Sunrise

Sunday morning we "woke up" (after a sleepless night) at 2.30 and got ready to head up the hill. From where we were, the city looked beautiful for once, it was as if we were in an airplane looking down.

We had a half moon that shone bright enough for us to see our route, and the sky got light pretty quick too.

I think mornings are the most beautiful time to hike!

The sun rose soon after 5 and hit the yonder peaks with pretty pink rays.

This is where we were going: Peak Furmanov

Breakfast break on the top of the cone, right at sunrise. The sun felt so warm on our faces.

"Here I raise my Ebenezer..."

Some resilient flowers still on the top of the cone.

Rebekah's flying descent from the cone

David

Looking back down from the ridge

Pretty snow

Apparently the real peak would have been a bit more south, but we stuck to the one that we had seen from below. Besides, I didn't really trust my boots on this slick icy snow. Both sides headed down at a rather steep grade and there would have been no stopping for a few hundred meters.

Our peak. We hit it at 6.30. I think it might clock in right around 3k.

Beginning the long descent all the way down to Medeo

David was wishing for a snowboard and I was a bit nervous. But the sun warmed the snow enough to give us grip.

The little whitish blue flower that were everywhere. In the early morning they looked blue, with the sunlight they whitened up more. They smelled good too.

Back down to our camping spot with Almaty in the background. We met Underwear Man #2. He walks around all summer in his underwear and has an impressive tan to show for it. He was a rather jolly fellow and loved to greet and talk to every hiker.

We packed up our packs and headed down the trail in search of a better fire-pit. The descent was almost worse than the ascent. David built up a few blisters and our legs felt like jelly.

We found a nice picnic spot and had our oatmeal and leftovers of everything else for breakfast.

Refilling waterbottles in the Kimasar river