The Belaya River (Adygea) is well known not only to ordinary tourists, but also to extreme lovers. In summer, short (one-day) rafting tours and competitions are held here.
Besides the opportunity to raft to the very mouth of the Kishi River, you can also visit the most picturesque places: Rufbago (waterfalls), Khadzhokh gorge, Big Azish cave. Part of the rafting routes with high water are considered especially extreme. However, the White River, even in the period of low water, is able to "give" a large portion of adrenaline when crossing such serious rapids as Kisha (first and second), Axes, Toporiki, Teatralny (fifth category of complexity). For beginners, it is better to start with simple rafting (the route "Granite Gorge - Dakhovskaya Village").
The largest aquifer in the region is 260 kilometers long. This is the most powerful left-bank tributary of the Kuban, the total fall of which is 2280 meters (an average of about 840 centimeters per kilometer).
BasicThe Belaya River receives its nourishment from the springs and streams of Oshten, Abago, and Fisht. There are 3460 tributaries along the entire length (the largest of them are Pshekha, Kishi, Kurdzhips, Dakh).
Breaking out of the embrace of the mountainous stone bowels of Fishta and Oshtena, it rushes to another peak - Chugush, to soon merge with its first tributaries - the rivers of Berezovaya, Chessu and Kishi.
Starting from the source and all the way to the village of Khamyshki, the river is accompanied by gorges, deep and narrow.
Having overcome the granite Dakhovsky massif, the Belaya River receives another tributary - the Dakh River (near the village of Dakhovskaya). Then she has to make her way through narrow gorges (Khadzhokh gorge), decreasing in width from sixty meters to six, and only when she reaches the Ammonite Valley, the river “calms down” for a while.
Now her path lies past the village of Abadzekhskaya, Tula, Maikop, Belorechensk. Bypassing these points, the river flows into the Krasnodar reservoir.
Adygea can overflow, regardless of the season, except for winter. Spring floods are caused by melting glaciers (Oshten, Fisht), autumn floods are caused by heavy rains.
The Belaya River has another name - Shkhaguashe (Adyghe), and each name has its own, amazingly beautiful story.
According to one legend, a prince once lived on the banks of the river, who brought the beautiful Georgian Bella after one of his military campaigns. The prince sought her for a long time, but the girl refused to reciprocate. Once, trying to defend herself, the beauty stabbed the prince with a daggerand started to run. Overtaken by the servants, she threw herself into the waters of the river and died in the raging stream. Since then, the river began to be called Bella, but soon the name changed to a more harmonious one - Belaya.
The second name is associated with another, somewhat similar legend. In the upper reaches of the river once lived a rich old prince. Above his treasures, he valued a beautiful daughter named Shkhaguashe (“ruling deer”). Deciding one day to marry his daughter, the prince called the horsemen and arranged a competition. The winner was to become his son-in-law, provided that, among other things, he could please the princess. But Xhaguashe remained stubbornly silent. Even the best, most courageous, most dexterous and most beautiful horsemen could not melt the heart of the princess.
One night, the prince saw Shhaguashe talking quietly with a young shepherd. The prince was angry both at the rootless shepherd and at his beloved daughter. He ordered the servants to sew a couple into a bag and throw them into the White River. But when the bag was thrown, the shepherd cut it open and saved his beloved. The couple settled in the forest: the princess milked the tamed deer, and the shepherd fished.
Years have passed. Once, strangers came across the hut, trying to get deer milk for the old prince. It was they who said that the dying old man sadly recalls the recalcitrant Shkhaguashe. The princess could not restrain herself and decided to go to her father with her beloved. The prince, seeing his daughter, was delighted and, finally, blessed her choice. There is rebelliousness in every story, reflecting the nature of the river itself: winding, stormy and unpredictable.
