This is one of the largest waterfalls in Bashkiria. It is called differently - Tuyalas, Khudalaz, Ibragimovsky, but still the most common and familiar name for the indigenous population is Gadelsha. It comes from the village of the same name, located nearby. On one of the branches of the Khudolaz River is Gadelsha. The waterfall (a map of the republic will help tourists) is located on the slope of Mount Irendyk, from the eastern part, in the Baymakh district. At this point, the Khudolaz River (Tuyalas) pierced a deep and narrow valley in the mountains.
The beauty of this Bashkir river is sung in folk songs. Previously, the locals, and visitors, affectionately called Tuyalas, which in translation from Bashkir means “fast flow”. Unfortunately, the beauty of this exotic word for a Russian person has become a thing of the past. Today, cartographers and surveyors have replaced it with the colder, but more familiar to the locals name Khudolaz.
The banks of the river are rich in mineral deposits. When the landscape of the Earth was just beginning to form, volcanoes erupted where Gadelsha waterfall is now located. Evidence of this is the powerful layers of volcanic rocks (spilites, porphyries).
Many tourists and travelers would like to see the Hadelsch Falls. How to get to it?
Road to the waterfall
The closest city to it is Sibay, located fifteen kilometers away. Once here, you need to drive in the direction of the village of Old Sibay, and then follow the grader road to the recreation center Gadelsha. From here you can climb up the gorge. In order to complete such an ascent, some skill is required (especially during the reverse descent), however, the beauties seen more than compensate for all the difficulties.
Hadelsch Waterfall: Description
This is a three-cascade waterfall. Its upper step is the smallest, with a height not exceeding 1.2 meters. The following cascades reach seven meters. Thus, its total height is fifteen meters. Depending on the time of the year and the amount of precipitation, the volume of water (and therefore its entertainment) changes. In the middle of summer, when there is usually little rainfall, the water flow does not exceed 10 l / s. But in early spring it is very full-flowing, beautiful and stormy. The gorge is filled with the sound of falling streams.
Weather and climate
Bashkiria usually has a snowy winter. The average January temperature is 18 degrees below zero. It lasts from the second decade of October to the first of April. In the spring, frosts can return, but with the onset of summer, real heat sets in, especially in July. More precipitation falls in autumn and summer.
Nature reserve
The republic has many fairly large waterfalls. All of them are very different in size and intensity. But the most spectacular of them is Hadelsch Falls. Bashkiria is proud of its natural monument.
In the vicinity of the waterfall jasper deposits go to the surface of the earth. It is well polished, and therefore often used as ornamental material. From it, statuettes and vases are amazingly beautiful. In addition, it is widely used in cladding monuments and buildings. Gorges and ridges in the river valley are dotted with rock outcrops of coal limestone. They are successfully used in metallurgy during smelting. In architecture, they are used as wild stone, and after the material is fired, it is used as lime.
Milky white quartz, asbestos and talc are still found on the slopes of Arendyk. Rare herbs and shrubs listed in the Red Book grow here. There are plans to create a nature reserve here.
Natural monument
Since 1965, Gadelsha Falls has been a geomorphological, geological and botanical monument of Bashkiria and is protected by the state.
Excursions
If you decide to visit the Hadelsch Falls, you can also go on an excursion to the copper-sulfur plant. It is famous for the fact that the quarry has a depth of more than 500 meters, is considered one of the deepest in Europe and occupies the fourth place in the world. Sulfur, copper, iron, and silver are mined in it. Its diameter is two kilometers.
By-product in the extraction of copper pyrites is gold. However, it is present in scanty amounts and it is impossible to just see it. The quarry is guarded, and you can see small lakes with a characteristic blue-green color next to it. If you come to the quarry "savages", then you need permission from a travel agency that cooperates with the plant. Here you can get a pass and a guide.
From the observation deck, the bottom of the quarry is not visible. From this position you can see only a black and yellow slope with light lanes. Over time, this quarry will become an artificial lake.
Where to stay
Near the Gadelsha waterfall is an old camp site of the same name. Many say that it is not comfortable enough - it does not have TVs, there is no mobile connection. Those who prefer a more comfortable stay, you can settle in a more comfortable hotel "Golden Card" in the city of Sibay, from which excursions to the waterfall with a guide.