Yuldus

Yuldus is a vast hollow in the central Tien Shan , stretched several hundred kilometers from east to west , the western outskirts is called Baidan ^[1] .

It consists of two parts: the eastern, smaller, but higher located (7000 - 8000 feet above sea level ), the so-called Small Yuldus (Baga-Yuldus), and the western - Big Yuldus . Both Yuldus are separated by a ridge , relatively high (average height 2500 feet), rocky, inaccessible. The mountains are also of the same nature, bordering the entire described basin, which in the recent geological era constituted the bottom of an alpine lake . This is proved by alluvial clay manes ( lake deposits ), the presence of many keys, lakes (where the origin of the word Yuldus is “ star ”; looking at the basin from the surrounding heights, you see a huge area covered with countless shiny surfaces of small lakes ), marshy spaces and solonetzes.

The middle of the Small Yuldus, which is 135 miles long (about 144 kilometers), flows a significant river - the Baga-Yuldus-gol, which, having rounded the ridge separating the basin, flows into the Hajdu-gol river in the Big Yuldus, flowing in the opposite direction, i.e. from northwest to southeast, and flowing into Lake Bagrash-kul .

Both Yuldus have a steppe character of vegetation; dominated by cypress and some saltwort; in the surrounding mountains, however, the vegetation changes its character, and meadow grasses are already beginning to be found in many here. There are no trees on the Yuldus; of the shrubs can be noted: Caragana , Salix , and Potentilla .

The abundance of salt licks and excellent food due to the lack of midges and mosquitoes and the cool climate created the fame of the Yuldus as the best pasture places in the Tien Shan mountains. Among the commercial animals on Yuldus there are: bears ( Ursus leuconyx ), argali ( Ovis polii ), wild goats ( Carpa sibirica ), red deer ( Cervus maral ), roe deer ( Cervus pygargus ), groundhogs ( Arctomys dichrous ) and wild boars ; probably also wolves and foxes .

The climate is cold; night frosts even in the month of July are a common occurrence; in August, Small Yuldus is already covered with snow; spring comes only in May.