Olenyi Ruchyi. A Nature Park in the Middle Urals. September 26, 2013
The conference-school on amphibian and reptile anomalies ended with a truly wonderful excursion to the Middle Urals. The photographs shown here are a small fragment of that trip.
The conference-school on amphibian and reptile anomalies (a short photo report is posted here; in addition, I uploaded the presentations from my talk and lecture) ended with a truly wonderful excursion to the Middle Urals. The photographs shown here are a small fragment of that trip. The Olenyi Ruchyi Nature Park is a relatively small area in the foothills of the Middle Urals, stretched along the Serga River. This territory has been inhabited for quite a long time; even a railway passes through it, linking two metallurgical plants. In their time, these plants were built at points in the Urals close to raw-material sources and to rivers suitable for hydroelectric stations. Fortunately, this territory was transformed only slightly. Petroglyphs of ancient hunters were found there, dated either to around a thousand years ago or much older. Today the park actively attracts tourists, and an equipped excursion trail runs through it. We managed to walk along it and see several landmarks of the park. During the walk, the weather kept changing. Some photos were taken with a wet camera lens, and that is visible. Sometimes the sun came out, and then rain started again, and then the sun appeared once more. We reached one of the cliffs above the river valley, then descended to the bank, then climbed up again. It was beautiful. [IMG_1] [IMG_2] [IMG_3] [IMG_4] [IMG_5] [IMG_6] [IMG_7] [IMG_8] [IMG_9] [IMG_10] [IMG_11] [IMG_12] [IMG_13] [IMG_14] [IMG_15] [IMG_16] [IMG_17] [IMG_18] [IMG_19] [IMG_20] [IMG_21] [IMG_22] [IMG_23] [IMG_24] [IMG_25] [IMG_26] [IMG_27] [IMG_28] [IMG_29] [IMG_30] [IMG_31] [IMG_32] [IMG_33] [IMG_34] [IMG_35] [IMG_36] [IMG_37] [IMG_38] Rosa canina. [IMG_39] [IMG_40] [IMG_41] [IMG_42] Above the river, an unusual monument... Around it are coins from different countries. [IMG_43] Here is some explanation of what it is. Apparently there are seven such places across the planet. [IMG_44] Suddenly something is illuminated by the sun like a theatrical spotlight... [IMG_45] Wet forest. [IMG_46] [IMG_47] [IMG_48] River valley. Beyond it are gentle mountains. [IMG_49] [IMG_50] And this is already the road back to the base. [IMG_51] [IMG_52] [IMG_53] [IMG_54] [IMG_55] [IMG_56] [IMG_57] [IMG_58] [IMG_59] In the small settlement, the four of us lagged behind at a place serving homemade beer “brewed with German technology.” We asked the hostess to take our picture. [IMG_60] A member of the beer lovers’ club. [IMG_61] Colors, simply colors... [IMG_62] And these final two photographs are not mine but Spartak Litvinchuk’s, taken from a set he sent to all conference participants. I hope he will not be upset that I used his shots without asking! [IMG_63] [IMG_64]