Roerich Peak (3492 m) and Ak-Oyuk (3670 m), Altay ... or Shangri-La?

A beautiful pyramid of Roerich Peak, and a wide summit of Ak-Oyuk, dominate the West side of the famed Belukha Amphitheater. View from the tongue of Druzhba Glacier, February 1985 Roerich is of course Nicholas Roerich (a.k.a. Nikolay Rerikh), the founder of Agni-Yoga mysticism and the popularizer of Shambhala myths, better known to the Western world through the story of Shangri-La they inspired. The Shambhala, "somewhere North and West of the Himalayas" is alternately placed in the mountains of Altay or Kunlung. Roerich's followers seek it in the shadow of Belukha, and the valley trails see quite a bit of esoteric pilgrim traffic.