“Death Valley” is a rather threatening name, which seems to warn that such a place can be dangerous, however, it is a fairly famous tourist location that is often visited without a second thought. Of course, to put it bluntly, the place is really dangerous, and it is closed for walks and free visits, so the only way is a special walk around the surrounding area, which you can find out about below. The territory of the valley is part of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve. This is a rather interesting and unusual place where nature shows its power.

It also plays a big role for science, since here, thanks to the same unique conditions were able to preserve many rare species of plants and animals. Famous "rescued" animals living in the valley include reindeer, bighorn sheep and sea otters, and plant life includes the famous graceful fir. In addition, here you can see simply incredibly beautiful landscapes with geysers, volcanoes and lakes. “Death Valley” is one of the parts of this reserve, a kind of Bermuda triangle, which contains many mysteries. So it attracts the attention of tourists and researchers. It's hard to pass by a place with such a flashy name.

Description

The valley received its creepy name and so much attention because animals very often die here for unknown reasons. It’s difficult to understand whether it’s mysticism or some kind of natural phenomenon, but the fact remains a fact. The valley was known even before a nature reserve was opened here and nature conservation began. Such a valley was created by nature itself, even from the outside it looks very unusual, like a piece of another planet. It was discovered even after the Valley of Geysers gained great popularity. By the way, the distance between the famous “Valley of Geysers” and “Valley of Death” is only 300 meters. So the Valley of Death existed and “acted”, and no one even paid attention.

But after the 75th year of the last century, the valley attracted attention, then it was discovered by a local expedition. Scientists carefully studied the area, which was apparently oversaturated with natural gas - mofet. Throughout the entire section of the valley there were many dead animals and birds, their remains, with the help of which the time of death of the animal was recorded. This gas harms and kills, and is even dangerous for humans. They work here only in gas masks and with great caution. Animals, accordingly, quickly cannot withstand the abundance of poison in the air and simply die. So the “deadliness” of this valley has been scientifically confirmed; now they are working to completely fence off the area and remove all dead animals so that they do not attract predators.

Where is

The exact address where you can find the “Valley of Death” on the map will be: Elizovsky district, Kamchatka Territory, Russia. On the map you can find it next to the Geysernaya River, right next to the Kikhpinych volcano. The area of ​​the valley stretches for 2 km.

How to get there

The valley is closed to the public for obvious reasons. It is dangerous for humans to visit it, so don’t even try to get there. The only opportunity to see the landscape of the valley is by helicopter, which includes a visit to the Dona geysers. This is a great chance not only to see two sights of Kamchatka, but also to get a lot of emotions from a helicopter ride. On such a trip, the “Valley of Death” will be an interesting and beautiful location.

In the very upper reaches of the Geysernaya River, at the foot of the Kikhpinych volcano, there is an amazing and at the same time disastrous place - the Valley of Death. All living things die here due to the high concentration of toxic gases: mainly hydrogen sulfide.

For a long time, no one suspected the existence of this valley, despite the fact that it is located in close proximity to the Valley of Geysers, one of the most popular places among tourists. Moreover, for several years, three hundred meters from the main site of death there was a tourist stop, whose planned route ran from the Valley of Geysers to the Uzon volcano. The area itself was considered quite well studied. However, the Valley of Death was discovered only in 1975, by two people simultaneously and independently of each other: volcanologist V.L. Leonov and the forester of the reserve V.S. Kalyaev. This discovery can be considered one of the most remarkable discoveries of the reserve.

The site occupies a small area of ​​about 2 km in length and from 100 to 500 m in width. This deadly place is literally strewn with the corpses of animals and birds, from the smallest to large predators. Scientists have discovered a pattern of animal death. The time of their death coincides with the period when the valley is cleared of snow - from May to October. First, with the arrival of spring, small birds from the order of passerines die, having flown to the thawed patches to drink the thawed water. Then the foxes, who descend into the valley to feast on easy prey. Attracted by carrion, larger predators: wolverines, bears, crows and golden eagles also stay here forever. Only herbivorous animals wander here only by chance, since the place devoid of vegetation remains without their attention.

According to scientists, the reason for the mass deaths of animals is a high concentration of toxic gases: mainly hydrogen sulfide, as well as carbon dioxide, carbon disulfide, etc. The toxic gas “cocktail” itself is unique and very complex in composition, so it is quite aggressive and dangerous.

It is especially dangerous to be in low areas, in niches, in snow gullies, where there is no wind and in cloudy weather. In open, ventilated areas, the gas concentration decreases and it ceases to be fatal. Many researchers who have visited Death Valley experience headache, heat in the back of the head, dizziness, weakness. After going to a ventilated area, your health quickly returns to normal.

The valley is closed to the public. It is possible to book a helicopter excursion at the Kronotsky Nature Reserve with a visit to Death Valley and the Valley of Geysers.

The Kikhpinych volcano is located in the upper part of the Geysernaya River. Its picturesque slopes are covered with diverse vegetation. The western part of the volcano descends to the river in the form of miraculous terraces. There are hot springs there that are constantly smoking with steam.

There are especially many of them on the lower terrace. Since people first got there, this place has been considered deadly.

Local hunters who hunted animals once found themselves in those places. It turned out that several of their dogs had disappeared. While searching for animals, the hunters came across a "graveyard" of various animals. Their dogs lay there dead. They were killed by a sharp and sudden cessation of breathing. The completely bare ground, on which there was not a trace of vegetation, was covered with many corpses of birds and animals.

Suddenly, as they later said, the hunters felt weak, dry and had a metallic taste in their mouths. Chills and dizziness began. People immediately left the place. There were no undesirable health consequences other than unpleasant memories. This was in 1930. Since then, many researchers have visited this “valley of death.” There were also tourists there. Not all expeditions ended well. Now this place is considered a protected area.

About a hundred people died there over the subsequent period. But, unfortunately, the scientists’ data further confuse rather than clarify the situation of the black spot. Animals, both small and large, such as bears, are dying. Some are predators, by definition. poisoned by the meat of dead animals.

At first they “sinned” on volcanic gas, which contains life-threatening compounds (carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon, etc.). The symptoms of poisoning are similar to those described by the hunters, but their effects are slow and not sudden. Scientists decided that the toxic substance causing sudden death was the presence of cyanogen chloride in volcanic gases. These gases have an immediate effect on living organisms. But what stops it is that its concentration must be in large quantities.

In addition, cyanide, even in small quantities, causes excessive tearing, and this has not happened in humans. Yes, cyanide does not leave anything alive, but in this case, someone still lives in this bad place: dead bodies do not dry out to a mumiform state, but decompose and some of them are gnawed off. This means that bacteria are present there, and if they are there, then there are also those organisms that feed on them (possibly various types of worms, insect larvae, and what else?) Researchers still need to study a lot in order to unravel this mysterious phenomenon.

The world-famous Death Valley is one of the most interesting and mysterious attractions of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Located at the foot of the Kikhpinych volcano, in the upper reaches of the Geysernaya River, the valley is part of the Koronotsky Nature Reserve. The area of ​​the territory reaches about 2 km in length, width - 100-300 m.

At first glance, Death Valley is a rather picturesque and safe place. Particularly attractive is the western slope of the volcano, which descends to the river and thereby forms a series of amazing terraces, above which steam from hot springs billows.

Death Valley is a mysterious and dangerous place that the world learned about in 1930, when several people got lost in these places. hunting dogs. Some time later the animals were found dead. Next to the bodies of the dogs, the hunters also discovered a huge number of dead birds lying on the bare ground, without a single blade of grass. The fact that after visiting the Valley of Death, the health of the hunters and the surviving dogs, for unknown reasons, sharply deteriorated, also raises many questions.

After this incident, the forester of the local reserve V. Kalyaev and volcanologist V. Leonov decided to study the valley. It was they who became the discoverers of the Valley in July 1975. Since then, more than one scientific and tourist expedition has visited Death Valley for a more detailed study. Unfortunately, not all of them ended successfully.

Initially, scientists and researchers were of the opinion that people and animals died here due to the valley’s air saturated with vapors of volcanic gases. However, these substances have a rather slow effect. It was only in 1982 that researchers discovered that the Valley’s volcanic gases also contained highly toxic cyanide compounds. The cause of the mass death of animals was precisely these underground poisonous gases accumulating in Death Valley. However, scientists have still not been able to fully unravel all the secrets of this natural phenomenon of Kamchatka.

In Kamchatka there is a mysterious Death Valley, so named for a reason. It lies in the upper reaches of the Geysernaya River at the foot of the Kikhpinych volcano on the territory of the famous. In this small area, no more than 2 km long and 100-500 m wide, animals regularly die.

The reserve was created in 1934, but many parts of it remained unexplored for a long time. The discovery of Death Valley is especially surprising: a popular tourist route passed through the neighborhood, and the geysers gushing nearby were regularly studied by geologists, but scientists noticed the anomaly only in 1975.

From that moment its study began. In the first years, biologists collected more than 200 corpses of fauna: 12 species of mammals, 15 species of birds and many insects. Most of the victims were small rodents and passerine birds, but they also included bears, foxes, wolverines, crows and Steller's eagles. To this day, this list has been supplemented by golden eagles, lynxes and dogs.

It was determined that all the deaths occurred from May to October, a period when there is no snow in this part of the reserve. The scientists themselves who carried out the observations felt a headache, heat in the back of the head, dizziness and weakness. But people managed to climb to a ventilated hill in time, and then their health returned to normal.

Volcanologists gave an explanation for the phenomenon: The valley is located on the path of concentrated gas jets reaching the surface, which fill the lowland with hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, carbon disulfide and other poisonous gases. There are dense layers of sulfur lying around, and animal corpses are preserved for an unusually long time without decomposing: in the toxic atmosphere, even the activity of bacteria is suppressed.

In this case, the death of living beings occurs in a strictly defined order. With the onset of spring, small animals and birds begin to expand their territory, but if their path runs through Death Valley, they quickly suffocate. Their carcasses attract larger predators such as foxes or golden eagles, which in turn become tempting prey for bears and wolverines.

Biologists have discovered that if this food chain is disrupted—the first victims are promptly removed—then the final number of dying animals decreases sharply.

Despite such a tragic history, Death Valley, like all parts of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, is distinguished by its phenomenal primeval beauty. Admire a place where nature reigns supreme with its own laws of survival.

The AirPano team thanks the administration of the Kronotsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve for the ideal organization of the filming process, warmth and care for our film crew.