Holidays in your native land can be no less interesting and educational than visiting expensive foreign resorts. And there are many places around that can amaze with their beauty and deliver a lot of pleasant impressions. One such beautiful specimen of wildlife is Yastrebinoye Lake.
Hawk Lake Topography
Lake Yastrebinoye is located in the northeastern part of the Karelian Isthmus near the border between the Priozersky District of the Leningrad Region and the Republic of Karelia. It stretches from northwest to southeast for two kilometers, while the northern part of the reservoir is narrower - it has a width of about 150 meters, while in the south it expands to 250 meters.
Yastrebinoe Lake is very popular with tourists. The Leningrad region is rich in a variety of water bodies, whether it be rivers, lakes or swamps, but the surroundings of Yastrebinoye are rightfully considered the most picturesque in this region. The lake is located in a depression between steep granite ledges at the tip of the B altic Shield, raising their peaks by 50 meters. It is believed that it was formed during the passage of a glacier, carrying with it huge granitelumps. Today, the territory of the lake itself and the area adjacent to it, extending for 10 kilometers, are among the natural monuments specially protected by the state.
Terrain
The landscape around the lake is complex and picturesque due to the alternation of selga ridges and deep depressions. The landscape is very decorated with sheer walls formed by the outcrop of crystalline rocks, rocky niches and systems of terraces, as well as the presence of narrow clefts between separately standing large breakaway blocks. This relief is most pronounced along the ridge, which stretches along the eastern shore of the lake for 900 meters and has a width of 100 - 350 meters in different places. The rocks here almost vertically go under the waters of the lake, which attracts all climbers and tourists from the surrounding areas for training, competitions and festivals. The most famous and visited is the Parnassus rock, it is especially popular with rock climbers. The northern and western shores of Hawk Lake are also formed by sheer granite cliffs up to 15 meters high.
The surroundings are densely covered with vegetation, represented mainly by a pine forest. All this makes Lake Yastrebinoye attractive both for ordinary vacationers who want to break away from civilization for a while and enjoy the picturesque area, and for tourists - climbers who hone their skills on sheer "ram's foreheads".
Yastrebinoe Lake - a natural monument
This natural object was declared in 1996 due to its uniquenessa monument of nature, that is, a specially protected natural area, occupying more than 1600 hectares. The peculiarity of the relief is manifested by a special type of vegetation characteristic of the northern regions of the Karelian Isthmus. The most characteristic difference is the combination of oak forests with typical rocky vegetation. Almost nothing grows on the vertical walls of the rocky shores, with the exception of individual plants that have settled among the cracks and on the cornices of the rocks. Most of them are various types of ferns, mosses or lichens.
In the upper and middle part of the slopes of the selga, especially along the eastern shore, there are bilberry-green-moss pine forests, among which there are birch, gray alder, juniper. The lower parts of the slopes are occupied by small-leaved formations, areas of spruce forests, fragments of aspen forests, combined with forbs of oak plants. The northern coast is covered with areas of meadow plants: hedgehog, timothy grass, cornflowers, willow-herb and others. The far outskirts of the selga in a number of areas are adjoined by small raised sphagnum bogs, which have a characteristic set of species. The northern end of the lake has a dry channel, overgrown with sedge, cinquefoil and single willows.
The aquatic vegetation of the lake is represented by rare narrow strips of reeds, while in the central, deep part of it, representatives of the flora are extremely rare. In shallow water, you can see the leaves of the yellow capsule, burrweed, pondweed. Along the shore you can find a raft of calla and cinquefoil.
Animal world
Yastrebinoe Lake,despite the increased interest and attendance of numerous tourists, it preserves the diversity of the animal world inhabiting it, represented mainly by lower vertebrates and birds. In meadows, reservoirs and sparse forest stands, both edge and forest species of amphibians and reptiles, represented to a greater extent by ordinary gray toads, grass frogs, spindles, grass snakes, and viviparous lizards, feel great. Among the regularly occurring birds, in addition to trivial forest species, one can note the presence of various black grouse, buzzards, honey beetles, goshawks, sparrowhawks, many species of owls (grey-tailed and long-tailed owl, boreal owl, long-eared and short-eared owls, passerine owl), nightjars, blue tit, blackbirds. There are rare species of mammals, such as underground vole, European mink. European crayfish can be found in the lake.
How to get to Hawk Lake
There are several ways to get to the object of interest, although each of them has its own characteristics and difficulties. Lake Yastrebinoye, the map of the surroundings of which does not reflect all the difficulties of visiting it, is located away from good roads, so you may need a good SUV to get to it. To the village of Kuznechny, located within 13 km from the lake, there is an asph alt road, from which you will need to turn onto a well-trodden forest path, along which it will be easy to reach the goal in good dry weather. You can pave the way through the town of Priozersk and the villageSevastyanovo, bypassing the Kuznechnoye station, in order to get out onto the dirt road on the right side of the fork, pass the field, the hill and the log bridge, from which it is very close to the desired lake.
For lovers of hiking or cycling, it will be convenient to get by train from the Finlyandsky railway station to the Kuznechnoye station, from which you need to get to the railway platform 165 or 168 km by diesel (which runs very rarely) or on foot. A dirt road will lead from them to the beginning of the reserve, after which it is easy to get to Hawk Lake along the forest paths. Such a path, with proper skill and knowledge of the route, will take no more than two hours. The main thing here is to choose the right paths, since Yastrebinoye Lake is adjacent to several other reservoirs, such as Klyukvennoe and Svetloe lakes, as well as swamps, which can make the path difficult.
Many get to their destination along the Ho Chi Minh trail, which leads from the Kuznechnoye station through the quarry to the lake itself. This route is marked, that is, there are marks along the entire route that will help you not to go astray, however, if there is no knowledgeable guide, you can wander along the trail for several hours, instead of the usual three.
Hawk Lake Social Life
The entire warm period of the year, from early spring to late autumn, life is in full swing on the shores of Hawk Lake - crowds of tourists come to admire the picturesque landscapes of the lake and its environs, in summer rock climbers from various sections, climbers and just lovers settle in. On the banks break children'scampgrounds. And amateurs and professionals gather on the rocks every year to hold mass rock climbing competitions "Rock Marathon", held in early May for the holidays.
Thus, vacationers in the Leningrad region can be advised to visit Lake Yastrebinoye. Karelia, being very close to its shores, left its mark on the surrounding landscapes, showing the lovers the harsh northern beauty.
