Two days ago we repacked all our gear and selves back into our two minivans and made our way along the Chuisky Tract (the only “highway” through the Altai). This two-lane road was once a part of the Silk Road and still functions as the main conduit for anything moving from Russia, China and Mongolia through the precipitous heights of the Golden Mountains of Altai. We pass goats, pigs, men on horseback and logging trucks on our long ascent before we are passed up by some flash vehicles bearing Moscow license plates. The Altai is now a tourist destination for many affluent Russians eager to hunt, fish, climb, ski and lounge on the sunny banks of the marvelous Katun River which winds its way down from sacred Mt. Belukha in the far southwest of the country.

But, today, we’ve gone the opposite direction. We head to Kosh-Agach, the easternmost town in the Altai. It sits on the near-barren high steppe, cowering under the snowy peaks that stand as sentinels marking the entrance to the Ukok Pass. Tomorrow we will head out early to drive up the pass and camp on the edge of the Ukok Plateau. But, today, we discover the town of Kosh-Agach, a dusty and ragged place that can hardly be called a city but which has more sprawl than a town could justify. The frigid vast blue sky above our heads, the unpaved streets riddled with potholes and wheel tracks and the bleak wooden storefronts lend this place the air of a squatter town in the old American West. The few people lingering on the streets hardly look at us, although we Patagonia-clad crew of Americans with film gear tumbling out the back of late model vehicles must be an odd sight. Soon, the man we came to meet, Sergei Orchurdaipov — Director of the Ukok Nature Park and representative to the Altai Assembly for Kosh-Agach Rayon — shows up. He’s a hefty man in Russian camo fatigues with a buzz cut, fashionable sunglasses and a booming laugh. He’s nothing like Danil, but these two men know each other well and clasp hands, smiling and nodding while certainly exchanging at little joke in Altai about these strange Americans.