The Yudoma (russian: Юдома) is a river in eastern Siberia in the
Yudoma-Maya Highlands
The Yudoma-Maya Highlands ( rus, Юдомо-Майское нагорье, r=Yudomo-Maiskoye Nagorye; sah, Юдома-Маайа хаптал хайалаах сиринэн ) are a mountainous area in the Sakha Republic and Khabarovsk Krai, Far ...
near the
Okhotsk Coast
The Okhotsk Coast is an informal name for the northwest coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. Although it was never an administrative unit there is some reason to treat it as a distinct region. Here in 1639 the Russians first reached the Pacific Ocean. ...
. It joins the
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
which joins the
Aldan Aldan may refer to:
;People
*Gille Aldan, the first bishop of Galloway, Scotland
* Andrey Aldan-Semenov (1908–1985), Russian writer
*Duke Aldan, a fictional character in '' Langrisser IV'' video game
;Places
*Aldan, Russia, a town in the Sakha R ...
which joins the
Lena
Lena or LENA may refer to:
Places
* Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso
* Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada
* Lena, Norway, a village in ...
which flows into the Arctic Ocean. Its northern headwaters are in the
Suntar-Khayata Range
Suntar-Khayata Range (russian: Сунтар-Хаята, sah, Сунтаар Хайата) is a granite mountain range rising along the border of the Sakha Republic in the north with Amur Oblast and Khabarovsk Krai in the south.
The R504 Kolyma H ...
. To the east is the Yudoma Range and then the
Okhota
The Okhota (russian: Охота, from an Even word ''окат'' (okat) meaning "river") is a river in Khabarovsk Krai which flows south to the Sea of Okhotsk near the port town of Okhotsk.Allakh-Yun, another tributary of the Aldan.
Geography
Its length in and its basin is (about the size of Switzerland). Its source is above sea level and its mouth, . It is fed by snowmelt and summer rains. It is frozen from mid-October to late May. At its mouth the minimum water flow is in March, and the maximum is in June. At its mouth it is wide and deep. The lower are considered navigable. The Yudoma limits the southern end of the
Ulakhan-Bom
The Ulakhan-Bom (russian: Улахан-Бом; sah, Улахан Бом, meaning "Big Obstacle") is a range of mountains in far Russian Far East, North-eastern Russia, a southern prolongation of the Verkhoyansk Range, part of the East Siberian Sy ...
range.
Google Earth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
Infrastructure and local economy
The area is largely unsettled and there is hardly any infrastructure. The only significant settlement is
Yugoryonok
Yugoryonok (russian: Югорёнок) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Ust-Maysky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located from Ust-Maya, the administrative center of the district,''Registry of the Administrative-Terr ...
.
The river flows south for about west of the Yudoma Range and then flows southwest about (straight-line distance) to its mouth on the Maya. It starts about south of
Mus-Khaya Mountain
Mus-Khaya (russian: Мус-Хая, sah, Муус Хайа) is a mountain in Sakha Republic, Russia and the highest point of the Suntar-Khayata Range with an elevation of .
The mountain is located south of the Arctic Circle and southwest of O ...
, the highest point in the Suntar-Khayata Range. It is formed from the junction of two rivers, one of which flows from a glacier. At the 'corner' began the long Okhotsk Portage which ran east-southeast to the Okhota River. About further was Yudoma Cross from which the Yudoma Portage led southeast to the Urak River and a longer horse track led to Urak Landing. North of Yudoma Cross a horse track led to Yakutsk. Near here the border between the
Sakha Republic
Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...
and
Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...
joins the Yudoma and follows it to its mouth. About west of Yudoma Cross (straight-line distance) is the gold-extracting town of Yugoryonok which is reached by a dirt road running south from Eldikan on the Aldan River.
The Yudoma was one of the river routes to the Okhotsk Coast. Because of its rapids and swift current there was a great deal of tracking (see
portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
). Rapids and cataracts blocked the larger boats that were used on the Maya. Some below Yudoma Cross a cataract was bypassed by a crude canal which was dry at low water. In 1737
Stepan Krasheninnikov
Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov (russian: Степа́н Петро́вич Крашени́нников; – ) was a Russian explorer of Siberia, naturalist and geographer who gave the first full description of Kamchatka in the early 18th cent ...
took three days to go downstream from Yudoma Cross to the Maya, whereas it took five to six weeks to make the same trip upstream.
See also
*
Yudoma-Maya Highlands
The Yudoma-Maya Highlands ( rus, Юдомо-Майское нагорье, r=Yudomo-Maiskoye Nagorye; sah, Юдома-Маайа хаптал хайалаах сиринэн ) are a mountainous area in the Sakha Republic and Khabarovsk Krai, Far ...