Hövsgöl Nuur

26th June 2014       6’C       24km (mud, thick sticky mud)

It was very cold last night. I got up at around 2am to activate a heat pack, and stuffed it into the sleeping bag with me, which made the rest of the night much more pleasant, apart from cold toes.

I woke up when I noticed the left side of the tent glowing bright red. Quickly unzipping the tent revealed the sun rising, burning in the sky over the lake. I rushed to pull my boots on and ran down to the lake shore in my underwear to capture a photo.  I checked the temperature, 6’C, and thought it prudent to put some pants on before making tea and eating breakfast by the lake, watching as the geese silently glide over the surface of the water.

I had not long finished breakfast when it started to rain, so I retreated to the warmth of the tent and the packet of chocolate biscuits I’d bought yesterday.  But before climbing inside, I rigged the ‘veranda’ of the tent with a few sticks and some fishing line, so I could admire the view of the lake from inside the tent. So now I write from inside the tent, warm and dry, glad that the pedantic seam sealing job that I did on the tent in Singapore, is working perfectly, as it has been raining for 4hrs now and not a drop has made it inside the tent.  I’ve been using the time to plan the next few days riding, maps and GPS laid out on top of the sleeping bag. There is just enough space. I had a little snooze also, it must have been the patter of the rain on the nylon that put me to sleep.

If it doesn’t stop raining soon and dry out, I’ll probably need to stay here for another night.  Which I’m not unhappy about, as it is beautiful.

At around 1pm the rain eased enough for me to make a lunch of chicken noodle soup, and when I was done, the sun broke though the clouds and it became warm, finally.  I was able to strip off the thermal layers, and before long it was warm enough to be shirtless. What a change from this morning, 6’C.   While I was waiting for the tent to dry, I took a walk through the forest, taking photos of the wildflowers, in so many different colours.

It had become so warm in the sun now, that I headed for a wash in the lake, although once in the water and standing on the cold stones, my feet were numb within seconds.  By the time I’d washed and dried myself off, the tent was also dry and I packed up camp and rode towards Toilogt, 20km south.

There appeared to be a shortcut road on both the maps and the GPS, that skirted the edge of the lake, but I struggled to find the trail.   On the third pass I spotted some tracks that headed in the right direction and took them, foolishly.  Before long the track turned into a marsh, and the marsh became a bog, with occasional hidden boulders under the mud.  I powered on in, knowing any attempt to turn around in this muck and I would ensure I’d be stuck there for days.  I tried to head away from the lake onto higher ground where there looked to be a track, but it was actually a yak trail that narrowed and I ended up stuck between two trees.  The left pannier hard up against an immovable tree, the right one against a tree that would bend with some effort.  I plied the tree around the pannier and headed down towards the lake again, hoping for less mud, but at least a way forward.  The last 100M was a tough effort, spraying mud everywhere and leaving a nice rooster tail in my wake.

But I reached Toilogt and a found a very nice ger camp.  I was offered a ger right next to the lake and after a good meal and a well deserved beer, I was ready for bed, as it started to rain again.