Central Asia 2004: Kichi-Alay trek

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Kichi-Alay is a mountain range located south of the city of Osh and north of Peak Lenin. This 4-day trek, which crosses this range from north to south at Kyndyk pass, offers awesome views over Peak Lenin. I did this trek with Maksim Chubukov, a Russian living in Tashkent.

 

Map. The itinerary is shown in blue dots. The large red and green dots indicate the start and the finish (Kashkasu village) of the trek, respectively. The numbered orange dots indicate the locations of the 3 successive camps. To see the map at a better resolution, click here. To see the two 100K map sheets that cover the trek, click here (north) and here (south).

A map of a route

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Start of the trek at the beginning of the valley of the Kyndyk river.

A person standing next to a car

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Small settlement along the way, with yaks.

A group of people standing in front of a hut

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A group of black animals in a field

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Our camp #2 at the lake below Kyndyk pass, on the northern side of the pass.

 

Maxim, while on our way to Kyndyk pass.

A person walking on a snowy mountain

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View from the pass (4482m) toward the north, with the lake visible on the left side of the photo.

A mountain valley with snow

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View of Peak Lenin (7134m) and the surrounding range from Kyndyk pass.

A mountain range with snow capped mountains

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At Kyndyk pass, with Maxim in the photo on the left.

 

A mountain range with snow on the top

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Yurts along the way down from the pass.

 

More views.

A valley with mountains in the background

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A mountain range with snow capped mountains in the background

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Our camp #3.

A group of horses grazing in a valley

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The Karakavak valley further down.

A mountain range with a river running through it

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A landscape with mountains and grass

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A river running through a valley

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Maxim talking to a local horseman.

A person and a horse with backpacks

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Village of Kashkasu at the end of the trek.

A landscape with mountains in the background

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