Eternal outskirts of Moscow and beyond (LOTS of pics!)

[markz]

I am trying to find an alternative to Google maps and have found some but I haven't found one with good distance measuring that is easy to do. I found OpenStreetMap with - Directions from and to here - but its an auto snap route and for long distances its very time consuming to change the route. Unlike Google Maps where you can just keep on clicking the route to extend it, very easy to do.

Screenshot 2021-11-18 212307.png

[Skorohod]

I am trying to find an alternative to Google maps and have found some but I haven't found one with good distance measuring that is easy to do. I found OpenStreetMap with - Directions from and to here - but its an auto snap route and for long distances its very time consuming to change the route. Unlike Google Maps where you can just keep on clicking the route to extend it, very easy to do.

For creating a trails without auto snapping to roads, try this: https://nakarte.me/ It has a ruler tool designed especially for tourists needs, and you can save to file all you trails and measurements.

Same, but with auto snapping and much more tools: https://www.alltrails.com/ But only with mandatory registration!

For casual routing: https://yandex.com/maps/ It's similar to https://www.google.com/maps Think of it as "russian google maps".

Nice app for a smartphone: https://maps.me/

Notorious wikimapia for uncovering government secret sites (so you won't suddenly stumble to top secret military base on you route, hehe): https://wikimapia.org/

My favorite tools - "Elevation Exaggeration" and "Show historical imagery":https://www.google.ru/intl/en/earth/ Not to be confused with web version!

For nostalgic purposes only, check this out: https://pastvu.com/

And this is only in Russian, not sure if something like this exists for Western Europe or North American users:http://retromap.ru/

[Skorohod]

The green hills and blue skies, turboprop humming high in the sky - my first impressions from childhood of this place! No turboprops this time, but green hills and blue sky still there.

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Remains of a sunflower field:

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My step-grandpa was a guard major, a tank crewman, fought in WWII. Hi was of Belarus ancestry, so he called this dug well "krineetsa" in a belarus fashion. Edge of a village called "okolitsa" in russian, so that dug well was always "krineetsa na okolitse" for me. Now that place is almost a geografical center of a settlement, so it's no "okolitsa" at all, but "krineetsa" still there!

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[Skorohod]

Proud descendant of a mighty Kirovets plowing through the field:

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And this a small Belarus:

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A small river named Gostagajka (in circassian it means "fir tree") caused big troubles when summer rains fell:

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All fields nearby still soaked in water:

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And then i got distracted by a plane:

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[Skorohod]

So let's go and look, where that plane landed. Anapa international airport:

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Look up tail number 5U-ACK of this little Yak-40. There is a interesting story behind:

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[Skorohod]

In my childhood was only two mountains: "the mountain" (or "the stinky mountain") and "Sultanka mountain". There is "the mountain", which looms upon a settlement like a Fuji mountain:

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I can always get to "the mountain" on foot with my friends, without asking permission:

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"Sultanka mountain" was always pinned to the horisont like a backdrop. My elders walked with me towards Sultanka or bring me with them on the bike, but this hill with a Mohawk hairdo across was still to far!

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On a photos Sultanka looks smaller and less steep than a "stinky", but it's an illusion. It's higher and steeper:

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Powerful electric bike compresses time and distance. Ten minutes of silent ride through fields and i'm climbing my "childhood Everest":

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[Skorohod]

At last, the top!

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The Mohawk across Sultanka consisted of black locust. Also a guest from the USA, like a hairdo! And what's that, just left of the road?

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It's a tombstone! Some Nikolai Mat'ko died here, on a top of a hill. I've ask around - no luck. Then i've googled some - and found a mention of the deceased on a "my heritage" website. But that site wants registration and some money from me and i not that curious.

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Black locust beans. I've remember - we used to eat black locust flowers as kids, there slightly sweet and has some nut taste:

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[Skorohod]

There a chain of hills, one of them - Sultanka. Actually, i've heard that some people called Sultanka other neighbour hills - but for me Sultanka is always that unreachable mountain with a Mohawk! One of the neighbour hills has a wayside cross on its top:

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You can see hills on a Taman peninsula in the background. The next patch of land behind them would be the Crimea:

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[Skorohod]

And, of course there is a fantastic views to every side you look. Hills, mountains, stanitsas, fields, limans, sea, vineyards...

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That's all for today! More photos from Anapa will come!

[Skorohod]

After Sultanka hill chain i've wanted to climb something more higher and prominent. The Kumatyr' ridge came to mind. So i've gone to ride! My path was through Otsekutan upland ("Stinky mountain" and "landfill with a view" is a part of it) and Chemburka hill chain (which almoust invisible between Otsekutan upland and Kumatyr' ridge). I've choose to approach Chemburka hills from north and been baffled by obstacles:

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Private property! Do not enter! Armed security guards!

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There a vineyards around, i can only guess, how inhospital those places could be during harvest season!

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Good thing is, harvesting is done before i've came. Only real obstacles i've been forced to overcome is a deep sneaky muddy trenches.

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But there is always a way around. Looks unpleasant, but totally passable!

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Up to a nearest hill of Kumatyr' ridge!

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[Skorohod]

And there is a hilltop.

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Some fluffy plants:

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And a fluffy hillsides:

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Kumatyr' river and its ponds:

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So what is that inside those hairy hillsides? Time to go down and explore:

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[Skorohod]

And all this almost exact as a common Moscow forest with a ravines. Only thing is trees are lower and crookier:

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If you go to a clearing, you can see Kumatyr' ridge from a side:

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Or a Semisam ridge from afar:

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That's it. The western ridge of Caucasus mountains is not magical at all. Time to ride back to Chemburka hill chain:

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[Skorohod]

Chemburka hills are low. But they are bald, so you can feel a space better than in a forest.

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There is a herbs and flowers.

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Rosehip.

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Please do not mistake rose ones with a brown ones:

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I don't know, what it means:

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And there is superstition "do not walk under a ladder". Or a car just didn't fit:

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A sinister blackthorn:

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[Skorohod]

But the sights from Chemburka hills worth it.

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And what to do, if you was too distracted by ridges, uphills and hill chains and didn't pay attention to a electric power consumption?

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The answer is simple. Just switch empty battery with a fully charged one.

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And then ride away!

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That's it for today! More ridges, hills and mountains will come later!

[Skorohod]

My way to a more prominent mountains of Bezymyannyj ("Nameless") ridge was alongside Kumatyr ridge. There was a little plateau on my way, where i've saw remains of S-200 long-range SAM system:

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There was a skinny stallion also:

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And fat and swell mistletoes:

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[Skorohod]

There was a views to a Navagir and Semisam ridges:

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And to a Bezymyanny ridge:

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And to a Markhotkh ridge:

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And there is my rocky road up to mountains from Natukhaevskaya stanitsa. Natukhay was one of circassian tribes which lived here. And now they not.

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A look back to a Semisam and Navagir ridges and orchards of Natukhaevskaya stanitsa:

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[Skorohod]

I'm about at 300 meters above sea level, and my way is to several mountain tops above 500 meters.

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That road could be dangerous to a fragile stock tyres of Sur-Ron. It's made of flysch marlstone. That kind of stone is good for making cement and for slashing your tyres!

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There was a little sun that day. The only things that made me aware of a sunset was lack of light and that bizarre looking flat brick of light, which was shining through a tree branches:

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[Skorohod]

Suddently all became very wet and very, very slippery!

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I've literally forced myself into some scare, so i didn't pursue that road any further. Sun is almost set, there a sharp rocks under that sticky and slippery clay, one of two of my batteries is almost drained. It's time to turn back without reaching my goal...

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[Skorohod]

On my way down i've managed to regenerate 2% of energy back to a battery:

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And to check some autumn beauty around me:

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Time to switch batteries and head home:

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[Skorohod]

My way home was in the darkness. But darkness is no excuse to not a sightseeing!

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That's all for this week. I'll conclude my Anapa photocycle next time!

[Skorohod]

And, of course, i've got to see the sea. November or not, i'm going!

My way to the beach was through the dunes:

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At last, the Black sea!

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There was surprisingly many people:

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A view to Anapa and the far end of the Semisam ridge:

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Sand everywhere. It's hard to see chain and suspension links all covered in abrasive:

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Anyway, time to swim a little. I'm at the seaside, there is a sun and a sand and nothing else matters:

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[Skorohod]

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I'm with you! I go barefoot until I need to go to the store or riding.

i thought sandals and socks was a british thing

The left one is for goatman, the right one is for ZeroEm:

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Honestly, the water was cold. Tolerable, but cold. Something around 15 °C (59 °F):

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Sunset has come:

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That was the end of the day:

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And that was the end of my journey to the Anapa!

P.S.: a little bonus, some video footage from that evening on the Anapa beachside:


That's it for now!

[torker]

Amazing pictures. Must be good camera. And you compose pictures very well. I zoom a lot and see so much in the background. Also colors are amazing even in winter.

[goatman]

happy new year skorohod
i was chuckling inside when i was riding my euc while wearing crocs and socks
dont tell Z

[The Toecutter]

I'm glad I came across this thread. I'm up to page 9 so far and have enjoyed all the pictures, especially the fine examples of Brutalist architecture ubiquitous in Russia. Where I live in the U.S. has a lot of similar aesthetic qualities. There's plenty of abandoned buildings and places that look post apocalyptic as well as examples of Brutalism in architecture, just like Moscow. Russia and the U.S. really aren't all that different.