Next to a Dream.

Hello my dear Readers!

I could not write anything here for a very long time . It has been 45 days already since I started my shift as a ranger in “Kronotsky airfield” – this is the name for this ranger base station in Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka.

All the places around this unpopulated area have names that are connected to the word “krontosky”. “Kronotsky airfield” ranger station is situated in Kronostsky tundra on the bank of Kronotskaya River, that flows out of Kronotsky lake (the largest fresh water lake in Kamchatka), and fall into the Kronotsky bay of Pacific ocean. And the majestic symmetrical cone of Kronotsky volcano rises above and crowns all this beauty!

I first saw this volcano from the helicopter 16 years and at that time I gave myself a promise that to come back here. Since then I have visited this place for periods of time from two days to slightly over two months. And never was disappointed in this place. Every time after I had to leave it this volcano would start coming back to me in my dreams. I would see it in such perspectives that I was dreaming to photograph it but couldn’t yet, did not have time.

For this time, if things go as I plan, I will spend the whole winter here. But that is just the plan, we can never be sure in the future. At least my food supply here should last until May. Most of the time I will be spending performing my duties as a park ranger: patrolling the vast territory around my station, collecting the nature information for reserve research, some time I will spend repairing the current “ancient” station building and the surrounding stations, that are not constantly occupied, but rather used for long and seasonal patrolling trips. But every time I step outside I always take my camera with me, and I already have something to share with you.

Once again I wanted to say thank you to my readers. I did not have access to the internet for 2 months, but during this time the number of my readers increased! This obliges me greatly to continue!

This is how my current home looks. There is a family of bears peacefully grazing nearby on this photo.

Kronotskaya river in September with barely visible roof of my home visible on middle left of the photo.

The only way to get here is by helicopter.

And this is how the local tundra looks like in April-May when the snow is stiff enough to walk on it without snow-shoes. This picture is made by my brother, Dmitry, two years ago.

You can comment here or at the original post in Russian..