• 1 day trip
• Hiking tours
• Hiking trails
• North Caucasus
• One-day Hiking
• Ossetia Republic

The first part of the trip is described here — Tsey Valley

Tsey Gorge is a mountain gem of a protected area, one of the most beautiful canyon in the Caucasus. The Tsey Gorge begins near the village of Buron. It is located at altitudes ranging on average from 1,910 to 2,200 m. Adai-Khokh peak dominates the canyon (the one on which Afsati settled) — it soars into the sky for more than 4 km. A full-flowing, turbulent river Tseydon flows along the bottom of the gorge.
A glacier is no less grandiose natural phenomenon than a volcano. Its difference is less dynamic. If the volcanic eruption is impossible not to notice, then the movement of the glacier is almost imperceptible. But the consequences of his activities allow us to evaluate the power, the ability to turn entire mountains into rubble and change the appearance of vast territories. In the Caucasus, one of the largest objects of this kind is the Tsey glacier. Its main advantage is accessibility.

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The peculiarity of the frozen 9-kilometer tongue is that it descends unusually low — to a height of about 2,200 meters, confidently overcoming the permafrost zone. The area of ​​the glacier is almost 10 sq. km. The thickness of the ice cover varies from 20 to 300 meters. The central part of the glacier is much thinner — about 80 meters. The most “slender” is Tseya’s tongue: only 30 m thick.

With a wide 400-meter stream, the Tsey glacier descends from the ridge and, if you look closely, you can see that its ancient body is covered with chaotic heaps of boulders that have been brought here for centuries with the help of rock weathering.

The Tsey glacier is subdivided into four branches, and down, where it is squeezed by the bulk of the mountains, it turns into an icefall, “flowing” at a speed of 10 cm per day. The Tsey glacier and the likes of it — Tanaceti, Skazka, Karaugom, are similar in scale and epic to volcanoes, only the phenomena that occur with them are significantly extended in time. Nevertheless, their incredible power can be appreciated by watching how ice gradually destroys stones and turns fragments of centuries-old rocks into dust.
A trip to the Tsey glacier is worth taking, if only because this unusual icing is the most beautiful and easily accessible for tourists.

Tour program

Tsey Glacier

Unlike other objects, Tsey Glacier is fairly accessible. An eco-trail equipped with special markings leads to it. On a minibus with a group, we will go to Tsey to the eco-trail, where we will continue on foot to the glacier, admiring all the beauties of nature along the way.

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The length of the trail is 4,700 m. This is an old route — tourists made their way to the glacier along it in the 19th century, so the trail can be safely called the hallmark of the region. Hiking time is about 2 hours, time back is usually a little less.

During hike, we will see the Monk Mountain mentioned above, Wilpata and the formidable spurs of the Culper Range.

Further, waits us a picture of a long-past tragedy — a pile of stones, which in 1953 buried the alpine camp «Medic». Also along the way we will meet 10-meter-high boulders, which were pushed a century and a half ago by the Tsey glacier.

On the way, it will be possible to relax on equipped areas, and hide from possible bad weather under awnings. Approaching the tongue of the huge ice, it seems that time has frozen, but as soon as the arrows start moving again, the icefall will fall down in foamy streams. After seeing the beauty, we will take memorable photos and go back to the beginning of the eco-trail, where our minibus will be waiting for us. Next, we will go to the Zaramagsky reservoir, which is beautiful at any time of the year. This will be the last point of our route.

Zaramag Reservoir

In the picturesque alpine basin in the upper reaches of the Kasar Gorge, a turquoise bowl is spread outZaramag Reservoir.

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The first time we saw the reservoir was in the fall, when nature changed its color and, standing on the banks of the reservoir, we saw incredible pictures — a riot of colors of the surrounding mountains, turquoise water, and we could not believe that all this was just a two-hour drive from the bustling city. Silence, clean air and only nature around, everyone should see and feel it.

The reservoir is a picturesque, blue lake. The lake appeared after the construction of the Zaramag hydroelectric power station in the mountains of Ossetia. It is located on the Ardon River, its area is 0.77 km². Together with a guide, you will walk along the most beautiful viewing platforms of this man-made lake.

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