Snowstorm

Day: 49-51

Sunrise:
06:41/06:44

Sunset:
19:35/19:31

Total kilometers:
616

Soil condition:
Meadow

Temperature – Day (maximum):
5 °C

Temperature – day (minimum):
2 °C

Temperature – Night:
minus 5

Latitude:
48°56’211”

Longitude:
102°04’063”

Maximum height:
1384 m above sea level

From 4:00 a.m. I hear snow on our tent track again. This time, however, it is not a trickle but a storm-whipped pattering. I take a look outside to see how our horses are doing. It’s all white. Within a short space of time, the storm had blown in several centimetres of snow and brought us winter. Shivering, I go outside to check on the animals. Then I tighten the storm tensioning of our tent and shovel the snow off the tent fly.

In the morning we hear activity outside. “Are they making a fire in this awful weather?” asks Tanja. I don’t know,’ I reply, turning in my sleeping bag. At 8:30 a.m., hunger drives me outside. I am surprised at what I see. Our companions have dragged a two-meter wall of planks from somewhere and are in the process of erecting it as a wind barrier. I help them set it up. Bilgee puts another smaller plank wall over it as a roof and stretches his poncho over it. “Now we have shelter from the strong wind,” laughs the outdoor expert Bilgee and lights a warming fire under the shelter. Water quickly boils in a pot and we pour it into our thermos flasks. While I carry the cans to the tent and fetch cutlery, cups and a ready meal from our food box, our men eat the delicious dumplings they prepared yesterday. “They can look after themselves very well,” I say, spooning up my delicious ready-made food.

Later, Bilgee and Ulzii knead dough to prepare the delicious dumplings, which taste similar to yeast dumplings. Despite the driving snow and cold temperatures, morale at our winter camp is excellent. Bilgee, the hunter, is a sunny soul who knows how to make the best of any weather situation. Even though he came to camp yesterday without any prey and was unable to pursue his passion today because of the driving snow
he exudes confidence and good humor. Ulzii is also in a good mood again since the conversation with Tanja. We spend a harmonious time in our camp at an altitude of 1,400 meters, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Bilgee, who is not only a survival specialist but also a good cook, provides us with hot water and home-cooked tasty creations. This man is simply incredible. By now we know what a great blessing it was that Tsagaan, who cheated us out of his salary, ran away before the expedition even began. Without his deception, we would never have taken Bilgee with us. This shows once again that supposedly negative events can contain something very positive and that it makes little sense to complain about them.

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