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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 12, 2011 - 11:58pm PT
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Worked near Kosh Agach (town) in russia for a few months (Altai Republic/Russia). Climbed a number of peaks in the area while surveying for snow leopard and prey species. Wondering if anyone had any insight or talk about this region? Would love any information. If I woke up from a coma, I would guess Wyoming on my locale. Big country!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Feb 13, 2011 - 01:02am PT
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Did you see any Snow leopards? Do you have any photos of them, or crags, or any of it, that you would like to share with us?
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Ricardo Cabeza
climber
All Over.
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Feb 13, 2011 - 01:03am PT
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We need pictures.
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The Guy
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Feb 13, 2011 - 01:08am PT
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bump for pictures!
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Feb 13, 2011 - 02:14am PT
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If I woke up from a coma, I would guess Wyoming
OK, now I'm going to have trouble going to sleep tonight.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Feb 13, 2011 - 02:36am PT
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hey there say, Q-ball, say, i'm in with these guys:
i'll vote for picture... :)
would have chipped in sooner (REALLY)but:
i been busy getting a book line...
trying to take pictures of cats and dogs...
dishing out thoughts on old age...
and pitching in a bit, on dreams...
*and i got witnesses, too... ;)
:))
hopeing for pics...
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bmacd
Social climber
100% Canadian
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Feb 13, 2011 - 03:32am PT
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I would have loved to have seen peaks in Mongolia, but nada where I was. Just remnants of the Russian Occupation and endless rolling grassy hills was all I saw ….
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Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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Feb 13, 2011 - 03:51am PT
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I'm impressed they would put a statue of Crowley there. . . . Looks just like him, all right.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 09:25pm PT
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Sorry I've been away. I not god/good at this but a a few pics I hope.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 09:28pm PT
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I'll put up some better picks, but buying a water bottle with Mt Moran in the Altai Republic water bootle gave me a laugh.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 10:33pm PT
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Sorry I'm still distracted. Hopefully a few pics of Altain Mtns!! I don't know russian (cyrillic) alphabet so my spelling was very likely off. But Kosh Agach would be the nearest town, and google has yet to find the best places in the Altai, trust me, I've searched.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 10:48pm PT
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 11:00pm PT
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It was still blinking and threatening to spill my buddies beer he was drinking. I apologize if my friends finger is on the trigger, I don't condone that.
On second thought he is simply lowering the hammer in my opinion; hope that doesn't scare you.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 11:10pm PT
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 11:17pm PT
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Am I still a troll, whatever that means?
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Feb 14, 2011 - 11:31pm PT
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Don't mind Crowley. He's just messing with you because he's grouchy. Keep posting photos of someplace we'd like to visit someday.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 11:34pm PT
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Would love to hear from anyone that has been in this territory .
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 11:42pm PT
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I'ld rather be sitting on a dead horse and drinking some natty light. Beats dealing with the Russians. I prefer a simple life.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 11:50pm PT
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I'll give you climbing photos except your all bleepity bleeps ha!!!
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Babushka
Trad climber
CT
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Feb 15, 2011 - 02:39pm PT
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wow, thank you,Q-Ball, I have been there a long time ago, around 1986. I was 21 years old and I had just started to climb at that time, but I did not go there to climb. The reason I went to Altai was more cultural and spiritual. I was trying to "find myself", so it was right place to go. Altai is the center of Eurasia, and the center of Altai is Beluha (it means White Mountain), 4440m. Locals call it "White Water place". For hundreds of years people though that there is a second (or North) Shambhala somewhere up there . Many spiritual leaders and just regular people go there to find that place. One of them was Nicolas Roerich, Russian artist and philosopher.
I lived there that summer for 2 months on the base of Beluha. I remember thinking that if there is a paradise on our planet, it is Altai mountains; so beautiful, with grass and flowers taller than your head. Beluha is amazing, the South face is more technical, with a huge icy wall, but it is easy from the north side. I think it would be great to go back and climb it one day.
I will try to find my old slides and pictures and post them here.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 15, 2011 - 08:24pm PT
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Thanks Babushka for the info and memories. I believe I was around 50-70 miles east of your trip to this special spot. I got to meet many locals still living the nomadic lifestyle, herding goats, yaks, sheep, camels, and living by the seasons moving their felt yurts/gers as the seasons dictated. I also wasn't their to climb but to find snow leopards, ibex, or argali it might as well be a climbing trip, trying to run them down in the hills!
To the west of Kosh Agach the mountains are higher more glaciated and have more forest (lower elevations).On the steppe just east the plains (where I was) are vast fairly dry and forests (larch) are a simple small band on any peak, and the rivers flowing from the peaks disappear and go underground a few miles from the base.
Big country and I'ld love to see more of it. Red Tape is a b-tch, borders China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, but the russians are the only folks I had come after me.
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bmacd
Social climber
100% Canadian
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Feb 15, 2011 - 08:51pm PT
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How about a map image with markers ? I am always interested in that part of the world having been there once. How do you survive in real life there if you can't take insults on supertopo ? The locals I'm sure are pretty hardcore peoples, the Russsians I met in UlanBaatar I thought would have killed me in a heartbeat had I said the wrong thing
More details on the region please
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 15, 2011 - 09:04pm PT
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I got one map but it is in Cyrillic and I'm not able to post/scan, etc... If I had a good (english) map I wouldn't be asking for info. On top of that I was hoping to hear from folks that might be familiar of this area. Trust me, I've tried many avenues on locating names but the area I worked is a border area and russia doesn't like easy access to that stuff. I know it is out there and sorry if my posts have been emotional. My pictures are not digitized and I only have a few that are. I'm sorry that I can't post much more as of now. It is a very remote area that google still has a hard time finding. Chuysky Steppe would be the biome we were in. Would love any info! Thanks
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bmacd
Social climber
100% Canadian
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Feb 15, 2011 - 09:12pm PT
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use maps.google.com save the image and label it yourself
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
where the wind always blows
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 15, 2011 - 09:40pm PT
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PM me if you care to still know. I'm not tech savvy and the maps available if I could post them wouldn't shed much knowledge.
What I know- Just east of the town, Kosh Agach, mountains from there to the Mongolian border with several satellite ranges. High plains with very cold winters and very short summers. Snowfall can be expected in July. Tallest peak is around 13,000 and all road within 20 miles are 2-tracks. Only larch are found in a narrow band on mid slopes, and ibex are quite common, a few argali herds, and the elusive snow leopard also calls this home. The mountains are oases in a desert non suitable for many large ungulates. Go Altai!!
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Feb 16, 2011 - 10:19am PT
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Your rigt it looks a lot like Wyoming
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Alexey
climber
San Jose, CA
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May 31, 2017 - 09:23pm PT
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosh-Agachsky_District
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кош-Агач;
За Кош-Агачем начинается пограничная зона, поэтому для посещения этого района до 2013 года гражданам России требовался специальный пропуск, который можно было получить в Горно-Алтайске, Акташе или в пограничной комендатуре самого села. С 2013 года это требование отменено[6]. Иностранные граждане получают пропуск в пограничную зону после подачи заявки за 2 месяца до въезда, и только в Акташе. В Кош-Агаче иностранным гражданам пропуска не выдают[7].
Q- Ball, you said that you do not understand cyrillic, but what is written here : to be in Kosh-Agach and work there you need to get a permit from Border Patrol. Not only for foreigners, but for Russian too until 2013. You need to file application for permit two mouth in advance.
How SnowLeopard treat you?
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Alexey
climber
San Jose, CA
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May 31, 2017 - 10:04pm PT
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
Topic Author's Reply - May 31, 2017 - 06:00pm PT
Alexey,
Funny you mentioned the Russia/Mongolia border... I was working in the Altai Mountains near Kosh Agach doing snow leopard research...ended up with a few Russian soldiers chasing me up a mountain to the Mongolian border.
Hate to say I never had elephants on that trip!
Qball
what was outcome of the chase? did you fight back with your M16?
I found a really nice guided tour Snow Leopard Transboundary Ecological Tourism Route where you can legally cross Russian-Mongolian border , watch [ not hunt] the Kitty, enter in Kosh Agach and after all write a truthful memoir
http://www.altaiproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Land-of-the-Snow-Leopard-brochure.pdf
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - May 31, 2017 - 11:27pm PT
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This letter is old and not sure what it says but believe it was a registration letter to enter certain areas happened to just stumble across it cleaning up last week.. I was able to locate many ibex a few Argali but have yet to lay eyes on.a wild snow leopard.
As I was told the soldiers arrived and asked our translator if the guy on the mountain was with them. I was hauling ass up this ridge to reach an area in my limited time. She said no, he is not my client. They responded, he is my client now.
Unaware to me they started trying to catch me. Our translator later said you were going a lot faster than them and they turned around after a few thousand feet. I ended up finding a few ibex and working my way close to the Mongolia border. Had to hunker down for a July snow squall at one point.
Coming back to the vehicles, the army guys were staring at me and confused that I came down a completely different ridge. I asked if I could take a picture with them, "nyet" was the response I didn,t hear. Good picture that is now lost from a flood.
Nice guys and we gave them a ride to their camp afterwords
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Подробнее, пожалуйста!
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Cool stories QBall. It IS nice to see the photos.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Снежный барс (snow leopard) kill in Pamirs.
Still had some fur on it. A few miles from where one visited me at my bivy, unbeknownst to me
until I saw its tracks 10' from my sleeping bag in the morning.
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Nick Danger
Ice climber
Arvada, CO
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Great thread! Thanks Q-Ball, the photos and stories are a real treat. Mouse, once again you totally deliver on the musical front.
cheers
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 1, 2017 - 01:08pm PT
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Awesome pic Reilly! And awesome you were able to be in the presence of that amazing critter!
Thanks for taking the time to post it.
Alexey won't believe you though...hell I bet you are making it all up ;)!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Q, I was following an ibex trail along the Fedchenko Glaciar (the longest outside Antarctica) when it dipped into a sort of narrow ravine. The hair on my neck went right up, it was a perfect ambush spot, and sure enough there was a week old kill at the bottom! (not the pictured one) I kept my head on a swivel you can be sure! It was about a mile from there that I bivied and discovered my nocturnal visitor.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 1, 2017 - 02:04pm PT
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Reilly, awesome! One of these days I will wander around that part of the world. Thanks for the background!
Floating a river in HN, we had tracks of a jaguar I found in the morning. It had sat a muddy hill and I suppose watched us make dinner! Cats are cool critters.
Q
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 1, 2017 - 10:23pm PT
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Reilly, on second thought... It is statistically impossible for you to have had that experience.
I was googling stuff and crunching numbers and came to this conclusion after an exhausting search.
I think you should see a doctor about your condition :).
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 24, 2017 - 01:56pm PT
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Just took a pic of an old pic. I told the one soldier, "that's a good way to blow your thumb off".
The ridge behind them is what I was surveying.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jun 24, 2017 - 04:52pm PT
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Same trip but further north in Tadzhikistan. We spent the night in this
gent's yurt at 10,000' with his mum and sister. A highlight of my life.
The rifle was to protect his sheep, goats, and cows from the wolves and
snow leopards. He wouldn't admit to having shot any as he figured we were
tools of the commissars. Don't get me wrong, they rolled out the red carpet
with genuine graciousness, but you can't be too careful, especially back in
the good ol' USSR!
At another stop I chatted (my Russian was pretty good then) with a hunter
known far and wide. He was extremely coy about snow leopards. LOL One of
my Russian buddies said that, as we were speaking, he had snuck in the dude's
back yard and saw a snow leopard pelt drying on the wall of his house! I
wasn't there to bust his chops, I was just trying to get some data.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jun 25, 2017 - 05:11am PT
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hey there say, Q-ball... say, i loved that photo of the whole mt range...
say, i missed seeing this thread, the first time...
very interesting... and the replies too...
i used to read cyrillic... but, with shifting stress, i'd just read it
silently to myself, as, i was not sure 'for correct stress' ...
would have to brush up on it now, though, that was about 20 years agao...
i LOVE alphabets, :) and liked the sounds from it...
i only had limited vocabulary, too, from a little bit of
bible psalms... :)
nice memory... say, thank you again for sharing your adventures... and nice to the see the 'bump' up, here...
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 25, 2017 - 06:34am PT
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Neebee,
Thanks, thought I would post a pic of a replica Argali Sheep skull. The base of their horns is bigger than my thigh! Amazing critters like bighorn sheep on steroids! Scientific name Ovis ammon. Only a few are left in Russia.
Yardstick for scale!
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