The body was found near Papaya Mountain. Popeye's secrets. Route to the summit

“Peoples of the Mountains and Steppes” - Inside the yurt, the floor and walls are covered with warm, colorful carpets. A yurt is created from sheep wool. The door of the yurt is always brightly and expressively decorated. What is a yurt made from? Saklya. Art of the peoples of the mountains and steppes. The yurt can be assembled in just one hour. How is it decorated? What features of the home of the steppe inhabitants did you learn about?

“Mountains of land” - The main landforms are mountains and plains. The highest elevations, at 1000-1500m, were the Subpolar and Southern Urals. On the platforms, due to the horizontal occurrence of rocks, there are plains. Depending on their structure, mountains can be folded, folded-block, or blocky. Mountainous regions occupy about 40% of the land surface.

“Caucasus Mountains” - The name of the Caucasus Mountains is “Graukasis”, which means “white snow”. Winter ice climbing, as well as winter climbing of Elbrus. The Elbrus region is one of the three largest skiing, mountaineering and tourist areas in Russia. The glaciation area is about 150 square meters. km. The region offers unique opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts.

“Crimean Mountains” - Main ridge. The amount of precipitation is only 300-600 mm per year, more in autumn and winter. The soils are soddy-carbonate on the slopes, chernozem on flat intermountain areas. Summer is hot and dry. The Crimean foothill forest-steppe region covers the Outer and Inner ridges. The climatic conditions are favorable. Forest-steppe landscapes predominate - oak forests alternate with meadow steppes.

“Altai Mountains” - Central Altai. Altai - golden mountains. Representatives of the taiga and steppe fauna predominate here. North-Eastern Altai. Hercynian folding. Water resources. In the east, Altai adjoins the Western Sayan and Tuva. In spring and early summer, the steppes are covered with all kinds of tall grass flowers. Altai is a large mountainous region located in the central part of the country.

Over the weekend we walked along the route Ubinskaya-Papai-Mill Gap with Monasteries-Thab-Kazachya-Zhane-Vozrozhdenie. In Ubinskaya we were lucky: kind people gave us a ride in an UAZ not even to the apiary, but even further. Not only did this save us 12 kilometers, but we also didn’t have to wade through terrible mud along the road. After all, it had been raining a week before, it was just terrible what was going on there. I fell in love with UAZs :)) The car is a beast! Popeye is a pretty nice place, but it looks even better from the outside as you go further down it. There is such a wonderful path there, I really liked it. Pines, gnarled junipers, green spaces around and white stones under your feet, and all the smells, all the colors - everything indicates that you are gradually penetrating from the Seversky region to the Gelendzhik region :)

Next there was a rather muddy road in the forest until the turn into Melnichnaya Shchel. The mill stream is also pretty, and the waterfall is pretty. There are boulders and stones covered with moss all around, and beech trees are my favorite. We turned down the fire - the wood was incredibly wet - so we cooked dinner and tea on the burner and went to bed at 9 o'clock :) We woke up at 7 cheerful and happy... my cheerfulness was slightly undermined by the fact that we had run out of gas, and I really wanted tea. But there was no desire or time to tinker with the fire again, so after washing down the Spartan breakfast with water from the waterfall, we hit the road.

In two hours we climbed Thab, looking at some of the nearby “Monastery” rocks along the way. (I remember 7 years ago, we climbed there with big swearers and it took a very long time))) Or rather, we didn’t climb Thab itself - the path went around it from the side, and we had no desire to gain another hundred meters of height in order to visit the very top of the head: )

Well, from there we walked to Mount Cossack, meeting horses with foals along the way.

It's good on Kazachaya. I liked it there last time too - that’s the only thing I remember from that long-ago trip. And the sea can be seen from there.

We had a little snack, lay down and went down to the Zhane River. The descent there is cool! The path is narrow, narrow, winding its way through real tunnels of rose hips and various shrubs unknown to me. We met a large turtle on the path. Healthy, though, about the size of Mitya’s head)) She gave way to us and crawled into the bushes.

We were on Zhan at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There was a temptation to go upstream and see what kind of “Emerald waterfall” is marked on the map - I suspect that there is a decent waterfall there, unlike the poppy ones below... but for some reason we got lazy...:) I wanted to come home not too late. So we rested, Mitya took a swim in one of the pop waterfalls (wow, there are a lot of people there! It’s not summer yet!), and we went to the highway.

Along the way, meeting exhausted travelers with questions: “How far is it to the dolmens? another 15 minutes?? oooo….Kat, maybe we won’t go…eh?”))) Then it turned out that these travelers also pay 100 rubles for entry. Well, we _went out_, so it was free)) Okay, at least they put trash cans there at every step and you can see that they periodically take out garbage from them, plus all sorts of benches all around, bridges, etc. And in other places it is generally unclear what they take money for. On the highway we caught a taxi to Gelendzhik, and from there we went home on a terrible broken-down bus.

In October 2013, despite the previous rainy September, women's summer in Kuban still broke through with a bright flash of coveted warmth. Without hesitation for a long time, we decided to visit our mother in the golden autumn in our native and close Krasnodar region. To do this, we planned a through route for three days from the village of Ubinskaya to Mount Papai, then a rush to the Gray Monasteries rocks, with a preliminary run to the waterfall Count's ruins. From the Monasteries exit to the village. Revival, near Gelendzhik. In terms of the ratio of load and time, plans were made, as usual, ambitious, promising obvious overexertion to the body. Plus, the circumstances were such that we reached the muddy road to Popeye after the rains only in the evening, which practically put an end to our plans. But then a miracle happened. Just a gift from heaven. A group of jeeping riders was heading towards the sea, through Pshada, and generously agreed to give us a lift to the lumberjack clearing, at the ascent to Papai. The cars are designed for active off-road use and are equipped with telenavigation and walkie-talkies. Such eagles are not afraid of any obstacles. But most importantly, I was amazed by the good nature and humanity of these guys. They laughed all the way, talking on walkie-talkies, teasing each other, and making fun of us. Not only did they not take money, but on the contrary, they asked if we needed anything for the trip and offered us a bottle of vodka in honor of the birthday of one of the team members. I considered it the height of arrogance on my part to agree with such a proposal.

“Let us not hide from alimony in this forest. We are just ordinary tourists,” Sparrow insisted. But the one in the red T-shirt still stubbornly expressed doubt.

Group photo for memory

It’s nice to know that there are still such real Russian men in our time. Meeting them at the end of this unfortunate day is like a Band-Aid for the soul. Having wished the guys a safe journey, we settled down for the night. A clearing in the forest near a stream is littered with debris from lumberjacks. And there was such a miracle standing by the road.

Apparently, the film crew was attacked by lumberjacks and fell into slavery, and the killed UAZ-tablet was orphaned and left ownerless. Thanks to the sudden help of off-road aces, we again became hopeful that our original plans would be realized. Although they understood that the task ahead was still far from simple. By the end of the first day we still hadn’t crossed Popeye. And this increased the load and distance for the next two days.
The hungry jackals howling in the night played a cruel joke on me. I dreamed that one of them treacherously invaded the tent. In the darkness, I grabbed Sparrow’s hand a couple of times, mistaking her for a jackal, and tried to push her out. And then he began to completely torture the poor commander, until finally he raised his voice and woke me up. Yes, it’s not safe to while away the night next to me!
In the morning we set out to assault Popeye.

Summer honey mushrooms on an autumn log.

On the East Peak of Popeye. Against the general background of falling asleep nature, bright green junipers catch the eye. On the horizon, in the center, is Sober-Bash, the most visited mountain in the Seversky region by Krasnodar residents, with the romantic translation “Mountain of the Seven Witches.”

I described in detail what Popeye is and what it is eaten with in my previous report “Die Hard Popeye”. But in a nutshell, I would like to once again emphasize the uniqueness of this rocky five-domed massif against the background of the rest of its wooded counterparts, which are not particularly diverse.

Papaya Pyramid - Main peak. Western looks out behind her.

We will now climb along the central corner edge to the top of the Main. This is the most interesting and exciting part of the route on Papaya

Along this slope we will have to descend from the Main Peak to the valley of the Black River

But this already looks like Thach waves. The scale is, of course, smaller, but overall it’s similar.

Hey, down there, can you find a smoke? Popeye Boy appeared on the upper ledge.

Climbing the Main Peak from the eastern side. The ascent is carried out along a narrow rocky steep ridge. Gambling and adrenaline event. But in strong winds and slippery conditions it is dangerous here. You can fly away like good morning.

Southern slope of Main

No, just to shake a hand...!

On the main summit of Papaya

The western peak and the ridge leading to it. View from the Main Peak.

View from the Main from the descent along the southern slope.

View from the Western peak towards the Northern, Central, Main and Eastern (from left to right). We walked the entire Papaya Saw along the ridge two years ago

That's how it was

On the horizon is the Kotsekhur ridge (Hard Fang - from the Adyghe.) In its lower reaches there is the ensemble of Gray Monasteries, or Krasnodar Pillars (why Krasnodar, and not Gelendzhik?) - the next goal of the hike.

We spent no more than 10 minutes at the Main Peak. Time was running out. We began to descend along the southern slope into the valley of the Black River, a tributary of the Papaya River. First along a very steep stepped rock layer

Then a path through a juniper grove emerged

The southern slope of Main on the descent from it

Goodbye, wonderful, strong Popeye

We went down to the valley of the Black River. We quenched our thirst, had lunch in the forest, and rested. After 30 minutes we again stood under our backpacks and forward to Papaya, then to its next tributary - the Melnichny stream, flowing through the Monasteries. We passed the former Alpinistsky tourist shelter, located not far from the village. Novosadov. During the USSR, as part of a state project "Along the partisan paths of Kuban", in the summer season life was in full swing here. And now the devastation, garbage and desolation...

At Novosadov’s, I encouraged the kids to look into the valley of the Grafsky stream, also a tributary of the Papaya, to the Grafsky ruins waterfall. Spend the night there, and on the morning of the third day go to the Monasteries. They examined the waterfall, but did not want to stop for the night in this gloomy and damp crevice. Already at twilight we managed to taxi from there to one of the luxurious meadows near Alpinistsky, at the confluence of the Melnichny and Papaya streams.

Camp in a clearing near Papaya and Melnichny.

Vovka thought for a moment that he saw a bigfoot in the bushes

Many vast and cozy meadows near the village. Novosadov and the Alpinistsky shelter, near Papaya, were touched. Despite the weekend and excellent weather, they were almost deserted.
On the morning of the third day we went out to the Melnichny stream and headed towards the Monastery rocks

Melnichny stream. A waterfall dividing the Monasteries into two wings.

Closer to noon we reached our goal. Time is running out. The autumn day is short, and the path to the highway is not close. In addition, there is a decent long climb from the rocks to the Kotsekhur ridge. Nevertheless, we still allocated an hour and a half to explore the Monasteries. Last time, in September 2009, due to bad weather, I was not able to properly photograph them. And now I have taken my soul away.

View of Papai from the monastery ridge. On the left is Western, to the right is Central and Main. Exactly 24 hours ago we were hanging out on it.

“The monasteries were dressed in gold...” It’s beautiful here in the fall. Definitely...

“...And the formidable idol turns its gaze to the sky...” Rock Grandfather. The highest in the area, about 50 meters.

Incredible. Who put it like that?!

The individual statues began to decline and then we began to move along the solid wall.

Then climb to Kotsekhur through a beautiful autumn forest.

Descent from the ridge, access to the Zhane River to the Emerald Falls

We reached the highway at about 19.00, and it immediately became dark. My condition was close to that of a driven horse that was about to be shot. They decided that catching rides from the village. Returning to Krasnodar in the dark is a dead end, so we took a bus to Gelendzhik, proceeded to the bus station and took tickets for the Gelendzhik-Pyatigorsk flight, through Krasnodar, at 20.50, with a stop in Novorossiysk. We arrived in Krasnodar at one o'clock in the morning on a killer conch, originally from the last millennium. The roar of the engine, vibration and the smell of burning in the cabin did not allow me to relax much on the way. I wholeheartedly sympathized with the passengers of Stavropol, who were forced to endure such a “comfortable” and “exquisite” trip until the morning.

The Papai mountain massif is located in the low-mountain part of the Main Caucasus Range (GKR) chain of the Greater Caucasus, at the junction of the administrative borders of the Abinsk, Gelendzhik and Seversky regions of the Krasnodar Territory. On the northern slope of the massif, there are the sources of the Ubin and Bolshoy Khabl rivers (Kuban River basin), and on the southern slope, Papai is the right tributary of the Pshada River (Black Sea basin).

The GKH section, where Mount Papai is located, is composed of deposits of Cretaceous flysch, consisting of marl, sandstone, limestone with interlayers of clayey limestone. Mount Papai has the status of a complex natural monument, approved in 1983 by a decision of the Krasnodar Regional Executive Committee. Its uniqueness lies not only in its geological and geomorphological features, but also in the uniqueness of its flora. Here, far from the main habitat, which is located on the Black Sea coast of Kuban, real juniper woodlands grow, represented by three species. The entire mountain range is surrounded by deciduous forest, dominated by hornbeam and oak with an admixture of Caucasian pine.

In the center is Mount Papai (818.6 m), on the right is East Papai, viewed from the southeast.

The name of the peak is indicated on most maps of the 19th century, on some of them it is indicated with an error, for example, Kapay, Peepai or Popeye. On all maps of the second half of the twentieth century, of different years of publication and scale, one peak is indicated - Mount Papai with an absolute height of about 819 m. In the tourist and local history literature, data is given that Mount Papai has a length of 5 km and consists of seven peaks, are listed from east to west: East Papai-2 (558 m), East Papai-1 (703 m), Papai or Main Papai (818.8 /818.6/ m), Central Papai (793 m), Northern Papai ( 755.2 m), West Popeye-2 (553 m), West Popeye-1 (758.8 m).
According to the geomorphological structure of the GKH section, where the indicated peaks are located, without further ado, five peaks are distinguished: Main, Eastern, Central and Western Papai, located in the GKH chain and Northern Papai, which adjoins Central Papai from the northern slope. These peaks (except North Papai) are clearly visible from the south, from the Papai River valley and especially from the Kotsekhur ridge, east of Mount Thab (905 m) from the slope of a north-eastern exposure, where there is a small rocky area. This place is 7.8 km away from Mount Papai, and the Papai chain is clearly visible from here.
The Papaya chain forms a section of the GKH with a latitudinal strike, with the exception of Northern Papaya, with rather steep slopes, especially the southern ones, which have enormous rock outcrops along almost a five-kilometer length. If we count from the saddle of the Papai Pass to the saddle with an absolute height of ~403 m, located between the peak of East Papai and the unnamed height (520.7 m), then the total length of the Papai chain is about 5.5 km. This section of the GKH Tikhomirov V.R. called "Popeye Saw".
As local historians and tourists imagine the mountain range, it looks more like a ridge with one clearly defined geological and geomorphological structure that sets it apart from the surrounding forested mountains. This massif is the westernmost rocky area in the GKH chain. In the Greater Caucasus system to the west of the Popeye Saw, there is a rocky mountain called Shize (542 m). It is located on the right side of the Abin River valley and has many similarities with Popeye, both geological, geomorphological and botanical. Mount Shize is located almost 24 km to the west of it.

West Popeye, viewed from the east

The name of Mount Papay formed the basis of more than ten toponyms, some of them lost:
- the village of Papayskaya was founded in 1864, in 1867 it was renamed Ubinskaya;
- Papaisky village of the Pshad Village Council of the Gelendzhik region, was located in the middle reaches of the Papai River. In 1961 he was resettled;
- the Papay River, about 20 km long, the right tributary of the Pshada River. The source of the river is located on the southwestern slopes of the Papay mountain range;
- the Papai ridge is located north of Mount Papai and extends parallel to the GKH. The ridge stretches from east to west for only 4 km, the highest point is in its eastern part and has an absolute height of 568 m;
- Papai Pass (386 m) is located in the GKH chain at the western foot of the Papai chain. Through the pass, since ancient times, a road has been laid from the valley of the Bolshoi Khabl River to the valley of the Papay River, leading from Trans-Kuban to the Black Sea. A comfortable climb to the top of Papai begins from the pass. The second name of the pass - Arch, was common among tourists in the city of Krasnodar at the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century;
- the Papai gap, about 7 km long, is located between the Papai chain and the Papai ridge. The Bol River flows through it. Hubl;
- Papai waterfalls are located in the upper reaches of the Chernaya River, about 5 km long, a left tributary of the Papai River. There are seven waterfalls, their height ranges from 2.5 to 8 meters, they begin at an absolute height of 320 m. The sources of the Black River are located at the southern foot of Central Papaya;
- the Malaya Papai cave was formed on the eastern ridge of Mount West Papai /758.8 m/. The length of the cave is 14-15 m. The entrance to the cave can be passed only by crawling; after 2-2.5 m the passage turns into a clearly defined narrow gap, which has a vertical height of up to 3 m, tapering towards the top and bottom, the width of the passage is about 1 m. The cave ends with a clayey influx. There is a legend that on the southern slope of Mount Papay there is a cave into which one could drive in a cart drawn by a pair of horses. There are no reliable sources about its existence, but archaeologists claim that it exists, and its entrance is blocked. This cave is called Big Papaya;
- the tourist shelter “Papai” operated until 1993, located 3 km southeast of the peak of East Papai (658 m), at the headwaters of the Krasnaya Rechka stream, on which the tourist shelter “Pshadskie Vodopady” is located in the lower reaches. The stream is a right tributary of the Pshada River. The Popeye shelter was closed due to a lack of planned tourist flow. In addition to the above geographical objects, tourist clubs, joint-stock companies, cafes, etc. are named after Popeye.
According to one version, the name of the peak comes from the name of the Papag tribe who inhabited Papagia, located around Mount Papai, in the 5th-10th centuries. With toponyms and ethnonyms, it is unclear what received its name from what, the area of Papagia from the ethnic group or vice versa. The ethnicity of the Papagi is debatable. At the indicated time, the Antes lived in these places.

North Popeye seen from the south

The Trans-Kuban river Akhtyr was called Antkhyr until the beginning of the 20th century; most likely, its name was derived from the ethnonym Anty. The name of the ethnonym Ants is most likely of Indo-European origin and is translated as “outskirts”. The Akhtyr-Ankhyr River is a left tributary of the Khabl River; in the past, its lower reaches were lost in the Trans-Kuban floodplains on the left bank of the Kuban River. The Khabl River (Bol. Khabl) originates at Mount Papai. That is, Mount Papay was located in the territory where the Antes lived. Papagia, perhaps one of the areas where the Antes lived, and that part of them that lived in the area of the Papai peak was probably called from the name of the mountain - Papagami, hence the name of the area Papagia.
Ancient authors of the 1st-2nd centuries. and Byzantine sources of the VI-VII centuries. The Slavs are mentioned under different names, highlighting the Antes among them. Localizing their place of residence in the Northern Black Sea region and the Kuban River valley. The name anta disappears from written sources in the 7th century. However, numerous archaeological materials indicate that settlements of the Antes and their descendants existed throughout the 7th century. and in subsequent centuries.
According to Procopius of Caesarea, the Ants and the Slavs used the same language, they had the same way of life, customs and beliefs, and “once even the name of the Slavs and the Ants was the same.” To the question of what is the role of Ants in Slavic ethnogenesis, there are several assumptions:
1. Ants is the first stage in the history of the Russian people.
2. Antes are the Eastern Slavs of the 1st millennium AD.
3. Ants are representatives of only the southern group of Eastern Slavs.
4. Ants and Slavs correspond to the division of the Proto-Slavic language into western and eastern branches.
5. Antes in the V-VII centuries. were a separate ethno-tribal group of Slavs.
One can also assume the Adyghe etymology of the name of Mount Papay. If the toponym is represented in the form Pepeay, where pe is “nose, beginning” and ay is a nominal suffix, from which we get “beginning + beginning” or “many beginnings,” which can mean “Many peaks.” This translation reflects the structure of this section of the GKH, which has several rocky peaks.
It is also believed that the name of Mount Papai comes from the Greek words pap - “priest” and aya - “saint”, which means “Holy cleric”. The Adyghe and Greek versions of the etymology of the toponym are not convincing.
Most likely, the formation of the toponym Papay is associated with the Scythians. They inhabited the North Caucasus from the 7th century BC. to 3rd century AD They had a cult of polytheism. One of the revered deities was Popeye. Domestic linguist-Iranian Abaev V.I. believes that the name of the Scythian god Popeye should be interpreted as an affectionately respectful name “father”, another interpretation of the word “protector”. In Sanskrit, Pitar means "father". Thus, perhaps the Scythians named this wonderful peak after one of their deities. The highest Scythian deities were headed by three Tabiti - Papai - Api. The Scythians revered Tabiti most of all. Popeye was considered the wife of Api and the progenitor of the Scythians.
Archaeologists have found bronze Scythian pommels (a cult object), including one with the image of Popeye. Most of the Scythian pommels discovered in the North Caucasus date back to the 7th-5th centuries BC. .
The pommel, depicting Popeye, consists of four connected arched bronze rays and one vertical one in the center. The central beam is decorated with an anthropomorphic figure, arms placed to the side holding chains with bells. On the head of the figure there is a bird, in whose beak, wings and tail feathers hang chains with bells. At the end of the arched rays, there are birds, as on the head of the central figure. On the four rays surrounding the central ray, four animals are made, similar to a fox or a dog. Some archaeologists compare the five-pointed Scythian pommel with the image of the deity Papai with the five peak massif of Mount Papai: Main, Eastern, Western, Northern and Central. No finials with the image of Popeye were found in the Kuban region; it must be assumed that the ritual of worship at the peak took place directly to it, without a finial. Perhaps this mountain was sacred to the Scythians; on its main peak they worshiped the god Popeye, who most likely personified the sky.
Mount Papay is popular among tourists not only in Kuban, but also in the south of Russia. This is undoubtedly a very interesting peak in terms of tourism. Climbing the mountain range is possible from four sides, corresponding to the main sides of the horizon, through the North, East, West Papai and the southern spur of the Main Papai. The greatest difficulty, especially for novice tourists, is both the ascent and descent from East Papaya and along the southern spur of Main Papaya. It is possible to descend along the southern slope from the top of West Papaya, it is used very rarely; climbing here is also possible, but it is difficult to find in the thicket of the forest. Climbing the peak massif and passing its ridge part requires certain tourist experience, skills, discipline and consideration of weather conditions. During strong winds, ice, snow, rain and poor visibility, climbing to the top is prohibited.

Literature:
1. Abaev V.I. Selected works: Religion, folklore, literature. Vladikavkaz, 1990.
2. Koveshnikov V.N. On the issue of toponymy of the Western Caucasus. Expedition "Transcaucasus-93". Sat. articles. Krasnodar, 1994.
3. Koveshnikov V.N. Local history articles about Kuban. Krasnodar, 2006, 2008.
4. Koveshnikov V.N. About relict toponyms of Indo-European origin in the mountainous Trans-Kuban region. Resorts. Service. Tourism. Scientific, methodological and information magazine No. 2 (23). Krasnodar, 2014.
5. Koveshnikov V.N. In the lowlands of the Western Caucasus. Krasnodar, 1992.
6. Lavrov L.I. More about the interpretation of Sh.B. Nogmov of Kabardian folklore. Caucasian ethnographic collection, VII. M., 1980.
7. Litvinskaya S.A., Lozovoy S.P. Natural monuments of the Krasnodar region. Krasnodar, 2005.
8. Samoilenko A.A., Koveshnikov V.N. etc. In the vicinity of Krasnodar. Guide. Krasnodar, 1988.
9. Sedov V.V. Eastern Slavs in the VI-XIII centuries. M., 1982.
10. Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian time. M., 1989.
11. Tikhomirov V.R. Caucasus weekend. A guide to the nearest mountainous surroundings of Krasnodar. Krasnodar, 1974.

PS-1: The name of the peak Papai refers to mythological names - geographical names based on myths, names of gods or legendary heroes, etc. What will be briefly outlined below should probably be considered a random coincidence found on modern maps. In the mountainous area where the Papaya chain rises, there are several mythological toponyms located relatively close to each other, included in the names of the peaks Afips Bolshoi, Sober-Bash, Tkhab, Tkhachekhochuk (almost all peaks stand out among the surrounding mountains) and the Ubin River. Here is their brief description:
- Afips Bolshoi - peak (737 m), located in the GKH chain, at the source of the Afips River. Early on, the peak was listed as Afips, based on the name of the theonym (name of god) Afa, in Abkhaz mythology - “God of thunder and lightning”;
- Sober-Bash - the peak (735.6 m) is located on the watershed of the upper reaches of the Afips and Ubin rivers. Most likely, the first part of the toponym comes from the name of an ancient mythical creature;
- Tkhab is a peak (905.1 m), located in the Kotsekhur ridge system. One of the variants of translation of the name, comes from the Adyghe words thye and be, respectively meaning “God” and “many”, can mean “Many gods”;
- Tkhachekhochuk - peak (761 m), located on the western outskirts of the village of Mikhailovsky Pass of the resort city of Gelendzhik. The toponym is derived from the Adyghe phrase ThyachIeg chIygu, where thye is “God,” chIeg is “under,” chIygu is “earth,” which means “Land under God.” In Sanskrit there is a similar word tha-kkura - "deity" or "subject or object of veneration";
- Ubin is a river, its sources are located on the northern slope of Mount Papai. It can be assumed that the toponym comes from the Kabardian word uben, meaning “to compact” (one of the meanings is to kill) or “to trample” (one of the meanings is to destroy) or the Adyghe word ubyn - “to speak ill of someone” / Tharkaho Yu. A., 1991/. Perhaps the hydronym Ubin comes from the name of the forgotten ancient pagan “deity of death.” For example, among the Turkic peoples of the Volga region - ubyr - “bloodthirsty demonic creature.”
If you draw a straight line from the top of Papai (819 m) to the top of Cape Idokopas, located on the Black Sea coast, then it will pass through the peaks of Thab and Tkhachekhochuk. Continuing a straight line across the Black Sea, it will indicate the shortest route to the coast of Asia Minor to Cape Indzheburun. Continuing this straight line from Mount Papai to the northeast and southwest, it will cross the lower reaches of the Don and Nile rivers, respectively.
If, through the top of Cape Idokopas, we draw a perpendicular to the line laid from Mount Papay to the cape and continue it to the northwest and southeast, then its straight line will cross the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Kura rivers, respectively. The resulting cross connects the mouths of the Don, Dnieper, Kura, and Nile rivers; the translation of these hydronyms is based on the word “water-river.”
If you connect the peaks of Papay, Sober-Bash and Bol. Afps with straight lines, you get an almost equilateral triangle, the sides of which are equal to approximately 10 km. The sources of the Ubin River are located in this triangle. When drawing straight lines on a map, you should take into account its scale, since the smaller the scale, the more linear and angular distortions.
The list of coincidences can be continued, but are they random? If not, then the question arises, what would that mean? Conventionally, I called the line drawn through Mount Papai and Cape Idokopas “Line of the Gods.” By “gods” I mean the distant ancestors of many ethnic groups inhabiting the Eurasian continent - Indo-Europeans, the self-name of the Aryans. Since they deified their dead ancestors. Along the “Line of the Gods” was the usual human path, at first it was a pack trail, and then the road from Transkuban. It passed through the valley of the Bol River. Khabl through the Papai Pass to the valley of the Papai and Pshada rivers to the Black Sea, to the shore of Pshad Bay. The Bol valley is inhabited. Khabl and Pshada existed thousands of years ago, as evidenced by the many dolmens built in these places. The Cimmerians, Sindians, probably also Meotians, were the “eldest sons” of the Aryans and were carriers of the dolmen culture of the Western Caucasus.
PS-2: The title of the essay “Mountain Handsome Popeye” is borrowed from V.R. Tikhomirov. .

Koveshnikov V.N.
Krasnodar city

Briefly about the group: three adults (Ilya, Sveta, Lena), three children (Masha 10 years old, Styopa 6 years old, Dima 4.5 years old).
All children have some hiking experience, incl. in the mountains. We have good equipment. Except that Lena and Dima didn’t take the gaiters and alpenstocks, but that didn’t bother them. :-))

The basis of nutrition constituted sublimates. Practice has shown that in terms of prices this is comparable to a regular layout, but in terms of weight and volume it is still less.
We cook like this: the main course is on gas, tea and boiled water are on the fire.
We pre-filter all water (we use Aquaphor Universal).

Transfer from Ilskaya station:
- electric train “st. Ilskaya - st. Kholmskaya” (17 rubles; they didn’t charge for luggage)
- bus “st. Kholmskaya - bus station” (15 rubles; they didn’t charge for luggage)
- minibus “bus station - village. New” (28 rubles + 5 rubles for luggage)

There were a lot of people on the minibus; a large group would hardly be able to leave. A taxi offered to take you there for 300 rubles; it was possible to take more passengers and split the cost (it’s strange that they asked for the same amount from Ilskaya station...)

Pick-up from Krasnodar airport:
- by car to Novy (Taxi-Vodnik, 3000 rubles for four)

Drop:
- bus from Pshada to Novorossiysk (112.50 adults, 56.50 children, 11.50 luggage) - trolleybus to the railway station in Novorossiysk (15 rubles; children and luggage were not taken)

Overnight in Novorossiysk:
We needed the most affordable option. Through the Internet we found two hostels: Red Dog and South City. They refused to put me in a shared room with a preschooler, and a separate room cost 1000-1200 rubles. We managed to stay in the private sector (on the Internet it was also listed as a hostel, but that’s not really it) for 600 rubles per adult per night. We called hostels from the city.

Anyone interested in details, write to ils_box dog rambler dot ru.

01/05. Our family arrived in Krasnodar in the middle of the day. There are plenty of taxi drivers at the airport. You don't have to order a car in advance. Prices seem to be more or less. True, there may be some hidden extra charges. We haven't checked. The driver from Taxi-Vodnik was already waiting for us.
We reached the village of Novy and landed on the outskirts - where Novosadovaya Street goes to Sosnovaya Roshcha. There we were met by Lena and Dima, who had arrived the day before. And it’s good that we met! The “Start” point I had planned, opposite the ruins on the other side of the river, in reality turned out to be an abstraction: no ruins were visible, as well as the river itself. The vegetation on either side of the road is too dense.
Having gathered with the whole company, we at first thought of driving a little further. But the road was too rough; there are puddles and streams everywhere, more like small ponds and rivers feeding them.

No connection was found in Novy and its environs. Although, according to the saleswoman from the store, in the village you can find points where you can get a cell phone (Beeline and MTS operators, but Megafon has no coverage at all). Temperature +20. Everything is flowering.

We walked the first 5 or so kilometers, almost to the Bear Gate gorge, and stopped for the night. Along the way we encountered two fords. Stepan got his feet wet in the second one. Dima actually crossed him barefoot, by the hand.
The camp site is quite pleasant. Although the water in the Big Hub is cloudy even after filtration.

02/05. They didn't set the alarm. We got up late and walked a little. There are a lot of crossings along the way. We crossed bridges (or rather, their remains) a couple of times. The rest is left to chance. No problem for adults. We carry the smallest ones, which, of course, takes a lot of time. Masha goes on her own. Quite successful so far. Gaiters help a lot: water simply does not have time to seep into the boots.

The weather is excellent contrary to forecasts. We didn't try too hard and set up camp quite early so we could have a good rest. The water is much clearer than at the first night, although the river is the same.
On this day, and further - until the end of the first May - there were a lot of cars on the road (jeeps, ATVs, trucks and other off-road vehicles), which greatly delighted the children and sometimes bothered the adults. :-))

03/05. We reached the eastern slope of Popeye. There are almost no crossings. No technical difficulties. The roads are noticeably better, because... Few people travel this way. The places are beautiful. It's a pity, they are dirty here and there.
There are plenty of good parking lots near the trail. But it is not obvious everywhere that they are there. You need to rummage around and search.
We set up camp behind the “lumberjack clearing.” The place is secluded and almost invisible from the road. When we went to bed, a light rain began to fall.

04/05. It rained all night, sometimes heavier, sometimes weaker. By the time we got up, it was only drizzling lightly, but the sky was completely overcast. It's a pity. Today is the day we must storm Popeye.
After having breakfast, we decided to try to climb it, since we knew exactly which path was the easiest. We had barely gotten ready when the rain intensified. But it was too late to retreat! :-))
The green tent was not removed or hidden. It is almost impossible to notice it from the road. Although lovers of easy money could theoretically methodically comb all normal sites, we nevertheless relied on the fact that the disgusting weather played into our hands (maybe a little arrogantly), and hid only Lena and Dima’s defiantly orange tent from prying eyes.

The trail to Popeye turned out to be surprisingly good indeed. There is only one section about 100 meters to the very top, where there is a rather narrow passage along the rock, and you need to carefully monitor the children. But, in my opinion, it is also simpler than the Church Ridge, which we walked along last summer.
By the middle of the climb the weather had improved. True, when we reached the so-called. “snack clearing” (“Central Popeye” on the OSM map), the rain poured down again and a bitter cold wind blew. So our snack was short and sad. Nobody even wanted to sit down.
We tried to find the “Popeye” cache. They seemed to have found the correct hollow, but found nothing under the stones. Maybe they just didn’t get to the bottom of it, because they were very cold, and everyone was impatient to continue the climb...

By the time we reached the top, the wind and rain were just at their peak! :-)) We spent literally a couple of minutes near the trigapoint - just to take “control photos”. We wanted to get back to the protection of the trees so much that we completely forgot to check the connection, although the cell phone was in our pocket. And the “transit chocolate” also remained in the backpack to wait for better weather. :-))
Apparently, those who say that Popeye doesn’t let us in the first time are right: although we formally reached the top, visibility was zero, and only the feeling of dampness, wind and cold fit into the “storehouse of memories”.
So wait for us, Popeye, again. And prepare for a warmer and brighter welcome! :-))

As we made our way back to camp, the rain stopped. True, everyone got wet to the skin on the way to the top. We lit a fire and dried out until 11 pm.

The ascent/descent took about 6 hours. The distance from the camp to the summit is ~4.5 km. Elevation gain: 450-500 meters (depending on where you count from).

05/05. The weather has finally cleared up. In the morning we dried our things and went further along the logging road. The first 300 meters of the path were terrible: slurping and sliding slurry underfoot, and two-meter walls on both sides. If you meet a car, it will be difficult to miss each other. At the same time, the upward slope is quite steep, so the driver has little chance of braking.
As soon as this section of the primer was left behind, we breathed a sigh of relief. Then we reached the Krasnaya River without any problems. We tried to get communication at different altitudes - everything was deaf.

We stopped at a parking lot with logs and a fire pit, a little away from the road. However, today we did not see a single truck or jeep all day. Looks like the jeepers have gone to work. And the lumberjacks are probably still on a drinking binge. :-))

The children spent the rest of the day having fun building huts. It seems that we are walking quite easily, but the children are still noticeably tired. By eight in the evening Masha is ready to fall asleep almost standing up. The boys, in turn, won’t be able to wake up in the morning. Maybe the atmosphere here is so... lazy? :-))
The forest on the north and south sides of Popeye is noticeably different. In the south there are fewer conifers, and the trees in the foothills grow sparsely; walking in such a grove is a pleasure.

06/05. Today we went to the Pshad shelter. The road marked on the map led nowhere. Apparently, no one had driven on it for a long time, and no one had cleared it. The main route took a long detour, and I went along an abandoned branch for reconnaissance. At some point, all traces of the primer completely disappeared under windbreaks and landslides. Therefore, in the end we went along the main (i.e. bypass) road. Along the way we came across several small fords. Nobody got their feet wet.

We ended up in the same place as last summer. The weather is normal. There were light rains two or three times, and sometimes the sun came out, but overall it was cloudy and without serious precipitation. During the day it is stable +20.
Having set up camp, we had lunch and then split up: I went to reconnoiter the path for tomorrow, and the rest went to the Olyapkin waterfall.

Now it is, of course, more interesting than in August. The water happily jumps along the rocky rapids, after which it noisily falls down from an almost ten-meter cliff. To go down under the waterfall, you should follow the (orographically) left bank. The trail is steep, you need to be careful with children.

The track along which knowledgeable people suggested going to Dub began exactly on this path and went along the river, through Olyapkin. It seemed to me that it was unrealistic to go there with children and backpacks.
I zigzagged for a kilometer along the right bank, but didn’t find anything resembling a path: a continuous windfall, through which you can hardly make your way even lightly... I followed the grader road, which last year we confused with the path to Thab. I remembered that it goes along the Red River, probably where we need to go. It turned out that this is indeed the path to Oak. The condition of the road is, of course, terrible. But in these parts we are already accustomed to logging routes that are completely broken.
At the point that I designated “Fork,” the old (shorter) road to Oak goes to the left. I was warned in advance that it might not be possible to get through there now. In fact, everything is not so scary (although in a couple of years, probably, there will really be nothing left of it). The branch begins with a giant puddle, which has turned into a swamp with all the attributes of such: frogs, hummocks and lush vegetation along the banks. A little further - from half a kilometer there is a rather steep descent, which was greatly eroded by spring streams, picking out cobblestones of impressive sizes from the soil and thereby creating a semblance of a classic kurumnik.
At the bottom, after crossing the river, you need to overcome a few more large puddles, and then everything is fine. Thus, I considered the reconnaissance successful and turned back about a kilometer before Dub in order to reach the camp before dark.

While I was running, women and children also did not waste time. Having neither photographs nor GPS, they found the “Pshadsky Falls” cache using only the description. They put one of Styopa's cars there and took the badge. The children were happy to find a real treasure!

We decided to cancel tomorrow's day because... We walk slowly, and the path is not easy. It is better to divide the three remaining day trips into four. Children (and therefore adults :-)) will not have to overexert themselves.

07/05. The night was noticeably warmer. It rained a few times, but by breakfast time it had completely stopped.
We walked along the planned track (i.e. along an abandoned road). In principle, there is nothing super complicated. Lots of very large puddles. Sometimes you have to go deeper into the forest to get around them.
The children enjoyed the descent through the “kurums”: everyone frightened the lizards and looked for imprints of ancient organisms on the stones (by the way, they came across a cobblestone with a fairly clear imprint of a branch, but it was too heavy to take with them as a souvenir).
Several times along the way there are very beautiful views of the neighboring mountains. There are many crossings. I haven't had to get my feet wet yet. Adults can walk on pebbles everywhere, but we can carry little ones if necessary. Masha is still walking on her own, without our help.

We admired the relict Oak. It really makes an impression. It’s just the trash heap around that is upsetting. We decided that the place was too polluted to set up camp. We walked another 500 meters forward to the Cold Spring River. Unfortunately, there are no good parking places here. There are few level areas; There are dry trees all around, which are just as likely to happen - it’s not worth placing under them.
Somehow we found a place for our two tents. There was no longer enough space on the fire pit, so we ended up with a fire about 20 meters from the “living area.” (Maybe it would have been better to stay with Oak? :-))

The evening is warm. There are no signs of bad weather. During the day, as always, it’s about +20. At ten in the evening around +18.

08/05. We go down the Pshada River. The trail crosses the riverbed several times. The first fords were crossed on pebbles.
Just at one of them we met a group - two guys and one girl, who were cheerfully swimming saigas right on the water. Seeing our pathetic attempts to keep our feet dry, they hid their grins and assured us that “no one has ever reached the finish line with dry boots.” Indeed, downstream the Pshada becomes more and more full-flowing - in some places it is wider and in others it is deeper. Very soon we were walking just like those guys: knee-deep in water, and not really bothering where to step.

Only Dima and Styopa managed to protect themselves from getting wet. We carried them. First of all, because the current is quite strong - so much so that Masha had difficulty coping with it. Once she did stumble on a slippery stone and fell backwards into the water. Well, there was a cover on the backpack, and the water didn’t find a single hole in it. The same cannot be said about machine-washed clothes, which got wet in an instant. However, we were quite prepared for this, and changing clothes took only a minute or two.

We passed the tourist shelter. Surprisingly, it turned out to be effective. There is even a house with the proud name “Hotel”. Tourists from the coast are transported here in trucks. They probably arrange excursions for them to waterfalls, of which there are many in the surrounding area, if you believe the descriptions. We didn’t go to the waterfalls ourselves (and even with children - it’s still a dead end at the end of the day). It was much more important to dry things out. At least partly.
We found an excellent parking lot with a table and benches a kilometer from the shelter. The only drawback is the proximity to the road. But jeepers mostly rush along the river, so the place is good. It's a pity, it's cloudy and you can't see the stars...

A young and playful dog followed us from the tourist shelter. He entertained us as best he could, but towards the evening, having not received any goodies, he decided that it was no fun with us and went home.

09/05. This time, without getting our feet wet, we walked no more than 100 meters. :-)) This is our second day with a lot of fords. In the lower reaches of Pshada, the road often goes directly along the riverbed, which is dry in places and not so much in others.
The hike begins to resemble a swim more and more. :-)) Almost half the time we walk on water. We're still dragging the little ones. Looks like someone in our group will still be able to finish with dry boots! :-))
Returning every time for the child, leaving your luggage on the other side, will torture you. In most cases, we carry children without taking off our backpacks.

Sometimes a jeep or truck suddenly appears and rushes past us, cutting through the water. I think in the summer there are an order of magnitude more of them, and it is more difficult to dodge them. What Danilevich warned about last year. I must say that timber trucks offered to give us a lift a couple of times, but we, of course, proudly refused. Everyone must complete this test themselves! :-))

We reached the lonely dolmen “Patriarch”. It is located away from the so-called. “Dolmen Villages”.

Our track clearly shows how to get there between the forest and the apple orchard. There, along the path up and to the left, there is a wonderful observation deck. On three sides there are hills covered with greenery. Beauty!

Further along the route we tried to find the treasure “Pshad Dolmens”. We examined all the hollows in the roots of trees within a radius of 50 meters from the point, but found nothing. Probably, the hiding place has already become completely “virtual”. :-))

The camp was set up not far from the “Dolmen Village”, near the river. In principle, parking is quite okay. But the soil is lumpy and rocky. You won't be able to hammer the pegs in properly, but a nightly massage is guaranteed. :-))
The “Dolmen Village” itself is a clearing with several randomly scattered dolmens, some of which are destroyed. I read somewhere that in fact they were not found there at all from time immemorial, but were brought from other places.

This is the second day we have encountered giant snails along the way. There are an abnormally large number of them in the lower reaches of Pshada, and they are really very large - they can hardly fit into Stepa’s palm.
The weather is cloudy. It got a little colder. During the day there were periodic short rains. I would like to believe that there will be no further deep fords... :-)) Finally, mobile communications have appeared. The tower can be seen from the observation deck near the Patriarch.
The places here are very beautiful, but littered beyond measure. Oh, these “vacationers” are for me!!!

10/05. We reached the village of Pshada without incident. It was only 4.5 km from the camp to the bus stop. The fords were avoided by turning onto a path through the forest. The main road continued its complex interweaving with the river and met our path somewhere near the village.

Entering Pshada turned out to be not an entirely trivial task. You need to go around a bunch of fences, which, of course, are not on the map. It seems that the “dacha disease” has reached here too, when endless gardening fortified cities prevent ordinary people from walking wherever they please. The bus to Novorossiysk runs 3-5 times a day at this time of year. We got right to it, so we didn’t even have time to take a picture of the schedule. It seemed to coincide quite well with last year. We drove to Novorossiysk for about 2 hours, with a couple of five-minute stops. The bus arrives at the bus station. How to get from it to the railway can be found at the very end of my plan.

Bottom line. The route followed the planned route, breaking the final part of the journey into shorter sections (instead of three days - four) due to the cancellation of the day. There are no serious elevation changes along the way, and the technical difficulty is low. Crossing Thab is clearly more difficult (see ours).
The only thing that can be called an obstacle is the fords in the lower reaches of the Pshada. They are knee-deep to an adult. Sometimes with a strong current, so that a small child will probably be swept off his feet. Ten-year-old Masha went through all of them on her own, falling once simply due to carelessness.
We didn't need sunscreen or insect repellent. There are almost no mosquitoes at this time of year. There are few midges. We removed ticks from ourselves a couple of times. There are several types of them: from “classic tiny ones” to large ones, half a centimeter long. It makes sense to examine each other at least once a day.
Daylight hours: approximately 6:00 - 20:00. The temperature during the day is about +20. The weather is unstable.
As always, the trails on the maps often do not coincide with the real ones. There are forks and abandoned areas that require exploration. GPS sometimes helps, but sometimes it confuses you, leading you in the direction of a long-defunct road.

The route as a whole can be walked with small children without any problems. The places are beautiful, civilization is close. Although the latter, unfortunately, also means pollution and the presence of all sorts of “city tourists” on the road.

P.S. We answer questions from readers :-))

About children's backpacks:
- Masha (10 years old, height 140) - walked with a Nordway 20 backpack. Bought at Sportmaster. There is a waist belt. A sleeping bag and all her things fit in there, including spare shoes (in May these were sneakers, and last summer - sandals). Plus she was carrying tea and a couple of chocolates. All this weighed ~5 kg.
- Styopa (6 years old, height 110) - walked with a Deuter Family Junior backpack. There is no waist belt, but there is a snap on the chest. We bought it at the Extreme market (which is on Rechny). The backpack contained almost all of his belongings, except for shoes and a sleeping bag. Total weight ~2.5 kg.
About adult backpacks:
How to understand that your child is ready to go:

Main links:

Ilya Kanukhin
Anyone interested in details, write to ils_box dog rambler dot ru.
There are completed and planned treks to these places.