At the confluence of the Khudes River with the Kuban lies a sacred stone for the Karachay people called "Kadau Tash," which translates to "fortress stone" or "keystone." According to legend, it protects the people from misfortunes and calamities. The stone is also known as the "Karchi Stone." In the 19th and 20th centuries, there were many speculations about its origin, with most agreeing that it is a meteorite. According to Karachay legends, the stone fell from the sky about 700-800 years ago. Its unusual bubbly surface distinguishes it from other stones in the area, which served as an argument for its extraterrestrial origin. However, other porous stones can also be found near the river, which, due to their smaller size, go unnoticed.

Akmat Magometovich Bayramkulov claims in his book that the Karachay-Balkar people have lived in these lands for over 2700 years. He also writes that the "Karchi Stone" is a meteorite aged 11,000 years, raising questions about how the Karachay people could have known about its fall if their ancestors did not live here at that time. However, it turned out that the stone has a magmatic origin and was ejected from the depths of the earth during the eruption of Elbrus. Scientists, including Professor Yuri Yakovlevich Potapenko and his colleagues, studied samples of the stone and concluded that it is not a meteorite. They noted that a meteorite of that size would have left a large crater, and a lake would have formed at the site of its fall. The version that the stone was carried by the Khudes River was also disproven. During the eruption of Elbrus, grooves were formed, one of which is located in the gorge of the Khudes River, where the stone was found.