Zhigulevskie caves

You go ahead and every now and then stumble on large blocks of stone rolled down the slopes of the ravine. Passed about 1,5 km, climb up the ravine. There, about twenty meters from the bottom of the ravine, as if scattered light gray huge stones. Come a little more, and to the right, at a high, with thick, blackened with age, stem birch notice almost overgrown trail, which passes in subtle stone steps. Go up to him on a small platform on the slope of the ravine. That ice cave in the cold ravine. Before you - the ledge of the greyish layers of dolomite, hanging over a wall of rounded blocks of stone. These boulders look as though they were barely kept in place and may, after losing the last point of support, to fly down. On-site and on the slope of the ravine a lot of lumps, but on a stone wall a lot of dark gaping holes and crevices where these blocks once fell out. Entrance to the cave-in the form of a triangle, its width is about 1 m, height up to 0,5 m. The stones in recent years strongly seated, the outlet decreased. On slippery boulders come closer to the cave. From this it is cold. This happens even on the hottest days of summer: very recently it was ice. Get into the cave can only crawl. Soon, it expands and becomes higher - it can even sit up. Its length is about 4 m, width - about 2 m. The walls are dotted with horizontal cracks on the floor a lot of small stones. The second ice cave - on the same side of the ravine in the Cold 10 m from the first and at 4 m above it. It is also in outcrops saccharoidal dolomite, as well as be protected by an overhanging stone eaves. Entrance hole in it is even smaller than the first, a low and narrow the gap, to squeeze into that can only with great difficulty. It also held above the ice. Geologists found that the cause of preservation of ice-cave is air circulation, which varies greatly in different seasons. In winter there is a thirst in the cave of cold air, a dense, heavy, seeking to descend to the bottom. In the summer, on the contrary, the cold air comes out of the cave. In the ice caves Cold ravine because of the devastation and large landslides former air circulation is disrupted and the ice disappeared. Many caves in a ravine Raspberry dollars. Of greatest interest are the three largest, located on the left side of the ravine. Entrances to these bottlenecks are located almost at the same height, under the overhanging stone slabs. Smoke from the fire, decomposed by the entrance, pulling in deep caves. Average cave - the most extensive. Its length is about 17 m, height - up to 1,5 m. It consists of four "rooms" connected by narrow corridors. The first room was larger than the others. Its length is approximately 3 m. The walls of the caves in the lower part covered with clay dark brown rind, if smoked from the fire. On the cave floor - dolomite fragments mixed with clay. Layer them up to 30 cm from the ceiling dripping water. Drops it slowly run down the walls. Here and there on the walls visible tiny incrustations - stalactites. The original caves and niches - in the rock ridge Minor Bahilovoy mountains. One of them begins an extensive light grotto, dug into the rock. In the wall of his - a dark hole down into the depths of the mountain. Local residents have visited in the early phase of moves. Fifty years ago in a remote and dark corners of the caves found two Cossack saber times Razin. The largest cave in the Samara Bend - Razinskaya or Stepanovskaya - located near the ancient village of Mala Ryazan. According to legend, Stepan Razin, often visited her and wanted to make her exit on the Volga River near the lad mound. According to the old-timers who attended it before, for the narrow entrance corridor and opened a spacious room high up to 20 m from the floor differed narrow corridors. In recent years the ceiling of the cave collapsed, has filled it with rocks. Throughout Lada scattered numerous caves. But the new man, not familiar with the area, finding them is not easy. As if deliberately disguised, they are blocked by rocks and covered with rubble, debris, overgrown with trees and grass. Almost all of the entrances to them are situated high on the slopes of ravines, under the overhanging cliffs, narrow, similar to the gap, "to penetrate into them can only crawl. Zhigulevskie caves do not differ grandiosity (as, for example, the famous caves of the Urals Coon Gursky and Kapova) do not have the huge majestic halls, decorated with magnificent stalactites and stalagmites, are not raised on several floors. To view them, do not require special equipment, ropes, hooks and rope ladders. Two or three "rooms" of caves, located on the same level would not lead to the unknown depths of an underground maze, lakes and rivers 0urnym. But Zhigulevskie cave impress. Visitor: they damp and dark, is in a mysterious silence, sometimes broken by the falling water drops from the ceiling. In Zhiguli caves you can see traces of mice and fox hunting on them. Often, if you hear a loud conversation at the entrance to the cave, it departs from the gaggle of frightened bats. On the walls of some caves - a huge slugs. Excavations found in soil layers at the bottom of the caves the bones of cave bear, rhinoceros, bear, badger, mole rat and other animals.