Trekking in Western Mongolia - Canoeing
The next morning we began the water portion of the trip, setting off down river in the canoes and inflatables.
Instead of daypacks we were now using waterproof barrels in the canoes. We also needed river clothing and gear and not as much cold weather clothes or hiking boots. So another repacking and reorganizing was in order. It would all go in the vans, but we could declutter our bags and put a things we wouldn’t need for a while in separate bags.
We had to pass under a bridge that was low enough to require ducking very low. But first a railing on the bridge was broken and hanging down into the only span tall enough to get under at all. So a little remodeling of the bridge was required.
The river slowed and broadened as we neared Khoton Nuur, a 14 mile long lake. (Nuur = lake)
The photos get a little sparse at this point for a couple of reasons: the landscape is opening up, so the vistas are large, open and pretty flat, and I didn’t carry my camera with the big zoom in the canoes. I’ve water damaged cameras on river trips before, so I only took a waterproof camera when on the water. But that camera had very little zoom. So little zoom and wide spaces don’t make for many compelling photos. Most times in camp I could get to the big camera, but not always.
We camped just before the lake.
We had a great view of the mountains behind us early in the morning.
Then we headed out onto the lake. Canoeing on a lake means no current, so all this distance we made was by our own paddling and that wind can become a big issue. Headwinds or course would slow us down, but high winds make the whole enterprise much more risky. The winds are strongest in the afternoon, so we tried to get going in the morning to make as much progress as possible before the winds picked up.
Offsetting that plan though was the practice of stopping to visit local families. When these stops occurred in the morning, it put us at risk of paddling in heavier winds in the afternoon.
We stopped pretty quickly to visit a family that Tim had visited before. We had to walk a long distance to get to the family’s gers and as we did we could see a truck driving off and no livestock. It turned out that the family was in the process of leaving for their fall location. The boys had left earlier driving the herd animals and the truck had left with the first load of the household goods. The family said that the boys had been looking for us as Tim had visited about this same time twice before and were disappointed to have to leave before we showed up. We left some gifts with the family for the small kids that were there as well as kids that weren’t.
They gave several of our people gifts of dried curd. We really didn’t realize how much until that evening when everyone presented their dried curd to the cooks. It was quite a pile. None of us had any idea what to do with it. It is hard as a rock, so gnawing on it was not an option. I guess it is used to make a broth.
They explained that the reason they were leaving a little early was that bears from the mountains behind them were attacking their stock.
After we left the family we passed a gap in the mountains to the south and found ourselves in a strong cross wind. We had to change course to get close to shore and paddle pretty hard to get out of the strongest wind. The experience made me more aware of the gaps in the adjoining mountains and the potential for winds to blow through those gaps and out onto the lake. (When I’m paddling hard there’s little opportunity for photos!)
After we got past the wind we found a narrow spot without much wind and crossed over to the north side of the lake where our camp was set up.
We got a good view of the crescent moon between the clouds after sunset. Judy said it’s called “the new moon in the old moon’s hands,” which I hadn’t heard, but is a nice phrase.
This was a “rest” day, meaning we didn’t paddle. But most of us hiked up the adjoining hills or such. It was good weather early and I was up, as usual, so I did a walk up the hill behind camp for some nice dawn light shots.
It turned out to be a good day for a rest day as it was the rainiest day so far and at times windy. So we were able to retreat to a tent in the worst weather and head out for short walks when it was looking better.
With the change from camel supported to vehicle supported weight was no longer such an issue and we found we had several additional items along: a collapsable stove for the dining tent, and a generator to support electric lights in the cook and dining tents and a charging station for the cameras, phones, GPS devices etc. The stove could burn wood, but usually, as with the nomads, manure. It did keep the dining tent warmer and helped to provide a place to dry wet gear at the end of the day. (Cold, damp neoprene socks in the morning are not appealing!)
We had been using extra batteries and power banks to keep electronics running, but that wasn’t going to last much longer for many items, so the ability to recharge was welcome.
We had some nice color in-between the clouds at sunset.
Another re-packing as we were camping on an island tonight and so would have no support vehicles. So we packed more stuff into our waterproof barrels and added tents, food, and other gear into the canoes. That made them heavier and less stable, so we needed to be a little more careful paddling.
I hadn’t done this much paddling for many years and frankly I was pretty rusty. So I had to work to get a good stroke down. As we paddled I was remembering paddling with Cathie on trips to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. We worked at paddling straight and paddling smoothly and silently. So I started working on that and got, Bhugii, my canoeing partner doing the same. I found it very efficient paddling and very enjoyable. I mentioned it as my favorite part of the day in the evening’s recap of the day.
We passed through a section of river and into a second lake, Khurgan Nuur, to get to our island camp. There was a store and a border guard station along the river. The store was the Mongolian version of the country store of days ago: an assortment of clothing items, package food items, sundries etc. Certainly nothing I needed, but it was the only store for many miles.
We also stopped to visit a family and the kids were fascinated by the canoes, so the guides took them out for a few minutes which delighted some and terrified others.
The island is uninhabited but has a herd of horses on it as there is good grass and they are pretty safe there.
We woke to scattered clouds in the east and a stunning sunrise.
We set out early to get across the lake. As we were paddling we could see clouds and rain on the mountains behind us and could tell that it was moving our direction. So we paddled pretty persistently trying to keep ahead of it.
Of course that didn’t stop us from stopping to visit. This time the family wasn’t in a get, but a one room log cabin, but there were no animals. They explained that this was their spring residence. Their herds had been taken to their fall residence, but they were here to cut hay to store for spring.
Their grass at their winter location will run out before the spring grass is up enough to fee their animals, so they cut grass in the fall at their spring home, so there will be supplemental hay available in the early spring. It clearly takes a lot of work and planning to be a nomad in this area.
Outside there was a large pot on a fire with something very dark and thick cooking in it. I suggest it looked like Jeff’s coffee, but in fact it was home-made soap.
After leaving them we could see the rain coming closer and paddled pretty hard for the far shore where our vehicles and lunch were waiting for us. We landed and pulled the canoes out of the water just as a strong, cold wind hit. So it was excellent timing.
The rain was just sprinkles and after a quick lunch we walked a few kilometers to the evening camp on the river downstream from the lake. (This section of river was not suitable for canoes, although the two inflatables did paddle it.)
Our camp was immediately adjacent to a family’s get and animals. Like all nomad families they had a guard dog to protect against wolves. This dog worked overtime all night long, patrolling all through and around both our and the family’s camp, barking the entire time.
