partner. Frankly speaking, our alloy did not stick well. Or rather, it just had to stick. My catamaran has already covered many kilometers before, but this is the first time it has broken through a gondola. On the approach to the village, they began to look for a convenient place where to stand on the outskirts, so as not to be seen and at the same time, so that it was not far from the village. Then you will have to look for an opportunity to go to Tomtor.
As a result, we stuck into a narrow channel right on the outskirts of the village and somewhere on the shallows, from which a lot of glass was sticking out, but we saw this later and found our very sharp piece of glass. The water began to boil under the right gondola and we urgently had to throw ourselves ashore. And in order not to be stuck with this misfortune right in the village, they rushed to the other side of the channel. As a result, we ended up on an island, where we then had to spend the whole day repairing the gondola. And only the next day, that is, on June 22, we got on the water again and went just below the village, where we found a convenient parking place.
And I still managed to visit Ysyakh, but I’ll tell you about that next time. In the meantime, a few photos from the village of Oymyakon so that you have an idea of ​​what everything looks like there.

To begin with, a few landscapes from the shore on the outskirts of the village where we stopped, so that what happens next doesn’t seem so sad.
About 500 people live in Oymyakon and it is a livestock village. The main village of Oymyakonya is still considered Tomtor, despite the fact that the administrative center of the Oymyakonsky ulus is Ust-Nera.
Local supermarket. It seems that there are only a couple of stores here, the opening hours of which are very limited in time. It was not possible to get acquainted with the assortment, but you can guess.
But I managed to try the local sour cream, it’s very good. There is even something like a dairy plant here.
They say that during the winter one house consumes several truckloads of firewood.
But there is still no mobile communication in the village, although there seem to be plans for it in the near future. Available only in Tomtor. I remember it wasn’t there in 2010 either.

I managed to visit Ysyakh. Having settled on the banks of the Indigirka River, just below the village of Oymyakon, he left Valera with all the household, and on the morning of June 23rd he went to the village with the hope of finding some opportunity to go to Tomtor. It turned out that almost half of Oymyakon also intended to attend the festival. As a result, finding transport was not difficult. I hoped, of course, to get it done in one day, return to Oymyakon in the evening and continue sailing the Indigirka another day. But that was not the case. It turns out that this was just a preliminary, rehearsal day and we didn’t manage to see or film anything worthwhile. I had to return to Oymyakon with almost nothing and spend another day on Ysyakh, the very next day.

Well what can I say. The scale of the event amazed me. Unfortunately, I don’t know the roots and traditions of this holiday well enough. I can only say that for the Yakuts this is very important holiday, perhaps the most important. It seems like it’s Yakut at the same time New Year and the spring festival immediately. Therefore, I will not be clever with words here, but rather I will show a lot of photographs and in return I will ask my Yakut friends to enlighten us a little about the Ysyakh holiday. Write directly in the comments. True, they explained to me that this was a youth Ysyakh and it was very different from the traditional one. It turned out to be more like a youth festival, but with elements of national traditions.
2. The event was traditionally held on the outskirts of Tomtor near the road to the airport. Here, some time ago, this house was built, something like the residence of Chyskhaan, the Yakut Father Frost.

Well, the beautiful Ysyakh holiday is over, it’s time to know the honor, or rather, set sail from the shore near Oymyakon in search of new angles on Indigirka. However, during the holiday one event occurred that made quite significant changes in the course of the expedition. Allow me a few words in order. On the first day of Ysyakh, when I first arrived in Tomtor, the first thing I did was call Semyon Baishev. He immediately expressed a desire to meet and half an hour later came up to me in the clearing where the holiday was just being prepared. But he came up not alone, but with a young man in whom I recognized Yura, whom I had seen until now only in photographs. So, this Yura is another participant in my expedition, but he was supposed to join us not even in Tomtor, but only in Ust-Nera. To avoid any judgments, I will tell his story very briefly. Before joining the expedition, Yura planned an independent rafting alone, first along Artyk, but something didn’t work out there, and as a result he went along Kyubyum.
And this is very close to Tomtor. It was his debut and the debut was not a success, which does not surprise me at all, after I got to know the person better. In short, his rafting very quickly ended in overkill, but luckily the road was nearby and Yura went out onto it, throwing away a bunch of what turned out to be unnecessary things and equipment. (Of what he had left, another half could definitely have been left behind, but a lot what was needed was just missing.
I didn’t want to make assessments, but it just doesn’t work out.) And so Yura found himself in Tomtor, thinking about what to do next, it’s good that Semyon sheltered him. And then I very opportunely showed up and the issue was resolved on its own. Of course, you need to join the expedition. We must still give the man his due, despite Yura’s unsuccessful start, he had no intention of letting me down in any way, and in any case, he intended to arrive in Ust-Nera by the specified date.

We set sail from the shore near Oymyakon on June 25, now the three of us. And it’s better than two people, it’s been proven. The holidays are over, now all that remains is to photograph the landscapes of Indigirka. And as I have long understood, here you need to look for parking places where it is not only convenient to set up a camp, but also there is an opportunity to climb to the highest shooting points.
On this day we wanted to go further, because we had already spent so many days in the vicinity of Tomtor, and the first stage ends in ten days and on July 5th we definitely need to be in Ust-Nera, where Valera should leave us, but a new one should arrive instead participant. But there is nowhere to rush, the current on the river is quite fast, and the distance of three hundred kilometers is not that great. In short, we walked a joking 55 kilometers that day. In fact, they didn’t even want that much, but they still couldn’t find an acceptable place. As a result, they found him on the island around one in the morning. But the channels that are closer to the shore here turned out to be very shallow and it was quite possible to walk in waders to the side of the mountain and, accordingly, climb it. But this is the next day. We had a day at this place, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to film anything. Although the harvest turned out to be not very rich. As always, there was not enough interesting states and unusual light.

Usually I chose the next parking spot in advance, using the map. The principle, as I already said, is simple: having the opportunity to reach the top shooting point. It was easy to predict this possibility from the map; it was also possible to predict how interesting the angles would be. But how convenient the anchorage would be in terms of everyday life could only be seen on the spot; most often the place was rejected for the reason that it was simply not possible to dock normally.
As well as other nuances that affect the comfort of living. This time I planned a stop very close to the previous shooting point. But this turned out to be the case when the real place did not arouse enthusiasm. As a result, we slipped past and swam further, looking at the shores, maybe something interesting would turn up. And on the next kilometer, we first saw a motor boat on the left bank, and after another few hundred meters some antennas behind the trees, and then buildings. Of course, we decided to moor and see what kind of habitat it was far from populated areas. But before I even came ashore, it already became clear that this was a weather station. And, apparently, it is working. But we had no information about its availability. Well, let there be a surprise.

Leaving the men at the catamaran, I went on reconnaissance myself. On the shore, next to the house on which hung a sign - Yurta Weather Station, apparently disturbed by the barking of dogs, the owner met us. Hello, hello, we’re not locals ourselves, can we find some water to drink, otherwise we’re so hungry that there’s nowhere to spend the night, and it looks like you have a bathhouse. My benevolent openness immediately worked, and although the owner himself was resting at that time, after night duty, they gave us the go-ahead to stop, and they also correctly understood the hints about the bathhouse. This was already relevant, because they didn’t wash properly from Moscow itself, and today it’s been almost two weeks since they left her home.
I’m cursing myself now, but I should have recorded some kind of interview with the guys. After all, the married couple Valera and Larisa live here on the outskirts, far from civilization. They serve at a weather station, every day they provide information on temperature, pressure, humidity and other nuances, on the basis of which weather forecasts are then built. To my assumption that the guys are from Novosibirsk, they answered in the affirmative.
It is there that there is a school of meteorologists, which supplies specialists to such weather stations. I have met graduates from there more than once in remote places. And I even found mutual acquaintances whom I had met fifteen years ago on other travels. Now the guys are here alone, but they are expecting another one soon married couple, I really want to go on vacation. Usually, by the way, more than two people work at a weather station. But now the weather service is under pressure, because many weather stations have completely closed. And despite the rather specific working conditions, the salary here is unenviable. But in nature. Again, berries, mushrooms, fishing. But this is so good in the summer, but in the winter it’s completely winter, and even the night is impenetrable.
And in the bathhouse, of course, we washed ourselves and the next day we left our hospitable hosts clean, well-fed and satisfied.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
http://karpukhins.livejournal.com/

photo and article from Sergei Karpukhin.
Rudich K.N. Mountains and gorges of Indigirka / Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - M.: Nauka, 1973. - 96 p. — (The present and future of the Earth and humanity). — 22,000 copies. (region)
Rudich K.N. The river that awakened the mountains / USSR Academy of Sciences. - M.: Nauka, 1977. - 160 p. — (Popular science series). — 34,700 copies. (region)
Chikachev A. G. Russians on Indigirka: Historical and ethnographic essay / Rep. ed. Dr. Philol. Sciences A.I. Fedorov; Reviewers: Dr. Ist. Sciences N. A. Minenko, Candidates of History. Sciences F. F. Bolonev, F. I. Zykov. Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy; Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences.. - Novosibirsk: Science, Siberian Branch, 1990. - 192 p. — (Pages of the history of our Motherland). — 25,000 copies. — ISBN 5-02-029623-6. (region)
State water register: Indigirka. state water register. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013.
Indigirka - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Indigirka in the Dictionary of Modern Geographical Names
http://wikimapia.org/
http://geosfera.info/
http://fion.ru/Pingator/38281/

Geographical encyclopedia

The river in the east of Yakutia is 1726 km, the basin area is 360 thousand km2. It is formed by the confluence of the Khastakh and Taryn Yuryakh rivers. It flows through the Oymyakon Highlands, then cuts through the mountain range. Chersky, lower reaches in the lowlands. It flows into the East Siberian Sea, forming... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

INDIGIRKA, a river in the east of Yakutia. 1726 km, pl. basin 360 thousand km2. It is formed by the confluence of the Khas Takh and Taryn Yuryakh rivers. It flows through the Oyma Horse Highlands, then cuts through the Chersky ridge, the lower course in the lowlands. Flows into the East Siberian Sea ... Russian history

Exist., number of synonyms: 1 river (2073) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Dictionary of synonyms

A river in Russia, in the east of Yakutia. 1726 km, basin area 360 thousand km2. Formed by the merger of pp. Khastakh and Taryn Yuryakh. It flows along the Oymyakon Highlands, then cuts through the Chersky ridge, and the lower reaches in the lowlands. Flows into the East Siberian... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary

Indigirka- a river that flows into the Vost. Siberian Sea; Yakutia. The hydronym Indigirka is based on Evensk. generic name Indigir people of the Indi clan (Gir Evensk plural suffix). Russian explorers of the 17th century. the name was adopted from Russian. suffix ka, which... ... Toponymic dictionary

Indigirka- river, flows into the East Siberian Sea, Sakha (Yakutia). The hydronym Indigirka is from the Even generic name Indigir - “people of the Indi clan” gir (Even plural suffix). Explorers of the 17th century. the name was adopted from Russian... ... Geographical names of the Russian Far East

River in the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Length 1726 km, basin area 360 thousand km2. It originates with two sources Khastakh and Taryn Yuryakh on the northern slopes of the Khalkan ridge; flows into the East Siberian Sea. The I. basin is located in the development area... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The river of the Yakut region, irrigating the Verkhoyansk and Kolyma districts, originates on the northern slope of the Stanovoy Range and is formed from the confluence of two rivers, the Omyokon and Kuidusun. I. flows into the Arctic Ocean through 4 mouths, of which the east. called Kolyma... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Indigirka- (Indigirka)Indigirka, river, in Yakutia, N.V. Siberia, Russia. Flows in the north for 1,779 km, from the Suntar Hayat ridge to Vostochno Siberian Sea, forming a wide delta... Countries of the world. Dictionary

Indigirka river

Hiking in the mountains, where people rarely visit, where you can still meet Bigfoot - Chuchuna.

Route: Moscow – Yakutsk – Ust-Nera – Indigirka river – Khonuu – Yakutsk – Moscow

Route length: 375 km, of which the water part is 345 km, (radial excursions with light luggage 30 km)

Duration of the hike : 18 days (15 hiking days)

Number of participants: 8

Brief summary

The Indigirka is a river with a fairly fast current. In the middle section, the river breaks through the mountain range. There is a difficult section with powerful rifts and rapids, while all the key places can be bypassed near the shore, enjoying the pleasure of swinging along the waves. With our high water, many obstacles were filled with water, which made it easier to pass. After the Krivun rapids, the river flattens out and continues to flow without obstacles. There are a lot of robberies in the riverbed in front of the village of Khonuu. Indigirka is a river with beautiful scenery, with very cordial and sociable local residents.

Indigirka Pilot

Mikhail Mestnikov travel company "Nord Stream" Yakutsk[email protected]

The second route, the most interesting for sports rafting, starts from the village of Ust-Nera. In the first section between the villages of Ust-Nera and Chumpu-Kytyl, the river describes large arcs, bypassing hills with rocky banks. The river speed is 2.5 m/s, the average slope is 0.5 m/km. The width of the channel is 250 - 400 m. Pressures are rare. The movement of motor boats and small self-propelled barges is possible. The second section is rapids, 90 km long. The main obstacles are powerful rifts formed by large boulders carried by the tributaries. Underwater spits are located below the tributaries. In the last section, the river, emerging from the mountains, breaks into channels and flows through a wide valley.

There are many islands in the riverbed. Despite the usual rafting conditions, you feel the power of the river, which is why you feel uneasy. “The colossal size of the river and surrounding mountains, the frantic rush of water, the menacing rustling under the boat - all this is overwhelming. Never, on any rapids of the Angara or Middle Tunguska, have I had such a feeling that I was standing face to face with the inevitable, with fate,” wrote S. V. Obruchev.
The Indigirka Valley seems to be squeezed on all sides by mountains. In the west rise the high peaks of the Walchapsky ridge, in the south of Tas-Kystabyt, the Ust-Nerskaya ridge approaches with amazing remnants. The river is calm up to the mouth of Walchan.

At the beginning of the second krivun, the Sofronovsky tributary flows into the right. It was named in memory of Sophrons Krivoshankins, who died in 1949 at the age of 109. His yurt at the press was hospitably open to all geologists.

Before the mouth of Tirekhtyakh (274) on the right bank there is a road to the village of Zakharepko. Ahead lies the massif of Mount Nyur-gun-Tas, against which the Walchan River flows into the bend of the Indigirka River (265). It seems that Indigirka rushes into its wide valley. But at a high rocky cliff it unexpectedly turns. 3 km beyond Walchan the river is raging. The wave is caused by rock pressure and stones in the riverbed.

At the mouth of the Kuobakh-Basa River (253) stands the village of Predporozh-py. Here in the Indigirka valley there are cliffs with outcrops of siltstones, crushed into narrow folds. After 8 km, the Indigirka goes around the Baltakhta-Khaya massif, and at the right turn at the confluence of Bergenpäha (239) a shiver splashes. Another 10 km to an interesting place on the river. “Horseshoe” is an almost closed loop in the steep banks. The river rests on a huge steep hill, dotted with a web of cracks. The river, thrown back by the rock, rushes to another hill, but it once again turns back the mighty flow. On sharp turns, the current pushes the boat to the shore. Below the village of Argamoy (218), located on a wide terrace of the right bank, there is the Predporozhny weather station. The river calms down for a while, and islands appear in the riverbed.

5 km before the mouth of Inyali (202), in a sharp turn to the west, the river hits a rocky hill. Stepa, a real impregnable fortress, is interesting due to its rock outcrops cut by the river. There is a convenient parking lot in front of the tributary on the left bank. A low terrace overgrown with grass stretches to the foot of the mountains. Such steppe areas along the Indigirka cover the valley from the upper reaches of the river to Moma. Their flora has much in common with the flora of the American prairies of the Yukon basin. The steppes are widely used as spring and autumn pastures for cows and horses. In the spring, they are cleared of snow earlier and are visited by hares, moose, and bears.

Around the turn to the west, below Khatye-Yuryakh (187), there is the Selivanovskaya rift with shafts up to 1 m. In 1931, while rafting cargo, an employee of the Busik expedition, surveyor V.V., drowned here. Selivanov with local guide G. E. Starkov.

Below the rift on the high left bank is the village of Chumpu-Kytyl (177). It is connected by air to Ust-Nera and Khonuu. After 10 km on the right bank of the Indigirka there is the non-residential village of Khaptagai-Khaya. The river inexorably brings you closer to the Threshold Gorge. The Taskan (156) flows into a bend; in front of the mouth, on the left bank, there are cliffs. Finally, the river rushes north. The famous gorge begins. High steep banks expose deep layers of rocks. Oblique and vertical, rising and falling, they speak!’ of the titanic struggle in the bowels of the earth. Plumb lines are often lined with “mirrors” - shiny slabs. Pegmatite veins are visible in the outcrops. large crystals of quartz, feldspar, muscovite. The surrounding mountains, covered with scattered rubble and devoid of vegetation, are dotted with rocky outcrops. Well, it seems that the yellow steppes have climbed onto the ridge; The animals stretched out and looked at the swimmers. The fabulous beauty of the shores also preserves the memory of the tragedy that took place here. At the height of the field work of the Indigirka expedition on June 30, 1931, during a preliminary inspection of the rapids on a motor boat, the head of the expedition, V. D. Busik, and his assistant, E. D. Kalinin, died. Individual stones exposed in the river bed with a low water horizon caused the accident and death.

For the first time, geologist A.P. Vaskovsky passed the rapids of Indigirka, reports S.V. Obruchev in one of his books. The large gorge is called the Indigirsky Pipe, Ulakhan-Khapchagay, Indigirsky Rapids, Busik Rapids. The gorge is cut into the mountains for almost 2 km. The valley slope increases to 3 m/km, the river speed to 4.5 m/s. The stream rushes between rocky banks. Its width is 150 - 200 m, but the part free for rafting is much smaller. The main obstacles are high shafts (up to 2 m), clamps, foam pits.

A kilometer below the Talypya stream, which flows into the bend on the left, there is a riffle on the river (148). It crosses the Indigirka at an angle and ends before the cliff of the right bank. Opposite the mouth of the left tributary Sigiktyakh (144) there is a beautiful stone cape. Behind him, in a slight bend in the river, a shirker rattles.
The first rapid is located at the right Hannah stream (143) on a straight section of the river, its length is 100 m. It represents a chaotic rush of water. The shafts reach 1 m. Passage is on the left side of the riverbed. From here comes the most stormy part of the gorge. In the creek of the Moldzhogoydokh stream (142), a dazzling layer of ice peeks through a holey rock lintel. After 300m, a high rocky cliff begins on the left bank - the Busik and Kalinin cliff, named in memory of the victims. Behind it, on the right bank, there are meter-long rapids 70 m long, which are not difficult to get around. The rift encountered further (140) is overcome in the middle of the channel.

A series of rapids begins from the right Mustakh stream (134). There are four rapids along a 5.5 km section of the river. The length of the first three is up to 400 m, the shafts in them reach 1.5 m. The passage is on the left bank. The river here is more than 100 m wide, there is room for maneuvering. In the fourth threshold (130) the shafts are directed towards the right steep bank. There, reinforced by the breaking wave, they reach 2 m or more. The rapid stretches for 600 m. The passage is next to the ramparts, closer to the left bank. Unpredictable, chaotic, very high waves pose a danger to small vessels. “Where, on what river, for tens of kilometers in all 200 meters of its width, do such toothy waves, two to three meters high, walk? The autumn storms of Lake Baikal come to mind,” writes M. Kocherginsky.

It should be said that all the obstacles in the gorge have a clearly visible core. You can almost always land on one of the shores. If one shore is rocky, then the opposite one is a large pebble spit, or more often a steep terrace overgrown with bushes and forest. Almost all the rifts can be bypassed, which allows local residents to cross the gorge in motor boats. When compiling an inventory of the rapids area in the materials of the Indigirka expedition, it was noted that characteristic feature The flow of the river is characterized by differences with a large slope of the bottom and disturbance of the flow due to high speeds of water flow but large boulders. A total of 13 such drops, known as rapids, were discovered. All of them are located in the area where the tributaries flow. And therefore, “these rapids are not rapids in the real meaning of the word, but have the character of rifts in places of former accumulations of boulders,” the report wrote.

The Ytabyt-Yuryakh valley (126) is not immediately recognizable. Hidden by the mountains, it appears unexpectedly. The left bank of the tributary - a high, dry terrace, covered with forest, with beautiful lawns - has long been favored by fishermen. There is a tent and a table here. A great place for a day, especially since there is excellent fishing at the mouth of Ytabyt-Yuryakh. The tributary valley is very beautiful. A clear mountain stream rumbles in the light rounded boulders of a wide channel. Below Ytabyt-Yuryakh, on the right bank, there is a 150 m long rift. A passage is on the right side of the riverbed. 5 km below it is a kilometer rift near the right bank. Here the coast is a brown cliff. The mountain seems to have been cut with a dull knife, which is why the entire cliff is carved with black cracks and grottoes. A small waterfall falls from a steep cliff.
At the mouth of the Ogonnsr stream (115), which flows into a steep bend, there is a rift with swells up to 1.5 m near the left bank. There is no pressure here. Below in the riverbed there are rare stones protruding into the low water.

A threshold begins at the lower edge of the Apgus-Tas cliff. In the first stage, located at

Only part of the gorge has been passed - the breakthrough of the Porozhny ridge. Now the high mountains recede from the river, the channel becomes wider. The spurs of the Chibagalakh chain also participate in creating obstacles on Indigirka. And the river remains stormy; in rare places it does not splash with a big wave. In front of the krivun on the left there is a rocky cliff overgrown with forest. It is divided into separate blocks by deep crevices. Pillars rise from the water, with impregnable towers at the top. And between them there seemed to be a settlement of numerous cells inscribed in these rocky ledges and cracks.
A threshold begins at the lower edge of the Apgus-Tas cliff. In the first stage, located near the left bank, the main shafts are before a sharp turn, where bedrock goes obliquely into the water. The second stage goes below the turn, where the right tributary Kusllakh-Mustakh (110) flows into. The main stream is directed to the left bank. The steps are short - about 250 m, the shaft reaches 2 m. Both sections are closer to the right bank, which is convenient for mooring if necessary.

The huge masses of the Porozhny Ridge are left behind. Next come the table mountains - flat, covered with forest, terraced down to the river. In August, after the first autumn frosts, it’s as if amazing canvases are exhibited in which, above the emerald water of Indigirka, you see in the dense green larch trees the trembling of yellow birches, the crimson of rose hips and the multicolored polar birch.
At the mouth of Chibagalakh (98) there is a long riffle off the left bank. The confluence of the largest rafting section of the left tributary is one of the most beautiful. Fishing is good here. The view is beautiful from the nearby Sogo-Khaya hill (1096 m). The scree slopes of the gray-bluish mountains, stretching in a ridge across the Indigirka River, are beautiful, completely falling out of the range of the surrounding hills.

5 km below the mouth of Chibagalakh on the right high bank is a hut where fishermen often stop. There is a sandbank on the shore. Behind the cliffs with yellow and blue screes there is a quiet stretch, and before turning left there is a threshold (96) on a straight section. Shaft up to 1.5 m, passage along the stream. Once again the river amazes with the beauty of its banks. The cliffs of the mountain, cut by three gaps, are dotted with remains. Below them, the black, shadow-covered water seems mysterious.

The river cuts the narrow chain of the Chemalginsky ridge calmly, without unnecessary excitement. And now the mountains are behind. All around are low forested banks and an unusually huge sky. In the forest approaching the pebble bank, there are well-worn paths along the river. Large forested islands divide it into equal channels, and the inflowing tributaries are invisible. The wind makes sailing very difficult here. It appears more often before lunch and intensifies in the evening.

After the confluence of the Uchcha River (77), where tourists have repeatedly noted the best fishing of the entire rafting, the flat section of rafting begins. Indigirka entered the boundaries of the Momo-Selen-nyakhek depression. Islands appear. The Tikhon-Yuryakh (45) flows into the right. River boats rise to its mouth. Along the banks there are hayfields.

On the right bank opposite the long island is the village of Sobo-lokh (28). It's about a kilometer from the river. The long chain of the Momsky ridge is constantly visible ahead. In some places on the river there is erosion of the banks. Bushes and trees were stuck on the underwater spits. Moma (0) flows into a wide riverbed. Its water, like other large tributaries, does not mix with the Indigirka for a long time. So two streams flow side by side. There are 2 km left to the boat pier, and the same distance on foot to the village of Khonuu.

Another description of the Indigirka Pipe:

Near the mouth of the left tributary, the Taskan River (165th km), the waters of the Indigirka gather in one channel. The speed increases sharply. The river runs in a huge arc along a steep terrace, and after another 5 km it turns north and squeezes into the gorge of the Porozhnotsepinsky granite massif. The famous Big Gorge (Ulakhan-Khapchagai) begins. This part of the Indigirka is also called the Momskie rapids, the Indigirskaya pipe, the Busik rapids (in memory of the head of the Narkomvodtrans expedition V.D. Busik, who died here in 1931 while exploring the rapids).

The hundred-kilometer gorge, cut almost 2 km into the granite massifs of the Porozhny and Chemalginsky ranges, is unusually impressive. There are vertical cliffs in succession, one higher than the other. The rock obelisks on the ridges of the watersheds of the side tributaries and the fabulous sculptures of weathered limestone outcrops are impressive. Trains of multi-colored block screes descend to the river. There are also many beautiful taiga corners here. The banks of the river are paved with large boulders, but frequent pressures and steep slopes make the gorge passable along the bank only in low water.

Over the first 50 km, Indigirka makes its way through the Porozhny Range. The slope increases to 3 m/km, the speed reaches 15-20 km/h. The river rushes from one side of the gorge to the other, washing away rocky cliffs. At the bends, spits of large rounded boulders are formed. The width of the channel is 150-200 m. In places where bedrock (granites) emerge, comb-like rapids are found. They are located, as a rule, near the banks, occupying no more than a third of the width of the channel. The water flow, which has enormous energy, has cleared its fairway almost throughout the entire length of the gorge. The depth here is 3-5 m, and in places of narrowing up to 10 m. The main difficulty is the pressure, two-meter “standing shafts”, foam pits, and other forms of stormy water. flow.

The most difficult part of the gorge comes from the mouth of the Sigikhtekh stream (175th km of rafting), opposite there is a beautiful stone cape. Behind him, at a bend in the river, a shiver rattles. The first threshold is after 1 km. Its length is 200 m, the shafts are 1.5 m. At the 178th km of rafting, the high rocky cliff of Busik and Kalinin rises on the left. Immediately behind it is a rapid, which is better to pass along the left bank. Below there is a rustling noise, go through it in the center. From the right Mustakh stream (185th km) a series of 4 rapids with a total length of 5.5 km begins - a passage along the left bank. The most powerful is the last section, where the shafts reach a height of 2 m. At the mouth of the Ytabyt-Yuryakh River (195th km) there is a high terrace covered with forest, excellent fishing. Below there is a rift, after 5 km there is another one - at the steep right bank.

The Porozhnotsepinsky massif is only the first link of the Great Gorge. Leaving him, Indigirka is in almost the same frantic state. The high mountains recede somewhat from the river, the channel becomes wider, and the speed decreases.

On the left there is a long rocky cliff, overgrown with forest terraces. The dangerous section begins in front of the mouth of the right tributary - the Kuellyakh-Mustakh River (220 km), at the lower edge of the steep bank. This is the Krivun threshold. Indigirka makes a left turn 120°. In the channel of the rift, outcrops of bedrock near the left bank. Across the entire width of the river there is a chaos of “standing shafts”, breakers, drains, water fountains.

For the next 15 km, the Indigirka flows smoothly along the widened part of the gorge. Left steep bank demonstrates an amazing phenomenon - Indigirka “lace”. Crumpled sedimentary strata create an indescribable range of colors and shapes. They stretched along the river for many hundreds of meters.

The mouth of the large left tributary of the Indigirka, the Chibagalakh River (225 km), is very interesting. With its powerful blow, it seems to push back the flow of the Indigirka, forming a 200-meter longitudinal shaft.

Below Chibagalakh, Indigirka cuts through the Chemalginsky granite massif. The river narrows again and its speed increases. At km 235 there is a threshold. Here the gorge is narrowest and gloomiest. The rocky cliffs of the left bank at the 240th km of rafting are especially grandiose. Rocks in some places hang over the water, forming “pockets”. The nature of the obstacles is the same as at the Porozhnotsepinsky site.

A distinctive feature of the Big Gorge is the powerful boulder spits, as a rule, below the confluence of the tributaries. The spit extends from the shore at an angle of 45° and can block half of the channel, constricting the already turbulent stream. Below the spit there is a quiet backwater. There are more right-bank spits.

Having received the Uchcha River (250th km) on the right, the Indigirka emerges from the gorge, and in the area of ​​the mouth of the Tikhon-Yuryakh (285th km) it spills widely into the vastness of the Momo-Selennyakh depression. Channels and islands appear, along the banks there are hayfields and farms. Before the mouth of the Moma, on the right bank, is the village of Sobolokh, and below the mouth is the village of Khondu, the end of the route (320th km). The village is located 3 km from the nearest channel, at the foot of Yu Mountain. The width of Indigirka here is 1200 m, there are no obstacles below. Ships ascend to high waters as far as Khonuu, so further rafting is of no sporting interest, although it is interesting in historical, geological and ethnographic terms.

Trek schedule:

Day 7(July 28) - day, free day, photographing the glacier, radial exit along the tributary

The Indigirka River flows in the northeast of Siberia, through the territory of Yakutia. The name of the river comes from the Even family name Indigir - “people of the Indi clan”. Russian explorers of the 17th century. they pronounced this name as Indigirka - just like the names of other large Siberian rivers: Kureika, Tunguska, Kamchatka.
The Indigirka is formed by the confluence of the Khastakh and Taryn-Yuryakh rivers, in the upper reaches it flows along the Oymyakon plateau, cuts through the Chersky ridge along a narrow deep valley, in the lower reaches it flows along the Yana-Indigirka lowland. The riverbed of the Indigirka is very winding. The Indigirka is divided into two sections according to the structure of the valley and channel, as well as the speed of the current: the upper mountain (length 640 km) and the lower plain (length 1086 km).
When it flows into 130 km from the mouth, the Indigirka breaks into branches (Russkoye estuary, Sredniy and Kolyma), forming a delta with an area of ​​5.5 thousand km 2.
Almost half of the annual flow occurs during the flood period in May - July. Due to the permafrost rocks through which the river flows, it is characterized by the formation of giant ice dams, and in winter the Indigirka in its lower reaches completely freezes over.
Since the river is filled with rapids and rifts in many places, navigation along the Indigirka is possible only in the middle and lower reaches, from the confluence of the Moma River (406 km).
Compared to other rivers of North-Eastern Siberia, the Indigirka is not rich in fish, but what is there is of valuable species: sterlet, burbot, shooting gallery, muksun, peled, vendace, broad white salmon, nelma, omul, whitefish, and at the mouth of the river there is flounder.
The Indigirka basin is a famous gold mining area.
“All the rifts, and the rifts...” - this line from the song of the bard Alexander Gorodnitsky perfectly describes the nature of the bed of the Indigirka River.
The Indigirka flows from the southern to the northern border, crossing four geographical zones (from south to north): taiga forests, forest-tundra, tundra and arctic desert.
It was possible to study the bed of the Indigirka in detail only in 1926 by the expedition of the Soviet geologist and future academician Sergei Vladimirovich Obruchev (1891-1965), the son of the famous traveler and explorer Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (1863-1956). In 1926-1935 S. Obruchev studied the Indigirka basin and for the first time established that there were industrial reserves of gold there. S. Obruchev continued and completed the study of the large mountain system in the Indigirka basin, begun by I. D. Chersky (1845-1892), and named it after the discoverer - the Chersky ridge.
Currently, Indigirka remains one of the main water transport arteries in the North-East of Russia. On its shore is the northern pole of cold - the village of Oymyakon. In 1933, a temperature of -67.7°C was recorded here. True, a number of experts consider Verkhoyansk to be the pole of cold.
Another less famous attraction of Indigirka is the abandoned city of Zashiversk. It was founded in 1639, in 1783-1805. was a county town, but after the smallpox epidemic of 1812-1856. the inhabitants abandoned it, and by the end of the 19th century it was completely deserted.

General information

Location: Siberia.
Flows through the territory of the Russian Federation(Republic of Sakha - Yakutia).

Type of nutrition: mixed with a predominance of rain and melt water (snow, glacial and ice).

Source: confluence of the Khastakh and Taryn-Yuryakh rivers.

Mouth: East Siberian Sea.
Largest tributaries: right - Moma, Bodyarikha, Nera; left - Seleniyakh, Uyandina, Allaikha, Börölyoh.

Large settlements: Ust-Nera - 8385 people. (2010), White Mountain - 2194 people. (2010), Chokurdakh - 2105 people. (2010), Honuu - 2,000 people. (2012), Oymyakon - 512 people. (2012).

Numbers

Length: 1726 km.

Pool area: 360,000 km 2.
Average water consumption: 1850 m 3 /s.
Range of level fluctuations: 7.5 and 11.2 m (highest levels in June - early July).
Solid waste: 13.7 million tons.

Climate and weather

Sharply continental.■ In the village of Chokurdakh, at the mouth of the Indigirka, one of the northern ports of Russia is located: the duration of navigation is less than three months.

The Indigirka River, along with the reservoirs of the neighboring Khabarovsk Territory, shows us the “classical” north of the Far East. Frozen land with larch taiga, forest-tundra and arctic wasteland. The difference is that this water flow is the most turbulent in all of Yakutia (more than a third of the way is spent in high mountains). But in the lower reaches of Indigirka it makes just the opposite impression - it is one of the most developed transport arteries of Yakutia. It only remains to add: on these shores stands the coldest settlement in the Russian Federation – Oymyakon’s Tomtor. To the north, on the contrary, it is a little warmer.

General description

The Indigirka River is 1,726 km long. Its pool is 360,000 sq. km. The maximum width is in the estuary. 63 kilometers. Depths up to 11 m. The reservoir flows through 5 uluses of the Sakha Republic (throughout Yakutia). North direction. The average water flow is 1,570 cubic meters per second. Food: rain, melt and ice waters. Freeze-up lasts from early October to late May. In some areas, even in July, ice remains (at the latitude of permafrost). The flood begins in late May. Continues in June. Seasonal changes in water level reach 11 m. There are about 100 tributaries (not counting streams). The largest are Nera, Moma, Selennyakh, Badyarikha, Uyandina, Allaikha, Berellekh, Kuidusun, Kuente and Elgi.

The Indigirka River was formed simultaneously with the Yano-Oymyakon Highlands and the Chersky Range. Almost all Paleolithic people disappeared during the last glaciation. Only a part of them passed on their genes to the ancestors of the Even-Evenks (in the upper reaches and in the central area) and the Yukaghirs (in the lower reaches). The hydronym is derived from “India gir”, which is translated from Evenki as “people of the Indi clan”. Much to the south of the river bed, at the boundary of the ancient and medieval history, a branch of the Xiongnu people penetrated into the Far East. Mixed with the aborigines, she formed the Yakuts. In the 17th and 18th centuries they conquered the reservoir. During the same period, a Russian description of the Indigirka River was made. The first to visit was the Cossack expedition of Ivan Erastov. The “sovereign’s people” came after them under the leadership of Stadukhin (the famous Semyon Dezhnev was among them). Our ancestors realized that it was only possible to settle north of the Momskaya arma.

The mountainous stretch of water stream was nicknamed the Dog (or Devil) River out of hatred. The reasons will be clear to the reader below. The Chersky ridge and the Yano-Oymyakon highlands remained unconquered for about 250 years (before the start of the “gold rush”). The exception is the camp, which has now evolved into an urban settlement. Oymyakon. Far on the other side of the ridge. The so-called Okhotsk Highway passed through it (it led to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk). Since the 17th century, the Indigirka River has been part of the Russian state. And at the beginning of the last century, industrial reserves of gold were found on this reservoir. Tiny trading posts appear. Most have disappeared today. A smaller part are villages or even settlements (only some of them have piers). The largest municipalities (Ust-Nera, Oymyakon) appeared exclusively in Soviet times. Their history is connected with reindeer herding collective farms. Buildings on some branches appeared during the years of mining coal. Transport use of the Indigirka River began in the described 17th century. It continues today. However, all attempts to start the journey south of the Moma mouth always ended in tragedy. The most famous is associated with the death of the head of one of the scientific expeditions. In 1931. And in the lower half (from the junction with the Moma River to the mouth) the Indigirka River is currently passable for dry cargo ships. There are no hydroelectric power stations or nature reserves on the shores of the hydrological object. Nowadays they are open to any trade and any recreation. For example, fish here is caught on an industrial scale - on all sections of the riverbed.

Source and mouth of the Indigirka River

The source of the Indigirka River is located in the Oymyakonsky ulus of the Sakha Republic. At 792 meters above sea level. Inside the riverbed there are bare rock spits. Around it, on low ravines, there are larch trees. The source of the Indigirka River is a bunch of narrow channels in a channel 350 m wide, formed by the confluence of two streams, also divided into channels. They are called Tuora-Yuryakh and Taryn-Yuryakh. They escape from the northern macroslope of the Khalkan ridge. Its ridge is the natural border of this autonomy with the Khabarovsk Territory. The new flow is already tilting to the northwest.

The mouth of the Indigirka River is its entrance to the East Siberian Sea. This is an estuary of several dozen channels. Their common channel is 63 kilometers wide (including Ularovskaya Bay). This refers to the Arctic wasteland frozen for many meters, ending with the ice of the East Siberian Sea. Geographically, we are talking about the Allaikhovsky ulus of the Yakut autonomy. A thin layer of snow and ice is visible here even in summer.

Indigirka River basin

At first, the Indigirka River moves in the mountains - 640 kilometers. After its “birth” it immediately breaks into “threads” and moves strictly to the northwest. Along the lowest part of the Yano-Oymyakon Highlands. The width of the common channel does not exceed 500-600 meters. However, some branches also extend freely into the coastal edges. Because they hardly rise above the water's edge. Here (as throughout the forest-tundra) larch trees reign. Only the rocky islands are mostly bare, each with a few trees. Further, from Tyubelyakh, the flow of the Indigirka River breaks through the Chersky ridge, merging into a single stream, narrowing in some section to 200 meters. The stone pits gradually become higher. At the end of the Big Gorge (Indigirskaya Pipe) they descend again. The depth sometimes reaches 11 meters. Flow speed – up to 20 km/h. The middle course of the Indigirka River begins by exiting the Truba with a simultaneous entrance to a small section of the Momo-Selennyakh depression. The banks are slightly elevated. Here the taiga turns into forest-tundra. And the river again scatters into many winding channels. Its diameter is steadily returning to its value - 1,500 meters. After this lowland (around the Momsky ridge), the banks are equal to the water level.

Due to the many banks, the riverbed becomes up to 3,000 meters wide in some places. This is the transition to the lower section of the Indigirka River basin. The area is called the Abyi Lowland. It is characterized by a meeting (at the last stage) with the low semi-axial ridge (large hills covered with tundra and stone char). Behind them begins the Yana-Indigirka Lowland. Straight, deep reaches with a length of 350–500 meters appear. In the same spacious location, the Indigirka River basin is divided into 3 banks (Russkoye Ustye, Sredny and Kolyma). They give birth to their own river networks. The tundra gradually turns into the Arctic - poor in species composition and dusted with snow. On rivieras it is easy to notice thick ice. The end point of the river traffic is described in the section above.

Sights of the Indigirka River

Exit to Kuidusun: the “Pole of Cold” stela and the bust of Lenin in the village of Tomtor

Here the Indigirka River comes into contact with the estuary of the Kuduysun stream. Moving along it (crossing idyllic landscapes) it is not difficult to reach the village of Tomtor in 3 hours on foot. In addition to replenishing supplies (civilization below will not last long), we recommend taking a tour of this relatively small municipality. And it also often hosts the main Yakut holiday - Ysyaakh.

But it is known more for two tourist attractions - a tall shiny stele with beautiful inscription“- 71.2” and a bust of Vladimir Ilyich with a Yakut fur hood. Nearby there is also Mount Ebe-Khaya, a sacred place for local Yakuts (and once Evenks). At the foot there is a shaman tree (a lonely larch with multi-colored scraps of fabric). Tomtor was made the center of the Second Borogon nasleg. Rural settlement Oymyakonsky ulus (district). His biography began simultaneously with the discovery of the deposit of rare earth metals of the same name during the years of the USSR. And later, in 1952-1953, the writer Varlam Shalamov arrived here in exile. In honor of people like him, he erected a memorial to the repressed (Memory Bell). Let us explain that Oymyakon Airport is just 2 kilometers from Tomtor. But planes from Yakutsk do not fly here. Exclusively aircraft from nearby areas. And the building itself is not there. Just a runway and car parking. That is why they say that the coldest place is in Oymyakon (they simply fly to Tomtor through the Oymyakon airfield and therefore the nearby land is incorrectly considered a suburb of the village of Oymyakon).

Oymyakon village

After some time, Oymyakon appears on the Indigirka River. From Evenki, the toponym means “a place where fish spend the winter.” Having come here, the Yakuts simply accepted this toponym. The tiny agglomeration is located on the left coast. In the hollow between the hills, into which cold air flows in winter. In a broad sense, it is all referred to as “Oymyakon”. The settlement is famous as the center for the festival of northern peoples “Cold Belt”. Its history begins at the end of the 17th century. A Russian trading post was formed here, associated with receiving yasak from the Evenks, as well as fishing. After the Revolution, several collective farms united around these rural areas. Tomtor and Oymyakon constantly argued over the status of the “coldest” place. At the moment, Tomtor is still recognized as it. Woolly cows were bred in Oymyakon, ready to calmly survive the merciless winter and produce good milk yields. In 1935, the mentioned spot on the map was headed by the 1st Borogonsky nasleg. The sights of the tiny town are a whole complex of ice... architecture. And a local history exhibition where they will tell you why Obruchev’s expedition got stuck here. At the same time, handicrafts will be shown. Let us emphasize: this museum is also a hotel.

Regional center Ust-Nera and Oymyakon Kisilyakhi

A little lower on the Indigirka River, the protection of historical values ​​is more important than anywhere else. Ust-Nera (Ust-Nersk) and the immediate surroundings of Oymyakon abound in both natural and historical values. Let's start with the fact that this is the most populated place (5,000 inhabitants). And, despite the inappropriate name, it is precisely the administrative “capital” of the Oymyakon region (Oymyakon itself is only the second most important settlement). The reasons for the development lie in the strategic location. It is here that the R-504 Kolyma passes and only here planes from Yakutsk land. The population mainly consists of shift workers. And migrants in the first or third generations - descendants of miners, gold miners, exiles and simply romantics. Geologists and miners (staff of mining plants) come on duty. The percentage of the indigenous population is small. And it also has a complex national composition. The airport is located 15 km from the town. No public transport goes here. Taxis must be ordered prior to departure. It will wait patiently outside the airfield fence. But if you forgot to do this, but met a ride, rejoice.

Hitchhikers have never been abandoned here before. There is all the necessary infrastructure (including a drama theater with a unique wall painting and a whole bunch of shops) plus a museum of masterpieces of wooden architecture, as well as an exhibition dedicated to the local “branch” of the Gulag. Photos, documents, personal belongings, interesting story tour guide. Entrance to both institutions is cheap. Recently, a WWII memorial complex consisting of stone plaques and sculptures appeared. Not far from him is another unusual Lenin. He is wearing a warm coat and leaning painfully on a pile enclosing one of the children's playgrounds. But that's not all! Behind the described “playground” is the main museum – a local history museum. It contains a rich paleontological collection, a set of minerals, archaeological rarities and artifacts associated with the same Gulag. Prison clothes, tools and much more. Visitors will find several guest establishments of different categories.

The Oymyakon depression is surrounded by low hills (hills). Some (those on the windward side) have been so eroded that they look like isolated rocks or bizarre groups of rocks. The locals called them “kihchileekh”. Their base is the surviving slopes of the hill. Therefore, climbing to the foot of Kisilyakh is possible for mountain trekkers. Well, only climbers will get to the remains themselves. They take ropes and crampons (an ice ax, of course, won’t hurt either). Kisilyakhi-like figures have long been proclaimed sacred. You cannot climb on them (that is, hit them with an ice ax, scratch them with crampons, and drive hooks into the surface). Kisilyakhi is the threshold of the “portal” of the Indigirsk Pipe (the border of the Oymyakon Highlands and the Chersky Range). You can actually catch the first ones right above Ust-Nera. The last ones are already at Chumbu-Kytyl (formerly Tyubelyakh). There they adjoin the ridge indicated above. The first variety has small specimens (3-5 meters), similar to honey mushrooms.

Indigirskaya Pipe (Big Gorge, Busika Rapids)

In this place, parking on the Indigirka River is impossible. And in general it is better to bypass the named corner (by the mountains). It is literally fatal to all living things that are inside. The described water flow begins to pass the most high-mountain (“ridge”) part of the Chersky ridge behind the village of Tyubelyakh (Chumpu-Kytyl). And it ends at the exit to the Momskaya lowland (the intersection with the Moma valley). In broad terms, the Pipe extends approximately 100 kilometers. Throughout this extremely winding section: rapids higher than all possible categories (unsuitable even for extreme recreation), a pile of huge boulders and a current speed exceeding 20 kilometers per hour! The depth is sometimes 11 meters! The height of the rock sides ranges from 21 to 200 meters! The rocks organically transform into canopies of layered rocks (formed during the era of the existence of the sea at this point). The Big Gorge is divided into 3 episodes - in the first it narrows from 1.5 km to 200 m, in the second it expands to 500 m, in the third it enters the Chemalginsky (the most dangerous) massif, narrowing again (but only slightly). Majestic stone cliffs constantly alternate with screes. And only at the very end, on the edge of the ledges, you can see rare larches. One of the names of the tract (Busika Rapids) is dedicated to the commander of the Soviet hydrographic expedition who died here in 1931. All the researchers who passed here (since the 18th century) call the river “the most terrible in the entire Far East.” And only because of the described section of the channel (after all, in all other parts it is similar to dozens of others).

Place of the historical city of Zashiversk

The protection of the Indigirka River (or rather, its historical heritage) should be established here. One of the strongly protruding peninsulas of Indigirka (a natural shelter) is located in a place north of which the bare tundra begins. This is a couple of kilometers from the administrative border of the Abyisky and Momsky uluses. Here, at the intersection of routes to Kolyma, to Anadyr and Arctic Ocean, Zashiversk was once located. Now this can only be determined by the memorial chapel. Archaeologists have already completed excavations, having found a whole series of evidence of the almost 250-year existence of the town. And if you land on land, you can see newly made wooden statues, as well as a homemade meme made from the same environmentally friendly material. With an inscription. It all started with a prison, which was built by the “service men” of Postnik Ivanov’s detachment. They came from the upper reaches of the Yana River (Verkhoyansk had already been built at that time). We decided to call the mini-city Zashiverskoy, since all the Indigirka shivers pass already to this point.

Until 1700, the ancient agglomeration was rebuilt several times. She managed to visit the place where yasak was collected from the Yukaghirs (here, on the border of the settlement of the Evenks and Yukaghirs, storage sheds were built). "Fur" trading post. The parish of the Transfiguration Church. It was built from larch, without a single nail. And later it will be dismantled and transported to Novosibirsk. In the 18th century, the place began to quickly become overgrown with plantings. In the middle of this century, the town was redeveloped. From 1798 it already had more advanced rectangular fortifications. By Far Eastern standards, many people lived here - merchants, townspeople, peasants, as well as local hunters, reindeer herders and fishermen. In the century before last, the settlement grew even more. But in 1883 it was completely exterminated by smallpox. The epidemic arose so quickly that no one was saved.

Village Belaya Gora

Later, rafting along the Indigirka River will lead the water traveler to the municipality, which has already grown among the tundra landscape. White Mountain is the last hill. And at the same time the point from which the transition zone begins. Freeze-up lingers here. The conversation is about the border between the subarctic and arctic climates. Even in June there are no noticeable leaves on the trees (planted on the village streets). But there is a minimum of infrastructure. Even including a fire station. White Mountain is the center of the Abyisky ulus. It appeared only in 1974. Before this there was a village called Druzhina. Today it has such transport terminals as a pier and an airport. As well as industrial facilities - an oil depot and a greenhouse. Both banks of the reservoir are occupied. On the settlement there is a stele in honor of the sailors of the river fleet - the only attraction.

Chokurdakh settlement and Kytalyk natural park

In this fragment, the flow of the Indigirka River is completely in the Arctic zone. For most of the year it is not used by snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles. Starting from this conventional strip, the ice breaks up quite late and remains for a relatively short time. On the left hand the town grew. Chokuurdaah. It was founded in November 1936 as a maritime transport hub, as well as a place of compact residence for the so-called Russian-Ustinets. A subethnic group of the Russian people, distinguished by direct descent from the pioneers of the first third of the 17th century. They have preserved a lot of vocabulary about the customs of that time, passed down by inheritance. According to anthropology, they are mestizos (have Mongoloid features). In terms of farming they are similar to the Yakuts and Yukaghirs. The founders of this family are the Cossacks Ivan Rebrov and Ivan Perfiryev, who came here in 1633. The first opened the mouth of the Indigirka 3 years later. Such people also live in Russky Ustye and Chokurdakh. After 56 kilometers of waterway, the river splits into 3 banks. There is a winter road here. There is a mini-airfield.

As said, further down the course is a river estuary. Part of it received the status natural park. This space is called “Kytalyk”. It is just being organized, without clear boundaries yet. Its main goal will be ecotourism. Here you can go birdwatching - watch the pink gull, the swan, the white-billed loon and rare herons. Nearby are more prosaic geese, ducks and waders. Among the mammals you will find ermine, arctic fox, weasel and wolverine. Reindeer, mountain hare, polar wolf and introduced musk ox. And it's not just about nature. For example, in the tundra near the Russian Ustye, the world’s northernmost Orthodox church. Even international organizations are interested in the formation of a national park.

Tourism and recreation on the Indigirka River

The Indigirka River is located within the cold zone of continental climate, but its “finish” is in the subarctic and even partially in the arctic climatic zones. In the Arctic wasteland, even in summer, the only winter activities available are reindeer and dog sledding, as well as ice fishing. Forest-tundra and tundra, lying to the south, are ready to offer multicolor in the warm season rare plants. And, conversely, in the upper taiga in July, hiking in the forest with all the accompanying leisure activities is possible - picking berries and mushrooms, hunting and classic fishing. You can safely set up tents.

A mountain trekking and, at the same time, a speleological trip with tents along the Indigirka River are quite appropriate. The first half of the water road washed its way in the Yana-Oymyakon Highlands and the Chersky Range (the easternmost place in Russia, where there are still “three-thousander” mountains). That is, there is a lot to climb here. There are places to go base jumping or hang gliding. At your service are Mount Pobeda (3,003), the Suntar-Khayata massif (applies only to the sources), the Khalkansky, Momsky and Chemalginsky ridges, the Porozhny and Poluosny ridges, the Kuelliakh-Mustakh mountain node (with a popular waterfall), as well as the caves of the Oymyakon plateau. As for the latter, they are also found on the smaller Nersk Plateau. The most interesting ones are deployed simultaneously in all areas: locals sometimes notice Chuchuns in them. These yetis are also called “mühlen.” They say they attack wanderers who climb into the mountains.

Once upon a time, these archaic hominids even attacked settlements on the river. But over time they realized that the superiority of power was not on their side. Tourists are not taken here. The extreme people are here themselves.

Air recreation on the Indigirka River consists of transport movement to settlements on its banks. In any case, you will need small aviation services. In Ust-Nera they now provide paragliding. Pilgrimage and event holidays on the Indigirka River are associated with the villages of Ust-Nera and Oymyakon. The first is the only one on the river coast through which a large highway passes (P-504 Yakutsk-Magadan). The second is crossed by the Oymyakon-Tomtor intra-district highway. Upstream is the Old Kolyma Highway. All other villages are connected to large cities by air. In Ust-Nera there is the Assumption Church - a place of attraction for Orthodox Christians from all over the Indigirye region. Every year in Oymyakon the multinational festival “Cold Belt” is held, where pagan rituals, folk costumes and authentic fun of 4 peoples inhabiting the eastern third of Yakutia. Yakuts, Evenks, Evens and Yukaghirs. The event has the status of “ethno-tourist”. It is usually held in the last days of March, as it is associated with the spring ritual of the rebirth of life. After the winter "death". Do not forget that the Oymyakon basin is the coldest of the inhabited settlements (at the height of winter the thermometer drops to minus 71.2). Chyskhaan is the Yakut Father Frost. He always acts as the host of the festival. However, in the ceremonial part the event is presented more broadly in geographical terms. And here (directly from Veliky Ustyug) a representative of the Slavic winter comes with his assistant, the Snow Maiden. And also Pakkaine from Karelia, Yamal-Iri from the Yamal Peninsula, Saagan Ubgan from Buryatia, Kysh Babai from Tatarstan (with his daughter Kar Kyzy), as well as the Lapland Joulupukki. Mandatory items include choosing Miss Cold Belt and sampling the cuisine of different northern nationalities. Round dance. Competitions and sports competitions. Dancing with shamans. If you like it, come again for a purely Yakut holiday. Ysyaah. He looks similar.

Rafting on the Indigirka River is an exciting activity. But only up to Tyubelyakh or, conversely, already beyond the Busik Rapids. The reason for this was stated in the chapter above. Get on the water at Oymyakon. The current is quite fast, and the river “body” is sometimes so shallow that you can simply walk along it. Several kilometers. Choosing one of the channels. Further rafting on the Indigirka River is accessible through quite surmountable rifts and rapids (by the way, category ones). Continue this way all the way to Tyubelakh. Pros can raft much higher - from the very bridge of the Tomtor - Myaungja road. There are borrowings. But you will have to carry the raft. Swing the oars on the clamps too! Now about the second rafting route. From the location, located at the intersection with the Momskaya Valley, you can actually walk to the estuary itself. And, choosing one of the 2 main channels, go out into the East Siberian Sea (like many of our fearless ancestors). Here the river looks more like a lowland one. The only “but” is a very confusing navigation guide, consisting of sleeves.

Fishing and hunting on the Indigirka River

The Indigirka River is famous among fishermen for a lot of fish. Fishing will take you to:

• pike;
• teal;
• grayling;
• taimen;
• lenkom;
• muksun;
• burbot;
• vendace;
• peled;
• several varieties of crucian carp;
• carp;
• perch.

On the Indigirka River, fishing is successful anywhere. There are no reservations prohibited for fishermen. Just like fish - on some dangerous fragments of the upper reaches (it simply cannot rise to many points of the riverbed). Fishing on the Indigirka River will introduce you to the “Red Book” fish. She should be released. We are talking about Siberian sturgeon, chum salmon, lamprey, Arctic char (seruk) and sculpin goby. However, they were not seen here at all. The difference between Indigirsky fishing is that many representatives of the ichthyofauna cannot be caught with spinning rods or float gear. They are too large and powerful - they easily tear the fishing line. Locals use it for catching mink. The indigenous population feeds only dogs with perch and carp (cukuchans)…

This is the excitement the Indigirka River provides to guests. Fishing, by the way, can be combined with hunting. Available for shooting are goose, duck (long-tailed duck and pintail), capercaillie, black grouse, scoter (prohibited in some places), ptarmigan, tundra partridge and arctic partridge. Hazel grouse in the dense taiga, near the source. Mammals include Arctic fox, bighorn sheep (in the mountains), and deer (in the mountains). Next are sable, white hare, squirrel, ermine, weasel and arctic fox. And behind them are lynx, wolverine, elk, fox and wolf (only the very upper reaches). Roe deer and wapiti can only cross the upper reaches (severely limited). The local fauna of the Red Book is reindeer (available as prey only to the nomadic peoples of the north). Also musk deer, Pallas's cat, leatherback, European otter and arctic fox. Then a flying squirrel, a polar bear, a lemming, flying birds of prey and owls. The same list includes the inhabitants of swamps and lakes - all types of herons, swans, cranes and storks. There is a ban on hunting in the area of ​​the Arctic coast, where the populations listed in the Red Book live.

Protection of the Indigirka River

The protection of the Indigirka River is not yet so relevant. An assessment of the ecological state of the mentioned hydrological object classifies it as “low pollution”. Although back in 2008 the water was characterized as “very polluted.” At the moment, the annual wastewater discharge is far from being the most critical parameter. The problem presented is more related to the destructiveness of the flood. Water disasters are caused by heavy rains (melt water shows stable dynamics). Several times Ust-Nera, Oymyakon and the section of the Kolyma highway closest to them were subjected to serious attack by the elements. Earthen dams were erected.

The description of the Indigirka River presented to you shows all its natural highlights and recreational opportunities. And even some problems. Come.