Looking Back

It's hard to imagine now that all of our experiences and memories of Mongolia were even real. If the weather didn't get so cold in such short order we'd still be casting to those big tiamen and big lenock. Imagine how life might have been on the very ground you stand upon some 300 years ago. It was rough living for AEG and at times somewhat brutal. Even for us it was hard to imagine that this was just day-to-day life for the Nomadic countryside culture of Mongolia. There wasn't coffee shops or stoplights outside of UB. A traffic jam was a heard of goats blocking the trail to the river, and the oven was nothing more than a steel wok over a campfire. Everyone you encounter was friendly, happy, and more than willing to help you out when you were in a tight spot.
Our exploration’s into remote river basins in search of untapped taimen fisheries with Andy Parkinson’s Fish Mongolia was nothing short of an unbelievable experience and opportunity for AEG. We contacted Andy a little over a year ago when we first started planning this expedition. His invitation to explore uncharted waters was quickly accepted. We knew that he had the resources to get us into these remote stretches of rivers, and when he said he had his own personal convoy of Russian military vehicles we called BS!

Let me formally introduce the newest members of the Loop Army, the M-31 and M-66.

There wasn’t a river crossing that we couldn’t handle or mountain we couldn’t climb, this was trail blazing at its finest, AEG was invincible! The sound of 4 tons of Russian steel bending will be forever etched in our minds. Thad can best describe his 30-day 4x4 excursion across Northern Mongolia in two words, “Spinal Compression!” Personally, I was never diagnosed with spinal bifida in grade school but I can’t imagine that’d be the case now.

No matter how many times we were thrown from one side of the M66 camper and back to the other side we still couldn’t stop thinking about how we were going to get one of these vehicles back to the States.
Northern Mongolia’s landscape was carpeted with green conifer trees during its summer months. The high rock cliffs that formed the confining valley walls of the rivers we explored left the impressions that we were fishing with in Glacier National Park. This portrait was only temporary and soon changed as the temperatures dropped and the fall-winter season quickly made its presence.
What was once green was now yellow. It was impressive to watch the deciduous green needles of the larch tree turn yellow in a week’s period of time. We were traversing through yellow forest and throwing streamers into fishing holes formed by 1000ft cliffs. I can’t imagine a more scenic place and time to fish than Northern Mongolia in the fall.

We had to leave the Convoy behind at times and resort to horse packing to reach the upper most reaches of these drainages along the Russian border. Camels packed our food supplies while horse trains were formed to pack our rafts and fishing equipment. There were times when we packed several days into these untapped rivers systems, and to the best of our knowledge we were the first westerners to ever fish these waters.

The temperature dropped fast, and within days our spike camps were frozen over. Water temperatures dropped 10 degrees and the river levels had dropped a foot. We were fishing at 6000ft and the odds were stacked against us.

I remember a time when we were well into a pack trip, some 45k up river when the first flash blizzard in Northern Mongolia came rumbling down upon us. Visibility was zero. The local horsemen guiding us kept pushing into the storm without hesitation. Our dells were frozen, our hands were beyond numb, we needed shelter fast. In the distance Justin spotted some sort of stable, an animal shelter of sorts that wasn’t to appealing to our guides. I know very little Mongolian but what I did decipher from Auggie through conversation was that they had no intention of sleeping on piles of stinky goat pellets that night. In their eyes we were pansy asses, I’m sure of it, but we really didn’t care.

In the morning the riverbanks were completely frozen. Ice blocks poured down the river making casting virtually impossible. In the next update I’ll explain how we overcame these odds, the effects of fermented horse milk better known as “milkshine” by Brian, and a few snap shots of the massive taimen that eventually came to hand. Hold tight….

A good dog to everyone,

Owens

Destination Home

The boys are returning home. After 62 days of epic scenery, monster Taimen, killer bees and mud up to the fender, they embark on their final mission, Destination Home.

Getting home is no easy task; they must drive straight through 30 hours of wilderness to get to civilization. Once in Ulaanbaatar they will have two days to inventory their gear, get travel plans confirmed and shower the first layer of funk off (the guys will have to rinse and repeat several more times for effectiveness.)

After 48 hours, they take the train into Beijing where they will spend the night; only to get up 3 to 4 hours later for the homeward stretch. Somewhere between Beijing and home, they will cheat time and gain an extra day; time travel AEG style.

Once they return state side, October 20^th, the production wheels will turn and grind to crank out TBD III Mongolia; AEG’s most epic film to date. The days in Mongolia are over but the journey continues. Now it’s our turn to experience the adventure of a lifetime through the eyes of a Trout Bum.

Base camp out.

Just Say No

Spirits are high but supplies are low. Thankfully the group came across a very remote tribe of Mongolians; unfortunately they don’t speak English. Their dialect is neither Russian nor Mongolian. Which makes bartering for supplies more difficult. AEG’s saving grace, Auggie. Through Auggie the guys are able to locate a Mongolian “grocery store.” While there, Chris takes on the task of picking out and buying the sheep they will eat later that night.

They make it back to the tribe and the small community of gers. (A ger is what the Mongolians use for shelter in extreme weather conditions. They each have a wood-burning stove inside to take the chill from the bone. This is a thankful reprieve from the bitter cold the guys are becoming accustomed to.) The guys are able to borrow a couple of horses and head to the river to fish for the day.

Photo by Peter Fong

The afternoon is crisp and the scenery unimaginable. Fifteen foot high icebergs are scattered along the river, hiding under blankets of snow, making navigation challenging. They overcome the challenge and land two nice sized Taimen. Auggie is the proud captor of his very first Taimen; it measured in at 40 inches. Chris worked the same pool and pulled in its twin, matching in size and strength.

With an accomplished day of Taimen hunting achieved they head back to camp for dinner, to be greeted by another full tribe of Mongolians that have vacated the hills to see the white westerners. These natives have never seen white people before and are truly intrigued by their presence. In honor of the distant travelers, the tribe spent the entire afternoon (while the guys fished) preparing potatoes and carrots for the sheep Chris had bought earlier. The meal is just what the wearied white westerners need. The celebration didn’t end there. The Mongolian tunes began erupting from the locals and the fire set to blaze. The moment the yak vodka surfaced though, Thad ran and hid muttering something like, “never again, never again!” Safely hidden is his ger, he left the rest of the guys to their own demise of passing the forbidden bottle.

The morning came extra early and Brian had this to say, “We’re all recovering from a heavy drinking/singing party that we had with the local families around us. Word must have gotten out quick that we had killed a sheep because people started coming out of the woodwork to join the feast. The night consisted of drinking, cooking the sheep in a pressure cooker (very traditional) more drinking, singing, and all of us getting sick and throwing up the milk vodka that we were given, and then passing out in our ger with the locals laughing at us.”

Tomorrow, before the sun rises, they will make the long journey to the scientific research camp and talk with the lead researcher Zeb about his efforts to save the Taimen population. There is still a bit of snow on the ground, so time is against the guys to get out and get going. If they wait too long after the sun rises, the horse trails known as roads will be covered in mud by mid-morning.

As our day is ending here, theirs has only just begun. With a new day comes a new opportunity to save the sacred Taimen and to just say no to yak vodka!

Base camp out.

Taimen Hunting

Out of the snow, but not out of the cold. The AEG crew is still at 4,000 feet and there are still ice chunks floating down the river. That certainly hasn’t stopped them from having an epic day of Taimen fishing. They each were able to pull out sizable Taimen after floating across a sweet little honey hole.

Their journey is continuing to take them down river, while the local Mongolians secure the gear. The herd of horses and camels follow along the river, back down to locations that were marked ahead of time. These marked locations are agreed upon positions that the AEG crew selected for campsites.

The camp crew sets up the site preparing for the arrival of the Taimen hunters. As dusk sets in and visibility is low, they build a large fire so the guys can see the camp from the river. Once the guys pull off the river, they are greeted by old Mongolian tunes. Many are already gathered around the fire telling stories and keeping warm with their very own version of vodka. Of course the guys join them and of course the bottle gets passed between them. Its only after they all take a man sized swig, that they find out what the homemade vodka is made of; distilled, fermented milk of a Yak. What! Yeah, that’s just what they said. But as to not offend, they continued to pass the bottle. Eventually the locals stopped passing and let the AEG crew polish off the bottle. Thad-lapse, as the guys are calling him (http://www.itinerantangler.com/podcasts/podcast30.mp3) became one with nature after that round.

Next stop is a trip to the scientific research camp. The crew says goodbye to the horses and camels that have packed their gear for the last five days. They now mount the six-wheeled beast that will wind them through many more miles of unmarked territory, carving out roads as they go. At the scientific research camp, they will interview with the scientists there and discover what is being done about the dwindling Taimen population.

In the meantime, the AEG crew will continue to fish by day and sing Mongolian tunes by night; all in an effort to catch the ever-elusive 60+ inch Taimen.

Base camp out.

White Out

The AEG crew checked in this moring via satellite phone and they said their current conditions are awesome. Yesterday they rode horses up to 4000 foot level in white out conditions to begin their last float in Mongolia. 6" of new snow, no end in sight, but they found shelter in an abandoned barn and they are safe for the night. The fishing report today was a little weak, but the scenery and the avendture, epic!

Thad, Justin, Brian, Chris, Auggie, and Andy wish you well.


Terry