Encyclopedia of the Chelyabinsk region. River Ai - “lunar beauty” of the southern Urals

The Southern Urals are famous for their rivers, the picturesque nature of the taiga, and amazingly beautiful natural attractions. Ai River, left tributary large river Ufa is perhaps the most colorful among the rivers of the Southern Urals. Its length is 549 km.

Half of its path the Ai River flows through the Chelyabinsk region (271 km), the other half through the Republic of Bashkiria (278 km), where it flows into the Ufa River. It begins near the city of Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk region, from the Big Cranberry Bog, which is located between the Yagodnye Mountains, Urenga and Avalyak ridges.

It is fed mainly by snow and by tributaries: Kigi, Lemazy, Melex, Kusa, etc. The water is not clear, cloudy, because it originates from a swamp, and there is a lot of limestone in the coastal soils. Here you need to be prepared for frequent changes in the water level: during a drought, in July, it becomes very shallow, but as soon as it rains, the water comes quickly.

Ay, translated from Bashkir, sounds like “ moon river, lunar beauty." She really is very beautiful. The depth rarely exceeds 1 meter, from the source to the village of Lakly its path lies among the mountains, this part of it is called the mountainous part, flat part comes from the village Lakly down to the mouth. On the banks there are cities: Mezhevoy, Zlatoust, Kusa, 3 reservoirs.

IN THE LOWER AY

The valley of the Ai River is considered the wettest area of ​​the Southern Urals; it is completely overgrown with forest. Logging takes place here. Until the twentieth century, Ai was the main water artery along which barges with iron from local factories - Kusinsky, Zlatoust, Satkinsky - were floated. The river basin is home to the world's largest magnesite deposit. Rich deposits of sandstone, dolomite, siderite, limestone, granite, marble and other minerals. Diamonds and gold were found in alluvial deposits.

Natural beauty of "Moon Beauty"

The banks of the river are unusually beautiful; the ends of the Yamantul, Kazan-Salgan, Zhukatau, Tuityube, Bashukty mountain ranges approach them from the south, forming picturesque cliffs:

• Averkin stone;
• Bear forehead;

STONE KING AND QUEEN

• Tsar and Princess;

KARATAEV STONE

• Korotaev stone;
• Female butt;
• Stone Cow;

• Vanyashkinsky;
• Ivanovskie;

PARAMONOV PRITES

• Paramonovsky;
• Tsepilovsky (Cherepanovsky).

Interesting caves on the banks:

KURGAZAK CAVE

KURGAZAK CAVE

IN A CAVE

• Kurgazakskaya - on the left bank of the Ai. The cave contains a perennial glacier and bats the bats.
• Sukhokamenskaya (Ponornaya) is a 2-story inclined karst cavity. Model introducing karst processes.
• Nadezhda is also a multi-tiered karst cavity.

AVERKIEV CAVE

• Averkiev Yama is a beautiful cave in the Chelyabinsk region where they grow rare species plants, lichens, and colonies of bats live.
• Kamenka – here you can see with your own eyes the processes of karst formation and the movement of karst waters underground.

STONE GATE

Near the Bashkir village of Pulmetovo, in the floodplain, there is a botanical monument of the surrounding nature. The Stone Gate near the village of Lakly (Bashkiria) leaves an unforgettable impression.

BEAR

The banks are overgrown with taiga rich in living creatures: squirrel, sable, fox, elk, the owner of the taiga is the bear, but that’s not all of its inhabitants.

CRANBERRY

CLOUDBERRY

CEDAR CONES

The taiga is rich in berries: cranberries, cloudberries, lingonberries, blueberries, honeysuckle, raspberries. Along the banks there are a lot of red and black currants, an abundance of mushrooms and pine cones.

CATCH

There is an abundance of fish in the river itself: roach, pike, crucian carp, perch, bleak. Grayling and asp are rare; they love to live in clean mountain water. The fishing here is always excellent.

FISHING IN THE MORNING

Rafting on the Ai River

CATAMARAN RAFTING

In terms of difficulty of rafting, the Ai River is not considered difficult. Rafting here does not require special skills. This is a favorite route among water tourists; here you can swim leisurely, admiring the surrounding views.

The routes pass through Bashkiria and the Chelyabinsk region. The routes from the village of Mezhevoy to the village of Lakly (37 km), from the city of Kusa to the village of Lakly are in great demand. beautiful views on Ural Mountains. Kusa is the regional center of the Chelyabinsk region. The route starts from the confluence of the Kusa river and Ai, from the Kusinsky Zavod station of the Baikal-Chusovskaya railway line. There are many shoals and riffles here, the river is narrow, flowing among rocky banks overgrown with forest. The places are very beautiful, clean streams of springs flow from the coastal cliffs. The current here is about 8 km/hour.

DRY WATERFALLS

Along the rafting route you can visit local attractions: Kurgazak Cave, Dry Waterfalls, Bolshie Pritesy. Visit the Sikiyaz-Tamak cave complex. At the end of the route, see the Aisky Fountain.

FOUNTAIN ON AI

If you decide to raft below the village of Lakly, here the character of the river changes, it goes out into the Mesyagutovsky forest-steppe. It is more populated, the shores become sandy, with excellent beaches and willow thickets. This a good place for fishing. There are many oxbow lakes in the swampy valley. Only next to Azangulovo there will be a small rapid, which must be passed on the left bank.

After 330 km, near the village of Alegazovo, the Ai River approaches the Ufa Plateau. The banks become higher, overgrown with forest. The mill dam near Alegazovo must be bypassed along the left bank.

After the dam there will be the Mesyagutovsky state farm. There are 53 km left to the mouth of the Ay. At the end of the route is the village of Ust-Aisk, where tugboats run from the Meteli pier to the Ufa River.

How to get to the rafting site

GATHERING PLACE IN THE VILLAGE OF MEZHEVOY

VILLAGE VERKHNEAYSKAYA, SATKINSKY DISTRICT, CHELYABINSK REGION

You can get there both by personal and public transport. Regular buses run from Magnitogorsk, Ufa, Perm, Zlatoust, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk to the city of Satka. Minibuses run from Satka to Mezhevoy every day.

By train from Yekaterinburg and Moscow you need to get to Suleya station, Chelyabinsk region, from there to Mezhevoy by minibus 10 minutes, to Verkhneaisk - 30 minutes.

In the villages of Mezhevoy and Verkhneaisk, tourist groups are formed for rafting on the Ai River; you can join them or get to the rafting site on your own.

Of the many rivers of the Southern Urals, the Ai River stands out for its variability. Areas with incredibly beautiful rock gorges give way to flat areas. And so on all along the river.

The river is very, very popular among tourists.

The food, like all rivers of the Southern Urals, is predominantly snow-fed. The average annual water flow at the mouth of the Ai River is 84 m3/s.

Ai freezes in mid-November and opens at the end of April, beginning of May. The Ai River is conditionally divided into two parts. Mountain, from the source to the village of Lakly. Iravninnaya, from the village of Lakly, to the mouth. There are two cities on the Ai River, Zlatoust and Mezhevoy. Although the second can be considered a city conditionally and is more likely an urban-type settlement. The flow of the Ai River is regulated by three reservoirs. One of which is located at the source of the river, and two - in the city of Zlatoust. The main tributaries of the Ai River on the right: Kusa, Bolshaya Arsha, Kigi, Bol. Ik. On the left are Bolshaya Satka, Lemazy, Melekes.

The word "ai" in the Bashkir language means "moon". Those. Ai is a lunar river. Although it is quite possible that this is a common folk etymology and the name comes from some other source. After all, in the same area another river begins, which is called Uy. Ay and Uy are quite consonant with each other. There is still something for toponymists to think about here.

Ay, the river is floatable. High water is available for rafting in the upper reaches, but rafting on the Ai River is better to start from the city of Zlatoust. But this is in deep water. In summer, when the water level in the river is low, it is best to start rafting along the Ayu from the mouth of the Bolshaya Satka River. Or, as an option, along Bolshaya Satka, from the village of Porogi and further along the Ai River. This will allow you to see one of the most interesting engineering monuments of the Urals - a hydroelectric power station built on Bolshaya Satka back in 1910. By the way, the hydroelectric power station is still operating and the equipment on it dates back to 1909, as evidenced by the brass tags on the turbines and generators. And below the mouth of the Bolshaya Satka, the famous Ai cliffs begin, stretching to the village of Lakly. Rafting along the Ai River in this section will allow you to enjoy the picturesque rocks, caves and Ai petroglyphs. In addition, in front of the village of Lakly on the Ai River there is the famous cave city of Sikiyaz-Tamaka, but more on that later.

Rafting in the lower reaches of the Ai River, from the village of Bolsheustikinskoye, can be interesting if combined with rafting on the Ufa River. In these places there is good fishing both on the Ai River and on the Ufimka.

The Ai River differs from other rivers of the Southern Urals in one interesting property - the river is constantly muddy water. Apparently these are the rocks along the river banks. There are no rapids or rifts on the Ai River, which are usually characteristic of mountain river. The river bottom is flat. In the mountainous part, the Ai River is meandering. Above the ancient village of Lakly, here and there along the banks there are picturesque rocks, called here prites. Almost everyone has their own name. The area along the banks of the Ay is heavily karst and there are many caves in the area. Laklinskaya, Kurgazak, Aylinsky caves and, of course, the very recently discovered and described Sikiyaztamak cave city, which includes 38 cave objects.

The places along the banks of the river are very interesting from the point of view of history and local history. Many legends are associated with these places. About the elder Averkiy, who lived in the Averkiev Yama cave. About the peasant war and the Pugachev treasure. The villages of Staraya and Novaya Pristan, standing on the banks of the Ai River, were indeed once piers where the products of the Satkinsky plant were loaded onto barges and sent into deep water down the river. About robbers, Old Believers and the head of the Zlatoust factories and scientist. A visit to the monastery in Istrut will also be interesting. A landmark on the banks of the Ai River is the Averkiev Yama cave. The cave is associated with a legend about the old man Averky who once lived there.

The Ai River is very beautiful, the Ai prites are especially beautiful. That is why the population of the neighboring cities of Zlatoust, and especially Satka, spends time on its banks in the summer with great pleasure. Music can be heard from everywhere according to the principle - whoever is louder is cooler. It is especially crowded in summer in front of the Sikiyaz-Tamaka rocks. In the summer, commercial tourism also flourishes on the banks of the Ai River. The rafting groups go one after another and the Ai River again turns into a toiler. Fishing on the Ai River is also popular.

You can get to the Ai River by the Ufa-Chelyabinsk railway, to the city of Zlatoust or to the Kusa station, Gornozavodskaya railway Bakal-Chusovskaya. By car you can travel along the M5 federal highway to the city of Zlatoust or through Satka to the village of Mezhevoy. Option to the village

Ai wasn't cloudy before. In my childhood, crayfish were found near the Kusinsky gardens. When the Zlatoust factories began to pollute the river, it became muddy and there were no more crayfish, and there were almost no fish left.

Ay, river. Left tributary of the river Ufa (basin of the Kama river). Flows through the territory. Zlatoust, Kusinsky and Satkinsky districts, Republic of Bashkortostan. Dl. 549 km (within the borders of the Chel. Region 271 km); Bass area 15,000 km2 (in the Chel. Region 5,580 km2). Within Pers. region the river valley lies between the ridge. B. Taganay, Zhukatau, Suleya, Uraltau, Uralsky, Urenga, etc. The flow is regulated by 9 ponds and reservoirs with a total water surface area of ​​21.9 km2 and a volume of 66.4 million m3.

The Ai River flows from the Cranberry Swamp, located. between ridges Yagodny (in the south) and Urenga (in the north) at altitude. OK. 880 m along the BS, 70 km to the south-west. from the center of Zlatoust. The general direction of the current is north-west. Flows into the river. Ufa in the Ust-Aisk tract at a height. OK. 160 m according to BS. Within Pers. region accepts 54 tributaries long. more than 10 km each; most, the largest of them: B. Arsha, B. Satka, Kusa.

Of all the rivers of the Chelyabinsk region. Ai is the 4th longest and has the highest water consumption: at the exit from the region near the village. Lakly (Bashkiria) its value reaches 48.2 m3/s (in the Zlatoust area - 8.5 m3/s, near the village of Novaya Pristan - 43.7 m3/s). The most important characteristics of the river in the Zlatoust region: cf. freeze-up date - November 31, ice break-up - April 17; Wed freeze-up duration 169 days; maximum ice thickness 90 cm (March); max. the high-water month is May (38% of the annual runoff), the lowest is February. (1.4% of annual flow); max water temperature 19.5 °C (June). Most of the bass. located on the Yuryuzan-Ai Plain and Ufim. plateau, notch river valleys. Below Zlatoust bass. karst in places. The soils are loamy and sandy. The soils are mountain forest, light and dark gray forest. Bass. b. h. covered with conifers and foliage. forests. In the upstream, in the area from the source to Zlatoust, the river valley is well defined, wide. its 1.3 km. Asymmetrical banks: lion. above rights. The top, parts of the coastal slopes are rocky, the bottom. covered with conifers and mixed forests. Floodplain 2-sided, wide. 40-200 m, cut by oxbow lakes, covered mixed forest and meadows; there are numerous exits groundwater. The riverbed is moderately indented. On the shoals the width rivers 8-10 m, depth. 0.3-0.4 m, current speed 0.4-0.6 m/s; on the reaches of the wide up to 20-30 m, depth. 1-2 m, current speed 0.1-0.2 m/s. The bottom is sandy-gravelly on the rifts, silty-peaty on the reaches, overgrown with aquatic vegetation. Shores high 0.6-1.5 m, steep. On the section from Zlatoust to the Chel border. region with the Republic of Bashkortostan the structure of the valley and river bed is several. others. The valley is prime here. U-shaped, wide. 1-1.4 km. High slopes decreases, width. the floodplain increases to 300-600 m. The channel is winding, moderately branched, wide. it varies from 20-40 m on the rifts to 50-60 m on the reaches. Current speed is 0.5-2.0 m/s. The banks are steep and often merge with the slopes of the river valley. There are 19 islands in this area. The river bottom is pebbly and gravel, and on the rifts it is often composed of large fragments of stones. The mineralization of river water varies from 70 mg/l in the upper reaches to 200 mg/l in the middle. flow. The water is hydro-carbonate-calcium, moderately hard, in the area from the source to Zlatoust it has good drinking qualities, and below that it is polluted. The river valley in the area between the tributaries Beida and Sikiyaz (Satk district) was declared a natural monument in 1987. There are numerous here. prites are limestone coastal cliffs rising vertically above the river. Naib. the most famous of them are the Small and Large Prites. Grows in a variety of ways. river valley world. The left bank forests are pine, the right bank are birch. Honeysuckle, raspberry, broom, rowan, bird cherry, and rose hips grow in the undergrowth. Rare plants - Prince Sib. and curly lily; medicines—golden cape, snakeweed, burnet, lungwort, etc. Large-scale household use. the development of A. began in the 2nd half. 18th century with the construction of Zlatoust. w-yes. In prom. For this purpose, river hydropower was used (water wheels drove machine tools through complex transmission systems). Along A. (hereinafter Ufa - Belaya - Kama - Volga) during the period spring flood finished products of the Zlatoust plant were floated on barges, and later - of the Zlatoust factories, mountain district (until the completion of the Samara-Zlatoust railway in 1888-92). The following figures indicate the scale of transportation: in 1870 from Zlatoust. 19 ships with 210,565 pounds of cargo (3,370 tons) left the pier. In the lower parts of Zlatoust, west - where A. turns sharply at the southwest. spur of Kosotur, - to the left. On the shore there were B. and M. Barochny and Pristanskaya streets, where the barges were equipped (now this is the site of the production building of the I. Bushuev Production Association). In the 18th-20th centuries. along the A. and its tributaries (the rivers Veselovka, Kuvash, Semibratka, Yurak) timber rafting was carried out for the needs of Zlatoust plant. In the upper reaches of A. (in the area of ​​the villages of Verkhneaisky, Plotinki, Semibratki and St. Yurak) reservoirs were built, from where water was discharged during the rafting period and in case of congestion. Water was discharged using sluices. The last timber rafting in Zlatoust took place in 1960, subsequently, in connection with the construction of Novozlatoust. reservoirs, discontinued. Nowadays, A.'s time is not used for timber rafting; it participates in water supply, which means parts of the territory. Person region and the Republic of Bashkortostan. There are 60 settlements and localities in A. (13 of them are in the Chechen region: the cities of Zlatoust and Kusa, 11 villages and localities). Despite its relatively small size, A. is the cause of fairly large floods in Zlatoust. Naib, large of them were recorded in 1768 (June 7), 1862, 1896 (spring), 1909 (May 16, June 2), 1922, 1924 (Sept. 24), 1941 (April 24), 1943 (late July - beginning of August), 1964 (end of June). The center and north-west were subject to flooding in one step or another. parts of the city, located on the relatively low left bank (including factory buildings). The cause of the floods was either heavy floods (1941) or rain floods (most often in June - July). Thus, during the spring flood of 1941, the volume of water in Azerbaijan exceeded the average. long-term values ​​2.1 times, highest high. the water rise per day reached barely 77, and for the entire period of the flood - 383 cm. Very large rain floods were observed in 1943 and 1964. During the flood of 1943 heavy rains took place July 21-25 and August 1-3. (the amount of precipitation reached 80 mm) at the highest altitude. The rise of water in the river per day barely reached 182, the largest volume being 18.3 million le3. Detailed hydrological research A. began in the first 10 years of the 20th century. In 1917, for energy needs, the Internal Administration. waterways A. was examined in the area from Zlatoust to the mouth: visual surveys, depth measurements, and longitudinal leveling were carried out. plots. All R. 1920s During the rectification of the Zlatoust Pond dam, it was even planned to install hydro-electric power here. turbines (the project was not implemented). In 1932-65 there was a water metering post in the Zlatoust area, from 1965 - in the area of ​​the village. Veselovki. Name rivers has no unambiguous interpretation. In the lane from the head ay - “moon”. Probably, the image of the celestial body revered by the ancient Bashkirs was reflected in the name of the picturesque river: A. - “lunar” in the meaning of “beautiful”, “bright”, like the moon. He was one of the first to express such a version in the 18th century. historian and geographer V.N. Tatishchev (“Ay the Tatar name is bright”). According to the head version. scientist R. G. Kuzeev, called. rivers comes from ethnic. naming ay or aide (ayle), belonging to the clan. group, once Russell. in the bass river, which had a generic sign (tamga) in the form of a crescent (ai). In the dictionary of toponyms Bashk. In the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic the word ai is given in the meaning of “river”, “river branch”, “river tributary”. The word ai finds correspondences in the Finno-Ugric words oy, oy, ui - “stream”, “hollow”, “valley” and is found in the toponyms of other territories. Perhaps it was brought to our region by pre-Turkic people who came here in ancient times. tribes, and later used by the Bashkirs.

Ai River left tributary of the Ufa River. This is one of the most picturesque rivers Southern Urals.

The word “ay” in the Bashkir language means “moon, lunar river.” Perhaps the name comes from another source.

The source is the Great Cranberry Bog between the Avalyak, Berry Mountains and Urenga ridges, at an altitude of 760 m above sea level.

In its upper reaches, the Ai River flows from southwest to northeast. In the middle and lower reaches from southeast to northwest. The Ai River flows into Ufa 392 km from its mouth.

The length of the Ai River is 549 km, of which 271 km flows through the Chelyabinsk region, and 278 km through Bashkiria.

The fall of the river is 595 m, that is, over a meter per kilometer. The tortuosity of the river is 3.1. The basin area is about 15 thousand km2.

The average depth is 60 cm, holes are rare.

The food is predominantly snowy.

The average annual water flow at the mouth of the Ai River is 84 m3/s. Ai freezes in mid-November and opens at the end of April, beginning of May.

The Ai River is conditionally divided into two parts. Mountain, from the source to the village of Lakly. And the flat one, from the village of Lakly to the mouth.

On the river there are the following cities: Zlatoust, Mezhevoy, 3 reservoirs. One is located at the source of the river, and two are in the city of Zlatoust. The main polluter of the river is the city of Zlatoust.

Main tributaries: Kusa, Bolshaya Arsha, Kigi, Bol. Ik, Bolshaya Satka, Lemazy, Melekes.

The valley is overgrown with forest and belongs to the wettest region of the Southern Urals (700 mm per year).

The ends of the ridges - Zhukatau, Bashukty, Kazan-Salgan, Yamantul, the Tuytyube mountain rise approach the river from the south in the form of picturesque rocks.

Rocks: Bear's forehead. Women's butt, Zanozinsky stone, Cow stone, Averkin stone, Korotaev stone, Vanyashkinsky prites. Tsar, Tsarevna, Ivanovsky prites, Tsepilovsky (Cherepanovsky) prites, Paramonovsky prites, Small prites (Yuldashkin crest). Large prites (Sybar-kaya), Kyzyl-tash, Olo-tash, Oblique ridge. Robber, Kasy-tash, Transverse ridge, Kapka-tash (Stone gate), Funeral stone.

Minerals of the river basin: iron ores, the world's largest deposit of magnesite, deposits of dolomite, limestone, quartzite, granite, marble, siderite deposits, brown iron ores, ocher, barite, titanomagnesite, sandstone, flint, bauxite.

In the 18th - 19th centuries, the river served as an important transport route for iron alloys from the Zlatoust, Kusinsky and Satkinsky factories. In the spring the ponds descended and big water barges with iron set off on a difficult journey along the Ayu, Ufa, Kama, Volga before the construction of the railway (it was opened here in 1892

Natural monuments .

1. Kamenka Cave. On the right bank of the old dry river bed. Kamenka (the left tributary of the Ai River), 7 km west of the Suleya railway station and 1.2 km south of the village. Blinovka Geological and geomorphological natural monument. A combined vertical karst cavity - ponor with horizontal corridor-type sections, has important environmental, educational and educational significance, and is of great scientific and practical interest as a real model for illustrating the processes of karst formation, accumulation and movement of fissure-karst waters underground.

2. Geological section of the Proterozoic near Mount Argus. Located on the banks of the Ai River within the city of Kusa. Geological natural monument. Remains of a reef with colonies of blue-green algae, or stromatolites. The section serves as a standard and marker for drawing geological boundaries between rocks of different ages and determining the age of rock strata.

3. Ay River from the mouth of the Beyda River to the village of Sikiyaz-Tamak. The natural monument Ai River is located on the territory of the Kusinsky and Satkinsky districts, in two areas it is a border river with the Republic of Bashkortostan. Hydrological natural monument.

4. Averkiev Yama Cave 3 km south of the village of Staraya Pristan, on the left bank of the river. Ai, below the so-called White Ford and about 300 meters from Vinokurny Klyuch. Geological-geomorphological natural monument. A unique landscape formation, including one of the beautiful caves in the Chelyabinsk region, the habitat of a colony of bats ( bats), and natural communities with rare and protected species of lichens, plants and animals.

5. Kurgazakskaya cave. 5 km southwest of the village. Mezhevoy, 6 km north of the Kukshik railway station, on the left bank of the Ai River, 2 km northwest of the former Kurgazak bauxite mine. Geological-geomorphological natural monument. The main purpose of declaring the Kurgazak cave a natural monument is to preserve natural complex, including a picturesque cave with a perennial underground glacier and habitats for bats, in a natural state.

6. Cave Nadezhda. 7 km west of the Suleya railway station, on the right bank of the old dry bed of the Kamenka River (left tributary of the Ai River) and 1 km south of the village. Blinovka, 50 m northwest of the entrance to the Sukhokamenskaya (Ponornaya) cave. Geological-geomorphological natural monument. A multi-tiered karst cavity - a corridor-grotto type ponor with a complex system of narrow passages and vertical wells, developed in a massif of dense Paleozoic limestones of the Upper Devonian age and located under former bed Kamenka River.

7. Cave Sukhokamenskaya (Ponornaya). On the right bank of the old dry river bed. Kamenka (the left tributary of the Ai River), 7 km west of the Suleya railway station, 1.2 km south of the mining village of Blinovka and 50 m east of the Nadezhda cave. Geological-geomorphological natural monument. An inclined 2-story karst cavity is a corridor-grotto type ponor of complex shape. It is a natural model for studying karst processes in the conditions of exploration, development and exploitation of ore deposits, and has important environmental, educational, scientific and practical significance.

8. The floodplain of the Ai River near the village. Pulmetovo (Bashkiria), botanical natural monument.

9. Stone gate on the Ai river near the village. Lakly, Bashkiria.

Fish - Chub, pike, roach, perch, gudgeon, bleak, rarely - asp and grayling.

Alloy.

Photo by E. Ushakov

Ai River

Ai is a left tributary of the Ufa, originating in a mountain saddle between the Ural ridges Avalyam and Urenga, at an altitude of about 1000 m above sea level. The length of the river is 549 km, the flow speed above Zlatoust is 12-15 km/h, in the lower reaches - 5-6 km/h. Karst landforms are widespread in the area. The river is surrounded on both sides by wooded mountains, many rocky cliffs approaching the water's edge, and frequent shoals and riffles.

In a number of places, springs fall from the coastal cliffs. The mountains near the village of Novaya Pristan are especially beautiful. Cliffs rise above the trees and fall into the river valley in steep slopes. On small platforms and ledges of coastal rocks, clinging pines are miraculously held. The water-polished limestones contain many shells and imprints of ancient plants.

A fast river winds through the mountains, revealing more and more new pictures. Along the course of the Ay there are the little-studied and inaccessible Aylin caves (near the village of Aipino, north of Suleya) and the extensive Laklinskaya cave near the village of Lakly. On the left bank of the Ay, 2 km above Lakla, there is a curious natural phenomenon - the “Stone Gate”, formed in the lower Carboniferous limestones. Lives in the Ai River rare fish grayling.

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AY VALLEY. Includes a plot valleys mountain rivers length of about 90 km. Starts from the confluence with the river. Ay Beida river (Kusinsky district) and before the river exits. Ay from the Chelyabinsk region near the village of Sikiyaz-Tamak (Satkinsky district). In this section, the river flows along beautiful banks covered with mixed forests and among steep cliffs. Breaking through a series of mountain ranges, the river forms a deep canyon-like valley. It includes numerous natural monuments and other interesting objects: rocks, cliffs, karst springs and caves, archaeological sites, etc.

The rocks and dark, brooding windows of the caves look elegant, spectacular and evoke a lot of enthusiastic emotions. The “fighter” type rock outcrops, which seem to have frozen on the banks of the fast-flowing Ai in the form of giant stone heroes, amaze with their magnificence and gigantic power. It is no coincidence that back in the middle of the last, 20th century, this section of Aiskaya valleys from New Pier to Laklov tourists and speleologists figuratively called the “cave region”.

The coastal Ai rocks are also characterized by an abundance of so-called through and buried caves, beautiful and convenient rock overhangs for shelter, romantic dry grottoes and rocky niches. It is not uncommon to find “holey rocks” here - such as “stone rings” - karst arches and bridges. All of them are relics, fragments of ancient, long-destroyed caves.

HOOKED. In Dahl's dictionary “prites”, Perm. “an above-water rock in a river, a bull, a plateau or coastal rock with a splash, a coastal cliff.” Meaning: high rocky steep shore, rocky coastal cliff, coastal cliff.

AYA PRETTY - limestone rocks stretched along rivers in a chain, in a long row. Conventionally, they are divided into Large and Small cliffs. The word “prites” has the same root as the words “cliff”, “hew”, “gorge”, that is, it is in close contact with water. Over millions of years, water has eroded the limestone rocks and formed numerous karst cavities in them: caves, grottoes, rock niches, burrows.

BIG PRICES much taller and grander than the Small ones. They make a breathtaking impression, they even seem to stun a person with their scale and grandeur. Stretching along the left bank rivers for almost a kilometer, they, like an indestructible bastion, look in the shape of a giant arc. Absolutely sheer cliffs fall into the waters rivers, and with a powerful jet of its stream it props them up from below, washing the foot. In the old days, the locals - Tatars, Meshcheryaks and Bashkirs - called the Bolshoi Prityos rocks in their own way - “Sybar-kaya”, which means “Motley Rock”. This name reflects the variety color shades dolomitized limestones. They reflect a whole palette of colors: from white, pink, yellow and blue to bright yellow, ocher and black spots of lichens, water streaks and streaks, green strokes of grass and shrub vegetation.

ATTRACTIONS VALLEYS RIVERS AI

KARST ARCH. Ay near the village of Novaya Pristan in the so-called Tsepilovsky (Cherepanovsky) cliffs. There are many bizarre rocks in the form of destroyed fortifications, with dark eye sockets of cave grottoes, columnar outcrops with deep crevices. Of particular interest is the karst arch - a relic of an ancient cave destroyed by time and the river. The height of its arch reaches 15 meters. This arch is the most picturesque in the Ai Valley.

DANCE GROTTO. Located on the right bank of the river. Ay below the village of Sikiyaz-Tamak. This cave is of a cyclic type and is a vast underground cavity with a perfectly flat floor and an area of ​​243 sq.m.

CAVES OF KURGAZAK LOG. Located 3-4 km northwest of the village. Pokrovka on the left bank of the river. Ay. There are both horizontal and vertical cave-shafts. Among them are the Kurgazakskaya cave - 357 m long and 18 m deep, Studencheskaya - 40 m/8 m, Bolshaya Pokrovskaya pit (Shakhta-47) - 62 m/47 m, Malaya Pokrovskaya pit (Shakhta-30) - 92 m/35 m.

GROTTO "JUNIOR". The most inaccessible cave in the Chelyabinsk region. Located on the left bank of the river. Ay, in the limestone rock “Big Prites” at an altitude of 56 m from the base of the rock. Dimensions of the grotto: length of passages - 90.5 m, depth - 21 m. This cavity was first explored on May 4, 1970 by a team of speleologists from Chelyabinsk, Korkino and Sverdlovsk (headed by S. M. Baranov). The grotto is named “Youthful” in honor of the club of young geologists of the city of Kor-kino, whose members also took part in its assault.

In 1975, a match meeting between speleologists from Chelyabinsk and Ufa was held at the Yunoshesky grotto. And the next year, speleologists from the cities of the Urals gathered here for their first Match on techniques and tactics of caving tourism and elements of rescue work. On these rocks, training camps for a team of speleologists from the Chelyabinsk region were repeatedly held before going to All-Russian rallies and competitions. From here speleologists from Chelyabinsk, Satka, Zlatoust and Magnitogorsk began their path to the championship titles of the Soviet Union and Russia, to gold and silver medals. Our speleologists returned home seven times with gold medals, twice with silver and twice with bronze. No other team of speleologists, either in the former Soviet Union or in Russia, has achieved such phenomenal success.

SIKIYAZ-TAMAK CAVE COMPLEX. Bend rivers Ay forms a peninsula near the village of Sikiyaz-Tamak - a huge, palm-flat clearing, framed by forested spurs of the Tui-Tyube ridge.

It was here that in August 1995 a complex speleoarchaeological expedition landed, consisting of V. Akinshin, S. Baranov, Y. Vaganov, P. Zvyagintsev, A. Pulov, P. Sivinskikh, V. Yurin and others.

On the right bank rivers Ay 425 meters long, 42 objects are concentrated: caves, grottoes, canopies, niches, two karst arches and one bridge. As a result of archaeological studies of loose deposits of caves, cultural layers belonging to all historical eras. These are the Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Middle Ages.

Time in this dungeon preserved the tools of human labor, tens of thousands of bones of animals, birds, fish, including fossil species. In one of the pits, bones of animals from all natural and climatic zones of the Urals were discovered - from the tundra to the steppe, including fossils: mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, primitive deer, cave lion, bear, hyena.

Every year, archaeological expeditions working in Sikiyaz-Tamak make new historical finds. More than 10 thousand fragments of ceramics from different eras have already been collected, a piece of copper and a splash of bronze have been found. This rare find confirms that in ancient times metal was smelted in the Sikiyaz-Tamak caves.

Already available information allows us to say that in Sikiyaz-Tamak we are dealing with a rare occurrence, which has no analogues in world practice, here nature itself has created a natural museum, in which traces of human presence, landscape, plant and animal world, parallels of history and culture, closely intertwined, carry a wealth of information.

Scientists often compare the discovery of the Sikiyaz-Tamak cave complex with traces of habitation of people of the Stone and Bronze Ages to the excavations of the legendary Troy. According to the conclusion of the participants of the International Conference “Cave Paleolithic of the Urals”, the Sikiyaz-Tamak cave-rock ensemble is the only ancient multi-layered settlement on the territory of Russia, located in a compact group of caves of natural origin.

In 1999, the Sikiyaz-Tamak cave complex was declared a historical and cultural monument of the Chelyabinsk region.

In the summer of 1996, the first speleoarchaeological expedition of schoolchildren from the Satka region began its work in Sikiyaz-Tamak. Since 1999, young pupils of the Chelyabinsk regional tent field camp “Nadezhda” have been resting here and participating in archaeological excavations.

ON THE PATH OF THE IRON CARAVAN. Iron caravans- a set of measures to deliver products from Ural factories to markets in European part countries, as well as abroad. They were a series (up to several dozen) of barges following the river one after another.

A barka, or Kolomenka, is a river non-self-propelled flat-bottomed covered vessel with steep sides and blunt ends, designed for transporting iron.

It was built from dry selected wood for only one navigation. It was equipped with two pairs of potes - large oars up to 6 meters long, which were used for maneuvering, four anchors, an inert boat intended for landing on the shore and for refloating work, as well as two lots - cast iron weights lowered on the rifts to the bottom rivers, with the help of which the speed of movement was regulated. There was a pilot house and a cabin with bunks for crew members. The average length of the vessel was 28 meters, the width was 12 meters, and the carrying capacity was over 170 tons. They were built on the shore by special teams, and with the beginning of navigation (after ice drift) they were launched into the water. During the winter, the plant's products were transported by sleigh to the river and stored on the shore. The cargo was loaded inside through two hatches, placed on special flooring, and secured with wooden spacers.

Navigation on the river Ay It was possible only in the spring, when water was drained from the factory ponds. For this purpose, water accumulated by the Zlatoust, Kusinsky and Satkinsky plants was used, as well as a specially built pond on the Istrut River.

The organization of the rafting was carried out by the factory administration. At the head of the caravan was a steward, called a caravan steward. Peasants of the Vyatka province were usually hired as ship workers, and as pilots - from the coastal population of the rivers along which the rafting was carried out at this stage. At the initial section of the route, and the exit to the Belaya River, the barge’s crew consisted of 40-45 people, after the city of Ufa - about 20 people. During the journey, the crew could change several times. Factory workers, having completed the most difficult, mountainous section, returned home from Ufa on foot to their main jobs. On each barge there was a pilot who ensured correct maneuvering (not to run aground, not to break on rocks) and a waterman - the head of the crew of barge haulers, who was responsible for the safety of the cargo, kept the workers' documents and money for their food, and also supervised, if necessary, the repair of the barge.

Iron moved along the rivers Ay, Ufa, Belaya and Kama to the Volga, further upstream to Tver, further along the Tvertsa River and the Verkhnevolotsk Canal to Novgorod, and from there through the Volkhov and Ladoga Canal to St. Petersburg. The caravan spent the winter in Tver, and by July of the next year (i.e. 14 months after departure) arrived in the capital. On the way, the caravan visited industrial centers (Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, etc.), where part of the cargo settled, and the crew was changed, the goods were reloaded. The first caravan with Satka iron left the Ayskaya pier (the modern village of Staraya pier) in May 1761. In 1778, the pier was moved to a new location, 12 km downstream rivers Ay, to the mouth of the Ishchelka River (the village of Novaya Pristan), from which rafting was carried out for more than a hundred years. The last caravan with Satka iron left along the river Ay in May 1890, when the Samaro-Zlatoust (now South Ural) railway came into operation.

LEGENDS ABOUT PRITES

Below Novaya Pristan, the village of Aisky and the mouth of the Kurgazak log, on the left bank rivers Ay There are two huge limestone ridges - Small and Large ridges. Otherwise they are called Yuldashkin ridge and Sybar-kaya (Motley rock). The rocks are majestic and magnificent. In the recent past, the old residents of Alekseevka, Sikiyaz-Tamak, Kulmetovo, Pokrovka, Termeneva and other surrounding villages associated the legends about Yuldash with the Small and Large Prites. Yuldash's identity has not been fully clarified. Some considered him a horse thief, others - simply a swindler. I would like to tell three legends about Yuldash and the Ai Prites with the same outcome.

Small cliffs (Yuldashkin ridge)

This was a long time ago, even before the October Revolution of 1917. Tatar Yuldash was appointed as a forester in Kulmetovo. He should have handled things according to the law, but he turned out to be a fraud. He deceived all the men. In those days, everyone needed timber for houses, garden buildings, and firewood. Yuldash took the money, but didn’t pay for the forest, he drank it all away. The Alekseevsky men went wild with insults and decided to deal with him.

One summer before sunset, a drunken Yuldash was returning home from Termenova to Kulmetovo. Men on horses surrounded him, pressed him to the edge of a cliff and threw him and his cart down from a 70-meter height. Since then, this rock began to be called the Yuldashkin ridge.

Large cliffs (Sybar-kaya)

This penalty happened before the revolution. Termenev's horses began to get lost in the village. And not just in units, but in whole herds. The Termenevites became alarmed and began to watch for the thief. And this thief turned out to be the Kulmetyevo Tatar Yuldash. Yuldash secretly stole horses from pastures and sold them to gypsies. In those days, horse theft flourished in the Zlatoust district, and it was not easy to identify the true thief. But Yuldash left traces and paid for it.

One day, after another hijacking, he was returning to his home village. An ambush was already waiting for him. The Termenevites on horseback surrounded Yuldash and pushed him to the edge of the Ai rock. Seeing that he could not escape from the ring, Yuldash accelerated and, under the angry whistle of his pursuers, he and his horse jumped from the cliff, where he found his death.

Legend claims that the place of Yuldash’s death was a grandiose limestone rock 90-100 meters high, elongated in the shape of a giant stone horseshoe, not far from the current Alekseevskaya livestock farm. Now they call it Big Prityos. But Yuldash, realizing the hopelessness of his situation, was not afraid of this height and threw himself into the abyss.

Youthful Grotto (Karagay)

There are several caves located in the Great Prites. One of them is the Yunoshesky Grotto. Previously, the Kulmetyevo people called this cave in their own way - Karatash (Black Stone) or Karakuashi (Black Hole) for the unique color design of the entrance. The usual visitors to the cave were gray crows, and the permanent inhabitants and owners are bats (bats). For thousands of years, the round black eye of the cave has attracted the attention of people - from primitive hunters to modern speleologists. What secrets are hidden in the depths of the rocks? What's there in the belly of the cave? Halls of mountain spirits, fairytale palaces, gold?! There is a legend or tradition about the Great Cliffs and the Youthful Grotto.

This was a long time ago, even before collective farms, when every owner kept horses; private households could not do without horses. And then disaster struck. Horses began to get lost in Kulmetova and neighboring Russian villages. They soon realized that a horse thief had appeared. They found out that this nasty craft was carried out by their own Kulmet Tatar Yuldash, a well-known swindler and rogue in the area.

The Kulmetov men did not think for long about what to do with the horse thief and robber. They waylaid Yuldash just as he was returning to his village after another hijacking, but had not yet managed to cross Ay. The horsemen surrounded Yuldash and blocked the roads. On the right, the wide Alekseevskoye Field began - there was no hiding. On the left, the huge rock of Sybar-kaya fell off - there was no way. The horse thief realized that there was no escape from reprisals. Without hesitation, he quickly unharnessed his horse, jumped on it, accelerated and rushed headlong towards death.

The angry men did not spare the cart with Yuldashkin’s goods. In it they found only one “shurum-burum” - all sorts of things, mostly second-hand clothes bought at some bazaar. However, they were not tempted by the junk and the cart was overturned in the same place where Yuldash jumped. And then the paradox happened that they talked about long years and which was especially remembered by the Kulmet old-timers.

Yuldash loved to drink tea and always took a large copper samovar with him. In Yuldash's cart there was also a samovar, which also flew head over heels from the cliff, but... did not fall. A birch tree grew in a cleft in the rock, and one eye of the samovar caught on a twig and hung on it.

Years passed, decades dragged on, and the samovar kept dangling in the wind, causing either surprise or superstitious fear. Using it, the Kulmetyevites accurately determined the place of Yuldash’s death. And this place turned out to be a rock, which in our time is called the Big Rocks. Yuldashkin's samovar hung in that part of the stone wall where, at a 60-meter height, a dark entrance opens into a then unknown mysterious cave. The superstitious Kulmet residents, looking at the samovar and the dark, brooding eye of the cave against the backdrop of a colorful rock, saw a bad omen in this phenomenon. They said that in the black den settled the shaitan, that is, an unclean spirit (devil), who whistled at night, frightened children, old men, old women and beautiful girls. Then they realized that it was Yuldashkin’s samovar whistling, swaying in the wind. The samovar, after hanging and whistling for several decades, suddenly fell off the cliff and plunged forever into the waters of Ai. This happened in the mid-60s.