Back in Chita after a 3 year absence #2
November 18, 2024
I mentioned that picnic and hike.
The picnic on Saturday afternoon was at a camp, a “baza” or base, that is part of the Chita Institute of Baikal State University. It is about a 15 minute drive from the Institute to the west (I think), where it is all small houses and the forest begins right over there. It is surrounded by a big fence, but the yard is very large—many acres—and this snowy ground was sun dappled and shaded with pine trees. There are 6-8 buildings including a couple of dormitories. During the tenure of the previous Director it was never used. The new Director is interested in reviving it, though it will need a lot of repair and sprucing up. Maybe she is thinking that tourists could stay there. She said she has an interest in tourism and wonders if there might be points of cooperation with SB’s little efforts at tourism. Is she thinking this place might figure in that?
Alexander Yurmanov, a cheerful, stocky, mustachioed teacher, organized the picnic. A table was brought out to hold the shashliki that Alexander had prepared earlier, and the bread, cookies, pastries, candies (Russian sunflower seed halvah, a favorite, and “zephyrs”–basically a dressed up marshmallow but better) and soda, juice, tea and milk for the tea.
A student was assigned to build a fire and we quickly gathered enough dead branches nearby to break up to have a nice blaze for the tea kettle and to gather around.
And so we stood there and chatted and ate in the 10°F clear blue day among the pine trees, while the Pishchersky’s young mixed breed, Mira, with her long fur, long legs and a feather duster tail, and the Director’s miniature poodle, Jerry, chased and raced through the snow. Jerry, even with a jacket on, started shivering after a while, so he was scooped up and zipped up inside the Director’s daughter’s coat, his head peering out the top. Mira ran non-stop. When we were leaving, it took some minutes to get her back on the leash. She knew it was over, and did not want to quit!
It lasted about and hour and a half—just a moment in the fresh air with friends. Of course that fresh air would rightly be called frigid by most of the world, but why waste a beautiful afternoon indoors when you all you need are the right clothes and boots?
The hike up Vysokogorye (“High Mountain”) on Sunday was a treat. This mountain is the main attraction of a large park that starts on the city’s edge, just beyond the ring road to the northeast. The city slopes down to the southwest from there to the Ingoda River and the train yards. Beyond the river there are residential and industrial areas as the ground slopes back up to more hills.
Vitaly dropped us off around 11am. We were Elena and their 9-year-old son, Sasha, and Zhenia, an artist and also a fitness teacher and athlete. Her big interest for many years now is climbing. She showed me photos from her last big adventure in May taken on the ridgeline of a 3000-meter mountain in Buryatia, the next “province” to the west. Her next big adventure is climbing Mount Elbrus, Russia’s and Europe’s highest mountain at 18,510 ft. And I can’t forget Mira, the bounding dog. She was in seventh heaven, bounding around like Tigger and zooming across the slopes.
The temperature was rising so it was about -10F when we set out. The path starts to ascend right away, rising steadily for a little over a mile. It then levels off quite a bit. We went on about another mile and a quarter to a fireplace with a bench. My sportwatch said we climbed about 800 ft in elevation.
Zhenia built a fire at the end and we drank tea from thermoses and chomped on chocolate.
The forest is pine and there are zones of birch and larch. The lower part is all pine and the trees are sparse so you can see way up and way down the slope under the canopy of branches. The slope is now all white with about 6 inches of the finest dust-like snow. We weren’t the only ones enjoying this hike, there were a couple of families and some older folks with their walking poles.
The walk was only about 4.5 miles all told. The challenge was, of course, the cold. But we all seemed comfortable. I brought an extra sweater and down jacket just in case! It gave me the opportunity to field test my new insulated sport boots (5 stars!) and test my skill at “layering.” It’s kind of thrilling being out there in the cold. The cold makes it seem wilder. And yet, to feel comfortable. Fu-un. Meanwhile, on the way down the hill, Sasha was running and falling into the snow and rolling down the slope, a brother spirit of their dog Mira! Oh, to be nine again!
Next weekend Zhenia promises something more substantial. Looking forward to it.
The day ended at the Pishchersky’s with a few tubs of take-out Chinese (all good) and a big pot of pelmenyi. Those little dumplings boiled in water (or fried) are in every freezer here—the quick reliable fast meal. So for everyone else, pelmenyi is pretty boring. But for me…well, I’d been waiting to have some here, and finally I did.
