Ural mountains. The highest mountains and peaks of the Urals Eastern side of the Ural mountains

The Ural stretches in the meridional direction for 2000 km from north to south - from the Arctic islands of Novaya Zemlya to the sun-scorched deserts of the Turan plain. A conditional geographic border between Europe and Asia is drawn along the Cis-Urals. The Ural Mountains are located in the inland border zone of the earth's crust between the ancient Russian platform and the young West Siberian plate. The folds of the earth's crust at the base of the Ural Mountains were formed during the Hercynian mountain building. Mountain building was accompanied by intensive processes of volcanism and metamorphism of rocks, therefore, in the bowels of the Urals, numerous minerals were formed - iron ores, polymetals, aluminum, gold, platinum. Then, for a long time - in the Mesozoic and Paleogene - the processes of destruction and leveling of the Hercynian mountains took place. Gradually the mountains sank and turned into a hilly hill. In the Neogene-Quaternary time, the ancient folded structures lying at its base split into blocks that rose to different heights. Thus, the former folded mountains turned into folded-block ones. The ancient destroyed mountains were rejuvenated. Nevertheless, the modern ridges of the Urals are mostly low. In the north and south, they rise to 800-1000 m. The highest peak in the Urals is Mount Narodnaya (1894 m). In the middle part, the height of the ridges does not exceed 400-500 m. Railways run through the low passes of this part of the Urals, along which trains move between the European and Asian parts of Russia.

The uneven uplift of blocks of the earth's crust led to differences in the height of the mountain ranges, their external forms. According to the features of the relief, the Urals are subdivided into several parts. The Polar Urals stretches out with four ridges, gradually rising from the Pai-Khoi hills to 1500 m. The ridges of the Subpolar Urals have many sharp peaks. The Northern Urals consists of two elongated parallel ridges that rise up to 800-1000 m. The western of these two ridges has flat peaks. The eastern slope of the Urals drops abruptly towards the West Siberian lowland. The Middle Ural is the lowest part of the entire Urals: heights of about 500 m dominate. However, individual peaks here rise up to 800 m. The South Urals is the widest, dominated by foothill plateaus. Mountain tops are often flat.

The distribution of minerals in the Urals is determined by the peculiarities of its geological structure. In the west, in the Cis-Ural trough, there was an accumulation of sedimentary strata of limestone, gypsum and clay, to which significant deposits of oil, potassium salts and coal are confined. In the central part of the Urals, metamorphic rocks of the inner folds of the mountains - gneisses, quartzites and shales, broken by tectonic faults, appeared on the surface. Igneous rocks intruded along the faults led to the formation of ore minerals. Among them, the most important role belongs to the ores of iron, polymetals, aluminum. A large iron ore plant and the city of Magnitogorsk were built on the basis of iron ore deposits during the first five-year plans. The eastern slope of the Urals is composed of a variety of geological rocks - sedimentary, metamorphic and volcanic, therefore, minerals are very diverse. These are ores of iron, non-ferrous metals, aluminum, deposits of gold and silver, precious and semi-precious stones, asbestos.

The Urals is a climatic divide between the temperate continental climate of the East European Plain and the continental climate of Western Siberia. Despite their relatively low altitude, the Ural Mountains have an impact on the climate of our country. Throughout the year, humid air masses, brought by cyclones from the Atlantic Ocean, penetrate into the Urals. As the air rises along the western slope, the amount of precipitation increases. The sinking of air along the eastern slope is accompanied by its drying. Therefore, the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains receive 1.5-2 times less precipitation than the western ones. The western and eastern slopes differ both in temperature and in the nature of the weather. Average January temperatures range from -22 ° C in the north to -16 ° C in the south. On the western slope, winters are relatively mild and snowy. Little snow falls on the eastern slope, and frosts can reach -45 ° C. Summers are cool and rainy in the north, warm in most of the Urals, and hot and dry in the south.

Many rivers originate in the Urals. The largest among them flow to the west. These are Pechora, Kama, Belaya, Ufa. Ishim flows to the east, the Urals to the south. On the meridional stretches, the rivers flow calmly along wide valleys in the hollows between the ridges. In latitudinal sections, they rush rapidly across ridges along tectonic faults along narrow rocky gorges with many rapids. The alternation of narrow gorges and wide sections of valleys gives the rivers an amazing variety and beauty, and favors the construction of reservoirs. In the Urals, there is a very high demand for water, which is needed in large quantities for numerous industrial enterprises and cities. However, many rivers are heavily polluted with wastewater from industrial enterprises and cities and need to be treated. The economic significance of the rivers of the Urals and the Urals is great and diverse, although their role in shipping and energy is not so great. Hydropower reserves of the Ural rivers are below the national average. The average annual capacity of the middle rivers of the Urals is about 3.5 million kW. The Kama basin is the richest in hydropower. A number of large hydroelectric power plants have been built here. Among them are the Kamskaya and Votkinskaya hydroelectric power stations. The largest reservoir of the Kamskaya HPP stretches for 220 km. A hydroelectric power station of significant capacity was built on the river. Ufa. Despite the abundance of rivers in the Urals, only a few of them are suitable for navigation. These are, first of all, Kama, Belaya, Ufa. In the Trans-Urals, ships sail along Tobol, Tavda, and in high waters along Sosva, Lozva and Tura. For shallow-draft vessels, the Ural is also navigable below Orenburg.

To improve water supply, ponds and reservoirs have long been built on the rivers of the Urals. These are the Verkhne-Isetsky and city ponds in Yekaterinburg, Nizhne-Tagilsky and others. There are also reservoirs: Volchikhinskoe on Chusovaya, Magnitogorskoye and Iriklinskoye in the Urals.

For industrial, agricultural purposes, recreation and tourism, numerous lakes are used, of which there are more than 6 thousand.

The Urals are crossed by several natural zones. Along its tops and upper slopes, they are shifted to the south. Mountain tundras are widespread in the Polar Urals. To the south, on the western slopes, in conditions of high moisture, dark coniferous spruce-fir forests dominate, on the eastern slopes - pine and cedar. In the Southern Urals, on the western slope, there are coniferous-deciduous forests, to the south they are replaced by linden and oak forest-steppe. On the eastern slope of the Southern Urals there is a birch-aspen forest-steppe. In the extreme south of the Urals and in the low mountains of Mugodzhary, there are dry steppes and semi-deserts.

The Ural is a medium-altitude mountainous country stretched along the meridian for 2000 km from the shores of the Kara Sea to the Ural River. With a great length from north to south, the width of the Ural Mountains is only 40-60 km and only in a few places more than 100 km. On the territory of the Urals, two or three ridges are mainly traced, stretched parallel to one another in the meridional direction. In some areas, their number increases to four or more. For example, the Southern Urals have a complex orography between 55 and 54 ° N. sh., where there are at least six ridges. The Subpolar Urals, on the territory of which the highest point of the mountainous country, Mount Narodnaya (1894 m), is distinguished by the same orographic complexity.

The Urals is an ancient folded mountainous country formed in the Upper Paleozoic. Intense volcanism during the period of the Hercynian folding was accompanied by vigorous mineralization. This is one of the main reasons for the wealth of the Urals in metal minerals. Currently, the mountains are badly destroyed and in some places have the character of a peneplain. The most peneplained is the Middle Urals, which in many ways have already lost the features of a mountainous country. Suffice it to say that the Perm - Yekaterinburg railway line crosses the mountains at an altitude of only 410 m.

With a low absolute altitude, the Urals are dominated by low- and mid-mountainous forms of relief. The tops of the ridges are flat, often domed, with more or less soft slopes. In the Polar and Northern Urals, near the upper border of the forest and above it, stone seas (kurums) are widespread, consisting of large fragments of rocks, gradually moving down the slope. Alpine landforms are rare and only in the Polar and Subpolar Urals. Modern glaciers of the tar and tar-valley type are also found here. The total area of \u200b\u200bmodern glaciation here is insignificant - a little more than 25 km 2.

In many places in the mountainous country, ancient alignment surfaces are well preserved. The classic region of their development is the Northern Urals, where they were studied in detail by V.A.Varsanofieva (1932). Later, from one to seven ancient surfaces of alignment were found in other regions of the Urals. Their presence testifies to the uneven rise of the Ural Mountains in time.

On the western slope of the Urals and in the Cis-Urals, karst landforms, associated with the dissolution of Paleozoic limestones, gypsum and salt, acquire landscape significance. The Kungur Ice Cave is widely known, with up to 36 underground lakes in its vast grottoes. The valleys of the Ural rivers are accompanied by picturesque cliffs (the Vishera stones, the Chusovaya soldiers).

From north to south, the mountainous country crosses five latitudinal natural zones, in accordance with which tundra, forest-tundra, taiga, forest-steppe and steppe types of altitudinal zoning successively replace each other on its territory. In terms of area occupied, the first place belongs to forest belts - mountain-taiga, and in the south-west - coniferous-broad-leaved. It is interesting to emphasize that the Urals does not serve as an orographic boundary either for Siberian conifers found in the taiga of the Russian Plain, or for broad-leaved species. Linden is widespread among broad-leaved species to the east of the Urals; as for oak, elm and Norway maple, their eastward movement is hindered by the sharply continental Siberian climate. Due to the fact that the Ural is located north of the Carpathians and the Caucasus, its forest peaks are covered with mountain tundra, and not alpine meadows and lawns. Alpine (mountain-tundra) and subalpine (forest-meadow) belts - northeastern analogs of the alpine and subalpine belts of the Caucasus and the mountains of Central Asia - are developed here. The structure of altitudinal zonation in the Urals is often "cut off" due to the low altitude of the mountains.

The Urals is the oldest mining region in the USSR. It is a kind of pantry of various minerals - iron, copper, nickel, chromites, polymetals, potassium salts, aluminum raw materials, platinum, oil, lignite and coal.

Literature.

1. Milkov F.N. Natural zones of the USSR / F.N. Milkov. - M.: Mysl, 1977 .-- 296 p.

"On the Chusovaya River"

On the western slope of the Ural Mountains, many mountain rivers and rivulets run, which make up the main feeding branches of the basin of the high-water Kama River. Among them, without a doubt, in originality and beauty, the first place belongs to the Chusovaya River, which dug its rocky bed through rocks and mountains at a distance of several hundred miles. This mountain beauty presents almost insurmountable obstacles for navigation, and therefore it is especially interesting for us to get acquainted with how a simple Russian man, who does not even know literacy, overcomes this obstacle. Chusovaya takes its beginning a little south of Yekaterinburg, first flows to the north, and then slowly turns to the north-west until it flows into the Kama River twenty versts above the city of Perm.

The rafting part of Chusovaya, that is, the one along which navigation is possible, stretches for 600 versts. The middle part of this current, which occupies 400 versts, is the most picturesque strip of Chusovaya and ends exactly at the place where the Ural railway passes through the river. Here Chusovaya finally runs out of the "stones", as the barge haulers call the mountains, and then flows further along the low-lying plain, where the banks only occasionally rise with high hillocks, and on them, as an exception, those terrible coastal rocks, which the barge haulers call fighters, come across. The most beautiful part of Chusovaya is together and the most dangerous for floating barges: not only barges are "fighting" among the soldiers, but dozens of people are dying.

Throughout its length, Chusovaya is a completely deserted river, where coastal villages are some kind of exception. True, on Chusovaya there are several large factories, which, of course, revitalize the river, but there are too few of them; then the docks remain, from where the barges leave; but the marinas liven up only for one month a year, during the spring rafting, and for the rest of the time they definitely fall asleep ...

Meanwhile, Chusovaya was and is of tremendous importance for the Urals, because more than six million poods of various cargoes are rafted along it annually, some barge haulers gather at Chusov piers every spring up to twenty-five thousand people.

Several years ago I happened to sail almost the entire Chusovaya with a spring caravan, which I want to tell you about.

In the last days of April, when the snow had already melted in open places and the first pale greens appeared, I drove along the most terrible road to one of the upper Chusovo piers. On Chusovaya there was still ice, loose and rusty; blackened snow lay in the forest, but spring was already in the air, and waves of warm spring light poured from the sky, forcing the green tendrils of young grass to pour out from under last year's leaves and swell the branches of birches, mountain ash and bird cherry. Spring in the Urals, as in other northern or mountainous places, comes quickly, all at once, so that, in fact, there is probably no spring that happens in the south: the transition from winter to summer is too abrupt, as is the transition from summer to winter.

In the first minute I did not recognize the familiar pier, which I visited several times in summer and winter. An ordinarily quiet village, with fifty huts clung to a steep bank, now looked like a living anthill, where thousands of black dots swarmed. "Dubinushka" was heard here and there in the air:

Oh, dubinushna, hoo!

Green, turn it up ...

The streets were crowded with barge haulers, so that the crew could only make their way. Now behind the village, on a low promontory, there were a dozen and a half almost completely finished barges, it remained only here and there to dig the grooves (holes between the boards) and fill them with pitch. This work was not difficult, and completely ready-made barges were just waiting for the moment when the ice broke on the river in order to float to the free spring water.

To Yermolai Antipych, - I said to my coachman.

My cart stopped at a low, one-story house with large windows overlooking the river. I have always loved this low log house, in which it was so warm and cozy, and between the fuchsias and geraniums that stood at the windows, each time there flashed the pink, smiling face of a little girl, Lyubenka. I must say that we were great friends, and Lyubenka met me loudly every time with one phrase: "Dad, dad! The city man has arrived!" Lyubenka was in her early sixths, and she had never been anywhere except her pier, which is why I got the name "city man" from her.

How else? You've even been to Moscow and Petersburg, ”said the girl, looking incredulously at me with bright eyes. - Of course, urban, but I am a village ...

The first time Lyubenka heard that I had been to Moscow and St. Petersburg, she did not want to believe such a miracle for a long time: none of the quayside had visited such a distance. Moscow and St. Petersburg can only be seen in picture books. Only when Yermolai Antipych convinced the little daughter that I really was so far away did Lyubenka finally believe and called me a city man. However, from the expression in her eyes, I sometimes noticed that she doubted her city man and was giving him a little exam.

Dad is not at home, - said Lyubenka this time. - He is on the shore where barges are being built ...

The city man is tired, Lyubenka, and wants some tea.

I'll tell Martha now.

Lyubenka did not have a mother, who died three years ago, and the grumbling old Martha ran the entire household in the house. Yermolai Antipych's house was divided into four small, cozy rooms, of which one was occupied by Yermolai Antipych's study, Lyubenka lived in the other, and the last two bore the loud name of the living room and dining room, although they could be named differently, because in the dining room, for example, there was the master's bed, and in the living room is his long writing table.

By the way, you arrived, - said Lyubenka, while in the living room I was stretching my broken legs.

Yes so ... The river will move soon, it will be very fun. The barges will run past us. Then we will send our caravan ... Why! .. They will shoot from the cannon on the shore ... I'm afraid when they shoot from the cannon ...

And when, Lyubenka, Chusovaya will start?

They wait from hour to hour ... The rafter Ilya drank tea yesterday and said that soon it would be. The barges are ready, the barge haulers are gathered ... Yes ...

The little hostess told me the latest news from the pier, which was mainly circulating around the same alloy.

The snows are deep these days, - Lyubenka said seriously, - Ilya is afraid that a friendly spring might strike ... Many barges will be killed in high water.

The girl conveyed only what she herself heard from others, and spoke in the language that is spoken only in Chusovaya: "the barge will be killed," and not smashed, because for the rafter Ilya, the barge is not a dead vessel, but a living being: "a friendly spring will strike "," the snow has fallen deeply "," the river will move ", etc.

As soon as Martha had time to bring in the boiling samovar, the voices of Yermolai Antipych and the rafter Ilya were heard in the hall.

We have a city man, dad, - reported Lyubenka, jumping out to meet her father.

We are glad to have guests, - answered Yermolai Antipych, appearing at the door.

Hello, Ermolai Antipych, - I greeted, shaking hands with the owner. - How are you?

What we are doing: we live with Lyubenka, like teals in a swamp. Are you here for a rafting trip?

Yes, I would like to sail on a caravan to Perm ...

Well, good deed: there is a place. Here I am Now and will pass you from hand to hand to Ilya ... Where are you, Ilya?

I’m now, Ermolai Antipych, ”Ilya responded from the hall,“ I’ve dragged dirt on my boots from the street, I have to wipe it off, otherwise I’ll take out your whole room ...

Yes, go, nothing: the dirt is not greasy, - dried up, lagged behind ...

No, this is no longer order! How is it possible ... Yes, the young lady won't let me into the room another time.

The rafter Ilya finally entered the upper room, prayed to the icon in the front corner, and, shaking his hair cut into braces, bowed to all three sides, although there was no one in the upper room except for the three of us. He was a small, wiry old man with a goat-like, dark beard that crawled out over a blue, homemade caftan like a wedge: Ilya's thin, yellowish face did not differ in anything special, except for deeply sunken, unusually lively gray eyes, which looked at everything with a cutting, narrowed gaze. Ilya's short, crooked legs walked slowly and firmly, as if some hero was walking; a hunched back and outstretched, long arms made his figure very ugly at first glance, but such backs and arms are found only in those workers who work without sparing themselves.

Well, you are living well, ”Ilya said, spreading his legs wide apart and thrusting one hand into the red woolen belt, which intercepted his blue caftan.

Hello, Ilya ... Sit down, so you will be a guest.

We sat quietly for an hour at tea; the conversation was going on all the time about Chusovaya: when it starts to move, how high the water will be today, but a friendly spring would not hit, etc. - according to the proverb: whoever hurts, he talks about that. Such conversations in Yermolai Antipych's apartment have probably been happening lately from day to day, but they didn’t bother anyone, just as a musician doesn’t get tired of talking about music, a hunter about hunting, an actor about theater. Even Lyubenka did not find these conversations boring and inserted her childish word into them in a thin voice. Ilya liked to "drink tea" and drank glass after glass while there was water in the samovar, and, like a mouse, he gnawed off his piece of sugar and constantly shook the crumbs from it into his saucer; old Martha was always angry with the old man for his "appetite" for tea, because after the gentlemen she liked to indulge herself around the samovar, and then, if you please, set up another one for herself.

What does he only drink, this Ilya of yours? - Martha grumbled, angrily removing the empty samovar from the table. - I got to the master's tea, glad to have a bucket to drink.

Now we go ashore, - suggested Ermolai Antipych, referring to me. “You don’t know how the barges are built?”

Here Ilya will tell you everything, as if on fingers ...

We went out. The entire coast of the Chusovaya was filled with barge haulers; on the promontory, where there were shops and completely ready-made barges, people were stirring like a living ant heap. It was about half a mile from Yermolai Antipych's house to the cape, and we walked all the time between living walls. For the duration of the rafting on the Chusovo wharves, people are recruited from all sides: from the nearest districts of the Perm province, from Vyatka, Ufa and even Kazan. Some barge haulers come to the rafting for a whole thousand miles. Such a long journey into the spring thaw requires five weeks and responds extremely hard to the barge haulers: faces baked in the sun with cracked skin, instead of clothes - some rags, bast shoes on the legs, behind the shoulders - a torn dirty knapsack, in the hands - a long stick, - by these signs, you will immediately distinguish the barge haulers from the distant bridge from the workers from the pier and the nearest factories.

We had a lot of burlachkov, - said Ilya, when we began to descend under the steep bank. - The starlings will arrive first, and after them the haulers ...

We descended along a clay path to the very promontory, where a dozen completely finished barges were placed along the shore.

Here are our little dishes, - Ilya remarked lovingly, tapping his fist on the side of one of the boats, which was still caulked. - So they look with their noses into the river ...

The rafter Ilya and the barge haulers in general regard the barge as a living being, which has its own advantages and disadvantages, desires and even whims. One barge "likes to dump the bow to the right," the other "spins on the move and presses the stern to the shore", the third "famously spreads the stream of the river," but "plays with the fighters," etc. An experienced rafter, like Ilya, at first glance sees the advantages and disadvantages of each barge, while to me they seemed exactly the same ...

The next day I was walking around the barges, when a general shout rang across the entire bank: "The water has gone for profit ..." Crowds of people rushed to the river. Somewhere in the distance a dull, dull noise was heard.

This is water, - Ilya explained. “It’s time, apparently, for our nurse Chusovaya to open up ... Look how the ice pouted! Now it will move ...

The water came quickly; the ice lagged behind the coast and gave several cracks. The noise increased, as if a huge animal were crawling along the river, with suppressed hiss and whistles. Soon all the ice began to stir and several fresh wormwoods formed, as if the ice floes had been torn apart by some strong hand.

The water from the Revdinsky pond was drained, - explained Ermolai Antipych. - Chusovaya sometimes stands for a long time, and spring water can escape under the ice. To break the ice, water is drained from the Revdinsky pond.

The Revda plant is located in the upper reaches of the Chusovaya, and its huge pond serves as the main supply of water for rafting down the river. As a rule, a huge shaft is released, which stretches along the river for two hundred versts; this is the flood along which the spring caravans float.

An hour later, the picture of the pier changed completely, as if everything came to life all at once around with a loud talk and a cheerful spring noise. Ice floes of all kinds were floating along the river in a long line: some were yellow from the spring ice, others were as if eaten away by worms. At turns they collided and climbed one on top of the other, forming ice jams; the ice pressed especially strongly on the promontory where the barges stood; ice floes, as if alive, crawled out onto the sand and scattered here in sparkling ice crystals and white snow powder. A stream of cold pulled in the air, and the forest that stood on the Chusovaya made a dull noise. Crows came from somewhere and, with a restless croaking, flew from ice floe to ice floe.

Well, now we have the hottest work, just have time to get better, - said Yermolai Antipych. - We need to lower all the boats into the water tomorrow and load them in three days. Every hour is precious! After all, on each barge you need to load a load of fifteen thousand poods ... Some marinas have their own harbors, well, they manage to load in advance, but we have to load right in the river.

The whole pier took on a completely festive look. All dressed up in the best dress anyone had. The peasants of the pier dressed up in new chintz shirts and new caftans, the women were full of bright sundresses and red scarves. Only there was nothing for the barge haulers who came to the pier from afar. Probably, it became even more difficult for them from this strange holiday.

Oh, rather a rafting, - said the gray-haired old man, looking at the river.

Why, grandpa, are you in a hurry?

But how not to hurry, darling ... What time is now worth? The day was in vain - a hungry week in winter ... How? The arable land does not wait for our brother while we are scampering along the wharves ... There will soon be Eremey the harnessing ... Only a lazy plow in the field does not go to Eremey ...

Eremey the harness-harvester, that is, May 1, is a great day in the life of a plowman; summer peasant suffering opens to them, on which the earnings of a whole year depend. That is why the alien peasant barge haulers are in a hurry to return home as soon as possible.

The next day there was a "list" of barges. Up to two thousand barge haulers gathered at the cape. From the barges to the water "slimes" were carried, that is, thick logs smeared with tar; along these slimes the barge was pushed into the water. There was a lot of shouting and fuss at such an important event. On the one hand, the bark was pushed against with "chegen", that is, with wooden stakes, and on the other, was held back with thick ropes and tackle. A hundred-voiced "Dubinushka" hung in the air, all faces were animated, a loud echo rolled far down the river and echoed loudly on the opposite bank. Ermolai Antipych was here from the early morning, because it was necessary to keep up everywhere, to foresee everything, to give the necessary orders everywhere. The cry of the workers and the friendly burlak song on the list - all this for the first time made a deafening impression, as in a huge fire, where people completely lost their heads and in vain tear themselves up in aimless vanity.

The barge is stuck! .. - the cry of a dozen voices is heard near the barge being pushed off. - Give your right shoulder a bit ... Eumenes, grab the tackle! ...

The rafter Ilya shouted harder than the others, in one shirt, running along the barge, which was "stuck", that is, stopped while descending through the slimes. Dozens of voices argue and shout at the top of their lungs; everyone climbs with their advice, and no one wants to listen. "Left shoulder stuck!" - "No, the bilge is stuck!" - "The gate must be substituted, Ilya!" The barque was moved from the platform on which it was built, onto the slimes, but it does not go further.

It is necessary to lubricate the slugs, shy ...

The matter ended with Ilya scolding all the uninvited advisers, he himself climbed under the barge and examined where she was stuck. Several wedges were brought in, and the boat slowly slid down the slimes, foaming the water in a wide shaft. Rare ice floes floated along the river, which seemed to be in a hurry to swim away as soon as possible from the general turmoil.

The barge, lowered into the water, was immediately taken on a rope to shops with metals. Several gangways were thrown from shore to side; several hundred barge haulers were already waiting in line to start loading. I climbed onto the bow deck to see how the burlak work went. A healthy man with a red beard was in charge all the time while the gangway was being arranged; old man Ilya came up to me and, wiping his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief, sat down on a log.

Is this a rafter? - I asked, pointing at the red-haired man.

No, I'm a rafter, and the red-haired man is a water-carrier ... Call him Vavil. As the barge was lowered into the water, then the water-carrier must take it upon himself - the whole barge is his. Where it seems to flow, the tow will come out of the grooves, water has accumulated on the barge - all this is observed by the water-carrier ...

So, the real owner of the barge is a water-carrier, and not a rafter?

Aquatic, master ... Without his request, no one can enter the boat or get off, because he is responsible for everything. And the rafter is different: now I have to look after the load, so that they load it correctly, otherwise you will just kill the barge; then I have to present the barge intact to the very place ... This is my business ...

As soon as the gangway was ready, barge haulers with heavy loads in their hands moved in an endless line. Ilya's barge, as the best rafter, was loaded with high-quality iron, that is, the most valuable material that can lose a lot if it gets into the water. Barge haulers, like ants, dragged bundles of various shapes onto the barge; amid the clatter of hundreds of burlak feet and the sharp clang of the loaded iron, it was difficult to hear a human voice. Ilya barely had time to dispose of where and how to put the brought iron; Soon, near the sides and in the middle of the barge, regular masonry of sheet iron formed ... The barque slowly sat down deeper and deeper: Ilya constantly coped with the measure of the draft and estimated the descending part of the sides into the water using a wooden outline divided into tops.

In general, the work was in full swing. The red, sweaty faces of the barge haulers, grunts and tired movements testified to the hard work that fell to their lot. For an unaccustomed person, two hours of such work is harder than a whole day's work somewhere on arable land; to drag an iron strip weighing 3-4 pounds - you need strength, and then skill. The barge haulers, accustomed to such a load, only laughed, and the peasants, who were on the rafting for the first time, were simply exhausted. Almost a whole science exists about how it is easier to lift such and such a grade of iron, how it is easier to drag it to the barge, and how to put it back. An inexperienced worker will first needlessly rip his hands on iron to the point of blood, and then he will learn how and what to do.

Now we have porridge brewed for three whole days, - said Yermolai Antipych when he came to see how Ilya's barge was being loaded. - We will work day and night.

And when to sleep?

Barge haulers will work in shifts; while one shift is working, the other is resting. And we, apparently, are so ... If you take a nap for an hour or two a day, - your happiness, otherwise you will wear out your sleep on your feet. It is impossible, every minute is precious. We'll send the caravan, then we'll have time to rest. Why sleep: there's no time to eat ... Martha brought me lunch to the store; So I already ate something on the go: they tear you to all sides.

The workload continued for three days, and the work was in full swing at night, in the light of huge bonfires on the shore. The picture of the pier on such a night was striking, as if it were a robber's den, where at night they tried to capture what could not be taken during the day.

For me personally, these three days dragged on very slowly, as for a completely superfluous person in this hectic labor. I even got tired of walking and watching the barges being loaded, because the same pictures, scenes and conversations were repeated. But on the other hand, on the pier itself, where barge haulers swarmed, there was something to see and listen to, and I spent whole days among the ragged and hungry people. Someone else was not in this motley, always roaring crowd! People gathered from four provinces, and everyone brought with him his own dialect, cut of dress, his own peculiarities in habits and character. But there was also a common thing in this multi-tribal crowd: everyone was gathered here by one force, whose name is need. Tanned faces, rags and rags instead of clothes, and - patches, patches, patches ... It should be noted that only the very last poor people from the poorest villages and hamlets go to the spring Chusovoy rafting: accidental misfortunes - like crop failure, drought, fire, bestial death and various other peasant misfortunes - they forced the strongest workers in the family to leave the village and sometimes wander a thousand miles.

When Yermolai Antipych said that he would not have time to dine these days, I didn’t believe at first - you never know what is said for a catchphrase - but then I had to believe, because he came home for only two hours a day, and everything else spent time near shops. Thus, Lyubenka and I stayed alone and talked for a long time because there was nothing to do, especially in the evenings. The room is so warm and cozy, the samovar grumbles so friendly on the table, various buns and crackers peep out of the bread basket so appetizing - I really didn't even want to believe that here, now behind the wall, the most bitter poverty is spreading in a wide wave, which is glad for every moldy crust. Those little comforts, which you usually do not notice, now seemed to me an extraordinary luxury, for which I was simply ashamed: to sit in a warm cozy room, have an excellent dinner, tea, a newspaper, a warm dress, when hundreds of people are starving and freezing, when there is, maybe , patients who have nothing to even buy simple rye bread; no, to be warmly dressed, to have a warm room, a good table is really the greatest happiness, which people, in most cases, do not know how to appreciate, just as healthy people do not know how to value their health ...

Do you know what, - Lyubenka once said when we were sitting at evening tea. - I sometimes think to myself, will our pier barges reach Petersburg? ..

Probably half will swim to Petersburg.

And I can’t believe it: some kind of pier barge will suddenly be in Petersburg!

Yes, and will, in all likelihood, go for firewood and fences. The honor is not particularly great.

Lyubenka, who never left her pier, has formed the most fantastic concept of the capital, as of some magical city where the streets consist entirely of five-storey buildings, at night it is as bright as day from gas lamps, at every step there are shiny shops, rich carriages with smart ladies and men rush like a pavement, and nowhere, even the slightest shadow, is there anything like poverty or destitution.

In the evenings, when Lyubenka had long been asleep with her dreams of Petersburg, I would open the window and for a long time admired the magnificent picture, rolling with a dull rumble of Chusovaya, a continuous forest that was rising as a green battlement on the other side, distant mountains, slightly twined with a misty haze. ... The whole dock at night fell asleep in a deep, dead sleep, which was disturbed only by the rare barking of chain dogs and a dull noise that came from the loading barges. From there, together with the cold and damp stream of air rising from the river, the resinous smoke of burning fires was drawn. The river was completely cleared of ice, and only occasionally did belated ice floes appear as white spots; they probably sailed from some brisk mountain tributary. Once, when I was sitting in this way by the window and admiring the sleeping pier, a flock of mallard ducks swept through the air with a noise and whistle. She could hear her sinking into the water near the opposite bank, and black dots plowed the dark stream of the river for a long time, leaving behind a long, double trail. The river was opened, and now no less troublesome work was in full swing along the entire course than on the piers: mallards, pintails, gogols, teals and other representatives of the duck breed hastily built nests in different secluded places, so that in a few weeks they would swim to Chusovaya with a whole brood of tiny yellow ducklings. A corncrake was already creaking in the rising sedge, and across the sandy shoals one could see waders and snipe running all day.

Those white nights began, which are usually in the Urals; the sky is completely transparent, and a trembling, trembling light flows from the bottomless blue height, which covers everything with matt silver - the forest, and mountains, and water.

While the load was going on, the water on Chusovaya dropped to almost the same level, - the shaft released from the Revdinsky pond passed. Spring Chusovo caravans go down this rampart, which stretches along the river for two hundred versts; For this second, most important flood, water from the Revdinsky pond is sometimes released within two days. The water in the river rises by several arshins; but caravans can sail down only at a certain height of such a flood: it must stand above the summer water level on Chusovaya from 2 1/4 to 3 arshins. If the water is lower, then the caravans are in danger of becoming shallow; if higher, the barges risk crashing near the soldiers. It is understandable, therefore, with what impatience they are waiting for the second wave on the piers: the entire success of the rafting depends on it ...

Water is coming ... Water! .. - swept along the street early in the morning, when I was still sleeping.

The whole dock was gathered on the shore. The most ancient, half-blind old men and women crawled out to see with at least one eye how the caravan would "roll off" the pier. The drift of ice and the dump of the caravan are two great holidays at the pier for the old and the small. Everything that is alive and having even the slightest ability to move, every last person crawls onto the shore; crippled and crippled people appear from somewhere: one's leg was crushed under the load of a heavy iron blade, another was cut with a tackle "in the grip", the third one does not control either his arms or legs from rheumatism, which he received when shooting shallow barges. For these unfortunate invalids of the Chusov rafting, every ice drift and dump only reminds of their misfortune once again, but they still hustle on the shore: "If you want to have fun with the barge haulers for an hour, and then your soul is easier." Summer and winter are in debt, they still have time to sit and lie down in the huts.

But the water is the most measured, - Ilya said, examining his completely finished barge. - Perhaps we will sail little by little.

Do not think ahead, Ilya, - stopped the red-headed water-carrier, who was distinguished in general by a very "suspicious" character and distrustfulness.

Ilya's barque was called "breech" because a caravan clerk was sailing on it, and on this occasion a small cabin was arranged on the deck, near which an "eye" rose, that is, a high mast with a multi-colored feather at the top, something like a peacock's tail. The same bays are set up at all the piers; with them there is a special class of barge haulers, known as "inert". The inert ones are chosen from the best barge haulers and flaunt during the entire caravan in kumak shirts and in hats with multi-colored ribbons: these ribbons are used to distinguish the inert ones of different marinas. The inert got their name from the inert boat, on which they ride from barge to barge with various orders of the clerk ...

I was also offered to fit in the breech, in the clerk's cabin, and as soon as the water started to profit, all my belongings from Yermolai Antipych's apartment went into the cabin.

Are you not a coward? - Yermolai Antipych asked me at parting.

So far, nothing, but I can’t vouch forward ...

Remember only one thing, - the good old man advised, - there is no need to rush ... The people are stupid: as soon as the barge touches the fighter, they all go into the boat; but where can sixty people fit in one? They drown each other ... And you look at the rafter: what he will do, so you do.

I could only thank for the good advice.

Ermolai Antipych and Lyubenka escorted me to the very bureau, where Ilya was busy with the barge haulers and inert. All the barges were ready to set off and stretched out along the coast in one line. The water kept coming and coming, noisily; planks, logs and fresh wood chips were carried along the river, captured by the water along the upper docks. The barge haulers had long ago settled in the barges and dragged their knapsacks under the decks; it would take four days to sail on the river, it was necessary to stock up on bread, crackers and some welding just in case. The work ahead was hard, and it was especially necessary for the tired barge haule to sip something hot, so as not to be completely exhausted ...

Well, Ilya, it's time to get off, - decided Ermolai Antipych, glancing at his watch. - As if from above the caravan ran up ... How much water costs?

Eleven quarters, Ermolai Antipych ...

Get off, Ilya, get off! ..

Yermolai Antipych and Lyubenka were the last to leave our barge. The barge haulers got up to the diarrhea *, the waterman threw down the gangway. The day was sunny, bright, the whole coast was covered with the first pale greenery, birds that had flown in flooded in the forest ...

* Weeping, or potesi, are huge logs that replace the steering wheel.

Ilya pulled his felt hat deeply over his head, looked back at the shore strewn with people and commanded:

Give me the tackle! ..

There was a fuss on the shore, and a thick rope fell heavily into the water; the barge just gave a start and began to separate from the shore.

Nose to the left, well done! - Ilya shouted, and the nasal squeezes flopped heavily into the water, throwing it open into two wide, foaming waves.

A fire flashed on the shore, and the first cannon shot echoed down the river, followed by another, a third ... White smoke soared upward, as if an armful of fluff had been thrown into the air. The entire shore with houses, hundreds of people, shops and firing guns seemed to float back from us, up the river. One barge rolled off after another, starting to rake water hard with potties. I stood at the stern and looked for a long time at the floating shore, where a white dot flickered in the air: it was Lyubenka who was waving her handkerchief to the city man.

The river soon made a sharp turn, and the dock was completely out of sight. The barge was sailing on the steep green banks exactly between two walls; the water froth and gurgled under the bow of the barge and beat against the shore in a foaming wave ... Chusovaya was unrecognizable ... The river was precisely "playing," as barge haulers say about the spring flood; it is difficult to find a better name. Even in the reaches, that is, in places where in the summer the water stands as quietly as a mirror, now a mighty wave rolled with a wide current, which at sharp turns turned into a mad animal. Near the concave part of the coast, maidans formed, that is, rows of strong waves, which crashed with noise near the sides of the barge and climbed ashore with a wild roar, greedily sucking on the coastal stones.

Poddorzhi stern, well done! .. - Ilya shouted, waving his hand. - Feed the feed ... Feed ...

The squabs fell into the water with a dull noise, and the barge shuddered from the stamping of the burlak's feet. Now she was really alive, one huge whole, blindly obeying one will. The individual faces of the barge haulers merged into one solid mass, as if a gray wave were walking along the deck, and the poles were drilled, churning the water like huge wooden hands.

For a long time I admired the rafter Ilya, who was now standing on his bench in his blue caftan and red girdle, like a real commander: by one movement of his hand, like feathers, they flew in the hands of the burlak arms, and the barge slowly turned its nose to where it should turn ... The former Ilya, who drank tea with us at Yermolai Antipych's, seemed to be gone at all, but was a completely different person, on whom the fate of not only the barge depended, but all the barge haulers. A calm expression on his face, a confident look of narrowed gray eyes, a firm voice - in a word, Ilya was immediately reborn.

Well, sir, is our Chusovaya playing well? - Ilya asked me when the boat swam out onto a wide stretch.

Never mind...

But the pebbles will fit, there she will comfort us, my dear ... The sky will seem like a sheepskin out of habit!

With each step forward, a majestic mountain panorama unfolded in front of my eyes as an endless ribbon. The mountains gave way, protruding into the river with huge rocks several dozen fathoms in height. Usually, such rocks stood on sharp bends of the river, on its concave bank, so that the water stream directly carried the barge to such a rock, to a soldier. Here, on these bare cliffs, the results of the destructive action of the water could be seen. Over the millennia, the river, step by step, washed away the stone mountains, revealing huge, stone walls, as if created by the hands of some giants, and not by a blind elemental force. There are too many such battle sites on Chusovaya to describe each one separately; the most dangerous fighters have their own names, and the less dangerous are simply called battle places ...

As I now see one such battle place. The river rolled on relatively low banks, the mountains were left behind; the barge floated along the free stream easily and freely. A dense spruce forest was green on the shore; individual trees approached the river itself and stretched out pawing, shaggy branches far above the water ...

I peered ahead for a long time - the river rolled in the same green banks as before, only a dull noise was heard ahead. "These are probably the" bunnies "playing," I thought, trying to discern a dangerous place. In a minute the whole matter was explained; a low rocky mountain blocked the road to the river, and the river formed a steep knee under it, almost at a right angle. The water here boiled and froth terribly, and a foamy bed of large waves rose far up the river. Soon the barge hit the "bunnies", it was picked up by a strong jet and quickly carried forward, straight up the rocky hill. The turn was so sharp that for a minute I thought the danger was inevitable, especially since the barge flew like an arrow over the "bunnies" right on the stones. The challenge was to get past the opposite bank; the stern muddied the water, touching the shore, the bow was turned towards the stream, which also beat it to the shore. One moment, and the barge flew like a bird under the stone, leaving the playing "bunnies" back.

In the third year, three barges were killed here, - said Ilya, when the barge was again calmly sailing along the wide and smooth reach.

It was necessary to see how the barge haulers worked near the "bunnies". There was not a sound on the barge, everything froze, and Ilya's team barely had time to break away, when the potties began to row the water frantically, scattering a wide foamy wave across the river.

The barge haulers work nicely, - I said to Ilya.

Nothing ... Look at our wharves ... dearly. All the power is in them, and the newcomers get in the way. Look at how the quaysters throw up diarrhea ... A toy, not a job!

Soon the Bush Duck, - said Ilya. - And there, right up to Kyn, we will all run in stones ...

Boundary Duck, like a pier, a very beautiful village, one and a half hundred yards; there is an old chapel on the shore, on the spit between Utka and Chusovaya there is a beautiful caravan office and a very good harbor where barges are built and loaded. Strong huts located according to the plan, several houses on two floors, benches - all this gives the Landscaping Duck a prosperous and contented look ...

There they are, pebbles, - said Ilya, throwing his head back. - Look up, and you will lose your hat ...

At the very top of these stone palaces rickety wooden crosses turn black. This is the only monument that the barge haulers leave over their dead comrades, buried somewhere on the opposite bank, where a willow bristles with its drooping branches.

Do many barge haulers die on the rafting? - I ask Ilya.

Anything happens, sir ... Another alloy, the Lord will carry all the caravans mercifully; only this rarely happens. A man of heels - a dozen will still die from the barges ... There have been such springs that all a hundred people drowned. A lot of our brother, barge haulers, along Chusovaya were buried on the shore.

Soon we actually saw what the crosses on the rocks spoke of. Below the village of Permyakova, when our barge began to bend around the steep cape, there was a general cry:

The killed barge! .. The barge was killed! ..

Ilya, shading his eyes from the sun with his hand, stared into the distance. Half a mile away from us, a formless mass floated out from under the soldier, which was difficult to mistake for a barge. It was evident that something big was floating along the river, with sticking boards and running people.

Oh! she scooped up water with her left shoulder, heart, - said Ilya, continuing to observe the killed barge. - There are people like swarming in the water, like cockroaches!

Closer was the stern of a sinking barge with a diarrhea hanging powerlessly in the air; the broken barge sank lower and lower into the water, quietly turning down the stream, stern ahead. Black dots flashed in the water: these were barge haulers from a broken barge. The inert boat sailed along the rock without people, filled to the brim with water. Probably, in the confusion, the workers threw themselves into it, and the boat capsized from the unbearable weight.

Oh, rubbish business ... How would she not block the river for us, - Ilya fussed. - Look how cleverly it was: so a dead cow and floats on the river ... Hit, brothers, nose to the left! Hit hard, hit it hard, well done! .. Hit, darlings! .. Nose to the left! .. Nose to the left! ..

The fighter approached us and quickly grew into a large limestone rock, abutting the river with a sharp ridge. The unfortunate barge probably hit this crest. On the shore, the workers who had come out were running idly, some sat and looked indifferently at the broken barge sailing past. A gray-haired old man in a red shirt ran along the shore towards us, waving his arms and shouting something loudly. Behind the sound of the waves and the creak of the cliffs, nothing could be heard.

Hit the stern-on-horse !! - Ilya shouted furiously when our barge flew like an arrow towards the soldier. - Darling, do not betray!

It is difficult to convey the solemn moment that had come: deathly silence reigned on the barge, the barge haulers unanimously picked up the command, and they flew like feathers. There are already a few fathoms left before the fighter, you can clearly see each notch on him; the water rushes and rumbles like mad at its foot ... We were separated from the fighter by some half an arshin, when the barge slowly turned its nose away from him and the danger passed. The water bubbled all around like a cauldron, the waves surging on the sides like a hungry pack of wolves.

Sabbat-nose-off! - Ilya commanded, taking off his hat to cross himself.

The boat was in free water and was sailing quietly on, past the crowded people on the shore. They were all wet, many without hats; shouted something after us, but their screams were difficult to hear. Someone was immediately pumped out on a stretched caftan. One could only see how his head dangled helplessly and his white bare feet jerked.

Two of them choked, - Ilya remarked shortly.

On the shore, under the tal bushes, two motionless figures could be seen, covered with a leaky zipun. A flashed blue face with wet hair, a hand clenched convulsively - and that was all. Who are these rafting victims? In which village will two families mourn the dear dead, perhaps the only breadwinners? What children were orphaned in just a quarter of an hour? .. It was sad and hard to look at this too ordinary picture for Chusovaya ... is a nameless forest bird.

We soon overtook the "killed" barge, she was sailing quietly near the very shore; the deck had been torn off, and matted coolies peeked out from under it. The entire load was tarnished.

See, how distorted, - said Ilya. “You don’t know what to apply to ...” I hit the fighter with my left shoulder, and the diarrhea nose tore off. Oh-ho-ho! ..

Still deceased, - Ilya noticed.

The inert ones returned to the barge with nothing. They could not conduct further searches, because their own barge was not waiting, and the dead man did not need anyone's help. All the same, a crazy wave will throw him somewhere on the shore, on a sandbank, and there good people will pick up and bury him.

A little higher than the Kynovskaya pier, a small mountain river Serebryanka flows into Chusovaya, and about twenty versts below the Serebryanka river on Chusovaya there is the Kynovsky plant, or, as it is called by the barge haulers, simply - Kyn. This is not a Russian word, but passed to us from the Permian language: in Perm, "kynu" means "cold". Indeed, it is difficult to imagine anything more homeless and wilder than Kyn. Imagine a deep canyon carved out of stone on purpose; a small river rolls along the bottom of this gorge, and along its banks there are factory houses, a factory factory, shops for metals. In the depths the strip of the factory pond turns blue, and several blast furnaces are smoking; closer - a white stone church, a factory office and a few more houses with iron roofs.

This is where Kyn sits for us, ”Ilya explained, pointing to the back of his head.

Why?

Yes, so ... You see how Chusovaya bends here, the Kynovskaya dock is in the very bend and stands, well, like a stream, it blows our barges straight to the dock, to the Kynovskie barges. And below, there is an overkill: either you will kill yourself on the Kynovsky barges, or you can go overboard ... Choose whatever is best. Here barge haulers will steam up their foreheads to their fill! Well, darlings, walk around, nose to the right! ..

We passed under Kyn safely, although the barge haulers got a good deal. One could be surprised at their endurance, but meanwhile there were still two days ahead - this is in a happy case, of course.

In a day, then all eighteen hours with a diarrhea will withstand, - Ilya said about the barge haulers.

Why, this is horse work! ..

What will you do! The river won't wait for us ...

And when to rest?

But soon there will be rest: we will grapple under Oslyanka. There is such a pier, lower than the Kyn, well, there will be a grip behind it ... We will stand for six hours at the shore, let the water catch up with us, And people also need to rest ...

I was looking forward to the grip. Even earlier, I had to hear a lot of different stories about such grips on a spring rafting: how the grip pulled out, for which the tackle was wound, how this grip or flint burned out, how people were killed and maimed by a burst tackle, etc. To stop a barge with fifteen thousand poods of cargo on such a fast river as Chusovaya is not an easy task.

Vavilo, the tackle needs to be prepared, - said Ilya, when we sailed the Oslyanka, the last pier where the barges are loaded. - Dawn follows.

Indeed, the sun was already beginning to set, and long shadows stretched along the river from the rocks and the forest. Night falls here with amazing speed, and along with the night dusk a piercing spring cold is approaching, which creeps onto the river from deep dens, where the snow that has not melted yet lies.

The waterman Vavilo, a taciturn, stern man, silently went behind the rear deck and silently began to put in order the tackle, that is, a thick rope, coiled in regular rings. The latter is very important so that when you grip the tackle does not get confused, but unfolds freely.

Done, - answered Vavilo, standing near the flint.

Sluggish, get on the boat! - ordered Ilya.

Six selected inert men went into the boat and took with them half of the unwound tackle.

Here, good fellows, as the barge runs out over the cape, there is a bend, - Ilya explained to the inert, - and in the bend, on the left bank, there is a seasoned stump ... Here for him and support the tackle!

The barca rounded the cape, and in front of us a wide pool flashed, with the bend about which Ilya spoke. The water rushed here not as fiercely as before, and the boat went noticeably quieter. To further detain her, Ilya gave the order to "hold up the stern," and the boat went astern almost near the shore. There are two cedars on the shore, and a hardened stump, about which Ilya spoke. The boat with the inert ones separated from the barge and rushed towards the shore like an arrow. Somehow sticking to the shore, the inert ones jumped out of the boat at once and dragged the tackle dragging along the ground to the cedars. At that time the barge had already sailed past them, and Vavilo quickly lowered the unwound tackle into the water so that it would not be pulled out of the hands of the inert.

Done! - came from the shore.

Support the tackle! - ordered Ilya.

The waterman threw a prepared loop over the flint and pulled the rope over its free end. The barca shuddered, as if someone had grabbed her by the bottom with a mighty hand. The tackle slapped heavily in the water several times, and then quickly stretched out and trembled like a string. The barge almost stopped completely.

Grass the tackle! - Ilya shouted.

Vavilo lowered several turns, the tackle again plopped heavily into the water, and the flint began to smoke. Barca made an attempt to free herself from the bridle that held her and went forward again.

Tackle grass! .. Tackle grass! - Ilya shouted.

Thick smoke poured from the flint in white clouds, but it was immediately flooded with water. The tackle was taut again, but now the barge had already lost half of the speed gained from moving along the river and as if it had approached the bank itself.

Fasten the tackle tightly, - ordered Ilya.

The tackle was wrapped around the flint in a loop, and the barge stood.

Ilya thanked the barge haulers for the friendly work and congratulated them on a happy grip.

Thank you, Ilya Maksimych! - answered dozens of voices. - We hold on to your head ...

The gangway was thrown ashore, and the barge haulers pulled from the barge in single file.

Soon bright bonfires blazed on the shore. Around them were dozens of barge haulers, like Chinese shadows on the screen of a magic lantern. Who cooked porridge in a cast-iron pot, who warmed their frozen hands by the fire, who chewed a dry black crust, exposing their back to the fire, who simply pushed between other people to stretch their legs swollen from standing. Some sat, others went to bed. Right there, near the light, he will curl up in a ball, put his fist under his head, and he sleeps in such a sweet dream that the rich probably never sleep on their down jackets and spring mattresses.

A short spring night with its soft gloom, coldness and feverishly burning stars already hung over Chusovaya. Again there was the sound of the ducks, and somewhere in the swamp the corncrake creaked endlessly ...

In the early morning, when I was still asleep, the barge rolled away and "ran" forward. Through sleep I heard Ilya's command: "bow to the right", "lift the stern", but I slept like a dead man. The clatter of burlak feet on the deck, the noise of the water near the sides and the bobbing of the diarrhea somehow completely merged with the chaotic night dreams: it seemed that the barge was flying directly at the soldier, then the desperate cry of the drowning was heard, then an ominous, dead silence came ...

On the water, as probably happened to be observed by many, appetite develops especially, and then the deepest sleep overcomes. I continued to lie on my bench, wrapped in a blanket, when exactly what was scribbled along the bottom of the barge. But these were trifles: the barge probably touched the edge of the underwater rock, and then again calmly floated forward. I was asleep when a strong jolt made me jump up. A dull rustle was heard, as if the barge was rolling over dry peas.

Nothing, they touched a little bit, - explained my companion, lighting a cigarette. - Now it's not dangerous ... Barka almost completely ran out of the stones; if we get stranded somewhere, it’s not a big deal. Below the Kamasin, there will be work ...

Yes, lower than Kumysh ... Have you heard about the Molokov fighter?

Well, it's worth seeing.

When we talked like this, the rustle was repeated several times, and then the barge at once crashed into something soft and stopped. Only the water boiled dully near the sides, but the diarrhea continued to beat in vain to the right and to the left. I went out on deck. The barca ran aground.

It's rubbish, - said Ilya, going down from the bench.

The barge haulers stood indifferently on the deck and waited for what the rafter would say.

What are we going to do now? I asked.

But, after all, it is necessary to get rid of it.

Obviously, we ran out of the mountains. Ahead and on each side was a wide plain, where among the forest fields flashed in regular squares, winter greens, and somewhere far, far away, on a steep bank, a village could be seen. Blackened, loose ice floes slowly floated down the river; on the opposite bank, a shallow barge stood sideways.

Where does the ice come from? - I asked Ilya.

Yes, from Koiva, sir, - the old man reluctantly answered, who was now not up to me. - There is such a river, it is called Koyvoy, well, the ice comes out of it ... Look, he will cut the barge even further.

What is it like?

And so: he will begin to cut the ice floe behind the ice floe along the barge, well, and they will cut through the side ... Oh, you, what a sin! Never at this very place was there a small piece, and then suddenly a small piece.

And what is the village ahead?

Yes, it's Camasino ... Oh, you, what a sin!

The village of Kamasino serves as a sharp edge for Chusovaya: here she finally runs out of the mountains, in front of it lies an undulating plain covered with forest, arable land and flooded meadows. In the distance, one could see the railway bridge thrown across the Chusovaya on high stone foundations. Here Chusovaya is crossed by the recently built Uralskaya Mining Railway. There are a number of dangerous shallows near Kamasin, because the river here spreads very widely in the low banks.

Well, brothers, how are we going to lift the barge? - Ilya asked, referring to the barge haulers.

The barge haulers shuffled and did not answer. Ilya grunted impatiently, threw his leather mittens onto the deck and turned to the inert ones.

Let go of the bondage ... Let's try first of all forcibly to take off, maybe we'll get off the little one.

Bondage is called a huge log, hewn from both sides; it is like a huge board, several inches thick. There are usually two such captives at each barge, and they float near the sides, somewhat protecting the sides from striking the fighters.

Five minutes later, the inert ones were ready, that is, they took off their caftans and boots and remained in only shirts. One of them, a healthy man with a light brown beard, rolled up his trousers and, holding onto the side of the barge, got into captivity.

Ah, it’s cold, ”he said, tasting the cold water with his bare foot,“ the water is burning ...

Well, well, don't talk! - Ilya shouted. - Vavilo, untie the bondage, and you, Sergei, go to the end.

A young guy in a red shirt shook his hair, crossed himself and at once jumped over the board to captivity.

Prepare chegen, Please!

Done, - responded a man with a light brown beard, measuring the bottom with a short stake, which the bargemen call "chegen". - It will be five quarters, - he said ...

Apparently, there is nothing to do, we will have to go into the water, Ilya decided. - Captivity does not take ... Well, who of the thugs is not afraid of water? Well, guys who are younger, take off your clothes and get to work!

The inert and about ten young barge haulers took off their bast shoes, zipuns and remained in only shirts. It was necessary to go down into the water under the left shoulder in order to move it with chegeny. Working in cold spring water is hard and extremely dangerous. Barge haulers do not like her, but they have to get into the water, because time is running out. Several barges have already sailed past us. It was enviable to look at them when his own barge lies on the sand like a turtle.

Well, brothers, chegeni left shoulder! - Ilya commanded, running along the front deck. - And you, as the scoundrels strike, - he shouted inertly in captivity, - turn captivity ... Yes, at once, brothers! All at once ...

About fifteen barge haulers lined up under the left shoulder of the barge and caught him with their chegeny.

For some, the water reached up to the chest. Faces turned blue, many had teeth chattering from the cold. The situation was the most ugly ... What was it worth to catch a cold in this icy water and lose not only health, but also life. From such filming, many barge haulers go to the grave or remain crippled for life.

When captivity was prepared, and the barge haulers were at the diarrhea, Ilya himself pulled on "Dubinushka".

Guys, they calmed down, Ali wanted to drink ...

The barge haulers picked up.

Oh, dubi-inushka, let's hoot!

She will go green herself, she will go ... Let's pick it up! ..

The barge is coming! - Ilya shouted, measuring the water with a long pole. - Another little mannechko! .. Nose to the left, well done! .. - Ilya shouted. - Feed the feed ... feed! poop!

The barge, like a tortoise, turned the stern, extremely hard with its nose drilling the sand, which formed a whole mountain under the left shoulder.

Hit your left shoulder !! - Ilya shouted. - Well done, make some scary! .. Ah yes, well done! .. One more razik! ..

The barge has gone ... The barge has gone !! - Dozens of voices shouted, and barge haulers with Chegen like cats began to climb the sides.

The boat was already on the free water and quietly swam stern forward, "smoked", as the barge haulers say.

Well, thank God, - said Ilya, - thanks, guys! .. A glass of vodka for my brother! ..

After such an ice bath, vodka was a necessity to warm up at least a little. Some barge haulers had nothing to change their wet shirts with, and they put their sermyagi on them.

The diarrhea will keep warm beckoning, - explained Ilya. - Such a sin came out ... Come on!

Why don't you have fire on the barge, Ilya? I said. - That would be the barge haulers and warmed up ...

Well, no, sir, if from the icy water to the fire, then you're finished ... We even know that very well! That barge haule, if he can't bear it like that, but sticks himself to the fire, is now gone. That's right! .. This is always so. Someone's hands will be taken away from someone's legs, and some will die completely.

Yes, it's good to say when everything is dry on you, but what is it like for them, who are standing on deck in the wet ...

What to do, they will bear it ... It's not the first time ... Here at Molokov's and Robber's everyone will warm up, sweat will break through. Oh, you, you think, what a sin came out! .. Huh ?!

We sailed past the village of Kamasino, under a railway bridge, and then soon the small village of Kumysh appeared. This last village is remarkable for the fact that below it are the most dangerous fighters in the whole Chusovaya - Molokov and the Robber. Many barges beat against them, especially in high water. Chusovaya goes here in low shores, in a wide flood, far overflowing the flooded meadows; Molokov and the Robber are, as it were, the last and most terrible obstacle with which the old Ural man once again blocks the path of the mountain beauty Chusova.

Under Molokov, Chusovaya makes a turn, and at the halt of this turn, where the barge is blown away by the jet, a terrible fighter stands. The stone itself from a distance does not represent anything particularly terrible: it is a large rock, which turned towards the water with its sloping edge. It is on this slope that the water runs high up to the fighter himself, and then, with a terrible roar and groan, runs back into the river, forming a real hell of foaming waves under the fighter. From afar you can hear the river roaring under Molokov, and closer you see only that all the water here turns into a continuous stream of white foam, as if milk is boiling under the fighter. Hence the name of the fighter himself - Molokov.

Hats down! - commanded Ilya, when our barge with deathly silence began to approach the soldier. - Try, dear ones! ..

Of course, the barge haulers have nothing to ask for work, they themselves are aware of the importance of the upcoming moment and will spare no effort so that the barge flew like a bird under the most terrible fighter.

Our barge was picked up by the jet and with terrible speed it was carried straight to the soldier.

The river narrows towards the fighter, and you feel how the barge is picked up by a mighty elemental force and with increasing speed rushes to the terrible stone ledge.

Here we are in a strip of foaming water, which, like mad, climbs its gray ridges onto the sides of our barge ... Here is the formidable Molokov himself ... It is as if he is growing with every second and is rapidly approaching us. The consciousness of one's own movement is somehow lost in this chaos of sounds, the head is spinning, and it seems that the banks are running past the barge, and an inexorable, boiling abyss awaits ahead. But here are a few fathoms before Molokov ... there is mist in the air ... One more second, and we will be swept away in a terrible whirlpool ... At the most critical moment, when general death seems inevitable, Ilya's command is heard, the diarrhea fell into the water at once , and the barge quickly passed under the fighter, in some two arshins from the fatal ledge.

We are saved. I can’t believe that the danger passed so quickly. And the Robber is waiting ahead, but now he is no longer terrible for us, because the barge is sailing on the suvodi.

Walk around, well done! - Ilya shouts cheerfully, patting his leather mittens.

Under the Robber the barge passed safely. Everyone felt relieved. Laughter and cheerful talk are heard. Someone hums a song under their breath. There is a forest on the bank, beyond fields, hedges, and there a tiny nameless village nestles on a high bank, at the very Jurassic and looks merrily down the mountain, where under the steep a string of bells run.

Are there other places on Chusovaya like Molokov and the Robber? - I asked Ilya.

There are no such, and there are some ... Rafter with Druzhny, Stove with Vysoky: they have only music, perhaps. Nothing, good, funny fighters! ..

If in the mountainous part of Chusovaya one can find broken barges, then shallow barges began to come across below Kamasin. In some places they were removed from the piles, like we did at Kamasin, others were completely dry and stood half in the water without any signs of life. The workers left, and only water carriers were guarding the load.

The rest of our path, apart from historical memories, was nothing special. There were several villages that stood out on a high bank, and there - either meadows or a forest. All the way from Kamasin to Perm, almost at a three hundred verst distance, there is only one village, these are the Upper and Lower Chusovskie Gorodki, which for the present time have only historical interest, as one of the first Russian settlements on Chusovaya.

On the fourth day we safely landed in Perm. Here, on the steamer, sitting in a common second-class cabin, I spent a long time going over the impression of a disturbing journey along Chusovaya. Only after experiencing all the dangers of rafting on a barge will you truly appreciate all the comforts of travel, even on the nastiest steamer.

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak - On the Chusovaya river, read text

Ural mountains: where are they

A feature of the geographical position of this system is considered to be the length from north to south. The hills adorn the continent of Eurasia, mainly covering two countries - Russia and Kazakhstan. Part of the massif is spread out in the Arkhangelsk, Sverdlovsk, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk regions, Perm Territory, Bashkortostan. The coordinates of the natural object - the mountains run parallel to the 60th meridian.

The length of this mountain range is more than 2500 km, and the absolute height of the main peak is 1895 m.The average height of the Ural mountains is 1300-1400 m.

The highest peaks of the array include:

The highest point is located on the border dividing the Komi Republic and the territory of Ugra (Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug).

The Ural Mountains reach the shores belonging to the Arctic Ocean, then they hide under water for some distance, continue on to Vaigach and the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Thus, the massif stretches in the northern direction for another 800 km. The maximum width of the "Stone Belt" is about 200 km. In places it narrows to 50 km or more.

Origin story

Geologists argue that the Ural Mountains have a complex way of origin, as evidenced by the variety of rocks in their structure. The mountain ranges are associated with the era of the Hercynian folding (late Paleozoic), and their age reaches 600,000,000 years.

The system was formed as a result of the collision of two huge plates. The beginning of these events was preceded by a rupture in the earth's crust, after the expansion of which an ocean was formed, which disappeared over time.

Researchers believe that the distant ancestors of the modern system have undergone significant changes over many millions of years. Today a stable situation prevails in the Ural Mountains, and there are no significant movements from the side of the earth's crust. The last strong earthquake (with a power of about 7 points) occurred in 1914.

Nature and wealth of the "Stone Belt"

While staying in the Ural Mountains, you can admire the impressive views, visit various caves, swim in the lake water, experience adrenaline emotions going down the course of the seething rivers. It is convenient to get around here in any way - by private cars, buses or on foot.

The fauna of the "Stone Belt" is diverse. In places where spruce trees grow, it is represented by proteins that feed on the seeds of coniferous trees. After the arrival of winter, red animals feed on independently prepared supplies (mushrooms, pine nuts). Martens are found in abundance in mountain forests. These predators settle nearby with squirrels and periodically hunt for them.

The ridges of the Ural Mountains are rich in furs. Unlike their dark Siberian counterparts, the sables of the Urals are reddish in color. Hunting for these animals is prohibited by law, which allows them to reproduce freely in mountain forests. In the Ural Mountains, there is enough space for wolves, elks, and bears to live. The mixed forest area is a favorite spot for roe deer. The plains are inhabited by foxes and hares.

The Ural Mountains hide a variety of minerals in the depths. The hills are fraught with asbestos, platinum, gold deposits. There are also deposits of gems, gold and malachite.

Climate characteristic

Most of the Ural mountain system covers a temperate zone. If in the summer season you move along the perimeter of the mountains from north to south, you can fix that temperature indicators begin to increase. In summer, the temperature fluctuates at + 10-12 degrees in the north and +20 in the south. In the winter season, the temperature indicators acquire a lower contrast. With the onset of January, northern thermometers show about -20 ° C, in the south - from -16 to -18 degrees.

The climate of the Urals is closely related to the air currents arriving from the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the precipitation (up to 800 mm during the year) permeates the western slopes. In the eastern part, such indicators decrease to 400-500 mm. In winter, this zone of the mountain system is under the influence of an anticyclone coming from Siberia. In the south, in autumn and winter, you should count on little cloudy and cold weather.

The fluctuations typical of the local climate are largely due to the mountainous relief. With increasing altitude, the weather becomes more severe, and temperature indicators vary significantly in different parts of the slopes.

Description of local attractions

The Ural Mountains can be proud of many attractions:

Park "Deer Streams".
Reserve "Rezhevskaya".
Kungur cave.
An ice fountain located in the Zyuratkul park.
"Bazhovsky places".

Park "Deer Streams" located in the city of Nizhnie Sergi. Lovers of ancient history will be interested in the local rock Pisanitsa, dotted with drawings by ancient artists. Other prominent sites in this park are caves and the Great Gap. Here you can walk along special paths, visit observation platforms, and cross to the desired place by cable car.

Reserve "Rezhevskoy" attracts all connoisseurs of gems. This protected area contains deposits of precious and semi-precious stones. It is forbidden to walk here on your own - you can stay on the territory of the reserve only under the supervision of employees.

The territory of the reserve is crossed by the Rezh River. On its right bank is the Shaitan-stone. Many Uralians consider it magical, helping in solving various problems. That is why people constantly go to the stone, wanting to fulfill their dreams.

Length Kungur Ice Cave - about 6 kilometers, of which tourists can visit only a quarter. In it you can see numerous lakes, grottoes, stalactites and stalagmites. To enhance the visual effects, there is a special highlight here. The cave owes its name to the constant subzero temperature. To enjoy the local beauty, you need to have winter clothes with you.

From the national park "Zyuratkul", spread out in the area of \u200b\u200bSatka, Chelyabinsk region, it arose due to the appearance of a geological well. It is worth looking at it exclusively in winter. In frosty weather, this underground fountain freezes and takes the form of a 14-meter icicle.

Park "Bazhovsky places" associates with the famous and beloved by many book "Malachite Box". This place has created full-fledged conditions for vacationers. You can go on an exciting walk on foot, by bicycle, or on horseback, while admiring the picturesque landscapes.

Anyone can cool off here in the lake waters or climb the Markov stone hill. In the summer season, numerous extreme lovers come to "Bazhovskie mesto" in order to descend along the mountain rivers. In winter, the park will be able to experience just as much adrenaline while riding a snowmobile.

Recreation centers in the Urals

All the necessary conditions have been created for visitors to the Ural Mountains. Recreation centers are located in places far from noisy civilization, in quiet corners of pristine nature, often on the shores of local lakes. Depending on your personal preference, you can stay here in modern design complexes or antique buildings. In any case, travelers will find comfort and polite, caring staff.

The bases provide rental of cross-country and downhill skis, kayaks, tubing, snowmobile rides with an experienced driver are available. On the territory of the guest zone, there are traditionally barbecue zones, a Russian bath with billiards, children's playhouses and playgrounds. In such places, you can be guaranteed to forget about the bustle of the city, and fully relax on your own or with the whole family, taking an unforgettable memory photo.

Highlights

This mountain system itself, not only separating the two continents, but also being an officially delineated cordon between them, belongs to Europe: the border is usually drawn along the eastern foot of the mountains. Formed as a result of the collision of the Eurasian and African lithospheric plates, the Ural Mountains cover a vast territory. It includes the vastness of the Sverdlovsk, Orenburg and Tyumen regions, the Perm Territory, Bashkortostan and the Komi Republic, as well as the Aktobe and Kostanay regions of Kazakhstan.

In its height, not exceeding 1895 meters, the mountain system is significantly inferior to such giants as the Himalayas and the Pamirs. For example, the peaks of the polar Urals are average in level - 600-800 meters, not to mention the fact that they are also the narrowest in the width of the ridge. However, such geological characteristics have a definite plus: they remain accessible to humans. And the point here is not so much about scientific research as about the tourist attractiveness of the places along which they run. The landscape of the Ural Mountains is truly unique. Here crystal clear mountain streams and rivers begin their run, growing into larger bodies of water. Such large rivers as the Ural, Kama, Pechora, Chusovaya and Belaya also flow here.

For tourists, a wide variety of recreational opportunities open up here: both for real extreme lovers and for beginners. And the Ural Mountains are also a true treasury of minerals. In addition to deposits of coal, natural gas and oil, mines are being developed here, in which copper, nickel, chromium, titanium, gold, silver, and platinum are mined. If we recall the tales of Pavel Bazhov, the Urals area is also rich in malachite. And also - emerald, diamond, crystal, amethyst, jasper and other precious stones.

The atmosphere of the Ural Mountains, regardless of whether you visit the North or South Urals, the Subpolar or the Middle, is indescribable. And their greatness, beauty, harmony and purest air charge with energy and positive, inspire and, of course, leave vivid impressions for the rest of your life.

History of the Ural Mountains

The Ural Mountains have been known since ancient times. In sources that have survived to this day, they are associated with the Hyperborean and Riphean mountains. So, Ptolemy pointed out that this mountain system consists of the Rimnus mountains (this is the present Middle Urals), Noros (South Urals) and the northern part - the Hyperborean mountains proper. In the first written sources of the XI century AD, because of its great length, it was called nothing but the "Earth belt".

In the first Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years", which refers to the same XI century, the mountains of the Urals were called by our compatriots Siberian, Belt or Big Stone. Under the name "Bolshoy Kamen", they were also put on the first map of the Russian state, also known as the "Bolshoi Drawing", published in the second half of the 16th century. Cartographers of those years depicted the Urals in the form of a mountain belt, from where many rivers originate.

There are many versions of the origin of the name of this mountain system. EK Hoffman, who developed the so-called Mansi version of this toponym, compares the name “Ural” with the Mansi word “ur”, which is translated as “mountain”. The second point of view, also very common, is the borrowing of the name from the Bashkir language. She, in the opinion of many scientists, seems to be the most convincing. After all, if you take the language, legends and traditions of this people - for example, the famous epic "Ural-Batyr" - it is not difficult to make sure that in them this toponym not only exists since ancient times, but is also supported from generation to generation.

Nature and climate

The natural landscape of the Ural Mountains is incredibly beautiful and multifaceted. Here you can not only look at the mountains themselves, but also go down into numerous caves, swim in the waters of local lakes, and get a portion of thrills while rafting on rough rivers. Moreover, how exactly to travel, each tourist chooses for himself. Some people like independent hikes with a backpack on their shoulders, others prefer the more comfortable conditions of a tour bus or the cabin of a personal car.

The fauna of the "Earth belt" is not less diverse. The predominant position in the local fauna is occupied by forest animals, whose habitat is coniferous, deciduous or mixed forests. So, in coniferous forests squirrels live, the basis of the diet of which are spruce seeds, and in winter these cute animals with a fluffy tail feed on previously stored pine nuts and dried mushrooms. The marten is widespread in local forests, the existence of which is difficult to imagine without the already mentioned squirrel, for which this predator hunts.

But the real wealth of these places is a fur-bearing game, the fame of which extends far beyond the region, for example, the sable that lives in the forests of the Northern Urals. It, however, differs from the dark Siberian sable in a less beautiful reddish skin. Uncontrolled hunting for a valuable fluffy animal is prohibited at the legislative level. Without this prohibition, it would probably have already been completely destroyed.

The taiga forests of the Ural Mountains are also home to wolf, bear and elk traditional for Russia. Roe deer are found in mixed forests. On the plains adjacent to the mountain ranges, the hare and the fox feel at ease. We did not make a reservation: they live precisely on flat terrain, and the forest for them is just a shelter. And, of course, the crowns of trees are well inhabited by many species of birds.

As for the climate of the Ural Mountains, the geographical position plays an important role in this regard. In the north, this mountain system extends beyond the Arctic Circle, but most of the mountains are located in the temperate climatic zone. If you move from north to south along the perimeter of the mountain system, you can see how the temperature indicators gradually increase, which is especially noticeable in the summer. If in the north, during the warm season, the thermometer shows from +10 to +12 degrees, then in the south - from 20 to 22 degrees above zero. However, in winter, the temperature difference between north and south is not so dramatic. The average monthly temperature in January in the north is 20 degrees with a minus sign, in the south it is 16-18 degrees below zero.

Air masses moving from the Atlantic Ocean also have a noticeable effect on the climate of the Urals. And although the air becomes less humid as the atmospheric currents move from the west towards the Urals, it cannot be called 100% dry either. As a result, more precipitation - 600-800 millimeters per year - falls on the western slope, while on the eastern this figure varies within 400-500 mm. But the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains in winter fall under the power of a powerful Siberian anticyclone, while in the south, in the cold season, cloudy and cold weather sets in.

Such a factor as the relief of the mountain system also has a tangible effect on the fluctuations of the local climate. As you climb the mountain, you will feel that the weather is getting harsher. Different temperatures are felt even on different slopes, including those located in the neighborhood. Different areas of the Ural Mountains are characterized by an unequal amount of precipitation.

Sights of the Ural Mountains

One of the most famous protected areas of the Ural Mountains is the Olenyi Ruchyi Park, located in the Sverdlovsk Region. Curious tourists, especially those interested in ancient history, make a "pilgrimage" to the Pisanitsa rock located here, on the surface of which drawings made by ancient artists are applied. Caves and the Great Gap are of great interest. Olenyi Ruchyi has a fairly well-developed tourist infrastructure: there are special trails in the park, observation platforms, not to mention places for recreation. There are also cable cars.

If you are familiar with the work of the writer Pavel Bazhov, his famous "Malachite Box", then you will certainly be interested in visiting the natural park "Bazhovsky Places". The opportunities for good rest and relaxation are simply magnificent here. You can go for walks, as well as cycling and horseback riding. Passing along specially designed and thoughtful routes, you will take in the picturesque landscapes, you will be able to climb the Markov Stone Mountain and visit the Talkov Stone Lake. Extremists usually flock here in the summer to go kayaking and kayaking down mountain rivers. Travelers come here in winter too, enjoying snowmobiling.

If you appreciate the natural beauty of semi-precious stones - just natural, not subject to processing - be sure to visit the Rezhevskaya reserve, which combines deposits of not only precious, but also semi-precious and ornamental stones. It is forbidden to travel to the places of extraction on your own - you must be accompanied by an employee of the reserve, but this in no way affects the impressions of what you see. The Rezhevsky river runs through the territory of Rezhevsky, it was formed as a result of the confluence of Bolshoy Sapa and Ayati - rivers originating in the Ural Mountains. Shaitan-stone, popular among travelers, is located on the right bank of the Rezhi. The Urals consider this stone to be the focus of mystical natural forces that help in various life situations. One may or may not believe in it, but the flow of tourists who come to the stone with various requests to the higher powers does not dry up.

Of course, the Ural attracts with a magnet lovers of extreme tourism, who gladly visit its caves, of which there are a huge number. The most famous are Shulgan-Tash, or Kapova, and the Kungur Ice Cave. The length of the latter is almost 6 km, of which only one and a half kilometers are accessible to tourists. On the territory of the Kungura ice cave there are 50 grottoes, over 60 lakes and countless stalactites and stalagmites. The temperature is always below freezing in the cave, so dress like a winter walk for visits. The visual effect of the splendor of its interior design is enhanced by special lighting. But in the Kapova cave, researchers discovered rock paintings, the age of which is estimated at 14 thousand years or more. About 200 works of ancient brush masters have become the property of our time, although there were probably more of them. Travelers can also admire the underground lakes and visit grottoes, galleries and numerous halls on three levels.

If the caves of the Ural Mountains create a winter atmosphere at any time of the year, then it is better to visit some sights in winter. One of them is the ice fountain, which is located in the Zyuratkul National Park and arose thanks to the efforts of geologists who drilled a well in this place. Moreover, this is not just a fountain in our usual "urban" sense, but a fountain of underground waters. With the onset of winter, it freezes and turns into a voluminous icicle of a bizarre shape, impressive also with its 14-meter height.

Many Russians, in order to improve their health, go to foreign thermal springs, for example, to the Czech Karlovy Vary or the Gellert Baths in Budapest. But why rush beyond the cordon if our native Ural is also rich in thermal springs? To undergo a full course of healing procedures, it is enough to come to Tyumen. The hot springs here are rich in trace elements useful for human health, and the water temperature in them ranges from +36 to +45 degrees Celsius, depending on the season. We add that modern recreation centers have been built on these springs. Mineral waters are also treated in the health-improving complex "Ust-Kachka", which is located not far from Perm and has a unique chemical composition of its waters. Summer recovery here can be combined with boating and catamarans, in winter there are ice slides, skating rinks and full-fledged ski slopes.

Despite the fact that waterfalls are not so typical for the Ural Mountains, they are there and attract the attention of tourists. Among them is the Plakun waterfall, located on the right bank of the Sylva River. It throws down fresh water from a height exceeding 7 m. Its other name is Ilyinsky, it was given by local residents and visitors who consider this source to be holy. There is also a waterfall near Yekaterinburg, named for its roaring "temper" Grokhotun. Its peculiarity is that it is man-made. He throws his waters down from a height of more than 5 meters. When the summer heat sets in, visitors are happy to step under its jets, cooling down and getting hydromassage, and completely free of charge.

Video: South Ural

Major cities of the Urals

The millionth Yekaterinburg, the administrative center of the Sverdlovsk region, is called the capital of the Urals. He is, unofficially, the third capital of Russia after Moscow and St. Petersburg and the third capital of Russian rock. It is a large industrial metropolis that is especially charming in winter. He is generously covered with snow, under the cover of which he resembles a giant who fell asleep in a deep sleep, and you never know exactly when he will wake up. But when you get enough sleep, do not hesitate, it will definitely unfold at its full might.

Yekaterinburg usually makes a strong impression on its guests - first of all, with many architectural sights. Among them are the famous Church on the Blood, erected on the site of the execution of the last Russian emperor and his family, the Sverdlovsk rock club, the building of the former District Court, museums of various subjects and even an unusual monument ... an ordinary computer keyboard. The capital of the Urals is also famous for its shortest metro in the world, entered in the Guinness Book of Records: there are only 9 km of 7 stations.

Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Tagil also gained wide popularity in Russia, and above all thanks to the popular comedy show "Our Russia". The characters of the show, loved by the audience, are, of course, fictional, but tourists are still wondering where to find Ivan Dulin, the world's first milling machine of non-traditional sexual orientation, and Vovan and Gena, unlucky and drinking-loving Russian tourists who constantly find themselves in frankly tragicomic situations. One of the business cards of Chelyabinsk are two monuments: Love, made in the form of an iron tree, and Lefty with a shod flea. The panorama of the local factories located above the Miass River is also impressive in the city. But in the Nizhny Tagil Museum of Fine Arts, you can see a painting by Raphael - the only one in our country that can be found outside the Hermitage.

Another Ural city that has become famous for television is Perm. It is here that “real boys” live, who have become heroes of the series of the same name. Perm claims to be the next cultural capital of Russia, and this idea is being actively lobbied by designer Artemy Lebedev, who is working on the external appearance of the city, and gallery owner Marat Gelman, who specializes in contemporary art.

Orenburg is also a real historical treasure of the Urals and all of Russia, which is called the land of endless steppes. At one time, he survived the siege of the troops of Emelyan Pugachev, its streets and walls remember the visits of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Taras Grigorievich Shevchenko and the wedding of the first cosmonaut of the Earth Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.

In Ufa - another Ural city - there is a symbolic sign "Zero kilometer". The local post office is the very point from which the distance to other points on our planet is measured. Another famous landmark of the capital of Bashkortostan is the Ufa bronze sign, which is a disc with a one and a half meter diameter and weighing a whole ton. And in this city - at least that's what the locals say - is the tallest equestrian statue on the European continent. This is a monument to Salavat Yulaev, who is also called the Bashkir Bronze Horseman. The horse on which this associate of Emelyan Pugachev sits rises above the Belaya River.

Ski resorts of the Urals

The most important ski resorts in the Urals are concentrated in three regions of our country: Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, as well as in Bashkortostan. Zavyalikha, Bannoe and Abzakovo are the most famous of them. The first one is located near the town of Trekhgorny, the last two - near Magnitogorsk. According to the results of the competition, which is held within the framework of the International Congress of the Alpine Ski Industry, Abzakovo was recognized as the best ski resort in the Russian Federation in the 2005-2006 season.

A whole scattering of ski resorts is concentrated in the regions of the Middle and Southern Urals. Thrill-seekers and just curious tourists who want to try themselves in such an "adrenaline" sport as alpine skiing come here almost all year round. Travelers will find good trails for skis, sledges and snowboards.

In addition to skiing, downhill skiing is very popular with travelers. Fans of such alloys, which also increase the level of adrenaline, go for thrills to Miass, Magnitogorsk, Asha or Kropchayevo. True, you won't be able to get to your destination quickly, since you will have to travel by train or by car.

The holiday season in the Urals lasts on average from October-November to April. During this period, another popular pastime is snowmobiling and quad biking. In Zavyalikh, which has become one of the most popular tourist destinations, a special trampoline was even installed. Experienced athletes practice complex elements and tricks on it.

How to get there

Getting to all the major Ural cities will not be difficult, therefore the region of this majestic mountain system is one of the most convenient for domestic tourists. The flight from Moscow will take only three hours, and if you prefer to travel by train, the journey by rail will take a little more than a day.

The main Ural city, as we have already said, is Yekaterinburg, located in the Middle Urals. Due to the fact that the Ural Mountains themselves are not high, it was possible to lay several transport routes leading to Siberia from Central Russia. In particular, on the territory of this region you can travel along the famous railway artery - the Transsib.

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