Stage Three started with a single track climb over some slick rocks through the rocky pass.
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The view of last
night’s camp as we climbed up and over the rocky pass and down into another
valley.
Because art happens anywhere! We passed this “random” art
shop. I had to stop and say “hello!” to the artist.
Also perfectly situated and as an indicator of things to come, we passed a guy on a camel as the course markers directed us toward the sand dunes known as Mongel Els.
This
part of the Gobi desert consists of arid, sandy steppes with some limited vegetation
of low shrubs and ground cover.
I ended up trekking through the 8+ miles of the dunes
section primarily by myself, navigating and tackling the soft flowing sand by
walking in other people’s footsteps. I really loved this part of the course. No
music on. It was a very mystical place, as I experienced complete stillness and space
filling silence. Utmost peaceful feeling. And ridiculously surreal. It was suggested
to me a year ago to make my world bigger….. and here I was trekking through
Mongolia’s Gobi Desert…….
Coming off the dunes there was a trek down a long, dirt road
track and I found that I was swearing (a bit) to myself because that extra
litre of water we had to carry through the dunes was a heavy addition to my
already weighty pack. I topped off my bottles and gasp! dumped out the little
bit of remaining water. Much better J and just in time, as I
arrived at a river crossing before the final check point of the day.
Getting ready to bust out the rain poncho
I had just made it to the check point and when it started to
sprinkle.
Thanks to my training partner for sparing no great expense
on what I considered to be my most valuable piece of equipment – my 99cent rain
poncho. The rain poncho was pretty much a glorified clear thin plastic sheath
(think dry cleaning plastic bag) with arm and head holes. That thing kept me
dry – came down to my knees and covered my entire pack in the back. Good thing
too as I was about to spend the next couple hours in the pouring rain trekking
to Camp Four. Glad I didn’t bother to take off my shoes when crossing the river
as it just didn’t matter – Talking Heads “Slippery People” playing on the ipod,
I was singing and dancing myself through the high green grass, dodging my way
through herds of grazing cows, as my feet were getting wetter and wetter.
Rainy look back towards the dunes in the distance – yeah I trekked that!
What about the time you were rollin' over. Fall
on your face you must be having fun.
Walk lightly! Think of a time you'd best believe
this thing is real ~The Talking Heads
Thoroughly soaked and hungry, once I got to camp, I grabbed
my mushroom risotto, the night’s planned delicious meal (2 servings – hello, I was
hungry). I knew from previous experience, this meal took much longer than the
20 minutes as indicated on the pouch to cook if you want to avoid a la dente
rice. Hot water in the pouch, I took my risotto into the tent, dried off, and
tried to organize my chaotic mess of misc. baggies, gear, and wet socks. Extra
hot water in my risotto meant that I had some mushroom soup to drink as crawled
into the sleeping bag. Perfect. Done for the day, no socializing and no sky
watching, I was in bed by 7pm.
I failed at all the star gazing I expected I would be doing
in Mongolia. Seriously, most nights it wasn’t even dark when I went to bed.
Even during the nightly bladder wake up, because I drank so much water,
electrolytes and soup throughout the day and at dinner, I would stumble to the
pit toilets under cloudy, overcast skies. No stars to be seen.
Sunrise was a different story. Almost every morning in
Mongolia, sometime between 4 and 4:30am, my eyes would pop open and I would be
out of the tent and headed to the newly lit fire under the giant water kettles
that provided us with our hot water. With the Folger’s 80's ad slogan in my head, “the best part of waking up is….,” I sipped my truly awful coffee
brew concoction pretending it was delicious. Chatting among a few other early
risers and the volunteers while watching the sunrise and the skies lighten over
Mongolia was my favorite part of the day.
Sunrise in Mongolia ~ Camp Three
Continue the adventure here with "Stage 4 ~ The Long March to the Orkhon Valley"
For more stories about outside adventures, rock hounding, road trips, crystal information, and trekking on the trails please check out other postings on Raven's Blog
