Akkem Lake

The Akkem and Akoyuk rivers flow into the lake from the south side, and the Akkem river flows from the north side. The hollow of the lake is a typical trough of a glacier (a mountain valley of a trough-like shape formed by the activity of a glacier). The shores of the lake are composed of loose glacial deposits and covered with a moss-shrub tundra. The lake is stretched from south to north, its length is 1350 m. The width of the lake is 610 m. The shore goes quite sharply down and reaches the maximum depths (about 15 meters) that prevail in the lake. The average depth of the lake is 7.8 meters. In the northern part, Akkem Lake is narrowed due to accumulations of clastic rocks (pebbles, gravel, sand) carried by the Yarlu river (the Yarlu river outflow cone), the banks here are low, the western and eastern shores are steep, covered with larch and Siberian cedars . The southwestern and southeastern slopes of the trough, represented by granites, gneisses and metamorphic schists, are occupied by larch.

The water color of Akkem Lake is cloudy, gray-white. The lake is less than a meter transparent because of the suspension of solid material carried by the Akkem river from the glacier, so fish are not found here. The bottom of the lake forms glacial silt . In calm weather, when there is no ripple on Lake Akkem, you can see the reflection of a snow-white mountain in calm water. The water temperature in Lake Akkem does not exceed +4.5 ° C.

On the northwestern shore of the lake is located the Akkem weather station . The weather station is one of the oldest in Altai. Observations on it have been conducted since 1932. Coordinates 49 ° 55 ′ s. w. 86 ° 32 ′ in Synoptic index 36443. According to its data, the average July temperature in the valleys at the upper border of the forest is 8.3 ° C. In winter, negative air temperatures are observed in January to −30 degrees C and remain low even in March to −4 ° C. Near the weather station is a helipad. On the left bank of the lake is the Belukha climbing camp and the base of the Ministry of Emergencies of the Search and Rescue Service of the Altai Republic. 4 “barrels”: 1st — residential, watchman; 2nd — wardroom; 3rd and 4th - residential.

Above Akkem Lake there is upper Akkem Lake . It is called pulsating , because it does not appear every year. At the beginning of the 30s of the XX century, the upper Akkem Lake had an area of ​​83,100 m², a length of 520 m and a width of 280 m. It was formed by an ancient glacier. Currently, the upper Akkem Lake exists only in the spring flood. The rest of the time, the basin of the Akkem River, originating from the Akkemsky Glacier (Rodzevich Glacier), fill the basin of the lake. The hollow of the lake is located 500 meters below the Akkem glacier, at an altitude of 2100 m, it is sandwiched from the west and east by ridges of moraine shafts, and the final moraine (a ridge of boulders, gradually shifted from the mountains by moving glaciers), which dammed the lake, is almost washed out.

In June 1997, the first Belukha natural park in the Altai Republic was created with a total area of ​​131337 ha. Akkem Lake is a natural monument and is included in the Belukha National Park. This also includes Lake Kucherlinsky , which can be reached from Lake Akkem through the Burevestnik and Riga passes on foot, and through the Karatyurek pass on foot or on horseback.

Around Akkem Lake there are several beautiful natural sites worthy of attention: lakes of the Akoyuk valley, the name is spread among tourists - the Valley of Seven Lakes ; Akkem Glacier ; Yarlu River Valley , in the orographically left tributary of the r. Yarlu - the so-called "Stone City"; the lower and upper lakes of the Karaoyuk valley, among the tourists the name of the lower lake is widespread - Lake of the Mountain Spirits ; Chapel of the Archangel Michael with a memorial plaque about the dead climbers and tourists.

• Map sheet M-45-XXI Berel . Scale: 1: 200,000.

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  View of Akkem Lake from the weather station
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  Reflection of Belukha Mountain in Akkem Lake
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  Northern part of Akkem lake. Evening fog

N. G. Seledtsov, N. E. Shpilekova . "To help the tourist." Gorno-Altaysk, 2000

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