Last weekend, we took a camping trip with friends to бухта тихая or quiet bay. It was beautiful! Probably the prettiest place I've been on Sakhalin to date. Add in that the mountains were shrouded in misty clouds the day we were there and it brought back memories of hiking with Red in New Zealand. We have such crazy fun adventures together.
We left Friday after everyone finished work. The road out to Quiet Bay is surprisingly good, so it was a pleasant ride. We had some delicious shashlik for a late dinner and even roasted marshmellows afterward :). This night I was particularly grateful for our inflatable sleeping pads as they cushioned us really well from the rocks we had to pitch the tent on in order to avoid waking up wet due to high tide.
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| My morning view from our tent :) |
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| Just for reference, you can see the water line from high tide time...the water was up close and personal during the night...I kept waking up thinking we would be swept away. |
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| Quiet Bay |
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| It is so shallow that at low tide, the sand is visible almost all the way to the big rock and you can just walk out to it. You do so at your own risk though, because it is a seagull nesting area and I'm guessing that if you go near you won't stay clean for long. |
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| Yes, this is real...we live 2 hours south of here. Incredible! |
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| смелая гора (Brave Mountain) in the distance |
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| Already you can see the shallow bay drying up at low tide |
Red left to walk about 20 minutes away to where a river meets the ocean and fish for salmon. There are several salmon runs on Sakhalin each summer and right now, it is the humpback/pink salmon or горбуша. Red walked back and said he was empty-handed and hadn't had any luck. Strangely though, he appeared pregnant.....strange, I know!
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| Red's pregnant pose...Emmie, this is for you! Haha! |
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| Red and Ildar are pretty excited about the fish babies... |
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| A big kiss for a big fish! |
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Red and his two not so little fishies :)
American face. |
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| Russian face. |
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| I told you...it dries up... |
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| Our friend Jonathan just moved here. Up he goes! |
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Time for fish soup courtesy of Ildar and Elvira (and Red, of course, for catching the fish!).
Note the mist moving in... |
Also, we met a German couple on the beach. That's right, you heard me. Germans are everywhere! They absolutely love to travel and it's wonderful! This couple is retired and is driving all around the world. They've been going for 9 months already and have gone from Munich, through the Arabian Peninsula, across Kazhakstan and Mongolia, Altai, Lake Baikal....and took a ferry Sakhalin...next they will ferry to Japan and then to America. Very brave and interesting people. You never know who you will meet - even in Far East Russia!
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| The mist changes everything...makes it look mysterious. |
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| Where did the large rock go?! |
We decided to give climbing Brave Mountain a chance, despite the fog. Thanks Misha for watching camp so we could explore! We didn't go all the way to the top because, well, you couldn't see anything. So, we will just have to return to Quiet Bay and try Brave Mountain again another day.
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| Alina and I with Zdanko Mountain in the background. |
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| A bit hard to see with the fog, but the view is so cool - note the waves crashing on the right, the river behind us and the valley and then mountains again. |
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Red and I
(and Misha's poles - thank you Misha!!
I don't know how I would have made it up the steep sections,
or back down, without them!) |
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| Red and I again :) |
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| This is not the actual trail, but the start of the climb looked about the same. |
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| Once you get past the scarily steep initial section, the trail becomes much easier. |
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| Looking down at the fishermen in the sea |
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| Zdanko in the clouds |
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| Our trail in the clouds |
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| Heading back down |
Looking at these pictures makes me want to go back to Quiet Bay again. This time with hopes of a spectacular view like the one Red got several weeks ago, in June, when he went while I was in Texas.
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From the top of Brave Mountain.
See the "small" rock out in the ocean? That's what our campsite looked out on.
You can also see the river. |
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Misha capturing the amazing view.
This is why I need to climb Brave Mountain again! |
Sakhalin summers are amazing. We hope you enjoyed the pictures!
Love,
Carrie and Red
