Tuul Gol

New Painting Debut! “Tuul Gol; Jalman Meadows, Mongolia”

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Tuul Gol (Jalman Meadows, Mongolia) oil 12x24"
Tuul Gol (Jalman Meadows, Mongolia) oil 12×24″

Fall in the mountains of northern Mongolia is spectacular. I was staying at the Nomadic Journeys Jalman Meadows ger camp for a few days in September, 2012 and turned out to have timed my trip perfectly for the fall color display. The camp is up on a bluff overlooking the river valley. I spent quite a bit of time wandering along the banks, sketching the scenery and some local yaks who had come to drink and graze. There were also quite a few local herder’s horses wandering about. It was very peaceful and quiet.

Mongolia Monday- Jalman Meadows And Back To Ulaanbaatar

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And now we come to the last leg of a wonderful two-week tour and a look at one last ecosytem, the mountain forest, which is the southermost extension of the boreal forest that circles the northern part of the Earth.

The Jalman Meadows ger camp, run on a seasonal basis by Nomadic Journeys, was set up high on a bluff overlooking the Tuul Gol.

While there is wildlife around, it’s the activities one can do here that are the main attraction and we took advantage of all of them!

As I came out of our ger after getting settled in, this memorable scene met my eye.
Jalman Meadows ger camp with the Tuul Gol in the background.
A local herder with his ox-drawn cart fetched water for the camp every day from the river.
He also provided the means by which the inflatable boat on which we would take a river trip was transported. We walked about six kilometers to the launch site.
This time our "helper" was a yak/cattle hybrid called a hainag.
Inflating the boat.
And then we were floating down this beautful river.
The scenery wasn't flashy, but had a calm peacefulness.
We saw a number of birds, including this grey wagtail.
There were quite a few riffles to paddle through, which added a little excitement.
Finally, the ger camp came into view and our half-day river trip was over.
In the afternoon, it was time to go riding.
There is nothing like riding through the Mongolian countryside on a Mongol horse.
The next morning there was time for a hike up onto one of the hills near the camp. We walked up through the larch trees until we got to this view.
The mountain wildflowers were still blooming. The white flowers are edelweiss.
And the bees were still busy.
We were packing to leave after lunch when Khatnaa stuck his head inside our ger and told us to come quickly, there was an eagle close by. We got some great photos of this big steppe eagle.
He finally took off and circled once over our heads.
It had started to rain on and off and we needed to get down out of the mountains, but when we saw this big herd of billy goats and rams, it was photo op time.
They were all sizes, shapes, colors and horn designs. The young herder walked them back and forth past the car a couple of times, so we got lots of great pictures.
Another herder we saw, tending his animals, rain or shine. It was raining.
At last we approached the tarmac road, passing the spectacular statue of Chinggis Khan, facing east towards the Mongol homeland.
One more wildlife sighting...golden eagles belonging to local a local Kazakh. They go up into the mountains and capture the young birds, using them to hunt with for a couple years and then releasing them.
And then it was back into the wilds of Ulaanbaatar, now a city with over a million people. The noise was a shock after the quiet of the countryside.

Mongolia Monday: The Five Snouts, Part 4

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Almost everyone has heard of cashmere. It’s traditionally been associated with other high end luxury goods, like silk and gold jewelry. What isn’t widely known, and I’m hoping this will change, is that the best cashmere in the world comes from Mongolia. Cashmere is superfine angora goat wool. But the goats are pretty special, given that they can tolerate winter temperatures down to -40F.

I’ve seen the goats mostly at Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve and found them quirky and fun to watch. As you will see, they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and horn “designs”. But the undercoat is the same on all of them, so the rest doesn’t matter.

While there are businesses in Mongolia that take the raw cashmere and turn it into a finished product, most of the wool is purchased by the Chinese and taken back to China. Our Earthwatch group got to visit Gobi Cashmere in Ulaanbaatar. I brought home a wonderful natural color cashmere neck scarf that is as soft as can be.

But here’s where it starts, with each goat being hand-combed in the spring. Other than the 30 minutes or so they are constrained for combing, they wander free in the countryside, adding a little character and humor to the landscape.

I took this photo on my first visit to a herder’s ger just outside Hustai National Park.

A “pinto” goat at Ikh Nart.

Goats and other livestock being herded through the research camp at Ikh Nart where they had been brought for watering.

There’s one in every crowd. This one just…had…to…see what was in the can.

These goats are part of a large two ger establishment near the Tuul Gol (river) just outside of Hustai National Park.

Answer to Friday’s question: Roses. Vintage Gardens in Sebastopol, California was having an end of season sale of roses that they might be discontinuing, so I’ve ordered a bunch that looked interesting to help preserve them. Most I’ve never heard of before.