Ust-Koksa to Barnaul (03.08.2013)

DSCN8590 cpy DSCN8529 We returned to Ust-Koksa and spent the night in a much less expensive hotel. DSCN8525 Like most hotels, this one made kitchen facilities available so we prepared both our dinner and next morning's breakfast DSCN8526 It was a rainy day in 1950 outside
DSCN8527 the main street of Ust-Koksa was deserted DSCN8528 The Russian PR campaign against littering is a great effort but why Denali? DSCN8530 We went by the expensive hotel to pay our respects to the Reserve Director, and what should we see but the Super Mobile back from the dead! I wonder how they fixed it! DSCN8531 I took this photo to remind myself of 1) uneven heights of stairsteps (which provoked at least two falls on my part in Russia) and 2) the extensive use of expanding orange polyurethane foam, especially picturesque as chinking in log cabins
DSCN8535 vast hay fields as we drive away from Ust-Koksa DSCN8536 long and winding road DSCN8541 I read this Altai Repubic road atlas for hours. The maps were very detailed. DSCN8540 and I used my Cyrillic alphabet pronunciation guide to help me decode the place names
DSCN8543 vehicle on side road DSCN8545 free range.... DSCN8546 We didn't retrace our steps but instead took a "short cut" DSCN8547 plank fences
DSCN8548 the labor involved in digging these post holes DSCN8549 a rain band moved in and as we were on a dirt road it slowed us down. DSCN8550 I began to wonder if we were ever going to get back to Barnaul DSCN8551 maybe I would be stuck in alt-Montana forever
DSCN8555 living the life of whoever lives in this cabin (admittedly, a new roof) DSCN8556 or in these places DSCN8558 working at the local saw mill DSCN8562 the storm passed, the sky lightened as did my mood
DSCN8563 we slowing crawled from page to page in the road atlas DSCN8565 flowers on a pass DSCN8570 traffic was "light" DSCN8572 rural
DSCN8574 we regain the pavement, sped up a bit but didn't hit any calves DSCN8576 hours later, we had left the mountains and were again on the rolling southern Siberian plain DSCN8575 Siberian sunflowers DSCN8579 with its fields of buckwheat stretching on for kilometers
DSCN8586 and incredible soil DSCN8582 This was now a good road with a lot of traffic DSCN8581 locals who had something to sell positioned themselves along the road DSCN8583 it was a little forlorn in a way
DSCN8589 we stopped for mushrooms DSCN8590 beautiful specimens DSCN8591 and choices DSCN8593 We closed a deal on a bucket
DSCN8597 Siberian birches