Katun

The Katun is the largest Altai river with a length of 688 km and a basin area of 60900 ^km2. In terms of the number of tributaries, and there are 254 of them with a total length of 708 km, any river can envy Katun.

The name of the river originated from the Altaic word "kadyn", which translates as "mistress", it came from the ancient Turkic word "katyn" (river). By the way, the local peoples have a beautiful legend about the river. Khan Altai had a beautiful daughter, Kadyn. The khan was well aware that he would have to marry her soon, but he really didn't want that, so he ordered a fortress to be built high in the mountains for her so that no one would come to woo her.

Kadyn lived alone in her castle, but soon birds began to fly to her and they sang about the beauty of the young man Biya, who lived in the steppes. She listened to Kadin songs and decided to run away to the young man when his father fell asleep. She jumped off the fortress wall and rushed to meet her love. The khan woke up and did not find his daughter, so he sent the most powerful and dexterous warriors in pursuit. The girl deftly ran between rocks and mountains, running further and further away from her pursuers, only soldier Babyrkhan managed to grab her sleeve, but he broke away.

Biy and Kadyn met, merged into a single whole and headed together to the Ob River. Now the lovers are never separated, and the khan, in a rage, turned his warriors into mountains, and called these mountains by their names: Sarlyk, Sartykpai and Babyrkhan.

The place where the Katun and Biy rivers join is exceptionally beautiful - both rivers are powerful and have different water colors. From summer to autumn, Katun's water is turquoise, and Biya's water is gray. In spring, the difference is not so noticeable - Katun has muddy water, while Biya has clean water. When rivers merge, they do not mix for a while, creating a striped water flow.

According to the nature of the movement, the Katun River is divided into 3 regions: from the source to the Koksa River, from Koksa to Sumulta, and then the section to the confluence with the Biy River. Near the river you can meet such representatives of fauna as: bears, foxes, wolves, lynxes, squirrels, moose, mountain goats, marals, wolverines, sables. Grouse, grouse and grouse are often found among birds. Katun is also very rich in fish, especially a lot of taimen and grayling, and in the lower reaches of the river burbot, pike and perch.