Yalangas Ridge

Yalangas Ridge is a mountain ridge in the Southern Urals, in the Beloretsky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan. It stretches roughly 10 kilometers from north to south. The route to the ridge usually passes through the town of Beloretsk and the hamlet of Otnurok, with the Zhuravlinoye Bog area, and the village and railway station of the same name, lying to the south.

Nature

The ridge's highest point is Mount Bolshoy Yalangas in the north, rising to 1,297.9 meters. The source of the Tirlyan River begins near its summit. Nearby stand Tikhaya Mountain, 774.4 meters high, and Ustinskaya Mountain.

The summit offers a full 360-degree panorama of the Ural mountains: from here one can see Kirel, Malinovaya, Iremel, Mashak and Kolokolnya mountains, the Malidak ridge, the Inzer Teeth rock formation and the Zhuravlinye Bogs. This view makes Yalangas Ridge a notable viewpoint among the mountains of the Beloretsky District.

In the 20th century peat was extracted in the area around the ridge; traces of the old workings remain in the lowlands at its foot.

Legends

The name Yalangas is translated as "snake-maiden." According to legend, a girl named Yalangas, daughter of a Snake, turned into a dragon to guard the mountains, and has lived among the rocks as a giant dragon ever since. The outline of the summit is said to resemble a dragon's head, and the rocky teeth along the ridge are compared to the spiny ridge on a dragon's back; by some accounts the legend in this form took shape only in Soviet times.

On the summit itself, according to hikers who have been there, an old metal safe can be found, its origin never reliably established.

Getting there

Yalangas Ridge is a popular destination in the Beloretsky District for hiking, horseback riding, cycling and off-road jeep tours. The usual approach runs through the town of Beloretsk and the hamlet of Otnurok. On foot, along a marked trail from Otnurok, reaching the ridge takes about four hours; on horseback, about three hours, and part of the way can be covered by off-road vehicle in dry weather.