by Michael Schaepman
Yakutsk, August 8, 2013
Communicating an overall impression of the Tundra and Taiga is tricky. In particular when we are used to see a mountain upfront every few kilometers, such as usually in Switzerland :-). The open and wide skies are really impressive out here!
We therefore share a few examples of panoramic images, giving a little impression of the wide and open space in Siberia! However, there is nothing like being you yourself out there to experience this unique scenery!
Around Kytalyk
Panoramic view of the Kytalyk research station (image center facing north) (Photo: M. Schaepman, July 2013) (full resolution).
Panoramic view of the Kytalyk area from across the Berelech river on a nearby pingo (Photo: M. Schaepman, July 2013) (full resolution).
Around Oyotung
Indigirka river near Oyotung (Photo: M. Schaepman, July 2013) (full resolution).
Tussock tundra near Oyotung. The small ditch to the right is a fragment of an unused supply road for abandoned infrastructure on the nearby hills and can be seen on Google maps (Photo: M. Schaepman, July 2013) (full resolution).
Around Yakutsk
Buluus Icing
Icings (also called ‘Aufeis’ or ‘Naled’) usually occur when groundwater is discharged into a river. The (relative to outside temperatures) warm groundwater discharges also during freeze conditions and supplies the icing with water all year round. It freezes rapidly in winter, resulting in a layered structure of the icing. Icings vary substantially temporally and spatially. We visited Buluus icing south of Yakutsk – fascinating to see (in particular when temperatures rise to more than 30 deg C (which was obviously not the case when we were there …)).
Buluus icing near Yakutsk (Photo: M. Schaepman, August 2013).
Panoramic view of Buluus icing (Photo: M. Schaepman, August 2013) (full resolution).
Lena river
The Lena river originates in the Baikal mountains and enters the Siberian lowlands near Yaktusk. Due to high precipitation in July and August, the water level was unusually high in 2013 and much sediments were carried by the river. Maybe therefore fishing was not such a success as planned …
Fishing success in the Lena river (Photo: M. Schaepman, August 2013).
Sandbank in the middle of the Lena river approximately 50 km north of Yakutsk (1660 km to mouth, 2740 km to source) (Photo: M. Schaepman, August 2013) (full resolution).
Lena pillars view from top (Photo: M. Schaepman).
Lena pillars seen from the newly established platform of this Unesco World Heritage site (Photo: M. Schaepman, August, 2013) (full resolution).
Elanka, a small settlement across the famous Lena pillars (Photo: M. Schaepman, August 2013) (full resolution).
Meet Bolot Bochkarev
Bolot is the man behind the fantastic blog ‘AskYakutia.com’. Bolot acts as journalist, fixer and guide. We were lucky to travel with him for two days in Yakutia. He not only managed to organize earlier this year a helicopter tour around Yakutsk, but also travels with raindeer herders in wintertime and helps movie teams to access the far Siberian north. Should you need any expedition support or information on Yakutia, AskYakutia or contact Bolot – an invaluable source of information for all adventurers – we much enjoyed staying with him!
Bolot Bochkarev, the driving force behind AskYakutia.com on the Buluus icing (Photo: M. Schaepman, August 2013).