Hike to the gorge above Lake Sonkol

The advantage of hiking around Lake Sonkol is that beautifully flowering meadows stretch everywhere, so you can go almost in a straight line to the mountain destinations on the horizon. Of course, there are small shallow valleys stretching from the mountains, where seasonal streams of melting snow flow in early spring, so think about where you are going.

From the Bataj-Aral yurt camp, it is about 6 kilometers as the crow flies to the mountain massif. The first kilometers your journey through the meadows climbs only really slightly. After that, the grassy ridges begin to rise, leading to their own massif. From these ridges you can see beautiful herds grazing on the grass in the valleys

After an hour's walk, you are at the top of a grassy ridge and a pointed, rock-strewn mountain rises directly in front of you – the most distinctive peak of the ridge north of the lake. Nice place to snack and enjoy the views.

It is really very unlikely that you will meet a person on this walk (most tourists come to the lake only for one night and hang out only on the shore or in the immediate vicinity of the camp) – that it is very likely that you will meet herds of animals here.

If you go to explore the gorge, you will have no choice but to descend into the valley and continue along a small stream. Looking back, you can see a lookout grassy mountain, about 3,250 m above sea level, where you were a while ago. In the distance you can see the lake and the snowy mountains behind it.

The entrance to the gorge is guarded by massive rocks.

The ascent through the gorge is not difficult at the beginning. Even so, of course, you have to be very careful, especially if you go alone, because probably no one will be looking for you here. There are snow fields in the shade of the rocks even in summer.

The path through the gorge is very nice, several tens of meters high walls rise around you – which of course does not stand out in the photo

Over time, at times the weathered part of the ridge begins to peek out, so even for a while it seems that you could walk through the gorge to the main ridge.

Unfortunately, after a while the gorge narrows extremely. The first stage is still relatively easy to overcome. The second one is more than three meters high and you can't do without equipment here. In terms of tourism, the gorge is not passable, but even so, a visit and a hike here are worth it.

After returning the same way from the gorge, you can either walk straight through the valley or immediately climb a narrow ridge and go up the hill with views of the lake

The way back may seem a bit endless, but the hill is still nice terrain and especially the view of Sonkol is beautiful.