Taganai is a mountain range located in the west of the Chelyabinsk region. It occupies part of the Taganay National Park. This is a magnificent creation of nature, beauty embodied in stone.
Name history
Translated from the Bashkir Taganay means "Moon Stand". And this is very similar to the truth - on a clear night, you can observe how the Moon seems to “sit” on one of the peaks. The locals know many beautiful legends about their land. They are happy to tell them to tourists.
For example, about the battle between the Svarog brothers and Div, after which the "divy people" were hidden under the Ural Mountains. The Diva kingdom sank underground and is still in captivity to this day. Almost all the legends of the local population are based on the fact that a people lives in the bowels of the mountain, which has been hiding from people for thousands of years.
Mount Taganay - characteristics
Taganai - mountains that surprisingly combine bald remnants on the peaks with granite rocks located in the middle of a centuries-old forest, and picturesque river channels. Mount Taganay is the common name of three ranges. Their total length is more than 20 kilometers. Locals call them Small, Medium and Big Taganay.
Big Taganay consists of several peaks. These are the Responsive Ridge, Dvuhlovaya Sopka, Kruglitsa and Dalniy. The highest of them is Mount Kruglitsa (Taganai). She rose to 1178 m above sea level. Kruglitsa has a round shape, probably from it the name came. Indigenous people call it the "Bashkir hat". It really resembles a cone-shaped Turkic headdress in outline. According to the height of Kruglitsa, it is generally accepted that the height of Mount Taganay is 1178 meters. The upper sections of Taganay are formed by quartzites. A feature of these places is considered to be a unique mica with interspersed sparkles that sparkle in the sun. This is taganaite, better known as aventurine. It looks great in souvenirs and jewelry.
Almost all the Taganay ridges are distinguished by slope steepness of 10-15° at the base, 15-25° in the middle and 25-35° at the top. As a rule, peaks are inaccessible. They impress everyone who comes to see Taganay. The mountains amaze with their grandeur and beauty. Of particular note is the luxurious Responsive Comb.
Rivers
Rivers originate in this mountain range, which then feed the great Caspian. First of all, this is the Kusa River with its tributaries the Shumga, Bolshoi and Malaya Tesma.
Natural Features
There are two climatic zones on this earth: one of them is located on the peaks. It is made up of subalpine forests and meadows, and the second - in the valleys and on the lower slopes of the mountains. Different natural zones that are connected in Taganay give this region a special identity. The northern part of the ranges is covered with sprucefir forests of the middle taiga. On the eastern slopes there are taiga forests, in which larches, birches, and larches grow. In addition, there are areas covered with beautiful birch-pine forests.
Mount Taganay (Zlatoust) in the highlands is covered with mountain tundra and subalpine meadows. These places are unique in that plants of Central European, Western, Eastern species, Central Siberian flora coexist here. Arctic plants descend along the highlands far to the south, and steppe vegetation tends north along the foothills of the east. Mount Taganay is an old Ural massif. Manifestations of seismic activity have been registered here. The last 3.5 magnitude earthquake was recorded in 2002.
Taganaya Riddles
On sunny and hot days, many tourists, as well as local residents, observe an interesting effect - Mount Taganay seems to sway. Experts explain this phenomenon by the proximity of groundwater. Under the influence of the sun's rays, moisture begins to actively evaporate, and the effect of the mobility of the mountain range is created in the air ascending currents. Mount Taganay is a part of the Ural zone, which is considered anomalous. Here you can often meet expeditions of ufologists, local residents manage to see traces of the Bigfoot, tourists talk about encounters with ghosts.
The weather conditions in Taganay are amazing. In a matter of minutes, they can change drastically. During the day the temperature is oftenfluctuates within ten degrees. Local residents will not be surprised by the snow that fell in June. Tourists can experience all seasons in one day - from hot summer to harsh and windy winter. Another feature is strong winds, their speed sometimes reaches 50 m per second. An amazing picture of the Southern Urals opens up from the Taganay mountains. The beauty and features of the natural complex fascinate and amaze. Even in bad weather, the peaks of Taganay, shrouded in a veil of fog, amaze with grandeur. Tourists from different regions of the country seek these places. Here are the traditional routes for tourists.
National Park
This unique park was created in March 1991. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that a variety of animals live in a relatively small area and plants grow from different geographical zones.
Taganay National Park is full of secrets and mysteries. The mountain range is surrounded by a dense forest - the best place for various evil spirits to live. Locals say that the caves of the ridge are inhabited by amazing creatures, and Mount Kruglitsa is a point of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence - Roerich himself wrote about this.
Nature has generously endowed Taganay Park with its amazing creations. In the relic forest, among the extraordinary mountain ranges, stone rivers flow, petrified heroes of fairy tales live, and the water from the springs is considered alive. All this splendor fascinates even an experienced traveler.
The Taganay Mountains will conquer even an unprepared tourist. When you go hiking, wearcomfortable shoes and don't forget tick and mosquito repellent. In the rainy season, travelers are unlikely to be able to do without rubber boots.
Stone River
In this array you can see unique sights. Taganay became famous throughout the world for its amazing natural formation, which is a uniform heap of huge rocky debris. The length of the stone river Taganay exceeds six kilometers, and its width reaches 200 meters.
Stone river "flows" between the mountain Dvuhklavaya Sopka and the Sredny Taganay ridge. Its origin has not yet been determined. There is a version that the stone river was formed by a glacier that came down from the Taganay mountains.
Anomalous Zone
In the Taganay forestry, which was built at the foot of the mountain, V. N. Efimova, an employee of the environmental department, confirmed the rumors about the anomalous nature of these places.
As it turned out, in the mountains - on the Urenga Ridge - ball lightning appears quite often, more often than other places. Plasma balls are also not uncommon in the village of Veselovka. These objects behave rather strangely - they hit the same places, as if consciously winding while moving. According to experts, there are "lightning nests" in their classic form, with reduced soil resistance. This indicates either large deposits of the metal, or underground water sources.
Mysterious Swamp
Anomalous Taganay is represented by an even more mysterious place - the Great Moss Swamp. It is located between the tip of Maly Taganay onnorth and southern foothills of Itzyl. The swamp occupies an area of 36 sq. kilometers and is located in a giant depression of tectonic origin. It resembles an oval bowl with a long axis.
In this territory, the human psyche changes - orientation is disturbed, because of this even experienced foresters can get lost here. Travelers here see all sorts of amazing things that seem so real that they are taken at face value.
Most likely, this is due to a mixture of underground gases, which contains carbon dioxide and methane. They come out of a large deep fault and have a toxicomatic and psychotropic effect on a person.
Those who want to wander through the swamps expose themselves to intoxication and sometimes serious poisoning. This state facilitates encounters with "flying saucers", humanoids, translucent substances, kikimors.
Sound mirages also happen here. Various forest noises can be heard - the rustling of leaves, as if approaching, close steps. In fact, no one will be around.
Tourists often stop at the Responsive Ridge. It received this name for its comb-shaped outlines and the loud, multiply amplifying echo that occurs due to the reflection of sound from each vertical rock. If you look at the crest from afar, it resembles a stegosaurus lizard, a sea wave, and an elongated crest.
There is a tectonic fault in the north-east of the ridge. In 2002, tourists celebrated over Taganayseveral swirls of air in the form of dark pillars. Later meteorological services confirmed this information. The tornado appeared when a cold front passed through Taganay. It consisted of three independent whirlwinds that merged together.
Sand slides
If you follow the path leading to Kruglitsa, you can get into the "Valley of fairy tales" - Sand Hills. This is an area of extraordinary beauty - a saddle of a low-growing coniferous forest. Here you can see glades with numerous original remains.
The valley is in a zone of intense tectonic movements of the past. Between the rocks quite often there is a "walking" fog. Moreover, he also “sings” when he gets into stone cracks and rubs against grains of various strengths. There are a lot of spruces without tops here - they suffered from autumn and winter windfalls.
Batteries run out very quickly in the clearing, as a result - all electronic devices (camcorders, watches, cameras) refuse to work. Photographs are usually overexposed, and people see anomalous phenomena, such as flying luminous balls.
The northern part of Kruglitsa is very attractive for ufologists. This is a perfectly flat area measuring 0.2x0.4 kilometers. Particularly fanatical ufologists are sure that this is the place where energy exchange with the Cosmos takes place. Some symbolic letters and signs are laid out of stones there. Esotericists, occultists, psychics are drawn here, like a magnet. Judging by the ribbons hung in this place, which symbolize the wishes made, and the sacred signs inscribedon the rocks, the Roerichs regularly visit here. Pilgrims are sure that such attention is paid to the summit because of the presence of a special positive energy.
Weather station
The Taganay Gora weather station is located on the top of Dalniy Taganay. The meteorological site is located at an altitude of 1108 meters.
The station was opened in August 1932. Here, observations were made of wind speed, air temperature and atmospheric pressure, cloudiness, and precipitation. All information was transmitted by radio to the Administration of the Ural Hydrometeorological Service (Sverdlovsk).
During its operation, the station was rebuilt twice (in 1965 and 1982). In May 1992, it was closed, and the premises were later transferred to the ownership of the city. Today, the meteorological station of the Taganay park and a rescue service team are based in it.
