170 kilometers from Almaty, the red mountainous desert – Boguty-stretches for tens of kilometers. After the rain, these mountains acquire brighter and richer red shades, the spectrum of which ranges from terracotta to burgundy. In this article, we will tell you what these mountains are, as well as how and when it is best to go to them.
Fantastic, unusual, magical, alien-these and other epithets are used by tourists, telling about their impressions after visiting the red mountains of Boguta.
Фото Эрика Туркебаева
Journalist and travel blogger Elena Nikitenko willingly shares her impressions of Boguta, comparing the Kazakh mountain landscape with the American Arizona or the Wild West.
“The brain categorically refuses to identify what the eyes see with its real geographical position. It’s not here, not with us, not now… But in fact, these are our native canyons in all their diversity. The mountains are full of all shades of red-from red to maroon. The lava that flowed from the volcano millions of years ago froze in the most bizarre forms, and nature (water, wind, heat and cold) completed the work, turning every rock, every hill into a work of art,” says Elena.
Фото Эрика Туркебаева
Another journalist and travel blogger from Almaty, Elena Melnikova, admits that the Boguts attracted her by the unusual nature of their landscapes.
“They are not like the Charyn Canyon or the Aktau Mountains in the Altyn-Emel Park. Everything here looks like the surface of another planet – Mars or the Moon. The first thing that impresses is the bright colors of the local mountains. From red, brick to dark purple. The second is the interesting shapes of the mountains. If you look at some of the slopes, you can see the figures of people and animals carved by the wind. Here, as nowhere else, there is space, freedom, boundlessness. If you look at the valley from some peak, you get the feeling that there is no horizon.
Here you can find anything: volcanic ash, rocks made of shells, gypsum salt, which looks like mica and glitters in the sun like diamonds, petroglyphs, an abandoned tunnel. In Bogut, it is easy to get lost in the mazes of numerous crevices and canyons. This area is interesting to explore both from the ground, on foot, and from a bicycle or from a car. These mountains attract, because they feel the history of the Earth. There you can see what the planet was like millions of years ago, or, conversely, imagine yourself as an astronaut,” says Elena.
There are two versions of the origin of the name of the mountains: the first is from the Turkic “bugutu” – “deer mountain”, the second is from the name of the mountain grass “bugu”.
Boguts are the foothills of the mountain system of the Trans-Ili Alatau. They stretch between two rivers-Charyn and Chilik. The unusual feature of this red mountain system is also that you do not need to go up there, on the contrary, you need to go down to it.
Фото Эрика Туркебаева
The mountains are two massifs – Ulken Bogut and Bala-Bogut. The maximum height of the mountains is 1,441 and 1,816 meters above sea level, respectively.
Photographer and traveler Eric Turkebaev often organizes trips to Boguty. According to him, these places are not as often visited as, for example, the Assi plateau, the Kolsai and Kaindy lakes, the Charyn Canyon, but, of course, the location deserves attention.
“Boguts are divided into two spurs – Ulken Boguts and Bala-Boguts. Ulken Boguty has an interesting landscape, more diverse, the colors are more saturated there. In Bala Boguta, the landscape is not so bright anymore. It is noteworthy that you can only get to Ulken Boguty by SUV, you can get to Bala Boguty by sprinter or by car, but then you need to walk a little.
When you arrive at one of these locations, you do not need much time to go through them along and across. The places there are beautiful. From a kind of observation deck, you can see everything. Bala-Bogut is often compared to the Tiger Mountains. In my opinion, they are completely different. When you are in Bala Boguta, there is a feeling that you are on Mars. After the rain, the mountains get more saturated shades, ” says Eric.
The Boguta Mountains have a medium-mountain relief, which is characterized by soft and smoothed forms-hills. Some parts of the mountains are called like this: Kudaibergen Hills, Koskara hills. However, in some places the slopes are steep and rocky. The Middle Mountains are bounded on all sides by clear ledges. Water flows have broken through many canyons in them, forming a maze of gorges, over which rocky peaks now rise.
In the Boguta mountains, mountain springs have become the main sources of surface water. When the sun is sinking to the horizon, all the hollows dug by water and blown out by the winds are clearly distinguished by blue shadows.
In the mountains of Boguta, red-book mountain sheep, foxes, hares, keckliks and partridges, steppe eagle are often found. The vegetation is represented by only a few shrubs and grasses.
Фото Эрика Туркебаева
History of occurrence
At the end of the Permian period (ended about 252 million years ago), the Boguta mountain range was a large active volcano.
In the Mesozoic era (which ended 66 million years ago), there was already a plain here, above which small rocks towered-the remains of a former caldera. And in the Cenozoic (it began 66 million years ago and continues to this day), the plain sank lower, a large inland sea was formed, traces of which in the form of sedimentary rocks are found literally at every step.
Фото Эрика Туркебаева
Recently, by geological standards, the mountains have “grown” again. Modern Boguts no longer bear traces of an ancient caldera (a vast cirque-shaped basin of volcanic origin, often with steep walls and a more or less flat bottom). Reminders of volcanic activity are hot springs, blocks of fossilized volcanic ash, frozen lava flows, time for which stopped even before the appearance of dinosaurs.
When to go?
Those who have visited here note that it is better to go to Boguty in the middle of spring or early autumn. In summer and winter, it is too hot or too cold here.
Road
Boguts are located, as it was already mentioned above, 170 kilometers from Almaty. On the Kuldzhinsky highway, you need to drive 142 kilometers to the exit to the dirt road. Then you need to turn right and follow the road that will lead to a small canyon. From here, the road goes up and leads into a wide valley. You need to drive along it for about 10 kilometers to the intersection of several field roads. Here you need to turn left and drive another five kilometers towards the visible mountains.
Then you should drive past the shepherd’s house and along the bottom of the gorge. At the exit from the gorge you will see the red mountains. To get to them, you should drive along the road to the intersection, and then turn right. Then, after overcoming a small pass, you need to reach the intersection again and turn right.
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