By: Cade Conahey, Westminster University & Sam Herzig, University of California, Davis
After a week of running through the Darhad searching for pika droppings, we returned to basecamp and went straight into festivities: It was time for nadaam in our adoptive hometown of Ulaan Uul. Some of us dabbled in archery and enjoyed some local treats, but the highlight of the day was our very own Greyson’s wrestling bout with a previous nadaam champion. Check it out:
That night, we tried some freshly-made airag (fermented mare’s milk). Tasting notes included bread, malt, soy sauce, dirt, and horse.
Shortly thereafter, it was time for our next great adventure: Vansemberuu! Vansemberuu (Saussurea dorogostaiskii) is a critically endangered and culturally significant plant that only grows in the alpine talus habitats of northern Mongolia and southern Russia. There are many unknowns about the population, growth cycle and poaching of Vansemberuu, so the Vansemberuu Project is an important way to fill in gaps in knowledge.
We drove into the Horidol Saridag mountains, then backpacked to our first basecamp. It was a long day of travel, but some of us had enough energy to climb up to the talus on a nearby hill, where we foraged for a local delicacy: Fresh pine nuts!
Afterwards, some of us still had energy, so we climbed up another hill to watch the sunset with a breathtaking view.
On day two, we headed back into the talus to count and measure juvenile and adult Vansemberuu plants across ten plots on the mountain. We accomplished something that no other Round River group has done: We finished all ten plots on the mountain in one day! To celebrate, we had some pasta, then went to sleep early.
The next day, we backpacked to our new camp at Yellow Heart. On the way, we crossed over a scenic mountain pass and walked three times around the ovoo (traditional rock cairn) to show our respect for the mountain and the road ahead before continuing on to Yellow Heart.
On day four, we hiked to Ulaan Had, a nearby mountain, to complete Vansemberuu transects. Most groups went up and down the talus patches on the mountain to count the adults and poached stalks they found while some people flew a drone to find out if larger areas can be surveyed effectively from the air. When it started to sprinkle, the drone was packed away – and it was a good thing, too, because right after, we were hit by a lightning storm!
We booked it back to basecamp in two groups. While one group prepared “chicken noodle soup” (which contained, in addition to the expected ingredients, miso, seaweed, dried beef, and more), the other group encountered a fearsome creature: A baby pika shivering in the rain. They got it back to its hole, but not before some photo ops.
On the last day, we completed the final Vansemberuu plots, crossed another stunning mountain pass, then returned to basecamp sweet basecamp.
We spent some days in town for much-needed showers and laundry. A group of us (SEAgulL Team 4) drove into the northern part of the valley to complete our data gathering for the Cormorant Project. We had a lovely time on the cormorant island, which of course would not be complete without some more photo ops.
For the Cormorant Project, we gathered data on the number of adult and juvenile cormorants living on the island. We also collected fish that cormorants ate, then regurgitated – which smells about as good as you would expect. We want to identify these fish to find out whether or not they’re the same species of fish that local fishermen consume. That way, we can determine if these gorgeous birds compete with fishermen in the area.
After that, one final quest loomed on the horizon: Final presentations.