Mountain camel on the Samara bow. Mount Strelnaya and Mount Camel, Zhiguli mountains, Samara region

We know from school: Russia is 1/6 of the land (17,125,187 square kilometers). It borders on 18 countries (the largest in the world). It is washed by three oceans and 13 seas. But you really realize the scale of the expanses of Russia only when you think about its natural diversity.

If near the coast of the Black Sea the temperature rarely drops below 0 ° C in winter, then in Siberia and the Arctic at this time of the year there are frosts below -40 ° C. Russia has steppes and forests, plains and mountains. It has one of the largest reserves in the world fresh water. A Ural mountains divide it into European and Asian parts. At the same time, natural endemics are found in every corner: Baikal omul, fir, Siberian Cranes and others.

Today we are going to unusual monument nature - camel mountain.

camel mountain

If you drive 300 kilometers from Orsk to the southeast, you will find yourself in the village of Vostochny ( Svetlinsky district Orenburg region).

This is a small, at first glance, inconspicuous settlement, of which there are thousands in Russia. Once it was a prosperous state farm with a population of about 700 people. Today, agriculture in the village is carried out by individual farmers, the population is barely 400 people. But in 7-10 kilometers from it lurked unusual mountain covered in ancient legends.

According to one of them, a long time ago a caravan of nomads passed through these places. People were looking for fertile lands where they could live in peace and raise children in abundance. They walked for a long time, but there were only steppes around. From the heat and lack of water, people and livestock fell dead. In the end, there was only one, the most stubborn, camel. He kept going, despite being tired and thirsty, until at last he saw in the distance blue ribbon rivers. The camel breathed a sigh of relief, lay down to rest before the last jerk ... and it turned to stone under the scorching steppe sun.

The river, which, according to legend, the camel saw, is the Aschesu stream (“ Salty water"). It flows in the east of the Orenburg region and flows into the Tobol. But you won’t find it on the map: in May it partially dries up, leaving only a few stretches fed by springs. By the middle of summer, these “lakes” are overgrown with snow-white water lilies and bright yellow egg-pods.

At 7–10 kilometers from the mouth of the Aschesu, there is a grayish-white 20-meter rocky outlier, shaped exactly like a lying camel. Once it was a quartzite rock, but over time it collapsed. Orenburg nature has a bizarre fantasy: the winds “carved” a camel out of a rock. For the similarity with the two-humped, the locals called this hill Camel Mountain.

To date, Camel Mountain - unique monument nature of the Orenburg Trans-Urals. There is another legend about her. It was as if there lived in the world an arrogant camel who roamed the world in search of adventure. Once he learned about the Ural Mountains. Their height hurt the pride of the animal, and the camel decided to measure his strength with Ural ridge. He came to the place of battle, but at the same moment he froze and turned to stone.

What to do at Camel Mountain?

Imagine the steppe, and in the middle of it - a majestic stone camel. Those who have seen Camel Mountain with their own eyes say that this is a very impressive sight.

Camel Mountain is considered a geomorphological monument of nature. The rock consists of multi-colored quartzite crystals - from dark gray to pale pink. Therefore, this place will be especially interesting for people who are fond of geology.

Around Camel Mountain you can see another amazing phenomenon: birch trees grow among the stones. There are not many of them in the district, about 50, but an ancient belief is also associated with them. It is believed that birch trees grown on stones are the souls of people who once lived in these parts.

Approximately 300 meters from Camel Mountain there is a spring with the purest drinking water.

Biologists won't be bored either. Extraordinary nature Orenburg Trans-Urals is worth it to equip an entire expedition to the East. Camel Mountain is part of the Akkarga Rocky Range (but Camel Mountain is separated from it by the Aschesu Stream). Around the original steppe vegetation, there are many birds, including birds of prey. You can see roe deer, moose, marmots, foxes, corsacs. Flora and fauna lovers will be able to study for hours natural features these places.

But the main thing, going to Camel Mountain, is not to forget the camera. The stone bactrian animal will willingly pose for you until you find the best angle. And, of course, not taking a selfie with a giant camel is a crime. :)

Finally, the surroundings of Camel Mountain - beautiful place for a hike. Take a tent with you to spend the night in the steppe and feel the romance of such places. They say that there the stars descend to the earth and the passage of time is heard.

How to get to Camel Mountain?

Camel Mountain is located in the east of the Orenburg region, near the border with Kazakhstan. Getting to her is not easy. There are three options.

Public transport

First you need to get to Orsk (from Orenburg they go Shuttle Buses). From Orsk, take a bus ticket to the village of Vostochny. It runs daily, departing from the Orsk bus station at 15:45 local time. Travel time is about 5.5 hours. From East to Camel Mountain public transport does not go - you have to ask for a ride from local residents.

Another option is to get from Orsk to the regional center Svetly. Several buses go there a day (schedule), as well as the train Orsk - Rudny Klad. It is most convenient to take a taxi from Svetly to Camel Mountain (the distance is about 100 kilometers, so it is important to understand that it will not be cheap).

Personal car

Driving your own car is the most convenient option, as it allows you to get to Camel Mountain without transfers, at a comfortable pace and stay overnight.

You can lay any route convenient for you, but the most optimal route in terms of road infrastructure is: Orenburg - Orsk - Yasny - Svetly - Vostochny - Camel Mountain. From Vostochny to the rock, you will have to drive by country roads across the steppe.

Airplane

From Orenburg to Svetloye can also be reached by plane. Orenburg Airlines organizes flights three times a week. Travel time will be only 2.5 hours (almost three times faster than ground transport). You can again take a taxi from Svetly to Camel-mountain.

Why is it worth seeing Camel Mountain?

Visiting natural monuments is almost always a gamble for which one must decide, for which one must prepare. But if you do this, there is an additional reason to be proud of yourself: “I did it!”.

According to scientists, the formation of the "camel" remnant belongs to the Paleozoic period. Think about it, these rocks have stood on Earth for several hundred million years - they are silent witnesses of evolution and the entire history of mankind. To see them with your own eyes means to become a little closer to understanding the universe.

One of the pearls of the Samarskaya Luka National Park, located in the Samara Region, is Mount Camel. The park itself is part of the Middle Volga Reserve - a special territory in which natural resources are under state protection.

The park is rich in natural and cultural monuments. This is Molodetsky mound, Mount Popova, landscape complex and, of course, the Camel is a mountain.

Name history

One of the most recognizable and famous sights of the Samarskaya Luka National Park is Mount Camel. Photo with this unique natural monument almost every tourist who has been to the Samara region has one. It is located in the very north of the Zhiguli Mountains, not far from the village of Shiryaeva.

It will seem to an ignorant person, what does a camel have to do with it? After all, these animals have never been in these places. The secret lies in the figurative thinking of a person from the Russian hinterland. majestic mountain reminded me for many years local residents steppe camel, so they decided to christen her.

The Camel mountain got its name due to its shape. It resembles a camel stopped to rest, which lay down on the ground. True, today the shape of the mountain has undergone significant changes, so the outlines of the animal are guessed with great difficulty. The mountain was part of the Goat Horns rocks. However, in 1952 they were practically destroyed, while they were used for industrial purposes.

A tourist route

In order for everyone to be able to visit this unique grief, a separate excursion and tourist route is organized in the national park. In addition to Mount Camel, you can see historical object- the village of Shiryaevo, located at the mouth of the Shiryaevskaya Valley, as well as Monastyrskaya Mountain and Mount Popova.

Separately, it is worth talking about the village of Shiryaevo. This settlement carefully preserves the traces of history. It has many buildings built in the 19th century. The village itself appeared in 1647. At that time, it was first mentioned in the census. This means that the real age locality even more.

Shelter of barge haulers

Any student knows the famous painting by Repin "Barge Haulers on the Volga". This work of art was created in these places. In 1870, Repin lived near the village of Shiryaevo. These places have served for a long time short rest barge haulers.

Today, the Repin Museum is open in the village, where you can see the conditions under which the famous artist lived and worked, what environment surrounded the painter during the creation of one of the most famous masterpieces.

Not far from here is the visitor center of the national park, where you can get all necessary information, as well as the observation deck of Mount Popova, which offers a majestic view of the Zhiguli mountains and commemorative sign This ancient state that existed in the area in the past.

Unique nature

These places are also famous for their special nature. pass into a plateau that rises above the Volga at an altitude of about 40-50 meters. It is interspersed with ravines, rocks and hollows.

Among tourists, the object referred to as Mount Camel is becoming more and more popular. Samara Region every year attracts more and more visitors. To this day, railway tracks have been preserved, along which wheelbarrows with limestone were driven about 100 years ago.

Unique local attractions attract not only ordinary travelers. Camel Mountain has long been a favorite destination among professional climbers and speleologists. They are attracted here by the unique natural landscape. Climbers develop a variety of routes. Both experienced athletes and beginners can cope with them. For fans of extreme pastime, there is an opportunity to go routes at night.

Animal world

Camel (mountain) is perfect place in order to meet a wide variety of animals and even rare species of plants. In the bowels of the underground galleries you will find salvation from the heat even on hot days. In our time, bats love to fly here, and in artificial caves one of the largest colonies of bats even remains to winter.

You may get the impression that you are in a fairy forest, the nature surrounding the tourist here is so unusual. Once here, you will want to come back again and again.

How to get there?

To get to this natural attraction, you need to go to the Samara region, on the right bank of the Volga. The best way to go is weekdays, since there are a lot of people on holidays and weekends, you will not be able to enjoy the beauties of nature to your heart's content.

If you do not travel by private car, then from Samara you can take bus number 1 or number 50. Get off at the "Electroshield" stop and head to the boat station. From there, you can get to the mountain itself by water, or first swim to the village of Gavrilova Polyana, and from there walk a little.

If you decide to go on a trip, then positive impressions will certainly prevail. A favorite place for tourists is Camel Mountain. Samara will become a transit point to this unique natural monument.

However, it is worth remembering that this object is extremely popular among travelers, so do not be surprised if you come across mountains of garbage. There are also many who cannot resist leaving an autograph on one of the stones. All this, of course, does not adorn the unique natural landmark. The behavior and actions of such unfortunate tourists irritate many, especially because it is most often not possible to reason with them.

A team of adventurers for their last ninety, consisting of me, Vika, Akhel and Ksyusha, decided on Friday, June 5, to sail to Shiryaevo on Omik in order to climb around the surroundings. Unfortunately, we did not take into account that even four people and four alarm clocks is not a reason not to oversleep ... :)

As a result, having opened our eyes at fifteen minutes past eight, we realized that we were in no way able to get on the ship in time, even with the use of a teleporter. In principle, this did not upset us very much for two reasons: we can always make adjustments and we still got enough sleep! :) The result of our thoughts was that we went to Krasnoglinskaya boat station, from where they crossed to Gavrilova Polyana. This pleasure got us 80 rubles from the nose.

Having crossed on a terribly listing boat (I'm certainly not special, but it seemed to me that a couple of times we were fatally close to going to the bottom) we disembarked onto Sandy shore. Gavrilov glade somehow did not interest us, so after taking a dozen shots we moved towards the Camel.

I must say that this route is not new for us, we have already passed it. It turned out easier than last time, I don’t know why, maybe the backpacks were lighter, or maybe just a better shape. There is really another option ... we were dragged by such a herd of mosquitoes that stopping longer than 10 seconds meant losing a liter of blood! :D

On the way, an angry dog ​​was met by a signpost and after a hundred meters, this same dog itself, which, desperately angry, greeted us with joyful barking and a wagging tail. However, if you decide to stroke her, then it’s better not to, because she somehow reacts inadequately to this, although it may be because her hands were in repellent.

Also, another ace was met, two times smaller in size and really evil. Well, a couple of kutyats got caught. Just below them was discovered an amazing mechanism called a winch, very rusty, but still working! WITHOUT A SCRIPT!

On the first quarter of the way, we were overtaken by cyclists consisting of three people, aka a young family. On the outskirts of the Polet camp site, they overtook us again………… :)))))))))))))) What caused some bewilderment and a little rzhach. The head of the family, having plucked up courage in a state of the wildest ahuya in half with the deepest opizdenie, still managed to ask the sacramental question “HOW?!”. The answer to him was something in the style of "teleported" and "who knows." In fact, we ourselves were in some confusion and did not immediately realize how it happened. The answer came later, the fact is that they were driving along the coast, where there are a lot of stones, respectively, they often slowed down and walked, and in general they had no speed. We, driven by the sword of Damocles aka mosquitoes from behind, did everything 5-6 km / h with virtually no halts on a relatively flat road.

A useful hint: if you go along this route, then you don’t have to take water with you, you can get it at the camp site. Almost after leaving it, there will be a fence on the left, at the beginning of green, and then blue. Here, at the latter, a pipe with a valve comes out on the road, where you can draw water. Judging by the taste and effect on the body - drinking :)

Having made the last heroic breakthrough, we reached Mount Camel, where we camped near the Volga, and in the only place where there is some sand. In general, on weekdays it is very quiet and calm there, there is nobody and all the places are free, which we took advantage of by taking one of the best. However, in the evening people began to catch up.

With firewood this time it was somewhat better than last time, firstly, not everything that was left from the winter was burned, and secondly, you need to know the places;) But if you are going there by car, I recommend taking it with you, at least for kebabs, because it is extremely difficult to find wood that gives the right coals there, birches and oaks do not grow pancake. If on foot ... well general advice like this, when you go for firewood, go to those places, when you look where thoughts like “no, I’ll get in there!”.

It didn’t work out as we wanted to fit two triples (yes, we are mattresses!) In the chosen place, so we had to put it anyhow. So the strange location in the photographs is due solely to the topography of the soil, and not to substance abuse.

On the Volga in the summer there is a busy movement of ships. Passenger ships even more than barges and bulk carriers combined. The number of motorboats and boats in general rolls over, traffic jams will be at such a pace in 10 years :) Every second ship, apparently, is equipped with mega-acoustics and a bydlodzhey that puts cattle really screaming all over the river. It's sad to hear this, but ... people hawala.

Two boats were seen towing pieces of the pier. One of them dragged a big figuyovin behind him on a cable at a snail's pace, the second (already the next day) was harnessed to a U-shaped structure, which he pushed at the speed of a strolling grandmother. Where they stole them remains a mystery.

We also found a snake in the camp. The beast was about a meter long and behaved extremely indifferently, people were not frightened and did not scamper, but they did not try to attack either. After posing for the camera, it slowly crawled away somewhere under a tree, where it disappeared. The next day, descending from the camel, we met a girl with a backpack, who in a trembling voice told us that there was big stones crawling huge snake. They calmed her down, told that yesterday she was in our camp and generally peaceful, so you can go calmly.

In general, there are a lot of living creatures, snakes, lizards, otters and a bunch of various insects. Still, closeness wildlife not all are dead yet. On the way to Shiryaevo, where Achel and I went for beer to replace the one who had sailed away, we found about three crushed kites, 20 centimeters each.

Speaking of beer! It is completely unclear how, but the fat man's bottle of 2.5 liters, nailed with stones, managed to literally float away from under his nose! In reality, she remained unattended for three minutes, no more. We went downstream, looked at the water for a long time ... useless. In the camp about a hundred meters from us, where men aged 40-50 hung out and bathing children 10-15 did not see our loss either. Mystic…

This time the girls were engaged in a fire and barbecue, we only dragged a few especially thick firewood. Damn nice! Although, on the other hand, do not send them to Shiryaevo for beer?

A couple more helpful tips. if you go from the Camel, then the maximum short cut to the store it will look like this: at the fork near the village, go left, go straight until you see a white one-story house with the address "Sovetskaya 26", then turn left again. When you reach the asphalt, turn right onto it, after 150 meters there will be a white shop building on your left. Second helpful advice like this: if you are late to the store or it is closed for some other reason, then turn around and go to the yellow-blue stall on the horizon. If there is no one there, call the house, a friendly hostess will come out and sell you beer.

While the meat was being prepared for us, Ahelych and I decided to go fishing. The reason for this was the nordway viking knife model HR130, in which, in addition to the knife itself, there is 3m of fishing line and several hooks (by the way, there is also a thread and a needle and even a compass). Armed with this very miracle of the Russian-Ketai knife industry and my bad advice, Lyokha cut down a suitable branch like a young but dried up tree, screwed a fishing line with a hook to it and went fishing. True, he did not go far, because I took up the modification of our gear, adding a float from a plastic container (in which all the bonuses of the knife actually lay) and a sinker from a pebble (!!!). For feeding, a crossroads bag with two dozen holes, small stones and bread was used. There was also bread as bait. Surprisingly, but… HE DID CATCH ONE FISH!!! Unfortunately, the sun went down and the bite ended before it started :(

By the way, the knife, although ketai, is simply magical for its price of 500r. Cuts, saws, opens cans, does not show a tendency to blunt. In general, the topic of knives is quite fun, if you look at our equipment in this part, you might think that we are going to big road. Although, on the other hand, I never understood why devices with a blade less than 10 cm are needed, they only peel potatoes and poke around in the ass.

Let's get back to the fish. She was brutally killed and cleaned by Vika, after which I roasted her at the stake. Well, nothing like that, it is quite edible, although of course it would be worth rolling in flour.

After sitting by the bonfire and having fired the tales, we went to sleep. According to reports from the inhabitants of the neighboring tent, there was such a wind at night that they were almost blown away ... strange, we did not notice. Anyway, I got myself a good one. On the inflatable rug, I slept just magically, even the stone that I could not turn out of the sand was not felt at all. We need to somehow roll out a report on the rest of the equipment and not forget this self-inflator.

In the morning, after breakfast, Vika and I went to the Camel, leaving Ksyusha and Akhel to do their own business in the camp;) Actually, we climbed the camel mainly to make a nude photo session, because we have ordinary photos from there, and the clouds were not conducive to highly artistic photographs of nature. Well, at the same time panorama zafigachili.

We met a caveman at the top! :) The bottom line is that while I was taking pictures, I naturally looked down to see if the tourists were coming our way. There was no one, peace and quiet. We finished (photographing!), Vika got dressed, started to unfold the tripod for the panorama and then turning around I see a comrade with a mug coming out of nowhere!!! who wishes us good morning. A variety of options flashed through my head from teleportation to schizophrenia (really flashed, well, there was no way to approach so that I could not see in five seconds). The solution turned out to be simpler, below, literally five meters away, there is a small cave in which there is a “comfortable couch for one”.

Speaking of tourists… An interesting thing is that the distribution of types of tourists fits into a pyramid. At the very bottom, mostly those who came by car to swell for the weekend, mattress covers go higher, tourists themselves are even higher, but at the very top, there are such hardened extreme sportsmen.

Where the Germans were this time climbers settled, one of them climbed three or four meters up and lazily drove in another wedge, or whatever they call it. However, judging by the funny photo, the Germans were not only there :) In general, on the way down we met several groups of vacationers, for some reason they all were doing what they were doing.

Aleksey and the lady, unlike us, didn’t climb the mountain, but they started to inspect the galleries, in which, by the way, you can escape from the heat of the day. The main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise you can catch a cold in a jiffy.

Having slowed down with the collection of the camp, we went to Shiryaevo to the ship. Yep, schzzz! The ship sailed away from under our very noses, leaving us to train in the linguistic delights of the great and mighty. At the pier, we were happily informed that we were staying overnight with them :) It should be noted that we wanted to scrape off on Saturday solely because of business. We also need to take into account the fact that we have… well, let's just say, almost ran out of money. Having estimated the amount of cash, we came to the disappointing conclusion that a return through Togliatti is financially impossible.

The second camp was set up on the banks of the Volga, right in Shiryaevo, so as not to go far in the morning. The place is honestly so-so, there is no firewood (instead of them, boards from some old fence were used, the fragments of which were lying nearby), the soil is moist, in some places turning into a swamp. Bushes to pee within a radius of 100 meters are also not observed. But there are frogs and otters, one of which apparently sneaked up to the tents at night to look, after which it fell with a splash. Some people periodically walked along the road, some even spoke a foreign language.

It is very surprising, but after the final transition Camel - Shiryaevo, which was made almost at the maximum speed for a loaded person, we still had the strength (!) And the desire (!!!) to climb the surrounding mountains! Photos are attached.

Getting up at 4 in the morning ... well, actually at 4:30, after all, because we woke up with great difficulty, having breakfast and having gathered, we went to the pier, where we met Omik, already familiar to us, on which we safely sailed to the city. At the pier, a tow truck was already waiting for us, taking us home to go about our business.

On the right bank of the Volga River between the villages of Shiryaevo (3 km) and Gavrilova Polyana (5 km), directly opposite the village of Volzhsky. Samara Region. From Samara about 1.5 hours on Omik.
Coordinates: N 53° 24"32.06" E 50° 4"23.19

So your goal is the red star on the map.

By train: you reach railway station Samara, then there are two paths to choose from.

1. Take buses 1 or 50 (50 goes faster) or the corresponding minibuses
which go to the Red Glinka. Get off at the stop "Electroshield"
(about an hour by bus)
and go down to the Volga taking to the right from the stop to the boat station
(2-3 minutes from the stop).
Negotiate with boaters (during daylight hours they are constantly on duty
several boats, Friday night or Saturday can be crowded).
You go to Gavrilova Polyana or directly to the Camel.
From Gavrilova Polyana on foot along the Volga along the road, and from Krestovaya along the path, through t.b.
Flight to Camel (5 km from Gavrilka to Camel).
Krasnaya Glinka is a blue square on the map.

Mount Camel is one of the most beautiful viewing platforms on the Zhiguli Mountains. And if the view opens up the Volga, towards Tolyatti, then, climbing on the head of the Camel, you will appreciate the beauty of the river in the Samara region.

The photo above is one of the many groups of "weekend tourists" who came on a tour by bus from Togliatti, through the dam. Mount Camel is a very lively place, loved by professional climbers, speleologists, experienced tourists and simple lovers hiking. This is due to the fact that climb to the main observation deck, you can climb the “head” of the Camel without preparation - although the path is steep, the path is safe in comfortable clothes and shoes. Climbers liked the steep slopes and walls. And speleologists master adits, of which there are many in the district.

Getting to Mount Camel is very easy. First you reach the village of Shiryaevo, to the House-Museum. Ilya Repin. Don't waste your time and money, be sure to check it out museum exposition, listen to the guide's story about how Repin and his comrades lived in Shiryaevo, how he wrote sketches for his most famous painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga". The tour will take an hour and a half, the price of tickets is almost symbolic.

Visitors to the museum - when it is dense, and when it is empty. It is included in the stop program cruise ships passing along the Volga. Are coming organized excursions from Samara and Tolyatti. There are many unorganized travelers who have decided to admire the nature of the Zhiguli. But the queue, even if there is one, moves quickly.

And after visiting the museum, right along this street, move down the Volga, the outskirts are very close there. A barrier was installed on the border of the village - employees national park Samarskaya Luka sell one-time vouchers for a visit. There are also information boards with a standard list of prohibitions and restrictions: do not make fire, do not break trees, do not pick flowers ... behave like human beings.

They didn’t measure it on purpose, but it’s about three kilometers from the museum to the foot of Mount Camel. From below, it looks impregnable. In some places you can see the hooks driven in by climbers.

But in the gap between the mountains there is a path along which you can quite easily reach the very top. Only in two or three places special care and a friendly hand are needed.

You can already feel the height. And - beauty!

And here we are at the target. This is almost the top of Mount Camel, or rather, its head. On the opposite bank of the Volga, you can see the mouth of the Sok River, the Sokoly Mountains and the Volga Gates.

If someone is still using the old list of things that you can look at forever (fire, sails, girls) - go to the Camel to update the list of beautiful things.