Taganay: a fairy tale born of the sky

Taganay National Park (Southern Urals) is a magical place. The path to this place runs through kilometers of ordinary, unremarkable forest. I were making my way through the deep snow with a heavy rucksack step by step for a few hours. After this I almost lose faith that I can see something unusual here. Suddenly, at the end of the day, at some moment I as though crossed an invisible border and find myself surrounded by monstrous white trolls and peeking out from behind their backs swaying ghosts and silhouettes of frozen titans stand out menacingly against the sky. The flames of the sunset burn high up, in the evening twilight, casting an ominous glow on a realm I barely dare to enter.

I left my skis and poles stuck in the snow, spent the night in a tent with a steady wind blowing, and in the morning I found that skis and poles and tent are covered with tiny ice needles and begins to turn into a part of the magical world. The breath of the sky seems to envelop myself with its influence, but this does not cause fear, on the contrary, I understand: Taganay have accepted me.