The first walkand the first aurora

The third chapter of the Putorana Plateau trip: the first day on the trail. We set out from the base in two groups: the photo tour, which I was in, and the classic one.

Getting ready

The morning was excellent: sun and a light breeze. We spent a long time deciding what to wear and whether to take trekking poles. I decided not to bother and went without them the whole tour. We photographers walked much more slowly than the others: we were shooting content.

Forest, river and a view of Lama

In the tour programme this route is called “Vekhikay Valley”: the canyon begins a kilometre and a half from the base and runs along a tributary of the river of the same name.

First there was forest near the base: moss, mushrooms and berries everywhere 🥰 Edible ones! Then we came out to a river, very beautiful, and started climbing higher and higher. We had a snack by a small waterfall and went on. The climb up the mountain was fairly steep, but from the top a view opened out over Lake Lama and the mountains of the plateau.

A hat full of berries

On the way back I picked berries and gathered a whole hat full of lingonberries and blueberries. And then ate them all 😅 The acidity burned my mouth slightly, but I never thought berry picking could be so meditative and tasty. Genya came with us the whole way and barked at the drones.

At the base our cook made a cream soup of local mushrooms, and it turned out one of the participants had a birthday. We all had a slice of cake.

The first aurora

In the evening we kept watch for the northern lights. We caught only a tiny bit: to the human eye it was just a grey glow in the sky, visible only in the camera’s night mode. But still, it was my first northern lights.