Tucked away in the rugged expanse of the Gobi Desert lies Yolyn Am; and it goes by a lot of names: the Valley of Eagles, the Valley of Vultures, or simply Ice Valley.
Yolyn Am is renowned for its deep and narrow gorge, carved by ancient rivers and now home to a rare sheet of ice that can persist well into the summer months. The contrast of this ice against the arid desert environment is nothing short of mystical.
Surrounded by towering rocky cliffs, the valley’s dramatic scenery is easily made it the highlight of our whole trip to the Gobi, more than Khongoryn Els and Tsagaan Suvarga!
What is Yolyn Am?
Named after the Lammergeier (Yol in Mongolian), an Old World vulture and located in the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains, Yolyn Am is a valley characterized by its gorge. Over countless years, the forces of water and wind have sculpted the valley’s steep walls, creating a narrow canyon that slices through the rugged terrain.
The steepness and depth of the gorge create a remarkable microclimate within. In some areas, the cliffs are so close that sunlight barely reaches the valley floor, contributing to the cool temperatures that prevail in the depths of the canyon.
One of the most striking features of Yolyn Am is its ice field, a phenomenon that defies the arid, desert conditions typically associated with the Gobi. The ice field forms during the harsh Mongolian winter when temperatures plummet, causing the water flowing through the valley to freeze. Remarkably, this ice can persist through the summer months, well into a season when the surrounding landscape is dominated by warmer temperatures.
This persistence is due in part to the narrowness of the gorge, which limits the amount of sunlight that penetrates the valley and allows the ice to maintain its state.
What to Expect when Visiting Yolyn Am
The 4 km (2.5 mi) trek will take around 1 hour both ways, totaling a 2 hour walk on the icy flooring while surrounded my towering cliffs. It’s one of the most surreal experiences I’ve had in Mongolia, that’s for sure.
You’ll see some makeshift Buddhist stupas made out of rocks called Ovoo, symbolizing just how sacred this place was. And you’ll really feel that way! It’s so out of this world. There are a lot of wildlife as well, from snow leopards, horses, and yaks.
The water flowing beneath the ice and the river is fresh and drinkable, I highly recommend getting a taste as well!
Best Time to Visit Yolyn Am
The best time to visit Yolyn Am in the Gobi Desert is during the late spring and early summer months, typically from late May to July.
In late spring and early summer, daytime temperatures in Yolyn Am are generally comfortable, ranging from about 10°C to 20°C (50°F to 68°F). This avoids the extreme heat that the Gobi Desert can experience later in the summer, where temperatures can rise well above 30°C (86°F).
The late spring and early summer months also offer the unique opportunity to see the valley’s famed ice field. While the ice starts forming during the winter, it’s during this time you can walk on the ice sheets and witness the striking contrast of the lingering ice against the towering landscapes.
If you still haven’t booked a tour, I recommend either staying with UB Guesthouse in Ulaanbaatar or just contacting them for the rates, you’ll be surprised at how affordable they are.
Our Journey to Yolyn Am
The next morning still in Khongoryn Els, I awoke to a very warm tent so I went out to catch some fresh air. First stop was a cold morning shower and boy it was freezing alright, somehow even colder than last night but twice as refreshing. I visited the nomadic family’s tent to pay my respects by giving them some more of my milk tea which was slowly running out.
I ran into Gana as well, he’s taken a cold shower too. He smirked and told me “is good!” to which I heartily agreed. I love cold showers.
From the distance, a herd of camels were grazing and I went up to get a closer look. Nanami and Carmen also joined me afterwards. Soon, it was time to go and we said good bye to this memorable place, looking forward to where today was going to take us.
Our next destination was Yolyn Am, otherwise known as the Valley of the Vultures or simply Ice Valley. Emily told me this was one of her main highlights and I was wondering how it could possible beat the epicness of the Singing Sand Dunes of Khongoryn Els.
I was about to eat my words.
On the way, we saw a bigger caravan of camels, numbering to hundreds. Some more gazelles running around, and the usual horses. The terrain changed from deserts to grasslands to mountains.
After several hours, we reached our camp near Yolyn Am where we got to rest in the tent for a bit. Hayata and Changyoon went to a nearby farm while we waited for Khulan to cook our meal. I went inside their lodge to find old Gana taking a rest, looking like an angel. He must have been so tired driving us around for so many days, even before the Gobi trip when I was with Emily.
When food finally arrived, Carmen cranked out her old speakers and the first song she played sounded so familiar, I couldn’t believe that I was hearing this song a second time in Mongolia but I think it was Spiritbird again! Carmen saw my reaction and thought I didn’t like it and she was asking if she should switch it but I was like “Is this Spiritbird?” and she was like “Yeah!” I shared with her my experience with this song, and she told me she also gets goosebumps with it. Now I was really happy, with good food, good music and good people. All is well.
Now, I was planning on sharing with them some of the edibles I had for Ice Valley, all of them had a half gummy each while I took a whole one. Our roadtrip took us deep into towering mountains and we finally began our trek. It was around 4 kilometers and I was so ready to start, the effects were still slow but it was quite a beautiful place. Tall brown mountains on a cloudy day gave it a really dramatic earthy mood. I was wondering why it was called Ice Valley as there wasn’t really much ice but the terrain was still quite breath taking.
We encountered a small frozen stream, could this be it? No, couldn’t be.
Hayata, Changyoon, Carmen, Khulan and I kept moving forward until we saw a baby yak that got separated from its herd, it was running around trying to find them and we tried not to get in the way.
Khulan said it should be fine so they proceeded deeper but their pace was too fast for me, I wanted to take my time to enjoy so I let them go and waited for Ryo and Nanami instead who walked at a much leisurely pace. Together, we made our way forward and at this point the edibles were starting to take effect. I was absolutely mesmerized and as if the high was one with the valley, now I could see why they called it Ice Valley.
A huge frozen river was in front of us, at first we tried to go around it but when we realized it was unavoidable, we actually had to trek on the ice for the latter half of the trek.
I was ecstatic, I could see why Emily said this was her highlight. It was so unique, the energy of the place was insane and the sensory experience of feeling the ice crack under my feet was both exhilirating and a little bit terrifying. Everything was so majestic and I could see that Nanami and Ryo were so happy as well. We walked and took plenty of photos, Nanami helped me get my shot of the day too.
We walked on the ice until we ran into Hayata, Changyoon and Carmen, they were on the way back now. Khulan was there waiting for us at the end of the trek were the valley converged deeper and narrower, Khulan said it was dangerous to go beyond this point and this was where the trek ends. In this lake of ice, I was too satisfied.
At the side, we saw a leg of an animal which turned out to be a horse. We were asking Khulan what could have eaten it and she said that it was a snow leopard. We thought she was doing one of her jokes again but turns out she was serious. A snow leopard! So close to the trail too, that was pretty dope.
I curiously asked if the water here was drinkable, she said that it was, it’s very clean mountain water. At first, I thought she was joking again but when I realized she was serious, I couldn’t pass the chance to try out some water from this power spot. I scooped up some water with my hands and put them to my mouth. The water tasted amazing, so clean, so fresh, so energizing. I was grateful to be able to drink a water from such a magical source. Nanami and Ryo were afraid that the water’s gone stagnant and that it wasn’t clean, but I trusted Khulan completely.
I thought the trek was already perfect, it couldn’t possible get any better but boy I was so wrong.
Khulan noted that there were yaks near yonder and I saw that from the top of the mountain, a herd was slowly descending. We waited and saw that more and more were coming until the huge herd was only a small stone throw’s away from us. The hike turned from magical to straight up spiritual, being able to walk back with the yaks accompanying us was so emotional for me. It really felt like the Yolyn Am itself was seeing us off.
They came down to drink the waters from the mountain as well. I could stare at them the whole day with plenty of photos in between.
Towards the end or the start of the trek I should say, I saw these stacked up rocks in the shape of a dome with a flag on top. I’ve been seeing a lot of these man-made structures around Mongolia, I saw Ryo bow to it in thanks so I asked him what it was. It turned out to be a make-shift stupa, so it’s of Buddhist origin. I prayed and gave my thanks as well for such an amazing hike.
We also saw another leg, I asked Khulan if it was the same one. She said that it was, I asked her how she knows it to which she replied “I’m Mongolian”, yes of course I wasn’t doubting her skills but I was just curious what gave it away. She mentioned that it was the hooves which was way too cool.
I went back such a happy kid, but the fun wasn’t over yet.
Back at our camp, I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to see these goats that Hayata and Changyoon were mentioning. Nanami, Ryo and I went with Changyoon to check them out again and I have to say, this was also one of the main highlights for my whole Mongolia trip.
There was a nomadic family there tending to a huge herd of goats and sheep. They had a cute puppy running around and two adorable children that seemed to have all the joy in the world, playing with all these animals.
It was like heaven, the animals were really friendly and allowed us to touch them, the baby kids, still with tiny horns, were especially endearing and approached us for plenty of pets (or probably looking for milk). The children played with us as well, some form of tag and stone throwing game that I couldn’t help but play along to hear their laughter.
The goats and sheep had amazing colors, really earthy tones of different shades of brown that synergized perfectly with the land and weather. I gave some more milktea as handgifts to the mother there. The father was very kind to the animals according to Changyoon, and it shows as the animals here weren’t afraid of us at all. The goats were really patient with the children as they yanked at their tails and hit their behinds playfully, they weren’t that patient with the puppy though. The young thing was teething and would bite anything it could get its jaws on.
We went back to camp after spending a long time in the farm, this time around I was DJ for the night and played some tunes from my playlist while all 5 of them played some games. I was too relaxed to play so I let them have their fun and enjoyed listening to my music for the rest of the night.
The next day, we headed to our final destination: Baga Gazriin Chuluu.
