The last dash to the pass and a watering hole from glacial water

Hi.
The ascent to the Uchitel Pass ended in about a couple of hours, counting from the moment we started our movement down from the base camp. After we climbed a grassy slope at a very high angle (this was the most difficult part of the way, since I had never had to climb almost vertically up before, clinging to unreliable tufts of grass with my hands), stones began under my feet. It was easier to move along them, since the slope was much more gentle (with the same vertical as on a grassy surface, these stones would simply roll down). But now there is a risk of twisting your leg by unsuccessfully placing it on a movable stone.

The ascent ended with a "backstage". This is a corridor between high cliffs, through which you can reach the plane of the pass itself.

A thin white stripe down there is the Aktru River, which is already quite stormy and wide in this place.

My friends and I tried not to slow down the pace of the climb. Of course, we took breaks to rest, as we were constantly moving up, twisting between boulders - a rather laborious task. But we really wanted to climb the pass first of our group. And the group stretched to the full height of the climb. Probably, if this had happened on a more difficult part of the mountains, the instructors would not have allowed us to do this. After all, for security reasons, we need to stick together.

Due to the right slope, the Kurai steppe has already become well visible.

And finally we reached the plateau. It's not very big in size, probably about the size of a football field. On the right - you can walk to the cliff and admire the Kurai steppe, on the left - you can go to the neighboring peak, straight down and then the wall, behind - the gorge from which we got here.

There is also a small glacier, from under which a stream of meltwater flows out. During the ascent, we drank most of our drinking water supplies, so this source was very useful to us. The water is just icy cold. Teeth are clenching!

But it is very tasty (or so it seemed to us from the fact that we were very exhausted on the rise). We drank this water with pleasure, filled our flasks with it. And our bandmates were just climbing this plateau. And some were only halfway there. We had to wait for them here. But we didn't regret it. It's so beautiful here!

After quenching our thirst, we stretched out right on the rocks. This allowed us to take a break from the continuous strong wind. Someone found a secluded place in the rocks and leaned back against them. It's time for a little snack. I needed to get a good rest before going down.

The only mountains that can be better than mountains are those that you haven't been to yet!