Mudslingers (...not ObamRom style)

Mongolian Mudslingers from Andrew Payton on Vimeo.

A little background...on a weekend adventure, we left UB headed towards the famous Khar Nuur (Black Lake), ~100km NE of Ulaanbaatar. We planned to follow the Tuul River most of the way there, and knew we'd have to cross it several times (its quite a large river). We would find our way with cached GoogleEarth imagery and a GPS.....BUT, it has rained most of the summer here in UB, some of our river crossings were bound to be enormous (and they were). There was one river crossing in particular near Terelj worth nothing (unfortunately not captured in this video...I was more worried about how I was going to get out of the vehicle if it came down to it). As we entered the river, the water quickly bogged us down, and soon the water level was midway up the front window, (still below the snorkel), the strong current was beginning to pull our back end downstream, and we were losing momentum fast. Searching for a lower gear, Justin quickly made the shift and floored the vehicle...spinning out (since we were nearly floating), we slowly began to crawl from the river. Once across, there was a big sigh of relief for everyone. Good thing we ended up driving a large loop, and did not have to make this crossing again. Anyway, we continued our journey along the river towards Khar Nuur, but.......

Our camp at sunset, as  a few rain showers passed by. Not a sign of human life around here.

Earlier in the day, our humble attempt to drive up an enormously wild river valley was squandered.

Close to getting a little bogged down...

Random cool spider

Our situation: Stuck in the ruts, sideways. As soon as it happened, we just had to laugh "haha ughh... we're kinda stuck"...Okay, so no big deal. We'll just winch ourselves out, except there aren't any trees here. Clever solution Justin learned just 2 days previous: dig a hole, bury your spare as an anchor, and winch yourself out.
The first couple attempts weren't successful. We were too lazy, and didn't dig a deep enough hole for the tire. We should have listened to Solongoo (Justin's gf)...she kept saying emphatically: "stop being lazy and just keep digging!"....After a few more hours of digging, and placing a couple logs we found in the ruts ahead of the vehicle, walaah. We made it out. We had no other choice though really. No one around, not for many hours (realistcally days), of walking. Fun story.
 

The camera comes out again once success is reached. Good thing too, the bugs were KILLING us.

We found our campsite for the night.

Solongoo's friend Zoltloo (in blue) is a Shaman. She had an interesting insight about me (Solongoo told me this several days later, Zoltloo speaks no English). She said "Who is he? Andy? Andy is good guy. But I can sense he is very bored and lonesome and lives in apartment by himself. He has girlfriend, but they have not seen eachother in very long time".......hahaha <--- she nailed it!

We gotta get the fire going strong so it can beat the rain! Later that night, it cleared up, and we watched a spectacular meteor shower. At one point, I saw almost 10 shooting stars in just over a minute.

Playing some hackeysack/kick the ball.

I love these kinds of pictures.

A very cute couple...

Brando is always a happy dog, except for when he gets tired of rain/cold/driving and wishes he could just be at home sleeping on his couch. 

The next morning started us with our camp enshrouded in fog...only to lift and turn to beautiful blue skies.


Well, I am finishing up my last few weeks here in Mongolia, and will be headed back to Colorado September 20th, with all my belongings. Quite possibly, it could be the last time I visit Mongolia. I've had a great time here, experienced an entirely different culture, seen some exotic places, taken part in some remarkable opportunities, and pushed through some of the most difficult hurdles I've ever faced. My homeland is calling me back though, and I am looking forward to it - back to my lovely Miranda, all my hobbies I've put on hold, the mountains I love, the freedom to roam easily around, to buy normal things at the grocery store, to visit my scattered about friends, reconnect with my family, SKI a ton this winter, play in the SW US desert, rock climb, mountain bike.... These are all things I know define me. Mongolia has taught me to endure and adapt, to overcome isolation, and basically wait for a brighter future that will be worth the effort. Honestly, living here is the hardest thing I've ever had to do....the first week I knew if I made it a year here that would be something to be proud of - and I'm at almost 17 months....good enough. I am looking forward to getting back and decompressing some before I think about the next phase of my life.

In early September, just before I leave, we will have the first (and last) field trip of this season. I am excited about it - I will be leading the first leg, and will be guiding a group of about 6 people (including a Mongolian geophysicist (part of our staff), and a graduate student from Switzerland. It will be the first time for me being the trip leader....directing the lead driver, calling headquarters each day, making sure all logistics run smoothly, and generally being the go-to person.

See you all very soon!