By Taran Tucker, of Colorado State University
Since arriving at basecamp a lot has happened. We started both Daurian and talus pika research while also managing to harness our talents in activities such as wrestling, snow sculpting and haircuts.
Our first week in basecamp we quickly learned that Mongolia is witnessing an unusually early winter. It consisted of our first -5 degree Celsius morning along with two snow days blocking us out of the mountains and limiting our chances for pika research. So instead we spent our day building snow animals mixed in with an occasional snowball fight.
This snow unfortunately lasted for quite some time, so we decided to spend our days at basecamp exploring our nearby territory looking for lower elevation talus. This provided to be fruitful as we were able to locate a few pika territories as well as seeing some interesting animal sightings.
With three days of successful day hikes and warm weather, the stoke was high as we were focusing on rescheduling our backpacking trip. Unfortunately, the evening before the furagon was to arrive, another snow storm hit, leaving our group stuck at basecamp and pushing our trip further back. This snow storm left us stuck at basecamp. The encroaching sense of cabin fever made us look for ways to entertain ourselves, which included many stories told along with one very spontaneous haircut which left one of us bald…
After we saw this photo of Chris we realized it was time we needed to get out of our ger camp. This is when we decided to change our plans and complete our Daurian pika research at lower elevations until the snow in the mountains had melted.
For the Daurian pika surveys, a ranger named Battogtokh offered for us to stay three nights at his fall camp outside of the town of Renchinlhumbe. Here we were able to access hectares and hectares of steppe ecosystem prime for Daurian pika habitat. On our second to last day at Battogtokh’s, we caught wind of a local Naadam festival being held in a nearby soum. Naadam is a festival that includes horseback riding, archery competitions and traditional wrestling matches. That day we took off to relax, eat huushuur, and watch the community come together. On our way to Naadam, we stopped along the way to do some more pika surveys, and we got our first view of Mongolian camels crossing the vast steppe ecosystem.
After completing some transects, we finally arrived at Naadam to find out they were not having the archery event, but it was not too long after until the horseback riders were gearing up for their race. It was interesting to find out that the average age of these riders was between the age of 5 and 8 years old, this is because they want to have minimal weight for the horse to carry while still being able to fight and navigate to the finish line. After the race, the wrestling matches were beginning to take place and we decided to enter ourselves into the event.
As you can see, none of us ended up advancing to the next round. But being able to be a part of the event was probably the most memorable part of the trip so far. It was incredibly special to have such a personal experience of the heritage and culture within this area. After the events wrapped up, we went back to Battogtokh’s haasha for mutton and milk tea with his family. To return the hospitality, we invited everyone outside to enjoy some music and ended up dancing around the speaker until late that evening. We ended our trip the next morning as we found out we would only have one furagon to get us back to basecamp. This would mean that we would have to fit all our gear and 11 people into a single vehicle. Luckily, furagon drivers have expert skills when playing human tetris and manage to fit us all comfortably.
When I signed up for this study abroad through Round river, I imagined that I would gain a lot of knowledge both intellectually, and culturally. However, I never expected that I would have such rich opportunities to be able gain a deeper connection to the people and this landscape.
*Photos contributed by various Round River students.