Mount Kara-Tau and Terpi-Koba cave - unique calcite patterns
One of our radial sorties during the last hiking in the mountains of Crimea is of particular interest because of the Terpi-Koba cave. Therefore, I would recommend to everyone who will be in this area to follow the route through the Kara-Tau mountain, or to make exactly the same radial excursion. We climbed Kara-Tau from the East Suat tourist camp. This is a great place to stay overnight, there is a spring and a stream where you can even wash yourself if you want to, there is a lot of space and there will be enough for more than one group. In total, the entire radial hike took no more than 6 hours in time, and this provided that we sat on the top for a very long time and stayed in the cave for about an hour.
Kara Tau
Climbing a steep slope from East Suat, in a few minutes we get to the Choban-Chokrak well. Near it there are cave camps, as well as those who collect herbs and berries. Further, when the forest begins again, the road branches heavily. But if you follow the compass, you can hardly miss. And after passing all these forks, it becomes clear that most of the roads lead in the same direction..
We make sure that we are going right to Kara-Tau
The tree is a running man
Speleologists' camp
Choban-Chokrak well
Choban-Chokrak well and we
Shallow and lined with stone
We go to Kara-Tau
Some kind of magical and fabulous place
The trees come across incredible
On the Kara-Tau mountain (1220 m) there is a monument to those who died during the Great Patriotic War, and for some reason instead of a triangulator an ordinary stick was stuck. From above there is a view of the lower plateau Karabi and the Karabi weather station.
We went to Kara-Tau. The top point is visible in front
Mount Kara-Tau
View of the lower plateau of Karabi Yayla
Weather station Karabi
Views from Kara-Tau
Monument to those killed in World War II
We are sitting on the top of the Kara-Tau mountain
Terpi-Koba cave
If you climb Kara-Tau from the East Suat, the cave will be located to the right of the summit, 150 meters closer to the forest. The right branch of the dirt road leads to it. The entrance to the cave is in a horizontal plane and is a depression in the ground, next to which a couple of bushes grow.
Entrance to the cave of Terpi Koba
Nailed plaque with the name of the cave
Terpi-Koba Cave is horizontal-vertical and consists of 3 halls. The first is the largest and is about 20 meters long. It has an inclined and very slippery clay floor, on which we had to go down almost on his haunches. The light from the entrance barely makes its way inside. Everywhere there is a strange appearance and color of calcite drips. They are of the greatest interest. It would be difficult for the imagination to independently create such patterns that nature makes with ease..
The first hall of the cave Terpi-Koba
The sky is visible through the cracks near the entrance
At the end of the hall there is complete darkness. Photo by Andrey Lunyachek
Terpi-Koba cave inside
Calcite deposits
The flashlight was not blue, and where did that color come from
Calcite deposits
Wet inside and dripping from above
I'm trying to photograph something without a tripod. Photo by Andrey Lunyachek
The second hall is half the size of the first and the entrance to it is located at the very end of the first hall on the right (a hole one meter from the floor). It is absolutely dark here, but there are much more formations. They say that there were stalactites too, but someone has already destroyed them. The third room - without a clue where it is located, I found out about it only at the time of this writing. Probably, it is necessary to climb into it somehow, because we did not notice the entrance to it..
The second hall of the cave Terpi-Koba
Calcite deposits inside the second hall of Terpi-Koba
Looks like someone's bones
Despite the fact that the Terpi-Koba cave is quite small, it took us about an hour to photograph and examine the walls of the two halls. Although, of course, a cursory inspection takes no more than 15 minutes.
Snack after the cave before returning to the camp
While some guy is dragging a bag
Next time I'll tell you about the huge cave Emine Bair Khosar, where we went with a guide, and where there are not only stalactites and stalagmites, but also the bones of a real mammoth.