Yellow School Bus

I have been very busy writing my next book and catching up with family and friends and still loads to organise.

One time consuming activity has been checking illustrations to make sure that they tell the story as depicted in the text and editing the text.

Also I have just confirmed acceptance of the cover for the next book, 'Yellow School Bus' or to give its longer technical version name of the 'Yellow School Bus, an adventure from Anchorage in Alaska to Panama'. It is scheduled to be published in the autumn but there is no date set yet.

The colours displayed are not quite right but it gives a general impression of the finished article.

Mount Elbrus descent

We had summited the highest mountain in Europe and now we working our way down and back to our hotel in Chebut. The flood had severed the gas pipes so there was no gas so no hot water. Looking south behind the hotel and beyond it is the border with Georgia.

 There was no hot water and no gas due to the floods...but also no traffic on the roads. We were on the evacuation list and we made our way to the nearest military post which was just up the road from the ski station.

We were checked for ID and allowed into the border police base to be evacuated. The helicopter came in over the trees and landed.

 Every inflight brought supplies in for the thousands people stranded in the area. The return flight down the valley took people out. There was a long line of volunteers, soldiers and locals who unloaded the helicopter when it landed.

 And then it was time for us to get aboard.

 A view inside the helicopter.

 And then it was time to take off.

 And rise above the local forest.

 And fly down the valley.

 Past local communities.

 And around a bend in the valley and we were soon able to land at the next military base down the valley.

Some military vehicles lined up near the landing point.

 Some temporary accommodation near the helicopter landing point as we came into land.

 Some of the relief effort mobilised to help those further up the valley.

 Leaving the helicopter.

 Then we were collected by our driver and continued our journey down the valley towards Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino Balkar Republic and onward by air to Moscow.

Mount Elbrus summit day

we were up early for breakfast at 1am and departure at 2am. We had booked a lift on a snow cat to take us up to the top of the Pashtukhova Rocks where we had reached the day before. It was dark and with some low cloud so there are no pictures of the start of the day. 

Its was a long and lung bursting slog up the mountain but in the dark it was easy to keep on pushing up the slope without the disheartening view of a distant peak that never got any nearer.

We would be going back the same way so photos were banned on the way up until we were so near the top that it didn't matter. Here are the first photos of the top of Mt Elbrus. The plaque in the centre of the photo and the actual peak to the right.

 A close up of the plaque.

 A view to the west.

 A view to the east and the track up to the peak.

 A view to the south and Georgia beyond the last snow covered peak.

 A selfie.

 Me on top of the tallest mountain in Europe with the rest of the continent behind me.

 The members of the team who reached the top. L to R, Sandeep, Jordan, Michael and myself.

 A detail f the snow layers at the top of the mountain.

 The last walk across the top to the summit in the distance.

 A view of the long last walk to the top.

 Walking down the traverse.

 A break on the way down towards the saddle between the twin peaks.

 A look back towards one of the twin peaks.

 There were spectacular views over the lower peaks nearby.

 We had trudged down the slopes  to retrace our steps a few hours earlier and found this snowcat that had been abandoned at the start f the season. I had been digging a turning around point on the mountain but had suffered a mechanical fault and had been abandoned. The snow was deep enough and so the snow cats now tuned around further down the slope.

 more photos of the snow cat..

After this it was a short walk past the Prijut Hut and back to the Barrels and to find out how we were be getting down the mountain and ultimately to the airport.

Pastukovas Rocks on Mount Elbrus

This was another testing trek to get used to the altitude and the equipment. We set out from the Barrels after breakfast which was a huge calorie laden affair but we were doing a lot of exercise at altitude for hours on end plus using calories to try to stay warm. Whether it was working in the cold outdoors or just trying to relax in the barrel  with the radiator trying its best to boost the temperature, we were using up calories.

 We were setting out on a trek to pass the Prijut Hut that we had passed the previous day to climb up to the Pastukovas Rocks which start at an elevation of 4,700m so it was going to be a long day with climbing to a vertical height of over a thousand metres in a day.

It was a cloudy day and visibility was so poor that there are no photographs of the first part of the day. However the cloud level rose and there were a few photos of the later part of the day.

And a photo of me with my pick at the top of the rocks.

A view down the valley from which we had trudged up.

And another view of the incredibly expansive sights on offer if the skies were clear.

And soon we were back at the Barrels and we had a clear view of the twin peaks of Mt Elbrus

The next day was a rest day but there was more snow overnight which provided another covering of bright white snow. It had fallen as rain further down the valley. It had collected in a lake at the front of a glacier and it had split out over the terminal moraine and had flooded the valley. Several houses were destroyed, there were several deaths and a road had been washed away.

 A picture if the Bergschrund crevasse on the glacier adjacent to the Barrels.

 And the twin peaks of Mt Elbrus from the same position.

 But it wasn't all rest. I went out with Mark and Sandeep and got some practice in, such as walking up as ice field with an ice age.

 And it looks like I am lying in the snow but actually I am sliding down and practicing arresting myself with the ice axe.

 The feet have to be upwards otherwise the crampons will catch in the ice. At speed this could mean a broken leg or finding that you have turned 180 degrees and are now travelling down hill head first. I was practising on snow but it was still worth the effort to practice rarely used skills.

 A view across the valley which is covered in cloud.

 Sunset in the mountains...

 ...and an early night as we were getting up early for the ascent on Mt Elbrus.