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I forgot my cameras
in the train and have now only those pictures my friends gave me. If it
happened in another area, I could, probably, say 'Good bye' to my cameras,
but it was quite different in the Russian north: after the end of route
I took them back from the administration of railroad.
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It is the real north.
We are skiing upstream the Sinya river from the Pechora area to the Urals
mountains. 9-people tent (yurta) gives us an excellent place to take a
rest. Each 3 people sleep together in a downy sleeping bag, which in turn
is placed inside of another sleeping bag made from deer-hair. On the first
day temperature already dropped down to -20°F. The whole next week
there was the keen frost from -40°F to -50°F, but inside of our
tent it never was cooler than +10°F. A day is very short near the Arctic
Circle in January, so we slept very well. We decided not to eat our lunch,
because it was too cold to stop. The only things worming us were walking
and chopping wood. |
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The great east view
of the Sablya (Sabre) mountain opens from this point. We passed through
Urals mountain ridge from Europe to Asia and then back, making a circle
around Sablya mountain. We had to go the last 60 miles through Urals taiga
(forest) to Pechora area. Every night we admired glorious and daunting
sight of the arctic lights. The depth of the snow measured up to 4.5 -
6 feet. Its color was so white it was hard to see the snow surface. Often
you suddenly realized that there was a pit or a hillock after you fell
on it. We were making a path in snow changing leader every five - ten minutes
to maintain a high speed. |
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Finally, the temperature
went up to -10°F - -20°F, which made impression of a thaw. We were
skiing easily, making about 15 miles per day. The last "freezing-test"
happened when we traveled in the open carriage body of a track from Priuralsk
village to Pechora city. It was freezing hard again and we were singing
partially in order to make sure all of us are still alive. Finally, a drink
of unwatered alcohol warmed everyone. We're leaving this region of the
primeval forest and the region of GULAG. Good bye! |
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