This mini-account is lacerated.

By this time uncle Scamp became old, in order that may write enormous accounts about usual routs. So that you must reed this as it was appearing.

Beginning is standard. I have strong underground addict agonies because of abstinence from digging. I decided that it should be the Basckunchak. I issued a call, but as a usually nobody could set off. And people (with they I met one time per year, and just only in such sudden trips) come to me help. In this time such person-magic-wand became Ksendrick, with which I together extreme-traveled in early spring last year, then we must go 10 kilometers in the dense fog and almost knee-deep in the mix of snow and mud. But I wasn’t repeat myself and appealed to current pursuits.

The way to the caves didn’t avoid without strangeness – firstly I met comrade, which I didn’t see all but 10 years, and 20 minutes we even cannot remember where we knew each other from. And just where near from Volzsky half of Gipsy encampment sat down the coach, they transporting hens in big bags among other. Hens gave rise living interest its cackle for half of coach’s population. Five hours of the way flew by imperceptible. We was in necessary station, unloaded and suddenly we paid heed to the boy and the girl get after us. Though they hasn’t rucksacks, somehow we defined tourists in they at once. Render they was from the Moscow-city and arrived for looked at the mountain Bogdo and at the salt lake Basckunchak. We get away after exchanging contacts: they get to the town for sought longing for the night, and we walking to the night steppe.

We leaves out the frontier guardian without any adventure. I had very heavy rucksack (27 kilogram’s). I decided made a middle size detour, not like which at last time in this area. And as a result we walked nearly at 700 meters from trailer with frontier guardian under the almost full moon. But we was lucky, nobody looked about this sector through field-glass, and we slipped. We get out to the highway, one time escaped from the car, but the whole reached without troubles.

We came up to entrance and beginning lowering. I tested a new method for protect rucksacks from mud, at time then we pulling through to the underground basic camp (UBC). It was dressing dust-bags to it. Field testing showed that this method itself deserved further investigations, but dust-bags must be denser. And here we was in UBC in the small sleeping room. We laid out, ate and falls asleep. We slept eight hours, and for this time I heard voices in the big sleeping room several time. I though that it was excursionists, because so already was more than once. But I was mistaken. These men climbed for us! They recoiled somehow with scared after seen us, and more they not returned. I nearly relied, that it was the same «savage speleologists» as us, but I again made mistaken – in hour Syn((in Russian – term Syn signified term Son) this is surname in past chasseur, now chief of reserve) climbed through cave for us. He at once knew again old offender in me, took away our passports and ordered got out the cave at surface. I must note, that he operated non-spiteful, but steadfastness. We climbed out. The Syn’s UAZ and bus-coach with heaps of people stood near the crater of entrance to the cave. Where was simply wilder heat, and I felt unwell.

It proved to be all badly for us with the cave Studenchesky. The control became tougher, quotient guarding enterprise would devote itself to protection of the cave, and those men, who looked us in the small sleeping room – was future guides for excursions. And now they should be verify that room there founded us at next evasions. Though earlier we sat snug happily there. It was very unluckily, to tell the truth, and we wasted this place...

Syn beginning drew up a statement of the case of administrative violations. It was unpleasantly, bat it could be worse. The judgment of law-court came to the registration place and at to my work (last now very undesirable for me). I should pay a fine and forgot about this. But worst was that he was about to convey us to the frontier guardians. And this matter turns for the worse. We was in restricted frontier area without permits, and they could detain us for several days without ceremony «to ascertain», and afterwards the very-very menacing document came to my work, and I fully could be given the sack from my cushy job, where I found the situation now. In general we get for a drive, and I was a muddleheaded. We warmed to us topic and found common familiars; also we didn’t drop inside and behave them on the whole. All this together with request produced an effect – chief of the reserve compassioned (we didn’t pay him) and drove us behind 10 kilometers away from the cave in the small grotto, and he told quite a lot interesting things and leaves us. Many thank for this him.

Heat caught me in the act after first facilitation – sultriness was simply barbarous, and we ran in grotto, temperature inside was roughly 12 degree, and only inside when I sat for a while 10 minutes in T-shirt, felt myself normal more or less. My heat regulation was very bad in general.

Truth to tell we found a great deal interesting near this grotto – it was antique Kazakh cemetery with heathen temples and cross coated Arabian ligature (earlier Kazakh hasn’t their written language and they wrote at Arabian) and couple small grottos with lakelet, and certainly itself salt lake Basckunchak. By day we more sat snug inside, because I beginning become incredible flat in heat. We passed the night at surface at the middle of steppe, without tent, we being witnesses of an almost full lunar eclipse exactly at the height of the chat. Truth to tell this was already a third almost full lunar eclipse, which I met in walking tours.

I couldn’t wrote detailed about this period – all time we now lain about the grotto, now wandered not far away from it, now was photographed. You might see results lower and in photo gallery.

The time to go away has come. Since I knew our position only exemplarily, I leave 3 hours in the capacity of reserves. As a result we have just these 3 hours, and the distance to the towers of a station was a stone's throw away. We decided to have a nap an hour or so, spread our rugs at the middle of steppe and lain down. Still then I observed some fence, which loomed not far away. Well, fence is fence – so I thought – anything may be in the enormous railway junction, may be it is such depot…But in 5 minutes then we came up to fence, dogs sprang out toward us, and men in regimentals came up. «Opanki!» - Just I had time to think. But render, that wasn’t remote frontier post, but it was a guard of military depot. I was forced to tell lie, what we walked from Nizhniy Basckunchak and got lost at night. They believed us and showed the way to the station.

We get backward in reserved seat, that I somehow had a good sleep before the work.

It is all after this.

You can see the best photos from this and other expeditions in this page of digger’s photograph album.

 

Our new home…	Ksendrick fighting against tumble-weed.	The moon landscapes.
There not all diggers is lucky.	This is entry to the grotto. I myself knew for it look very much like.	Forward! We went to the dark digger’s future!
The mountain Bogdo.	The Kazakh cemetery.	Our crater viewed from the hill’s top.
The thoughts about eternal.	The lighting experiments.	The day is drawing to a close.
Ksendrick.	=<^.^>=	This viewed like bonfire attached to exit.
The White Speleologist.	Light-print.	Color-print.
DeepDig.	:)	And anew about eternal.
Virgo.	Gemini.	Taurus.

Digger Scamp.

Тranslation by Uho.