Darhad Traverse, Mongolia - Perpetual Weekend by Jim Harris

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Date

March and April, 2013

Client

National Geographic

Darhad Traverse, Mongolia

Three biologists and I spent 23 days skiing and camping in the mountains of Mongolia’s Darhad region to research wolverines.

Gregg Treinish riding in a hired van on an ~18 hour drive from Ulaanbaatar to Mörön, Mongolia

Two men riding this chainsaw and gear-laden motorcycle and sidecar stopped at the cabin for a few minutes. The sidecar provides both cargo room and stability for crossing the Lake Khövsgöl ice.

Rebecca Watters and Forrest McCarthy ski through shallow snow on a blustery afternoon.

Jason Wilmot mid-fall while skiing up slippery aufeis while ascending a tributary to the Hodon River

Gregg Treinish pauses from lacing his boots to warm his fingers on a frigid morning.

Rebecca Watters speaks Mongolian with a Darhad boy. People of the Darhad region have a unique dialect that makes conversation difficult.

A Bactrian camel carries goats on a mutli-day migration to the Darhad valley. It carries cashmere goats along with blankets and other belonging. The camels are enchained from one's load to the next's septum. This one appears to have suffered an injury from the enchainment.

Gregg Treinish extends a ruler to measure the stride of a large felid track while Jason Wilmot records measurements. The pair concluded that this was probably a Snow Lepoard track.

Gregg Treinish, Jason Wilmot, Forrest McCarthy and Rebecca Watters sit by a campfire in a Siberian larch forest above the Utrag River.

Forrest McCarthy primes the stove so we could fix bottles of hot instant coffee.

A Mongolian herder rolls a cigarette in newsprint while Forrest McCarthy sips a salty-milk Suutei Tsai tea.

After a few weeks away from reflective surfaces, Forrest McCarthy discovers a piece of mirror at Boojum lodge.

Forrest McCarthy skis the perimiter of a frozen lake below ice fog in the Ulaan Taiga

After a few feet where the snow was supportable, the person breaking trail would suddenly drop 2 or 3 feet through the weak loose snow grains below. It made for frustrating, tiring, and slow travel. Forrest McCarthy wallows while Jason Wilmot and Rebecca Watters look on.

Forrest McCarthy connects two ski poles that form the center support of our shelter.

In Ikh Jacks River valley, we encountered dozens of Siberian Reindeer. Their gentile demeanor seemed friendly, but the salt-craving ungulates really just wanted to lick dried sweat. This one got friendly with Rebecca Watters. We later learned that the animals are left unattendted in this area while their Tsaatan owners winter in lower valleys.

I discovered this set of fresh wolverine tracks. Forrest McCarthy leans down to examine.

Rebecca Watters, Forrest McCarthy, Jason Wilmot and Gregg Treinish ski across White Pasture

Lunch on White Pass. Rebecca Watters, Forrest McCarthy, Gregg Treinish, Jason Wilmot.

Rebecca Watters walks with Forrest McCarthy with the Horidol Sardag Protected Area behind.

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Forrest McCarthy reads in his sleeping bag under the stars and adjacent to a ger.

Tumursukh keeps a one year old female Mongolian Wolf, for reasons that werent entirely clear. Just because he wanted one, I think. It looks like a miserable, existence for the animal because she's tormented by local kids from the other side of the fence. Since she was taken from her litter as a pup, she would be unlikely to survive outside captivity. There is a strong connection in Mongolian culture between manhood and wolves. Many believe that manhood is only reached after a young man kills his first wolf. While that practice might make convervationists cringe, it also means that Mongolians have a vested interest in maintaining a large wolf population for the next generation.

DuMor Packraft

Expedition, packraft

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DuMor Packraft

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Darhad Traverse, Mongolia

Darhad Traverse, Mongolia

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Darhad Traverse, Mongolia

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Chamonix

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Chamonix

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Dolmite Splitboarding

Dolmite Splitboarding

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Dolmite Splitboarding

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Holden Village

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Holden Village

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Kyle Miller in Utah

Kyle Miller in Utah

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Kyle Miller in Utah

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Orizaba

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Orizaba

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brutus storm

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brutus storm

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Mt Olympus West Slabs With Forrest Shearer

Mt Olympus West Slabs With Forrest Shearer

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Mt Olympus West Slabs With Forrest Shearer

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First Storm

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First Storm

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Box Death Hollow

Box Death Hollow

Expedition

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Box Death Hollow

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Choprock

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Choprock

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Salmon River

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Salmon River

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shawnee

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shawnee

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Absaroka Beartooth

Absaroka Beartooth

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Absaroka Beartooth

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Waddington

Expedition

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Waddington

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McLean Wrangells

McLean Wrangells

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McLean Wrangells

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Ultima Thule

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Ultima Thule

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Sweetgrass

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Sweetgrass

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cold rush

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cold rush

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utah aspens

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utah aspens

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opus

opus

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opus

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rogers pass

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rogers pass

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Purcells

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Purcells

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kim havell

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kim havell

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San Rafael Swell

San Rafael Swell

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San Rafael Swell

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Antarctica

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Antarctica

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