Strangely enough, although its name means "birch", Lake Kaindy is set in a forest of conifers 2,000 m above sea level. The lake was created about 100 years ago as the result of an enormous limestone landslide. The embankment partitioned the gorge with a natural dam. The 400-m-long lake is almost 30 m deep. There are fine views over the Saty Gorge, the Chilik river valley and the Kaindy gorge. The dried-out trunks of submerged fir-trees rise above the surface of the water like the masts of a sunken ship.