Ripley Davenport has returned to Mongolia and has resumed his Mongolia 2010 Expedition, as planned. He'll now continue his very long trek across that country, covering more than 1700 miles through the Eastern Mongolian Steppe, Gobi Desert and the Altai Mountain Range. He hopes to complete one of the longest solo and unsupported treks ever, by carrying all of his supplies and gear, including food and water, in a specially designed cart that he'll pull the entire way.
The British adventurer first set out back in April, but just a few days in, he was forced to abort that attempt when a design flaw in his cart caused the wheels to seize up, preventing it from going further. He then returned home, rested up, regrouped, and fixed the problem, and two days ago he returned to the exact spot that he stopped a few weeks back, and began once again.
Ripley is keeping us all updated with his progress by posting regularly to his blog. So far, he's been making good progress, covering 48km (30 miles) on the first day out, which is a heck of a pace considering the load he is pulling. Speaking of which, he also reports that the cart, nicknamed Molly, is performing well so far on her return voyage, navigating over gullies and rocks just fine. Hopefully that will continue to be the case in the many days that are ahead.
In his entry for today, Ripley shares one of his experiences that are so sublime that they only take place in remote places like the one he is currently hiking through. He says that at 4AM he was awoken to the sounds of footsteps and snorting just outside of his tent. When he went to take a peek, he found that he was surrounded by a herd of wild gazelles, who fled at the sight of him, even before he could snap a photo.
Let's hope that the rest of his journey provides similar experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment