The famous lake Merzbacher, situated at a height of 3300 m is named after the explorer Gottfried Merzbacher, he was the first one who wrote extensively about the Lake. Actually the Lake consists of 2 lakes, one with only water and the other one with water and big ice-bergs. Once a year, in summer, all the water of the upper lake, flows into the lower lake and make these ice-bergs swim. The water finds a way out of this big lake and flows under the North Inylchek Glacier and, nobody knows how!, into the River Inylchek. This magnificient sight of floating ice-bergs and the noise of the massive waterflood you can hear echoing in the area…
| Day 1-2: | Arrival in Bishkek, overnight and next day transfer to Jergalan, preparations. |
| Day 3: | From Jergalan up to Jergalan Pass (3420 m) go down to Tjup River. |
| Day 4: | Go up along Tjup River, cross Ashu Tor Pass (3648 m), down to Janalach River. |
| Day 5: | Go along Janalach River go up to Ech Kili Tash Pass (3723 m), cross and go down to Sary Jaz River to military checkpoint. |
| Day 6: | Cross bridge over the Sary Jaz River and go up along Tyuz River. |
| Day 7: | Go up along the river to Tyuz Pass (4001 m), descend to Chon Tash near Inylchek River. |
| Day 8: | One day of rest and/or explore the surroundings (e.g. Peak Nansen). |
| Day 9-10: | Cross Inylchek Glacier to Merzbacher clearing and Merzbacher Lake and day for the area. |
| Day 11: | Along the Glacier South Inylchek, camp under Peak Petrovkogo (or near Glacier Komsomolets). |
| Day 12-13: | Further along the glacier till Basecamp Inylchek, two nights in Basecamp. One day in the area. |
| Day 14-16: | Helicopter flight to Mayda Adyr basecamp, onward transportation to Karakol, Bishkek. Departure. |
The total duration of this soft trekking tour, with the help of porters takes 16 days, trekking is 11 days.
