16 Aug 2012
This was the first day we are out in the mountains! It would be a training hike, to gauge the team members' fitness, and also to survey the neighbouring river valley.
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| heading into the next river valley |
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| we were basically hiking along the river valley, and the trail consisted of steep scree slopes and multiple river crossings |
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| first sighting of the trip, thanks to Karl's sharp eyes and vigilant scanning! that's a herd of ibex heading up the slope. according to Oleg, perhaps they had heard us down the valley, and these shy creatures were already moving into the next valley. |
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| team members getting used to scanning the valleys, under Jenny's tutelage |
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| our guide Oleg and expedition leader Adam creating a secure river crossing route for us |
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| Karl & Hannes in front of the ridge with camera traps to be retrieved. Karl has a knack for spotting things on the trail! |
And this is where you get to meet Oleg, man of the mountain!
Oleg is our mountain guide, and makes sure we don't do stupid things in the mountains. He does superhuman feats like driving 400km overnight from Novosibirsk to Kamlak, and climbing steep scree valleys with TWO backpacks (because it is not challenging enough with one). His idea of relaxing in camp is to fiddle with his Samsung Galaxy Tab, and to make fun of our vet scientist Jenny.
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| a select ridge team setting out to retrieve the camera traps at the top, while the rest of us survey the valley for tracks and scats |
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| this gives a flavour of the kind of terrain along the trail. bad for the ankles and knees! |
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| wild blueberries for tea |
Here's the story of my ill-fated shoe! -
http://biosphereexpeditions.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/update-from-our-snow-leopard-conservation-expedition-to-the-high-mountains-of-the-altai-republic-in-central-asia-www-biosphere-expeditions-orgaltai-24/
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| but duct tape is amazing, and i made it out of the trail alright |
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