Census data for the fishing peninsula. Complete devastation and stunning beauty: how we went on SUVs to the Rybachy Peninsula. Rybachy Peninsula - geographical information
I am sure that all of you, or almost all of you, have heard about this place at least once, but perhaps did not attach any importance to it. Remember the line from the song “Rybachy has melted into the distant fog...”? So this is what they say about him - about Rybachy, fanned eternal glory peninsula located in the very north of the European part of Russia
I have been to the Kola Peninsula many times. But all these trips took place in autumn, winter or spring. It was impossible to go there in the summer. But I wanted to. And not just in the summer, but always on a polar day, when the sun does not go below the horizon. And now the trip planned several months ago seems to be taking shape - and trusted friends are ready to keep company, and there is a suitable car, and the boss doesn’t mind. Let's go! Our goal is the Rybachy Peninsula.
The Rybachy Peninsula is the most Northern part European Russia. This is a border area, so to visit it you need to apply for passes at the Murmansk border detachment or at the FSB Directorate for the Murmansk Region - the procedure is simple, but can take up to a month of waiting.
TITOVKA
We left Murmansk only in the late afternoon - purchasing food, fuel, packing luggage and canisters took almost half a day. We flew about a hundred kilometers on asphalt and behind the post border control Having crossed the Titovka River over the bridge, we turned right off the highway - the journey has begun! There are four of us - Murmansk residents Vladimir Kondratyev, Alexander and Evgeny Zarodov (father and son), as well as the author of these notes. Transport units - a UAZ prepared for the trophy on “collective farm” bridges and a 500 cc Polaris ATV.
We are moving along Titovka. The history of the name of this river and the bay of the same name in Motovsky Bay dates back to the 16th century, however, then it was called Kitovka due to the massive strandings of whales on land. In ancient times, Sredny and Rybachy were islands and there was a “whale passage” between them and the mainland. Over time, the land rose, but the age-old instincts of the animals remained.
The exact purpose of these seid stones in Sami culture is still not clear. Either they served as landmarks in the desert tundra, or were used as religious attributes
Soon we stopped on the shore for a parking lot. We had a snack, admired the completely shameless ducks stealing our bread, and moved on - there was no point in wasting precious time on sleep. It's light, polar day!
PASS
The only road from the mainland to Rybachy was built by the monks of the Pechenga monastery for their horse carts. Then, after Soviet sappers, in 1940, the first tank passed through it. During the war it was occupied by the Germans - there are still fortifications and barbed wire all around. And left and right under the slopes lie the remains of equipment, serving as a sobering factor for any driver. The road is tricky - it twists and turns, then rises and then descends from hill to hill. I can imagine how difficult it is here in winter when there is ice or a snowstorm. It’s probably not for nothing that since the war, the stream has been called Drunken before the ascent - here it was supposed to drink a glass for good luck, and on the descent Sober - in order to drink cold water and rest, wiping the sweat from your forehead... All around you are the amazingly beautiful northern landscapes with saucer lakes looking into the sky between the hills covered with soft moss and reflected in the water in some unrealistically green color. True, as soon as we descended from the pass, we found ourselves under low, dense clouds and light, sluggish rain, which subsequently accompanied us throughout the trip.
HISTORY LESSONS
We go around Motovsky Bay. To the east goes the legendary Musta-Tunturi - a four-kilometer ridge, the only section where German troops were unable to cross our land border. From June 29, 1941 until the end of the war, the front line here remained unchanged! But the names of all the dead defenders of Musta-Tunturi are still unknown. Every year, searchers raise and rebury their remains. But to the right of the road is the camp of one of these teams. Despite the early morning, the guards on duty are on their feet, and the water in the cauldron is gurgling on the fire. They invite you to sit down, treat you to tea, and show you what they found yesterday - a military-style flask with the soldier’s name scrawled on it. We meet the group leaders - Alexander and Ksenia. They are from Nikel and have been working with schoolchildren here for several years now. The city administration supports - provides tents and equipment. Yes, such history lessons will be remembered by the children for the rest of their lives!
STRICTLY NORTH
We pass Bolshoye Ozerko - a former garrison of anti-aircraft gunners, almost a city. In 1959, an air defense regiment with a missile system was transferred here from Tallinn, the same one from which a U-2 spy plane was shot down near Sverdlovsk a year later. And in the fall of 1994, the last residents left the village.
The vector of our further route points strictly north along Bolshaya Volokovaya Bay. We drive along the coast, breathing in the real Arctic wind at stops. Even inclement weather does not spoil the joyful mood in anticipation of meeting the peak point of the hike. And that's it, we've arrived! Vaydagaba, Cape German - further only the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole! Historians believe that people have lived here since the Stone Age. In the 16th century, merchant ships moored on Vaida (translated from Finnish as “to change”) and trade was carried out. German is usually interpreted as “foreign”. It seems that in this small piece everything is mixed up: the ruins of an ancient pier and a monument to the defenders of the Fatherland, a Sami well and a completely modern weather station, stones with mysterious signs and... a payphone operating autonomously on solar batteries.
DESERT SHORE
We fill a bottle with water from an ancient well and head to Cape Skorbeevsky. Another legacy of the Cold War, another abandoned garrison. An eerie sight...
We spend the night near the waterfall on Zubovka. I can’t even believe that these lands were previously so populated that to the Dutch traveler rounding Rybachy by the sea in 1594, it seemed like one big city- there were so many buildings on the shore.
SECRET PLANS
It's time to reveal a little secret here. In addition to the usual desire to visit Rybachy, I had one more goal. Now that the “classification of secrecy has been removed” and the system for issuing passes to the border zone has been worked out, there is a real pilgrimage here in the summer. Jeepers, motorcyclists, cyclists, pedestrians... But almost everyone travels along the same route in the central and northwestern parts of the peninsula. There are even companies specializing in off-road tourism, taking clients to pre-determined points, almost like the Golden Ring, only with planned adventures in the form of fords and destroyed bridges. But nowhere did I find any mention of their visiting the eastern part of Rybachy. Even in Google Earth For some reason this area is hidden behind a veil of “unreadability”. So let it be “our little edge of the Earth”!
Roads in the tundra are unpredictable. It's unlikely vehicle will ever drive - his destiny is to become the prey of “metal hunters”
VRM
Having left Zubovskaya Bay, we head east, towards Tsyp-Navolok, along the rocky seashore. After a couple of kilometers we see smooth sandy surfaces and the remains of many fortifications - during the war there was a reserve airfield here. And soon we find ourselves at the VRM. This abbreviation is deciphered as “Let’s drink, guys, “Moskovskaya””, and as “Fiefdom of fishermen-meteorologists”, and as “Here are the ruins of the lighthouse”. The latest version is now the most correct - since 1953 there has been a fan radio beacon (BRM) here. Warships and cargo ships were guided by the signals they sent. A kind of analogue of a modern GPS system. In 1979, the outdated lighthouse design was replaced by a new one, but soon no one needed it. From the former genius of human thought, in addition to the ruins of a two-story building, auxiliary and outbuildings, what remains are several 75-meter towers, located for almost five kilometers along the sea.
CHICK-PILLOWLOCK
We entered Tsyp-Navolok after midnight. As expected at this time of day, normal people were already asleep. We stopped in the center of the village near the lighthouse and looked around. No one. Only a couple of dogs run around the car and beg, barking softly. We notice that in a house nearby the door opens and the figure of a young guy in a shirt and camouflage pants appears on the threshold. The building is located behind a low fence and a gate with a star. Let's go and say hello. It is difficult to talk, because the cold, almost icy wind almost knocks you off your feet. Visiting guests are rare here, so the conversation is quite formal: “Who are they, where are they from, why, are there passes to the restricted area?” We are at a military facility where civilians are not supposed to be. Zhenya jokingly asks if there is a store or stall in the village, which immediately defuses the tense situation - we are invited into the house to drink tea. I have never eaten such delicious bread that the sailors bake in Tsyp-Navolok! Better than any croissant! Andrey is a contract midshipman and has been serving here for several years. He grumbles that they don’t pay enough, but he has no plans to leave yet: “I feel at home here, and who will teach these young people? It all depends on the midshipmen.” Although he himself is at most 27 years old, no more. And the philosopher: “What is there to do here in winter besides work? I’m writing poetry out of boredom - last year I filled up my entire notebook!” And after tea he gives us real apartments for the night with six soldiers’ beds almost adjacent to each other and a stove.
VISITING MIKHALYCH
The usual drizzle is falling from the sky, and sleeping under a warm roof, and not in a wet tent, is the height of bliss. Therefore, the morning begins closer to lunch and... with another check - the midshipman looked in and said that we should show up at the outpost with documents. Border guards in these parts have all the functions of the authorities - from the primary functions of border protection to the police and “fish control”. While we were washing and getting ready, the head of the garrison himself visited us. The serious, mustachioed officer meticulously studied the papers, but after looking “ business card" - a magazine with material about our March trip to Cape Svyatoy Nos, his eyes became kinder and the tips of his mustache crawled up - everything is fine, his own! It's time to sit down at the table together, because besides getting to know each other, there is one more reason - perhaps the most important in this situation - today is Navy Day! After a small buffet table, Andrei Mikhailovich proudly showed off his farm. Behind the shabby facade of an outwardly unprepossessing barracks, it turns out that there is a completely modern building with all the amenities and a European-quality renovation. There is a sauna and a la swimming pool outside. It’s hard to imagine how difficult it was to build all this and transport it along the “roads” on which the military “Ural” “takes off” three wheels per trip, and in winter the same VRM masts serve as reference points. But nevertheless, people live and work. On the territory of the village there is a weather station founded in 1921, a working lighthouse, from which we had an amazing view of the stormy Barents Sea, Anikievsky Island (oh, if only the weather were better!) and the deserted shores for many, many kilometers around. But even at the beginning of the last century, there was a fishing post of the Savin brothers, the largest fish buyers on Murman, there were houses of colonists, a church and even a Red Cross hospital.
STONE CHRONICLE
Weather conditions did not allow us to get to Anikievsky Island. Here is what is written about it in the “Guide to the Russian North,” published in 1898: “When the ship stops in Tsyp-Navolok, it is interesting to visit the nearby island of Anikeev, one of the slabs of which represents the stone chronicle of Murman. It is all carefully and beautifully covered... with carved names of Danish, German and Dutch skippers who came to Murman for fish in the 16th, 17th and XVIII centuries. The inscriptions are especially beautiful: Berent Gundersen 1595, 1596, 1597, 1610, 1611, 1615 blef jeg frataget skif (“the ship was taken from me”). Below, under the inscription, there is a picture of a warrior...” And even further: “The Russian inscription carved in curly writing is beautiful and interesting: In the summer of 7158 (according to the new chronology this is 1650 - Ed.) Grishka Dudin grieved.” And the expedition of M. Oresheta in 1995 discovered an even earlier Pomeranian autograph: “Standing Shurechanin Vasily Malashov 1630.”
ON THE WAY BACK
Almost a day spent in Tsyp-Navolok flew by unnoticed. In two days we definitely had to return to Murmansk. We say goodbye to our hospitable hosts and, as usual on the night, we start. Although what kind of night it is, more like light twilight.
If you look at the map, several roads lead to Ozerk - the key “crossroads” of Rybachy. We choose the shortest, but, as it turns out later, the heaviest - “Zubovsky Tract”. He goes through the mountains among tundra swamps flooded by days of rain. Puddles, often as deep as the hood of a lifted UAZ on 35 wheels, come across every 50-100 meters. And stones, stones, stones! The speed of movement is about 3-5 km/h. Sometimes it’s even easier to ride on a quad, since you can go around obstacles along the edge, but the wind and rain make it a very difficult walk.
STONE GIANTS
After 12 hours of non-stop travel, the loop along Rybachy closed, and we descended to Sredniy. Now the direction of movement is counterclockwise. From Cape Zemlyanoy we drive along the western coast along a long 30-meter cliff made of the thinnest slate plates, through which many small springs break through. The famous “Two Brothers” are gigantic remnants. There is some kind of mysticism here - it is not without reason that the Sami from ancient times considered Mount Pummanki the habitat of sorcerers (noids). According to legend, two of them - the brothers Noid-Ukko and Noid-Akka - were punished for their atrocities and turned into these stone sculptures.
38 STARS
A little further on the high bank we come across a practically untouched coastal battery from the 1950s (judging by the nameplate on the gun, manufactured in 1946). Multi-level travel system, lubricated mechanisms. During the war, the 221st battery was based here, which destroyed a German minesweeper on June 22, 1941, thereby opening the combat account of the USSR Navy. The barrel of one of her guns with 38 stars (according to the number of enemy ships sunk) now lies in a ship cemetery about four kilometers from this place.
GLORY TO THE HEROES!
We will spend the last night of this trip at the exit from Sredny, on the river bank under the Musta-Tunturi ridge. Sanya Zarodov tells how, while still a schoolboy, he participated in the installation of the first obelisk on it. I carried sand upstairs in my backpack for the foundation of the monument. Suddenly, our camp is illuminated by the sun peeking out from the clouds - after a week we have already become unaccustomed to it. We look at the brightened mountains and somehow automatically begin to discuss the route of our next trip to the North. Harsh beauty, the pull of the North, the edge of the Earth - seemingly banal phrases, but... oddly enough, very honest and appropriate here.
“Two brothers”, whom the Sami worshiped and feared, considering them petrified evil sorcerers. Nowadays a geocaching cache is hidden at the base of the northern outcrop
In the evening we were already in place.
The Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas have been a military specially protected area for decades. Back then, probably no one even dreamed of traveling along them. They knew that there, in the northernmost mainland part Russia off the coast Arctic Ocean, there are peninsulas on which there are military personnel, missile troops and border guards who protect from European enemies.
The first desire that immediately arose when setting up a tent was to save these flowers and grass. Do not trample them with your feet, much less with wheels.
They already had to be born in these harsh climatic conditions.
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In the 90s, Gorbachev made concessions to the civilized worlds and withdrew the military from the peninsula. Since then, Russians have another huge territory for travel, recreation and fishing.
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The military left, but did not transfer the territory in status. The Rybachy and Sredniy peninsulas are suspended in the air without a definite affiliation status. Military settlements were abandoned. Valuable things were stolen by looters, and time and north winds picked up this baton.
Everywhere you look, there are remnants of military equipment, garbage from the military and from new travelers. These objects only reek of sadness and disappointment. I didn't want to take pictures.
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All along the shores of Rybachy Bay, a wave washed up logs from some kind of structure.
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When we stopped in Murmansk at a store to buy gear for sea fishing and picked up groceries along the way, I noticed that the city had not yet had time to repair the city after the German bombings.
The road from Murmansk to the turnoff to the peninsulas took a couple of hours.
From the asphalt road going to Norway after the checkpoint, after a few hundred meters, we turned right and immediately found ourselves in the USSR in 1943.
Although I was warned, I was still shocked by such hellish roads. It turns out that “German bombers targeted the roads.”
We covered 100 km to our destination in 10 hours. Although our car is a real SUV, we still hit the bottom hundreds of times.
Despite the fact that such hellish roads were not only on our way, but in all directions. Like in that fairy tale: if you go there, you’ll break the wheels, here you'll drive a car leave it.
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Only real extreme sports enthusiasts travel along these so-called roads, where there is danger on every meter.
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We crossed rivers, small surviving bridges, fords, puddles and mud alternated. Therefore, the peninsulas are held in high esteem among travelers, jeepers, fishermen, quads, and snowmobilers.
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Here and there there are broken cars on the road...
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Nature, despite its, at first glance, scarcity, did not allow us to take our eyes off itself. It’s a pity that we weren’t able to take much photographs; we stopped a couple of times. There was no time for that.
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In a couple of places on our way we came across some stencils that did not deserve respect, as if this territory natural Park. This means that somewhere there are offices and employees who receive salaries.
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What are they doing, maybe they built a gazebo, but that’s unlikely.
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At the next monument.
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Thousands of soldiers died on the peninsulas. Many monuments. Some of them are in good condition.
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Abandoned monuments abound in peninsulas like this one.
Upon closer inspection, you can see a dozen gravestones overgrown with grass.
But in the cities we pompously celebrate Victory Day and organize an immortal regiment.
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In fact, it is not surprising that the monuments are abandoned. If monuments near the hero’s city of Murmansk are being destroyed and there is no one to repair them, then it would not be worth expecting a better attitude towards them in the distance.
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There is no one to get permission to fish from. So, catch as much fish, crabs, and shrimp as you can, even in tons.
Perhaps we were in the status of a poacher since we fished without a license.
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There was a sea of fish in the sea..))
Various fish in the depths seemed to be waiting for the lure to immediately be attacked and to be hooked.
There were also unfamiliar ones, like this scary-looking fish.
Just in case, we let her go back to sea. Then we found out that you were selling something rare.
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We came across these weirdos from the depths of the sea
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The fish were caught so well that from the very first day the question arose: “Where should I put it?”
The most cunning fishermen from the team hurriedly went out to sea on the very first day and fished with all their hearts as many as two boxes of different fish. So on the second and third day, fishing was taboo. Don't throw it away?
Then they caught as much as they could eat. And they caught fish selectively that they didn’t eat yesterday.
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Fried flounder fish, oh so delicious!
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We cooked food on gas. By the way, there are no trees as such on Rybachy. Some small handicrafts, from which there is no way to make a full-fledged fire.
Semeshkin Anatoly Konstantinovich at the workplace.
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Keith liked our presence on the shore and every day he approached us a hundred meters and defiantly blew the boiling water away from him through the pipes. Apparently its hull had holes and water was leaking out.
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We wanted to catch a whale for dinner. We conferred and consulted and decided not to.
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Shish kebab from some large fish and Armenian vodka went well together.
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A group of fishermen from Arkhangelsk with two cars and trailers specialized in crabs. They had conditions for storing fish. Therefore, they boldly caught both fish and crabs.
Moreover, they knew where and how to place nets and traps.
I even helped them for a minute to release the crab from the net. But he also ate as much as he could. Before that, I only knew the taste of crab from those sticks that are sold in stores. Incredibly delicious.
It turns out that there are too many crabs in these parts. They were once brought from Kamchatka to breed, and there were so many of them that either through the bay or across the isthmus they crossed into the waters of Norway.
The paradox is that Norwegians commercially catch crabs and sell them wholesale, including to Russia.
And in Russia, mafioso responsible officials do not even allow amateur fishing. Although unofficially, but quite legally, crabs are sold in Murmansk on every corner wholesale and retail and in any form.
Our team did not know how and did not catch crabs. But we ate when the Arkhangelsk men treated us, and they always treated us.
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The crab that I lowered to the ground turned out to be warlike and attacked me and wanted to eat me. But I managed to get out...
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It turns out that to keep crabs longer, you need to boil them in sea water.
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When, on the way back at the airport, I saw what crabs were being sold for and counted how many rubles I ate for those 10 days, I felt sick. You could have bought a used foreign car for that money.
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Although the Arkhangelsk people showed us a way to fish for crabs, for us Urals it was not a feasible dream. Bring such things with you, etc..
By the way, sometimes, but very rarely and only when they come to Rybachy good people, then it becomes warm on the peninsula, so much so that you can sunbathe and dive into the sea. That's what we did.
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It was so hot that we only cooled down with watermelons. Like this watermelon eater.
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We swam in the northernmost mainland of Russia near the shore of the Arctic Ocean. Since there were no women within a radius of one hundred kilometers, they swam without swimsuits.
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The sea water was very clear! All the fish in it off the coast were visible despite the fact that fish and crabs relieve themselves here, not counting the whale.
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On Rybachy the weather is extremely changeable. Either, as it should be in the northern part of Russia, it is windy, cold, rain and snow, then it is sunny with heavy winds and rain.
This is what we experienced ourselves. A strong wind instantly tore down the fishermen's tent, although I don't remember where they came to the peninsula from to drink vodka.
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It turned out that the sea here ebbs and flows back every day at the same time, no matter what the weather is like outside.
A wave from the sea instantly flooded the rubber boats. Then a lot of people couldn’t drag them to the shore.
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In the photo is the caretaker of the Izhevsk group. The cruelest man. He always looked into the distance and commanded: “Bring a ton of fish here, take a ton of crabs there!..”
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For the slightest disobedience, he almost tore my friend to pieces.
Just kidding, staged shots. The kindest man
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Some Izhevsk guys collected cloudberries and made jam in the camp. What can you say, well done, they were thoughtful enough to bring sugar and utensils with them.
And the cloudberries were very tasty and sweet with sourness.
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I’m amazed how all this junk in the photo fit in one car, as well as four healthy men and another nasty dog. Otherwise, it is expensive for everyone to travel such a distance in their own car. And ruin your car on these roads.
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The only houses on the peninsula built over the last 20 years for tourists. The toilet is outside. Wash in the sea.. Conditions are a little better than in a tent.
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But in your tent, although it’s a constant mess all the time, it’s cozy and warm...
Because it’s yours!!!
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During the war with the Germans, the peninsulas were important for defense for the USSR. Then the defense of Rybachy and Sredny was built in such a way as to repel attacks from the sea. From the shores, our troops controlled the movements of the German fleet in the Barents Sea and did not allow them to approach Murmansk.
And now various kinds of structures were visible on every meter, if you looked closely.
Unexploded anti-submarine ships bombed on the shores of the Barents Sea.
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Classic technical solution.
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It is not clear the purpose of this 4-5 cm thick nail driven into the stone. Probably from the time of the Vikings.
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It is for this reason that the peninsulas truly became a historical museum area.
On the road to Zubovka, in the most continental northern region of Russia, on the side of the roads our “guide” showed rock paintings from the Stone Age.
It is not clear who painted in these harsh lands in those centuries, Finns, Russians or Norwegians.
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The peninsulas were previously inhabited by Vikings (Norwegians), and they left their cultural mark in the form of ruins of trading posts and mounds of graves.
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Our military left a fresh and boldly uncultured trace in the form of destroyed structures.
The Norwegians, even further north than the peninsulas, have created paradise living conditions. We became one of the lucky ones in the world.
In the meantime, there are only frightening ruins around on the peninsulas.
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But off the coast there are submarines here and there...
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I left Rybachy with complete disappointment, but with the intention of returning here again someday.
I would like to return, but not in a jeep with a trailer. Stay in a cozy hotel, catch fish without fear of being a poacher, eat crabs, travel around the peninsula, go to your room in the evening, look out the window at the cold winds, wrap yourself in a blanket and sleep until dawn.
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Should the Vikings or Finns rent out the peninsulas? Should we, in exchange for offset, come for a couple of weeks for a free rest as a human being?
There will probably be some inaccuracies in the story, so please correct me.
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My summer road trip there was to be a trip to the Caucasus, the main event of which was to be the ascent of Elbrus. But in July, about a month before the start, a friend from St. Petersburg called and spoke with enthusiasm about the Rybachy Peninsula in the Murmansk region, in the north of the European part of Russia: “The ocean, views of extraordinary beauty, fields of mushrooms and berries, abandoned military units, strategic objects during the Second World War - lost World..." His story aroused considerable interest, and I began to think about the possibility of going there. But, of course, not this time. And if this was the case, then a good reason was needed.
And such a reason appeared. It was the rains that, according to the forecast, were expected in the Elbrus region at the end of summer. I don’t know to what extent the forecast turned out to be correct, but... in general, I easily changed direction from south to north. Circumstances were such that at the same time a good friend of my St. Petersburg friend was going to go to Rybachy from St. Petersburg with me with a company. They agreed that we could join him.
According to the navigator’s calculations, there are two routes that are approximately equal in travel time, leading from Moscow to Rybachye. One goes through St. Petersburg, the other through Vologda. The length of the first is about 2100 km, the second order is 2000 km. But the first one is a little faster than the second one, since the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway has a number of toll speed sections. The routes go around from different sides Lake Onega and converge in its northern part. Then there is one road - to Murmansk.
I needed to go to St. Petersburg. The road to it from Moscow is well known to many. In recent years it has been getting better: there is more good asphalt and fewer areas with strong speed limits. The journey to St. Petersburg, which is 700 km, takes almost a day if you don’t rush. Night in St. Petersburg. In the morning to Murmansk. The road to get there is generally not bad. There are places under renovation. There are more cameras, both stationary and mobile, than few. Sometimes you can see traffic police patrols lurking on the roadsides. The route is remarkable for the surrounding rocky Karelian nature, the abundance of mirror lakes and swamps of swamps, in some places extending beyond the horizon. Closer to Murmansk there are fewer forests, the landscape begins to turn into tundra.
On the way to Murmansk we spent the night with a friend in Kirovsk. The city stands to the side, about 30 km from the highway, in the Khibiny mountains, well known to skiers. Returning from Kirovsk to the highway, there were about 200 km left to Murmansk.
To go to the peninsula, as they say, you need to take everything. There are no shops there. The Murmansk supermarket is not much different from the Moscow one - the range and prices are approximately the same. At gas stations the price of diesel fuel is about 3 rubles more than in the capital.
When we were still on the way to Murmansk, 160 km from St. Petersburg, we stopped at a store at a plant in Potanino that produces canned meat. They bought some stew there. I can say with confidence that I have never eaten any other stew tastier than this one. Slava pointed him to the store. The same good friend of my friend with whom we were going to travel around Rybachy. By the way, Slava knows the peninsula and its history well. Was once located there military unit, in which he served in the army. During his service, he became so imbued with Rybachy that he has been coming there every summer for many years. At the same time, Slava has extensive experience in operating off-road equipment. Now he drives a Sobol off-road camper, reconstructed with his own hands. Slava, in fact, became our guide, and his car was at the head of the column, the first to explore the off-road. But more about Rybachy’s off-road conditions later. I'll tell you a story related to it. My friend from St. Petersburg, having seen the new Mitsubishi Pajero Sport in which I arrived, was seriously puzzled by how to avoid or at least minimize the damage that, as he believed, awaited the car on our upcoming journey. He walked around the car and said: “We need to at least remove the bumpers. Well, in general, I don’t know, are you ready to leave it there? Or let's leave him here and go in my pickup truck." His old American pickup truck stood nearby. I can’t say that this didn’t alarm me, but I just said that I wasn’t going to rush into the embrasure. “Well, that’s right, if anything happens we’ll turn around and go home,” he summed up joylessly.
Rybachy is not connected to the mainland; it is connected by a narrow isthmus with another peninsula called the Middle Peninsula, which already turns into mainland. Therefore, to get to Rybachy, you need to drive through Sredniy. As you know, during the Soviet era, the peninsulas were located in a closed area, where a whole cluster of military bases was created. In the 2000s, entry was opened for civilians, but only with special passes. From 2009 to this day, at the Titovka checkpoint they only require you to show your passport, and they can see what is being transported in the car. The checkpoint is located on the Kola highway, going through Pechenga, approximately 160 km from Murmansk. The point is located in front of the bridge over the river. Almost immediately behind it there is a right exit onto a dirt road. Having turned onto it, you are not yet at Sredny, it’s about 25 km to get there, and then about the same distance to Rybachy. But you can consider that your journey begins at this point.
The road to Rybachy sometimes winds like a serpentine, rolling from hill to hill, then straightens out. There are no difficult areas to navigate here. But this path cannot be called easy either. It will test your nerves because much of it is full of potholes. There is no use going around them. I can only give one piece of advice: secure all the things in the car, because the shaking, if you can call it shaking, will be strong. At first I tried to drive slowly and look for the least deep holes. But at some point I really wanted this to end as quickly as possible, and the principle “more gas - fewer holes” was used. And I find it difficult to say which of these two methods will be better for a person. The second option, in addition to reducing time, makes it possible to feel like a participant in a rally raid. True, if you do not have a time-tested, strong SUV, then the “with gas” principle is probably not worth using.
They say that the potholes were formed due to heavy military equipment, who comes here for military exercises. On the way back we found ourselves almost participants in these events. The soldiers, as it seemed then, were imitating clearing mines on the road, they were covered by a tank, and then our Pajero Sport appeared around the bend. We stopped about thirty meters from the tank, and its turret turned towards us with the barrel of its gun. Whether it was a joke or following an order/instruction, I don’t know. The feelings were ambivalent.
The region where Rybachy is located has quite rich history, but getting to know him was often connected precisely with his military past. Vivid impressions Because of the beauty of the local views, memorials with stars are constantly torn off - the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Soviet army in the Great Patriotic War.
On the isthmus connecting Sredny with the mainland, lies the granite Mustunturi ridge. The northern front line passed along it. The place is legendary, the only one where the Germans were unable to break through the front line. The famous Soviet writer Konstantin Simonov took the image of the hero from one of the officers who defended him for his work “The Artilleryman’s Son.”
Rybachy played an important strategic role, since it controlled the entrances to the Pechenga bay in the west and the Motovsky and Kola bays in the east. The protection of everything largely depended on this Kola Peninsula with the city of Murmansk and its ice-free port. The capture of this Arctic territory was one of the particularly important tasks for the German command. It was to be carried out by the Army of Norway, formed from two German and Finnish corps. The Germans expected the capture of the peninsula from the sea. In this regard, on the eve of the war, a number of defensive structures were created on Rybachy and Sredny.
As you know, the western part of the peninsulas belonged to Finland from 1920 to 1940. This was a consequence of two Soviet-Finnish wars. As a result of the first of them, in 1920, our country ceded part of its territories to Finland. The Second War provided the USSR with a significant expansion of its borders in the Finnish direction in 1940, including the return of previously given lands. The fortification of Sredny and Rybachy was carried out in a short time and was not completed before the German attack. But the Germans, having broken through the Soviet border, attacked the peninsulas from the mainland. And they were stopped at Mustatunturi. Our Northern Fleet made a significant contribution to this, providing powerful fire support from the decks of ships. On Mustatunturi, the assault was carried out by well-equipped and prepared for combat in the northern mountainous conditions by the rangers of the elite German unit “Edelweiss”. The retention of the peninsulas lasted 3.5 years. Needless to say, what it cost the Soviet army. This land is watered with blood.
The Mustatunturi area has stunningly beautiful views. They are especially well demonstrated by the so-called Swabian Road, which winds along lakes and hills. It was built during the war to support the German army storming the peninsula, and comes from Pechenga, which the Germans called in Finnish - Petsamo. The turn to it is located before the pass over the ridge on the way to Sredny. Driving along this road, it is difficult to combine the beauty of the surrounding nature with heavy fire and bomb attacks.
The Swabian road is well preserved and surprises with its quality, but travel along it is complicated by destroyed bridges. To get around them, you need an SUV with high ground clearance, allowing you to drive through large stones. Along the road, the Germans built a chain of various engineering structures. From many of them only fragments of walls remain, but they are quite easily recognizable. But there are also almost intact buildings.
After the Second World War, many different kinds of artifacts remained on the peninsulas, and especially on the adjacent mainland, including Mustatunturi - from artillery pieces and ammunition to ordinary household items used by the military. IN Peaceful time The Soviet army ruled here, many expeditions, search parties and just tourists visited, so there were significantly fewer artifacts. But, as knowledgeable people say, there are still a lot of them, it’s just becoming more difficult to find. However, mines, shell casings, and other similar items, heavily rusted, which time has not spared at all, which is why they no longer represent almost any historical and material value, are often encountered.
The sights of the Sredny Peninsula, as well as its history, are closely connected with Rybachy. Therefore, the Middle one is also interesting. But we don't dwell on it. Our goal is Rybachy. It is much larger, and there is an ocean behind it. Yes, the ocean never borders on land. On the maps, the Rybachy Peninsula is washed by the Barents Sea, which turns into the ocean. And, nevertheless, this is a convention, because there is water between the Rybachy and North Pole.
There were no plans to get to Rybachy on the first day. We stopped for the night, setting up a tent camp not far from the road. On the second day, we separated from Slava’s group and agreed to meet on the peninsula. And this gave us one plus: the absence big company and support enhanced the impressions of my first acquaintance with Rybachy. And it began with the abandoned military village of Ozerko, which attracts with a couple of five-story buildings.
Gray, with window sockets blackening with emptiness, they look gloomy. The sad colors were added by the densely covered sky with heavy leaden clouds, rain, cold gusty wind and complete desertion. Once inside them, you begin to imagine how and who once lived here. These impressions are probably the only thing that visiting them can give. But the strength of these impressions depends on one’s own acuity of perception, awareness, and maybe something else. It's not just desolation inside. Everything there was looted and destroyed. Although at home we never saw war. They were built and abandoned by people in times of peace. What you see in these five-story buildings is then seen throughout the entire peninsula at all abandoned military installations. Some say that they can be seen as a picture of the apocalypse. I would call the picture differently, something related to the decline of morality, which was especially evident in the nineties, after the collapse of the USSR.
Five-story buildings appeared in the early seventies in addition to other housing and amenities infrastructure created for the military. By that time, a number of troops were stationed at Rybachy, including air defense forces armed with an anti-aircraft missile system. The village of Ozerko was quite well equipped; there was even a hockey court near the five-story buildings. Closer to the nineties, armament reductions began on the peninsula, followed by demilitarization, which ended in the fall of 1994. After the military left, in addition to the established system of infrastructure facilities, a lot of different equipment and machinery remained on the peninsulas, in particular, cargo transport and all-terrain vehicles. The material base was mothballed, but during the post-Soviet collapse of the country this did not protect it. They say that a significant part of the equipment was sawn into metal.
After getting acquainted with Ozerko, we went to look for the place where Slava was supposed to stand, and got lost. We drove along a hard, rocky road, but then mud appeared and the ground became more and more unsteady. The lower gear and axle locks were already engaged, and the car was moving more and more heavily. And soon we were crawling in the middle of the muddy tundra there, which can hardly be called a road, and a swampy lowland awaited ahead. In the end, we turned around.
Evening was beginning, we decided to postpone the search, and stopped for the night on the shore of Bolshaya Volokovaya Bay - in the western part of Rybachy. It takes a long time to search Beautiful places There was no need for parking, there were a lot of them. But such places are often not without wind. And the wind from the ocean can be so strong that even the tent cannot stand. But we found quiet place We didn’t even put up a tent under the rock, we just put up an awning to protect ourselves from the rain. You won't freeze at night in a warm sleeping bag.
When we arrived at Rybachy, it was cloudy and raining from time to time. This is the Arctic and you can’t count on warm days in August. At night the temperature drops to seven degrees. But, as we were told, a few days before our arrival it was hot, which, in general, is rare for this region. Although we did find a few sunny days. Winds blow often, but sometimes they are barely noticeable. In the depths of the peninsula there may be no wind at all, but then, if there is a lake nearby, there is no small chance of being attacked by clouds of midges.
When they say that the ocean feeds, you might think about fish or some other seafood. But the ocean even provides wood for the fire. On Rybachy there is tundra, water and stone. And the tree can be found by walking along the shore. There are boards and logs. Just choose those that have already sat down and dried out. In general, the ocean throws out everything - both garbage and a lot of good stuff. Later, on one of the beaches of the peninsula we discovered a huge bay of good rope. Perhaps she was washed off the ship in a storm. The rope is such that it can serve as a reliable tow rope for a large SUV.
The next day it was clear sky, the sun was shining and we decided to take a walk deep into the peninsula. Its topography is hilly, strewn with stones, with many rock formations.
Vegetation due strong winds low, a significant part of it covers the ground like a carpet, in places bushes grow densely. In the lowlands it is damp - puddles, hummocks. The peninsula is cut by streams and river beds, so when traveling along it, you will not be able to pass them.
In rivers the flow can be rough. We come across such a river. We cross it along a pile of stones.
You might think that where the tundra is, everything looks monotonous. However, it is not. Here the tundra, in combination with stones and rocks of various shapes, forms interesting, diverse landscapes.
Their highlight is often the ocean or the tundra itself with its bright colorful vegetation.
The flora is quite rich. There are many flowers among it and there are whole scatterings of berries.
The most common of them is crowberry. There are many blueberries, cloudberries, which are very popular in Scandinavia.
There are also a lot of mushrooms on Rybachy. Of these, boletus mushrooms are often found. They are very large.
Boletus mushrooms grow under birch trees. And they are here, only dwarf ones. They can creep along the ground and look very similar to the roots of a plant.
There are also very beautiful mosses here.
By noon, the sun was so warm that when the wind died down, it became warm like the south. At such moments, looking at blue waters One could easily imagine that this is the south of Bolshaya Volokova Bay.
There was no need to look for Glory. He found us himself, on a motorcycle. Yes, our group had several motorcycles - motocross and pit bikes. They were brought on a trailer.
With such transport you can quickly get to places that would be difficult or even impossible to travel by car. A motorcycle allows you to see more. In addition, the peninsula will provide the motorcyclist with mud baths, water obstacles, rocks, slopes, sand, in general, everything that is needed for an extreme drive on rough terrain. Traveling by car, we weren’t looking for extreme sports, but we couldn’t do without it.
Every day our group moved to a new place on SUVs and motorcycles. Time was limited, so the route ran through the western part of the peninsula, where there is less off-road terrain and many attractions. Rybachy has, in a way, its own main roads. They are well rolled out, with clear boundaries, and can be marked by poles in barrels standing along them.
Most tourists travel along them. And if it weren’t for the numerous waterways flowing into the ocean and the puddles in the lowlands, you could drive through them in the most ordinary crossover. River beds can be saturated with large stones and can have steep slopes, and the water level can be knee-high. These are not the most serious obstacles on the peninsula, but in order to go around the entire western part, they will have to be overcome, and this can be enough to damage the car. Stones can hit the body, puncture the wheels and break parts located under the bottom. When crossing rivers without taking a number of precautions, you can even drown your car. Torn transfer case protection, punctured wheel, broken stabilizer lateral stability, a water-filled interior, scratches on the body - troubles that befell our group, which, by the way, consisted of people with some off-road experience.
The interior of the car was flooded, although not on the river, but on one of the roads running far from the shore through the tundra, where there were huge puddles in the lowlands. One of the SUVs, dragging a trailer, caught the tow bar on a concrete slab lying at the bottom of one of these puddles and slid to the side of the road where there was a hole. So the left side of the car ended up up to the glass in water and mud. The hole may have been caused by a skidding military truck. And the slab was probably once laid to cover an area with too unstable soil. Interestingly, the puddle did not look deep and we were not prepared for such a nuisance. It's a different matter when crossing rivers.
Slava's camper has a significantly increased, high ground clearance, and in addition to it, a lower gear, two inter-wheel locks and an inter-axle lock. He was the first to slide into the water and determine whether the others could pass. The water obstacles were not long, but they hid large rocks and their depth with all sorts of holes. The presence of such a specially prepared car among standard production SUVs, even good ones, on Rybachy, as I now believe, is not desirable, but mandatory. Unless, of course, you want, as my friend said on the eve of the trip, to leave the car there. Although, we also had one more help - motorcycles. They made it possible to quickly find out how passable the area ahead was.
The water level in the rivers of the peninsula depends on the ocean. For example, where during the day the water can be below the knee, in the evening, during high tide, the level can rise to two or more meters. This feature is also important to take into account.
When driving across a river, don't go too fast. You should not push the wave ahead, but follow it, as it were. If you push the wave, then water will begin to penetrate under the hood, which can end with who knows what. But when you drive into a river, and the water is already at the level of the bumper, you really want to get out onto land as quickly as possible, and your nerves may not be able to stand it, your foot will increase the gas. I made this mistake once. Water rolled onto the hood and... thanks to the Mitsubishi engineers! Now I’m not saying this for advertising, because this error may have high price. My Pajero Sport went everywhere I needed to, forgiving mistakes, and never let me down.
Before going to Rybachy, having learned about the features of its terrain, I was seriously puzzled by what tires to put on the car. I started with something simple: I called a friend - Nokian Tires. He recommended the Nokian Rotiiva AT. This is a tire, as stated in its description, with reinforced sidewalls protected from side cuts, with a tread that works well off-road, is not noisy and is economical on asphalt. I installed it and it didn’t make a mistake. On the highway, the average fuel consumption was around 5.5-7 liters.
Some of the people who come to Rybachy do not have a thrifty attitude towards nature, leaving behind a lot of garbage and damaging the vegetation layer. There are places where, instead of a multi-colored carpet of tundra plants, there is a huge dirty clearing, rolled out by the wheels of off-road vehicles.
People's desire to be surrounded beautiful nature, without showing concern for her, is a real threat to the Rybachy Peninsula. How to protect him from such a threat is the question. We raised it more than once in our company in the evenings.
Scientists have established that people lived on Rybachy back in the Stone Age. This discovery was made in 1979 thanks to a military man fishing in Zubovskaya Bay who noticed the rock paintings. After this, about thirty ancient human sites were found on the peninsula. On Rybachy there are Viking graves, and a place where Lapps were sacrificed was discovered. The peninsula was inhabited by Norwegians, Finns and Russians.
Natural resources made it possible to actively engage in whaling, reindeer husbandry, livestock breeding, and, of course, fishing - what gave the peninsula its name. Traces of the activity of people who inhabited Rybachy in different times can be found today. But, I’ll tell you straight, nothing attracts you here like nature. She is so attractive that you begin to long to be alone with her.
It so happened that I was not able to go to Cape Nemetsky - the northernmost point of Rybachy and the entire European part of Russia. In one of last days our stay on the peninsula, when we had already traveled around its western part and were on south coast, near Motovsky Bay, I separated from the group and went to Nemetsky alone. Most of the path was known. On the route I met a beautiful sand beach, formed by low tide.
I stopped often and took a lot of photographs, which was difficult to do when moving in a group, time passed and the tide began to rise. Because of this, I encountered difficulty crossing the river. He poked his head in two places. In both cases, after the bumper disappeared under the water, afraid to take risks, he engaged reverse gear. Interestingly, there was no typical tundra vegetation in that place. Tall grass grew around, like reeds, as tall as a car, which made it difficult to navigate. These thickets were entangled with a whole network of roads. I returned to the same place several times, but then I discovered a waterfall, found a road that went above it, and drove through a shallow ford. With the understanding that there were few daylight hours left, my triumph was not strong. Another circumstance prevented us from rejoicing: there was little fuel left in the tank, and we didn’t have a spare canister with us. In order to drive quickly, without things bouncing around in the cabin, the day before I unloaded almost everything from the car, leaving only a sleeping bag, an ax and some food for the evening and the next morning. Not far from Nemetskoe on the bank of Vaida Bay there is a small military unit for detecting (airborne objects). My hopes of getting diesel fuel from the military were not realized. Their refusal was so categorical that... it seems that the tourists were really fed up with them.
But once on the shore of the cape, the problem was forgotten. I was alone. By the way, it later turned out that Cape German is perhaps the most popular place among tourists coming to Rybachy. Therefore, I was lucky. In Nemetsky it is beautiful in its own way: the richly colored tundra spreads like a soft carpet among very unusual rocky formations with a layered structure.
In the sea, to the left, the coast of Norway is visible in the distance.
Several years ago, when I just bought myself a jeep, I had a dream of going to the Rybachy Peninsula. Several times, due to various circumstances, I had to postpone my dream until next year, and the very fact of driving my car along the Rybachy Peninsula began to seem to me something akin to losing my virginity as a jeepper, and then all roads are open. And finally this year the car was ready to go, and we were filled with determination. And, the dream came true!
From the forest near Karshevo at 5 am we started for a long and difficult journey to Murmansk. Almost 700 km from Pudozh we walked in pouring rain. The Murmansk highway is almost perfect, apart from several sections where repairs are underway. By 11 pm we finally arrived in Murmansk and stayed at the 69 Parallel Hotel, which, as it turned out, is especially popular among four-wheel drive travelers. Everyone we met stayed there. And near the hotel itself, dirty monstrous jeeps have become commonplace.
Having had a good rest, the next morning we started repairing cars. First, we returned the stabilizer to its place on Lekhin P3, and then we went to Svyat, where they sawed off the cut bolt and returned the stabilizer bracket to its place. Holy, thank you so much again for your help. There they also found a torn rear axle breather and torn wires from the rear cross-axle lock sensor. Well, we hope that I won’t need it on Rybachy.
Having completed all the repairs and purchased groceries, we return to the Kola highway and finally cheerfully drive towards Rybachy in the evening.
1. We soaked the wheels in the salty waters of the Arctic Ocean.
2. I crossed Arctic Circle for the fourth time, and the first time by car. And every time this moment is accompanied by some incomprehensible feeling of euphoria.
3. After passing border control, we immediately turn right onto the road along Titovka and drive to the large Melnichny waterfall
6. If I’m not confusing anything, then at one time there was a small hydroelectric power station at the waterfall, supplying electricity to the now lifeless village of Bolshaya Titovka. According to updated information, this is a German hydroelectric power station from the Second World War.
7. Now, naturally, there is devastation
8. Second cascade
9. The Titovka River valley behind the waterfall
10. In an hour, or maybe more, we reach the Sredny Peninsula, already in deep twilight. And here is such a surprise. Catch the warriors, find out about the shooting and where to stay for the night. There is no information yet, but there will be shootings in the area of the road to Two Brothers. We get upset and set up camp near Lake Yauhonokanyarvi, where we met the guys on the Jimnik, with a three-month-old baby. We meet over a bottle of whiskey and go to bed at dawn. If you come across a report, hi guys.
11. In the morning we come back to the soldiers, they say that there will be no shooting for the next two days. We joyfully tear through the western part of the Middle.
12. Small waterfall
13. And here, apparently, is one of the shooting zones. Everything around the road is blocked wooden hedgehogs and barbed wire.
14. This is a gorgeous road!
15. Finally we got to Ponochevny’s battery
17. Some mechanisms, oddly enough, work. One tower even turned out to be rotated in a circle
18. But most of the levers were torn off, and they tried, no less, to saw off the barrel of one of the guns
19. We descend back to the coast and head towards the Two Brothers
20. Here they come
21. I cut down onions with two brothers and two cars, we were here-)
22. We get to the Rybachy Peninsula and the first thing we see is a burnt-out six with a bunch of burnt-out spare tires in the cabin and trunk
23. Dusk begins. We are looking for a place to spend the night. We visit the former air defense positions located at the top. The western part of the peninsula is in full view. Having looked around the area with a keen eye, we find a good place, protected from the wind by bushes and a promising view.
24. Evil mushrooms
25. Lech, out of impatience before dinner and port wine, bent the key to 36
26. Parked in position
27. Having broken through the bushes in azimuth and overcoming the old trench, we drove out to a gorgeous place overlooking the ocean. Dense vegetation up to the hub. It rides with tension almost like walking on sand. We settle down and celebrate our arrival at Rybachy with Portuguese port wine and a cigar in the rays of the most gorgeous sunset.
28. In the morning we woke up to a downpour. We quickly broke camp and, postponing breakfast until later, moved towards Cape Nemetsky. All that remains of the Lena radar
29. The personification of the beauty of the peninsula
30. Balls. You can't go there.
31. We quickly reached the lighthouse. An ominous brick with a barrier and a hanging bicycle hint that further passage is closed.
32. I climb onto the roof of the neighboring ruins and quickly find where I can move out.
33. And here we are at the very northern point European part of Russia. Euphoria!
34. Stones, algae, smell. Jellyfish swim around and shimmer with electric light like neon.
37. There are old trenches nearby.
38. The landscapes are simply fantastic. A photograph cannot convey this. Well, or my skill is not enough to convey this beauty.
39. The wind there is simply hellish. But it is convenient to dry tents.
40. Tent - kite
41. We drive past Vaidai-Guba and are amazed at how it’s possible to screw up everything like that.
42. Vaidai-Guba
43. From time to time there are such stones with numbers.
44. We get to the dead village of Skobeevsky
45. Desolation
47. And the child likes it
48. We leave back on the path and drive towards Zubovka
49. On the way we stop at a picturesque waterfall
51. A bath with crystal clear water, where you just want to plunge into. But the water there is incredibly icy.
52. We collect several bottles with us.
54. We pass through mountain rivers
55. And again the views
56. Red fields of berries
57. I can move a little faster. As soon as the turmeric runs out and we reach a road that is more or less decent by local standards, I stop to wait for Lekha.
58. And then happiness comes. Sandy, absolutely flat road, after turmeric. Let's have a blast.
59. This hill was called a sand volcano.
60. There is a beach ahead, which lacks only palm trees.
61. The road becomes trial again.
62. A little more trial and we get out to this very beach.
63. We break away again, accelerating our cars.
64. And we fool around by twisting dimes.
65. Lekha is trying to swim, but it didn’t work out very well =) He ran forward for a long time, but everything was shallow. It quickly became very cold and we ran back to the car =)
66. Now we need to try to get to Murmansk. While we stop waiting for Lehi to refuel, we notice reindeer. So that's what they are.
67. And then the hippopotamus arrived in time, plopping into a puddle.
But the hope of getting to Murmansk was fading before our eyes. The road didn't get any better. Already in the dark we reach Sredny and hit the grader in the eastern part of the peninsula. Unable to withstand the vibrations, my muffler falls off. We get up for the night again at Lake Jauhonokanjärvi.
69. The next day we set out for Murmansk, where we again stopped at a hotel. There was no strength to move anywhere further. I love these landscapes.
70. Already at the entrances to the asphalt we notice how Lekhin’s bumper continues to suffer.
71. In the morning we set out again for a long stretch to Medvezhyegorsk. By the way, there are many pockets with overpasses on the Murmansk highway. We are trying to do something with the muffler, since our ears have been starting to get blocked for a long time. But everything is useless, only welding and new pipes will help. We postpone this matter until Moscow and continue to torment our ears and frighten passers-by in the villages.
we, of course, could not refuse the offer to trample along the northernmost geographical point mainland European territory. and they promised us all kinds of beauties... money in our teeth, a camera around our neck, jump into the car - we're going to the Rybachy Peninsula.
Strategic map of the area with important notes:) blue dotted line - our approximate route 
The weather in the Arctic is all so sudden. and if the never-setting sun accompanied us all the way to Teriberka, this time almost the entire path passed in foggy milk. I almost missed the checkpoint and the barrier :)) - access to the peninsula itself has been open since not very long ago, but the stern guys in uniform are interested in the purpose of the visit) 
after the barrier the civilized road ends. the cars are crowded together, the guys are getting their tires off - getting ready for the delights of off-road life :) and then the beauty begins.
the Titovka River and the Melnichny waterfall cascade. 
I would have loved to spend more time on the waterfalls, but it was evening, and it was still a long drive to get to our overnight stay.. we limited ourselves to a couple of glances 
five minutes of rest before the mountain pass. 
the fog is thickening. Musta Tunturi - mountain range, separating the middle and Rybachy peninsulas from the mainland. 
Driving along the pass in the fog is still a pleasure. visibility tends to zero - I’m going somewhere, I don’t know where. 
mountain roads can be dangerous, even if they are not high mountains. 
rescue operation to retrieve a stuck tractor. they say he has been resting here since the beginning of spring) the operation ended successfully, 2 days later on the way back, we arrived at the very moment when they managed to pull him onto the road. 
the fog has cleared, the pass has been passed - we are on the Sredny Peninsula. 
in general, Sredny and Rybachy are often called in one word - Rybachy. but in fact there are two peninsulas - one passing through the isthmus into the other. Average in Rybachy. 
It was midnight, so we decided to stop here. 
After dinner (or whatever the meal after midnight is called?:), we explore the surrounding area. a suspended hotel-recreation center project (according to the plan, it should already be completed). very nice project, I hope someday it will work. We walked to the houses and looked - if they finish everything, it will turn out great. there are not very many on the shores of the Arctic cozy places recreation.. 
The next day came - there was a big excursion along Sredny, but by evening we should actually get to Rybachy. the path is expected to be difficult) 
We're driving along the coast. if you look very carefully you can see Norway :) 
somewhere around here :) and then the SMS comes “welcome to Norway”. Very nice, but the connection on the phones was turned off just in case :) 
A lonely sail whitens in the blue fog of the sea... 
subtle natural tint. Once again we were lucky with the weather, there doesn’t seem to be much sun, but it’s not cloudy anymore. 
let's go there! I love places where there are not many people, to put it mildly) 
our little gang) 
They promised to show us “two brothers.” what is it, what does it look like?.. we are driving the first car: “Guys, at least tell me where to look? What if we miss it?” ...No, they say, don't miss it! you'll see, you'll understand right away!)
and really.. we didn’t miss it and understood :)) 
“Two Brothers” are multi-meter stone outcrops located on the coast of the Sredny Peninsula. In ancient times, they served as landmarks for fishermen, and the Sami considered the bizarre stone sculptures sacred and performed sacrifices and pagan rituals here. 
brother alone. 
and another brother. 
There is a beautiful Sami legend about noids. it says that these are not brothers, but the groom and his betrothed. Well, it doesn’t matter.. the spectacle is impressive in any case) 
view from the observation stone away from the brothers) 
encyclopedic reference: the peninsula is a plateau that drops steeply to the sea. The plateau is composed of clayey shales, sandstones and limestones. 
a few kilometers from the "Brothers" there is another interesting place - the Coast of Red Stones. or Beach of White Stones (apparently due to the weather this moment, depends:)) 
stones of amazing alien shapes, sharpened by the sea-ocean. 
Yes, indeed, stones are red in the sun. 
and without it - white. 
taking a selfie is sacred :) 
I also watched the surf a little. the most difficult thing is to simultaneously catch the wave and the ray of the sun, which was very timidly peeking out from behind the clouds)) 
The panorama in its compressed form looks so-so... I recommend watching it live :))) 
ideal place for lunch. 
I also didn’t know that there were eagles on the Kola) 
to be continued...