Shumny Creek is a tributary to Malaya Kimitina River; it flows to the east from the Central Kamchatka Ridge. Our group had to hike up Shumny to its sources. On the way we will be taking water samples, collecting benthos & fish. On the other side of the divide we hve to come to the source of the Obryvisty Creek and do similar survey along its whole length.
Going by GTT ATV to the west from Milkovo.
Young red fox on the road
A family of brown bears is crossing the road in front of the vehicle.
Shumny Creek 10 km from the source
Sep 10. The fireweed (sally-bloom) in the birch forest is starting to become red and purple.
Our team of 3 is leaving upstream the Shumny Creek from the camp of geologists.
The only fish in the Shumny is Dolly Varden charr. Most of small charr are immature parr of sea-run fish, but bigger and brighter specimens are dwarf males.
Dissecting caught fish in a typical Kamchatka ichthyology lab.
Two top fish - dwarf males; two smaller ones - immature parr of sea-run charr; three little dark fish - charr in the age of 0+ (born in 2011).
The valley of the upper Shumny, 900 m above the sea level. Here we will overnight in a tent, and cross the divide tomorrow morning. The mountain in the background is over 1700 m.
To be continued...
Beautiful country...and I'm sure only more to come over the divide. Cheers!
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