Gorelnik Waterfalls

Gorelnik Waterfalls A day hike from Medeo high altitude skating rink to waterfalls on Gorelnik River takes 6-7 hours. We can walk up the road that winds along the slope of Mokhnataya Sopka, or we can safe 15 minutes by climbing straight up the dam on the 830-step staircase. People in good physical state usually prefer the steps. The walk from the bus stop to the top of the dam takes about 40 minutes.Where the road turns sharply to the east, a wide trail branches off from it, heading past a foret ranger station and weather station towards a suspension bridge spanning the Gorelnik River. Under the bridge there is a warm sulphur spring. The hike from the dam to this bridge takes about 50 minutes. The road leads us to the Gorelnik hiking camp of the Academy of Toutism and Sport As we walk toward the camp, passing ranger’s cabin and some weather-service structures, to our right we see a trial leading to the south. We follow the trial for 600metres, where it forks. The left trial leads down toward the Gorelnik River, and the right fork goes along the western slope of gorge. We take the left trail, which takes us to the streamed, runs the sloe and disappears. Here, seething and frothing, the waterfall roars in front of us. Below we see the smooth, polished basin carved out by the waterfall over millennia. The river, falling from a height of a nearly 10 meters, crashes down into a cloud of spray. On a sunny day dozens of rainbows play in the mist. After the rest, we return to the fork in the trail and take the other branch, leading west the slope. In half an hour it leads us to the Upper Gorelnik weather station. The trail goes pat a cabin, intersects in a southerly direction with an enormous meadow and stream flowing down the slope of Kumbel Peak, and leads back to the Gorelnik River. Crossing the river on a log or by wading, we hike along the rocky eastern side of the stream. We come to a tributary flowing into the right bank of the Gorelnik; we cross the tributary by walking from stone to stone. The trail ascends steeply up the southern slope of the gorge and forks: to the south it leads toward Titov Glacier, and to the right (topographically), it takes us to the upper waterfall on the Gorelnik River. The upper waterfall is even lovelier than the first. It falls in cascades, rising up clouds of water spray. This mist is believed to have miraculous healing properties and a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system as well as the psyche.