My hot rock last night was a lava rock, so it held its head pretty well. But it also wasn’t as cold as the night before. The horses were much calmer today, so that was great. At least until after lunch. We went pretty far today. I left my phone on by accident (we had music playing while trying to build a fly trap yesterday) and S Health says we covered 13.5 miles. Or at least the yaks did! We were probably closer to 15-20 in reality, that was based on my step length, not GPS, and the yaks will cover a lot more ground than a person.

We went around one mountain and crossed two more. Traveling through a valley between two mountains was probably the prettiest place we have been so far, at least for me. There’s something about Siberian pine and dramatic, rocky outcroppings that really appeals to me. Even the yaks were placid, for a change. It was one of those days I wish I had my camera handy instead of packed away on the yaks. (To be fair, it’s really hard to ride anything besides a walking pace with a DSLR bouncing all over.)

Davaa pointed out a cave high up on one side of a cliff, where the monks hid during Soviet rule. The Soviets had been indiscriminately killing monks and all religious leaders under Stalin. Impressive hiding place… we are way out in the bush.

We stopped for the night at a nomad camp. It’s new, only two days old, and they haven’t dug a latrine yet. At first Susan and I were annoyed about this, but once we learned about the newness, that was another story. I think we were both looking forward to doing our business somewhere other than amongst some concealing scrub brush. The family is letting us sleep in their ger, so it will be tight quarters, but we can have a dung fire so it will be warm.

There are tiny, baby yaks here, not more than a few days old. So cute!! We tried to go see them, but mama is super protective and wouldn’t let us near the pen.

One of our yaks decided to cause trouble as soon as we arrived. Rather than stand nicely to have his packs removed, he made a break for it. Jack had to lasso him to catch him.

The horses settled down pretty quickly. I’m not sure what was bothering them, but after lunch all the way here they were agitated and tossing their heads. I’m not sure if there was a smell, or if it was the horseflies, or what. The flies were bad, but not the worst we’ve seen. They seem to be ok now.

After dinner, we all sat around and played cards with Davaa, Jack, Bataa, and Bayanaa. Very fun! They taught us a matching game, and I taught them slap jack. Jack seems to be warming to us more, and likes to joke with us. It’s nice to see him thawing out a bit. Bayanaa earned the nickname “Baby Bird” today because of how his hair sticks up.

Other than all that, the weather today was about perfect. Overcast, but not cold, windy enough to keep the bugs down. It’s back to a hard ger bed tonight… the last few nights on the ground have been softer. Mostly because we have been fortunate to find nice, soft, thick, spongy moss beds. Thanks to the military, I’ve forgotten how much fun camping can be.