The next part of the story about the August road trip to Karelia will be short. Nevertheless, the object that I want to talk about deserves a mention in a separate post.
The biggest flat waterfall in Europe is the Rhine Falls on the river of the same name in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen. Its height is 23 meters. The fact that this waterfall is superior in height and fullness is beyond doubt, but as to which other lowland waterfalls are included in the European "top three", there are still a number of discrepancies. Until relatively recently, it was believed (and indicated in many sources) that the second largest flat waterfall in Europe is located in Karelia on the Suna River - this is the Kivach waterfall, sung by Gabriel Derzhavin, which has a height of 11 meters. In more modern sources (including the notorious Wikipedia), the Bolshoi Yaniskengas (Mamania) waterfall on the Kutsayoki river in the Murmansk region is indicated as the second largest flat waterfall. Its height is about 20 meters, and in terms of water flow, it clearly "makes up" Kivach, to whom the same sources give an honorable third place. In this post we will talk about the waterfall, which "knocks" Kivach out of the "prize three".
55 kilometers from Sortavala on the A-121 highway in the direction of Petrozavodsk there is an equipped parking lot for motorists. A dirt road begins from it, which leads to one of the most majestic natural attractions of southern Karelia - the Yukankoski waterfall (White Bridges) on the Kulismayoki River. The waterfall became widely known only a few years ago, although the Finns once paved a road near it and built bridges over a turbulent river stream, from which the waterfall got its Russian name. The waterfall is located quite far from highways and settlements, besides, the road to it is not always easy and easy to find and walk, therefore, as always, I am telling you how and what you can use to get to this amazing corner of nature.
The dirt road, as already mentioned, starts from the parking lot on the highway. The distance to the waterfall along it is about 12 kilometers. There are several forks on the road, which may or may not be home-made signs "Waterfall". The car navigator, although it makes it easier to find the right road to the waterfall, but not much, so it is advisable to remember the road in words: at the first fork after leaving the parking lot, keep to the right (there is a sign on it, or at least was in our presence); we drive about 4 kilometers, past Lake Ruokojärvi (it will be on the left, there are, by the way, places for stopping with tents) to the second fork - a good dirt road leaves to the left, to the right, to put it mildly, a bad one - we go to the right along a bad dirt road (there was no sign here ); the third fork is located a little further off the second, you need to turn left on it (there is a sign); further straight, without turning anywhere, a few kilometers to a clearing directly near the waterfall. And, attention, a very important point: after the third fork, after a while the road begins to go along uneven relief, dotted with large and medium, and sometimes very sharp stones. You need to drive very carefully. And God forbid you to meddle on this road in a car with a low ground clearance - you will leave there everything that is under the bottom of your car, including the bottom itself (there were precedents). In addition, in the lowlands of the road there are places that are thoroughly washed out in wet weather - you can easily "sit down" there, and go far and long behind the tractor (we were lucky, there was no rain at that time for a long time). So you can only get to the waterfall by off-road vehicles, honest crossovers or other cars with normal clearance, or by the brainchild of the domestic car industry (I drove a Zhiguli). If you have a sports car, a SUV, an understated Priora or some other "puzoterka" - go to the stones, drop it there and stomp on foot. For it's worth it.
So, early in the morning, we turn off our tent camp near Ruskeala waterfalls and move towards Petrozavodsk with a stop at the waterfall. While we were folding, I made the following shot of the morning valley and fog over the Tohmajoki River:
On the way, we made another stop on the shores of the gulf of Lake Ladoga.
In fact, despite the preparation and arsenal of all kinds of gadgets such as navigators and a computer with mobile Internet, we did not have a clear understanding of how to get to the waterfall. And it is even possible that we would not have gotten to him, if not for one episode that happened along the way. At that moment, when we, having already driven a decent distance from the road, stood at the second fork of dirt roads and decided which way to move on, a hiker suddenly came out on us, practically "in the middle of Karelia". The tourist turned out to be from St. Petersburg, came to these parts on the weekend on his own in one person to find this same waterfall in the same way. About the road to the waterfall, he had the most vague, that is, gleaned from the Internet, ideas, but by the time he came to us, he had already managed to wave a kilometer away from the fork in the "wrong" direction and come back, informing us that the waterfall was there where he went, no. Of course, we took a friend on board, and later he helped us overcome the rocky sections of the road. Actually, if not for this unexpected meeting, I would hardly have climbed the stones on the road, and most likely we would not have reached the waterfall.
So, going down from the clearing down to the river, we get to the top of the waterfall. Rapids on the Kulismajoki River:
The water of the river has a brown tint, due to the high content of iron compounds. This is what the top of the waterfall looks like. From the ledge, water falls down.
The river in the lower part, after the waterfall, is shallow and rapids.
Kulismayoki rapids, tripod photography. By a tree thrown across the river, you can get to the second branch of the river - it seems that there is also a waterfall there. However, we did not dare to verify this fact.
And finally, the view for which it was worth visiting this place. Yukankoski Falls in the morning sun, in all its splendor:
The height of the waterfall is about 17 meters. The waterfall is the highest in southern Karelia and the third highest flat waterfall in Europe. You can look at him endlessly ...
The water pressure at the waterfall is variable and depends on climatic conditions. The maximum pressure is observed in the spring. At the end of summer, especially if there was little rainfall, the river becomes shallow, and the pressure is very low - the water can barely ooze over the stones. We were lucky, at the end of August the spillway was simply gorgeous.
The upper part of the waterfall:
And, for clarity, another photo of a waterfall with a human figure in the frame:
