We arrived in Bishkek on the 29th of May, and headed directly to Kochkor to do a Song Kul horse trek. Upon arriving in Kochkor we were told the routes up to Song Kul had only opened up two days earlier! Fortunately we had not come any earlier.
Then after three days on a horse (fortunately we had mostly clear weather, but the day after was a bit atrocious) we headed to Karakol to do some walking.
The classic walk around Karakol seems to be the Ala-Kol lake pass into Altyn Arashyn. However as of the 6th June (and possibly still currently) the pass is filled with waist-deep snow, making a sketchy descent outright impossible without serious gear and a guide. We met at least three groups who had plans to do this walk and couldn't. You could still go up to Altyn Arashan via the valley and back but we did get some sleet raining on us on the walk back down!
So don't underestimate the mountains, and if you're keen on some of the trickier walks, come much later in the year!
