Trek day 2: Alakjol Lake to Altyn-Arashan

Our early start in the morning pays off: by 5AM we have slipped out of camp, along the North side of the lake. We pick a spot in the middle for an unparalleled sunrise breakfast hike. Those who know me know that's one of my favorite things in the world. Getting to do it on the opposite side of the world is even better. 

From breakfast we climb up and make the pass at 8AM, so the snow decent is still firm enough to provide steps. 

Adam gets a crash course in plunge stepping--my favorite--and we make it down the 1000' slope without incident. 

From here we are faced with a yawning glacial valley filled with wildflowers, cows, and large marmot-like critters. 

Further along, a group of shepherds point for us to cross to the right side of the river. Though we are able to leap over parts of it, eventually we are forced to ford the painfully icy waters. An English day hiker on the other side confirms the trail continues on the right, and that we will have to cross again. We are thrilled. 

We reach the main river at the bottom of the valley and continue to Altyn-Arashan by noon, where we are easily the first to arrive. Our reward is a spot in the yurt and a lunch of potato puffs and fried rice with horsemeat. Finished with lots of tea, of course. We wait out a rainstorm in the covered dining area, thinking of our Polish comrades who are probably still suffering through snow and mud to get here. 

We nap until dinner--noodles with horsemeat. Then a Dutchman, who had arrived earlier on horseback with his  friend, approaches us distressed. His buddy was overdue from a day hike up a nearby peak, and the sun was setting. 

We packed up and set off in a search party, and found him stumbling through the blackness halfway up the peak. Relieved, we all headed back to the yurt. Bedtime.