In 2010, my friend Vladimir and I set out on a fun, but a rather dangerous trip. We went to the north beyond the border of the polar circle to visit Lake Seidyavr, one of the most beautiful lakes in Russia.

In the late evening, carrying a big, heavy backpack, which I realized later (and too late) was a big mistake, I arrived at the Moscow train station where I met Vladimir. We were going on a long journey. First, we were going to have a long 33-hour ride on the train to reach the city of Olenegorsk, then from Olenegorsk we had to go by bus to get to a small, remote village called Revda. And, then, we had to take a long, exhausting hike through the mountain tundra to the lake.

In the morning, after long hours on the train, we finally arrived in Olenegorsk, where we bought bus tickets to our next destination, Revda. On the bus we met a guy who was also going to the lake. He was familiar with the trail, so we decided to go together.

In Revda we had an unpleasant and perhaps dangerous situation. We had to get to the mountains, but there was no public transportation that day, so we decided to try hitch-hiking. The first car stopped. There were two men in the car, and they agreed to give us a lift to the mountains. We began to put our bags into their car, but I felt that something was wrong. The men had a strange, dangerous look about them. I didn’t want to lose my money and photo equipment. I whispered my misgivings to our new companion. He felt the same, so we changed our minds and got out of the car. The two men drove away, but very soon they came back. They stopped a bit away from us. The two men were waiting. They would occasionally signal to us with their headlights. Luckily, the next car was a taxi, and we got to the mountains safely.

There were only five miles between us and Lake Seidyavr, but there was a tundra in front of us. The hike was really exhausting — we had to jump from rock to rock all the way. In addition, in one place, a rock fall blocked the trail and we had to look for another passage. The rocks were slippery, so it was easy to slip and break a leg — especially with a heavy bag on my back. I regretted taking so many things with me.

At last, we got onto the mountain saddle. The view from the mountain pass was fantastic! Lake Seidyavr lay beneath us. The lake was embosomed in the mountains and it looked like a big cup with its glassy surface. Heavy storm clouds were rolling in just above our heads. It looked like they were coming right at us. I felt astonished and excited to be so close to the clouds. The dark gray, heavy clouds looked menacing and frightening. We rested a few minutes and then went down the mountain to the lake.

At last, we had made it and bid farewell to our companion. My friend and I went along the shore to find a good place to camp. We’d been hiking for 12 hours and were absolutely exhausted.

The next morning, we got up early, and, after a light breakfast, we went to explore the area. The weather was nice and the lake and the views around it were gorgeous. We met a few people near the lake. Some of them were skinny-dipping in the lake. It was August and the water was fairly cold. One interesting thing about that area is that the animals weren’t afraid of people. They obviously hadn’t ever seen a hunter in their lives.

We spent five lovely days on the lake, and I took a lot of photos of it. It was very hard to get there, but I’ll never forget the beauty of the north!