Sergey Sorokin
Founder
Veteran of the Khakassky Nature Reserve. Over 30 years of environmental work and a number of state and regional awards.
Field journal
Mountain Country
Hiking and river routes through the mountain taiga of Khakassia
About
We walk the Western Sayan
We're a small team that has been walking the mountain taiga of Khakassia for many years. Here we share the routes we've trodden ourselves, and the lessons those journeys have taught us.
Konstantin Sorokin
Guide, photographer
Scouts new routes and shoots the photographs for the site.
What we do
On foot, across the water, with a camera
- Hiking Multi-day routes through the taiga: passes, mountain lakes, the peaks of the Western Sayan.
- River rafting The Ona and its tributaries — rapids, log jams, and fishing for grayling.
- Photo trips Short outings to capture the mountain taiga and the high country.
- Combined treks A hike and a river float in a single route — for those who want more.
Routes
From an easy walk to a river float
Each is described day by day, with a map and photographs.
Hiking
Mountain Trails
A route for the strong.
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Hiking
Stoktysh Lakes
Perfect for a family vacation.
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Hiking
Lake Marankul
A hike to a mountain lake on the edge of the alpine meadows.
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Photo trip
Perevalny
A photo route.
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River float
Serpantin
Try your hand at a river float!
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Combined trek
Ona–Karatosh–Abakan
A combination of skills.
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Hiking
Lake Ulug-Mungashkhol
Difficulties are no obstacle!
More →Field journal
Notes on trail life
Planning a route
The first and most important stage of preparing for any hike is choosing the route. Get it right here and you can foresee most of the difficulties waiting on the trail, and shape the route so there are fewer of them — an…
Choosing hiking gear
So you've settled on the route and the group. Now for the question that nags at everyone: what do I take on the hike? It's one of the most pressing questions in preparing for any trip. Too often you come home with things…
Do you need a guide on a hike?
Because we prepare and support groups of tourists on hikes, we're asked the question in the title of this note fairly often. And it isn't about advertising — it's a wish to share with you, experienced and first-time trav…
Food on a hike
To work out how much food to bring, and of what, you need a few figures: on a hike of medium difficulty a person needs 3500–4000 kilocalories a day; on mountain routes, about 5000. The main components of food are protein…
Reviews
What travelers say
«My friends and I love fishing, beautiful country and active holidays. So when the question of where to spend the next vacation came up, we started looking online. On the Mountain Country site we found a grayling-fishing trip with a float down a mountain river. Of course we had doubts — promises often don't match reality. But our doubts proved groundless. Everything went wonderfully. We drank in the beauty of Khakassia, the great fishing, the wealth of mushrooms and berries. Most of all, we were very lucky with our guide and trip organizer. Sergey turned out to be a wonderful person, a true professional, and a responsible, caring organizer.»
«From 24 to 27 June we went on a hiking trip over the mountain peaks of the Sayan Range. Along the way we watched and admired the beauty of the taiga, the mountains and the mountain lakes, and the variety of plant and animal life in this unique corner of living, untouched nature. We were moved by the professionalism and the knowledge of the land and its nature shown by our guide Ivan. Nights under the open sky — which in the mountains hangs very close — fishing, swimming in the many healing lakes and streams: all of it left an impression that will stay with us for a long time. Time with living nature made us forget all our worries and troubles and restored our energy and vitality. Thank you very much!»
«Although, for objective reasons, we didn't complete the whole planned route, what we saw was enough to know that I'll be back here — more than once. Many thanks to Sergey Viktorovich and Ivan for everything they did so that we could see all this beauty.»
«We, the first clients of Mountain Country, address those who come after us! We visited the most beautiful, hidden corners of nature. Reaching them is hard, but what we saw was worth it. The exhausting Kurukul creek, the hospitable Ona river, the fish-rich, rumbling Karatosh, the gentle Lake Pozarym, the impressive waterfall, the unreachable peak of Karakosh — all of it flashed before our eyes and stays with us as if from another world. Sadly, we are leaving it...»
Timeline
The project's story
- 2012
The m-country.ru site went live, with write-ups of treks through the mountain regions of Khakassia.
- 2015
A fresh look for the site, plus new material and new routes.
- 2026
The site was rebuilt from the ground up: simple and light — routes, notes and a gallery.
Important
Before you set out
- Check whether your route crosses the territory of the Khakassky Nature Reserve — in that case you will need a permit.
- If you deliberately choose an extreme kind of trip, be sure to register your group with EMERCOM and take out accident insurance.
- Choose your means of communication in advance (radio, satellite phone, GPS/GLONASS tracker).
- The routes presented on the site have been walked by our team many times and are compiled from our own experience and knowledge.
- We are glad to help you organise your trip and share our knowledge and information. Our experience is backed by many years of conscientious work in the nature-protection system of the Republic of Khakassia.
- The mountain taiga (and especially mountain rivers) is constantly changing; so are the weather conditions, therefore we are not responsible for negative consequences that may arise from using the information posted on m-country.ru.
- The routes on the site only approximately reflect the possible options for treks; some of them are intended for well-prepared travellers.