my summer road trip there was supposed to be a trip to the Caucasus, the main event of which was to be climbing Elbrus. But in July, about a month before the start, a friend from St. Petersburg called and spoke with enthusiasm about the Rybachy Peninsula in the Murmansk region, in the north of the European part of Russia: “The ocean, views of extraordinary beauty, fields of mushrooms and berries, abandoned military units, strategic facilities times of the second world lost World... ". His story aroused considerable interest, and I began to think about the possibility of going there. But of course not this time. And if in this, then a good reason was needed.

And such a reason appeared. It was the rains, which, according to the forecast, were expected in the Elbrus region at the end of summer. I don't know how correct the forecast turned out to be, but .., in general, I easily changed direction from south to north. The circumstances were such that at the same time I was going to go to Rybachy from St. Petersburg with the company of a good friend of my St. Petersburg friend. They agreed that we could join him.

According to the navigator's calculations, there are two routes that are approximately the same in terms of travel time, leading from Moscow to Rybachy. One goes through St. Petersburg, the other through Vologda. The length of the first is about 2100 km, the second is about 2000 km. But the first one is a little faster than the second, since the Moscow - St. Petersburg highway has a number of paid high-speed sections. The routes go around Lake Onega from different sides and converge in its northern part. Then there is one road - to Murmansk.

I needed to go to Peter. The road to it from Moscow is well known to many. In recent years, it has been getting better: more good asphalt and fewer sections with a strong speed limit. The way to St. Petersburg, which is 700 km, takes almost a day, if you do not hurry. Night in St. Petersburg. In the morning to Murmansk. The road to it is generally good. There are places with renovations. There are a lot of cameras, both stationary and mobile, rather than a few. Sometimes there are traffic police patrols hiding on the roadsides. The route is notable for the surrounding rocky Karelian nature, an abundance of mirrors of lakes and marshes, in some places stretching beyond the horizon. Closer to Murmansk, the forests become smaller, the landscape begins to turn into the tundra.

On the way to Murmansk we spent the night with a friend in Kirovsk. The city stands aside, about 30 km from the highway, in an array Khibiny mountains well known to skiers. Having returned from Kirovsk to the highway, about 200 km remained to Murmansk.

It is necessary to go to the peninsula, as they say, taking everything. There are no shops there. The Murmansk supermarket is not much different from the Moscow one - the range and prices are about the same. At gas stations, the price of diesel fuel is about 3 rubles more than the capital one.

When we were still on the way to Murmansk, 160 km from St. Petersburg, we stopped at a store at the plant in Potanino, which produces canned meat. Bought stew there. I can say with confidence that I have not eaten any other stew tastier than this one. Glory pointed to the store. The same one, a good friend of my friend, with whom we were going to travel along Rybachy. By the way, Slava knows the peninsula and its history well. Once there was a military unit in which he served in the army. During his service, he was so imbued with Rybachy that for many years he has been coming there every summer. However, Glory has great experience operation of off-road vehicles. Now he drives a Sobol reconstructed with his own hands for an off-road camper. Slava became, in fact, our guide, and his car was at the head of the column, the first to explore off-road. But about Rybachy's off-road later. Let me tell you a story related to it. My St. Petersburg friend, having seen the new Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, on which I arrived, was seriously puzzled by how to avoid or at least minimize the damage that, as he believed, was waiting for the car on our upcoming trip. He walked around the car and said: “We need to remove at least the bumper. Well, in general, I don’t know, are you ready to leave it there? Or let's leave it here and ride in my pickup." His seasoned American pickup was parked nearby. I can’t say that this didn’t alarm me, but I just said that I wasn’t going to throw myself at the embrasure. “Well, that’s right, if we turn around and go home,” he summed up bleakly.

Rybachy is not connected to the mainland, it is connected by a narrow isthmus to another peninsula, called the Middle, which is already moving into big land. Therefore, to be on Rybachy, you need to pass through Sredny. As you know, during the Soviet era, the peninsulas were located in a closed area, where a whole cluster of military bases was created. In the "zero" entry for civilians was opened, but with special passes. From 2009 to this day, at the checkpoint (checkpoint) Titovka, they only require a passport to be presented, and they can see what is being transported in the car. The checkpoint is located on the Kola highway through Pechenga, about 160 km from Murmansk. The point stands in front of the bridge over the river. Almost immediately behind it there is a right exit onto a dirt road. Having turned onto it, you are not yet on Sredny, it is about 25 km to go to it, and then about the same distance to Rybachy. But you can consider that at this point your journey begins.

The road to Rybachy now winds like a serpentine, waddling from hill to hill, then straightens. There are no difficult terrain here. But this path is not easy either. It will be a test for your nerves, because a significant part of it is solid potholes. It's useless to go around them. I can only give you one piece of advice: fix all the things lying in the car, because shaking, if you can call it shaking, will be strong. At first I tried to go slowly and look for the least deep holes. But at some point, I really wanted this to end as soon as possible, and the principle “more gas - fewer pits” was used. And I find it difficult to say which of these two methods will be better for a person. The second option, in addition to reducing time, makes it possible to feel like a participant in a rally raid. True, if you have a strong SUV that has not been tested by time, then the “with gas” principle should probably not be applied.

They say that potholes were formed due to heavy military equipment who comes here for military exercises. On the way back, we were almost participants in these events. The soldiers, as it seemed then, were imitating mine clearing of the road, they were covered by a tank, and then our Pajero Sport appeared around the corner. We stopped about thirty meters from the tank, and its turret turned towards us with the barrel of its gun. Was it a joke or following an order-instruction, I don't know. Feelings were ambivalent.

The region where Rybachy is located has quite rich history, but acquaintance with him often turned out to be connected precisely with his military past. Vivid impressions of the beauty of the local views now and then cut off the memorials with stars - the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Soviet army in the Great Patriotic War.

On the isthmus connecting Sredny with the mainland lies the Mustatunturi granite ridge. The northern front line passed along it. The place is legendary, the only one where the Germans could not break through the front line. From one of the officers who defended him, the famous Soviet writer Konstantin Simonov took the image of a hero for his work “The Son of an Artilleryman”.

Rybachy played an important strategic role, since he controlled the entrances to Pechenga - in the west and to Motovsky and Kola - in the east of the bays. The protection of the entire Kola Peninsula with the city of Murmansk and its ice-free port largely depended on this. The capture of this Arctic territory was one of the most important tasks for the German command. It was to be carried out by the army "Norway", formed from two German and Finnish corps. The capture of the peninsula by the Germans was expected from the sea. In this regard, on the eve of the war, a number of defensive structures were created on Rybachy and Sredny.

As you know, the western part of the peninsulas belonged to Finland from 1920 to 1940. This was the result of two Soviet-Finnish wars. As a result of the first of them, in 1920, our country ceded part of its territories to Finland. The second war provided the USSR in 1940 with a significant expansion of its borders in the Finnish direction, including the return of previously given lands. The fortification of Sredny and Rybachy was carried out in a short time and was not completed before the German attack. But the Germans, having broken through the Soviet border, attacked the peninsulas from the mainland. And they were stopped at Mustatunturi. A significant contribution to this was made by our Northern Fleet, which provided powerful fire support from the decks of ships. The assault on Mustatunturi was carried out by well-equipped and prepared for combat in the northern mountainous conditions of the huntsmen of the elite German unit "Edelweiss". The retention of the peninsulas lasted 3.5 years. Needless to say what it cost the Soviet army. This land is watered with blood.

The Mustatunturi area has stunning views. They are especially well demonstrated by the so-called Swabian road, winding along lakes and hills. It was built during the war years to support the German army storming the peninsula, and comes from Pechenga, which the Germans called in Finnish - Petsamo. The turn to it is in front of the pass through the ridge on the way to the Middle. Driving along this road it is difficult to combine the charm of the surrounding nature with heavy fire and bombing.

The Swabian road is well preserved and surprises with its quality, but the destroyed bridges complicate the passage along it. To bypass them, you need an SUV with high ground clearance, which allows you to drive through large stones. Along the road, the Germans built a chain of various engineering structures. Of many of them, only fragments of walls remain, but they are quite easily recognizable. But there are also almost surviving buildings.

After the Second World War, on the peninsulas, and especially on the mainland adjacent to them, including Mustatunturi, many different kinds of artifacts remained - from artillery pieces and ammunition to ordinary household items used by the military. In peacetime, the Soviet army was in charge here, many expeditions, search parties and just tourists visited, so there were significantly fewer artifacts. But as they say knowledgeable people, there are still a lot of them, it just becomes harder to find. However, mines, cartridge cases, and other similar items, heavily rusted, which time has not spared at all, because of which they no longer represent almost any historical and material value, are often found.

The sights of the Sredny Peninsula, as well as its history, are closely connected with Rybachy. Therefore, the Middle is also interesting. But we don't dwell on it. Our goal is Rybachy. It is much larger, and behind it is the ocean. Yes, the ocean never borders the land. On the maps, the Rybachy Peninsula is washed by the Barents Sea, which passes into the ocean. And, nevertheless, this is a convention, because there is water between Rybachy and the North Pole.

On the first day, it was not planned to reach Rybachy. We stopped for the night, setting up a shawl camp not far from the road. On the second day, we separated from Slava's group and agreed to meet already on the peninsula. And this gave us one plus: the absence of a large company and support intensified the impressions from the first acquaintance with Rybachy. And it began with the abandoned military village of Ozerko, which attracts with a pair of five-story buildings.

Gray, with blackened window eye sockets, they look gloomy. Sad colors were added by the sky densely covered with heavy lead clouds, rain, cold gusty wind and complete desertion. Once inside them, you begin to imagine how and who once lived here. These impressions are probably the only thing that a visit to them can give. But, and the strength of these impressions depends on one's own sharpness of perception, awareness, and maybe something else. Inside is not just desolation. Everything is looted and destroyed. Although at home they never saw war. They were built and abandoned by people in peacetime. What you see in these five-story buildings, then you meet all over the peninsula at all abandoned military facilities. Someone says that in them you can see the picture of the apocalypse. I would call the picture differently, something related to the decline in morality, especially manifested in the nineties, after the collapse of the USSR.

Five-story buildings appeared in the early seventies in addition to other residential infrastructure facilities created for the military. By that time, a number of troops were stationed on Rybachy, including air defense, armed with an anti-aircraft missile system. The village of Ozerko was quite well equipped, there was even a hockey court near the five-story buildings. Closer to the nineties, the reduction of weapons began on the peninsula, and then demilitarization followed, which ended in the fall of 1994. After the departure of the military, in addition to the well-established system of infrastructure facilities, a lot of different equipment and equipment remained on the peninsulas, in particular, freight transport, all-terrain vehicles. The material base was mothballed, but during the post-Soviet collapse of the country, this did not protect it. They say that a significant part of the equipment was sawn into metal.

After getting to know Ozerko, we set off to look for the place where Slava was supposed to stand, and got lost. We drove along a hard, rocky road, but then mud appeared, the ground became more and more unsteady. Downshifts and bridge locks were already engaged, and the car was going harder and harder. And soon we were crawling in the middle of the muddy tundra there, which can hardly be called a road, and a swampy lowland was waiting ahead. Finally, we turned around.

Evening began, we decided to postpone the search, and stopped for the night on the banks of Bolshaya Volokova Bay - in the western part of Rybachy. It didn't take long to find beautiful places to park, there are a lot of them. But such places are often not without wind. And it can blow out from the ocean in such a way that even the tent will not stand. But we found quiet place they didn’t even set up a tent under a rock, they just pulled up an awning from the rain. In a warm sleeping bag you will not freeze at night.

When we arrived at Rybachy, it was cloudy, it rained from time to time. This is the Arctic and you can't count on warm days in August. At night, the temperature drops to seven degrees. But, as we were told, a few days before our arrival it was hot, which, in general, is rare for this region. Although we also caught a few sunny days. The winds blow frequently, but sometimes they are barely perceptible. In the depths of the peninsula, there may be no wind at all, but then, if there is a lake nearby, there is not a small chance of being attacked by clouds of midges.

When they say that the ocean feeds, you can think of fish, some other seafood. But the ocean even provides firewood. On Rybachy tundra, water and stone. A tree can be found by walking along the shore. There are boards and logs. Only choose those that have already lain down and dried up. In general, the ocean throws out everything - both garbage and a lot of good things. Later, on one of the beaches of the peninsula, we discovered a huge bay of good rope. Perhaps it was washed away in a storm from the ship. The rope is such that it can serve as a reliable tow rope for a large SUV.

The next day there was a clear sky, the sun was shining and we decided to take a walk deep into the peninsula. Its relief is hilly, studded with rocks, with many rock formations.

Vegetation due to strong winds is low, a significant part of it covers the ground like a carpet, in some places bushes grow densely. In the lowlands it is damp - puddles, bumps. The peninsula is indented with streams and riverbeds, so traveling along it, you will not be able to bypass them.

In rivers, the flow can be rough. We meet such a river. We cross it on a heap of stones.

You might think that where the tundra everything looks monotonous. However, it is not. Here, the tundra, combined with stones and rocks of various shapes, forms interesting diverse landscapes.

Their highlight is often the ocean or the tundra itself with its bright colorful vegetation.

The flora is quite rich. Among it are many flowers and there are whole placers of berries.

The most common of these is crowberry. There are many blueberries, cloudberries, which are very popular in Scandinavia.

There are also many mushrooms on Rybachy. Of these, boletus is often found. They are very large.

Boletus trees grow under birch trees. And they are here, only dwarf ones. They can crawl along the ground and look very much like the roots of a plant.

There are also very beautiful mosses.

By noon the sun was so warm that when the wind subsided, it became warm in the south. At such moments, looking at the blue waters of the Bolshaya Volokova Bay, one could easily imagine that it was the south.

There was no need to search for Glory. He found us himself, on a motorcycle. Yes, our group had several motorcycles - motocross and pit bikes. They were brought on a trailer.

With such transport, you can quickly get to where it will be difficult or even impossible to drive a car. A motorcycle allows you to see more. In addition, the peninsula will provide the motorcyclist with mud baths, water barriers, stones, slopes, sands, in general, everything that is needed for an extreme drive on rough terrain. Moving by car, we were not looking for extreme sports, but we could not do without it.

Every day our group on SUVs and motorcycles moved to a new place. Time was limited, so the route ran along the western part of the peninsula, where there is less off-road, and there are many attractions. Rybachy has, in a way, its own main roads. They are well rolled, with clear boundaries, and can be marked by poles in barrels standing along them.

They are used by most tourists. And if it were not for the numerous water arteries flowing into the ocean, and puddles in the lowlands, then it would be possible to drive through them on the most ordinary crossover. Riverbeds can be saturated with large stones and can have steep slopes, and the water level can be above the knee. These are not the most serious obstacles of the peninsula, but in order to bypass the entire western part, they will have to be overcome, and this may be enough to damage the car. Stones can beat the body, pierce the wheels and break the parts located under the bottom. When forcing rivers without observing a number of precautionary measures, the car can even be drowned. A torn-off transfer box protection, a punctured wheel, a broken anti-roll bar, an interior flooded with water, scratches on the body - the troubles that befell our group, by the way, consisting of people with good off-road experience.

The interior of the car was flooded, however, not on the river, but on one of the roads going far from the coast through the tundra, where huge puddles stood in the lowlands. One of the SUVs, pulling a trailer, hitched a towbar to a concrete slab lying at the bottom of one of these puddles, and pulled over to the side of the road, where there was a pit. So the left side of the car was up to the glass in the water and mud. The hole may have been left by a stalled military truck. And the slab was probably once laid to cover an area with too unsteady ground. It is interesting that the puddle did not look deep and we were not ready for such a nuisance. Another thing is when crossing rivers.

Slava's camper has a significantly increased, high ground clearance, and in addition to it, a low gear, two interwheel and interaxle locks. He was the first to move into the water and determine whether the rest could pass. Water obstacles were not long, but they hid large stones and their depth with all kinds of holes. The presence of such a specially prepared car among standard serial SUVs, even good ones, on Rybachy, as I now think, is not desirable, but mandatory. Unless, of course, you want, as my friend said on the eve of the trip, leave the car there. Although, we also had one more help - motorcycles. They made it possible to quickly find out how passable the area was ahead.

The water level in the rivers of the peninsula depends on the ocean. For example, where during the day the water can be below the knee, in the evening, during high tide, the level can rise to two or more meters. This feature is also important to consider.

Don't drive too fast when crossing a river. It is necessary not to push the wave ahead, but to follow it, as it were. If you push the wave, then the water will begin to penetrate under the hood, which may end up being known what. But, when you drive into the river, and the water is already at the level of the bumper, you really want to get out on land as soon as possible, and your nerves can not stand it, your leg will add gas. I made this mistake once. Water rolled onto the hood and … thanks to Mitsubishi engineers! Now I say this not for advertising, because this mistake can have a high price. My Pajero Sport went where it was needed, forgiving mistakes, and never let me down.

Before the trip to Rybachy, having learned about the features of its relief, I was seriously puzzled about what tires to put on the car. I went from a simple one: I called a friend - Nokian Tires. He recommended Nokian Rotiiva AT. It is a tire, as stated in its description, with side cut-resistant reinforced sidewalls, with a tread that performs well off-road, is not noisy and economical on asphalt. I installed it and didn't fail. On the highway, the average fuel consumption was kept in the region of 5.5‑7 liters.

Some of the people who come to Rybachy do not differ in their thrifty attitude towards nature, leaving behind a lot of garbage and spoiling the vegetation layer. There are places where instead of a multi-colored carpet of tundra plants, a huge, dirty meadow rolled out by the wheels of off-road vehicles turns black.

The desire of people to be surrounded beautiful nature, not showing concern for her, is a real threat to the Rybachy Peninsula. How to protect it from such a threat is the question. We raised it more than once in our company in the evenings.

Scientists have established that people lived on Rybachy in the Stone Age. This discovery was made in 1979 thanks to a military man who was fishing in the Zubov Bay, who noticed cave drawings. After that, about thirty sites were found on the peninsula. ancient man. On Rybachy there are graves of the Vikings, a place of sacrifice of the Lapps was discovered. The peninsula was inhabited by Norwegians, Finns and Russians.

Natural resources made it possible to actively engage in whaling, reindeer herding, raising livestock, and, of course, fishing - what gave the peninsula its name. Traces of the activities of people who inhabited Rybachy at different times can be found today. But, frankly, there is nothing here that attracts to itself like nature. She is so attractive that you begin to yearn to be alone with her.

It so happened that I was not able to go to Cape German - the northernmost point of Rybachy and the entire European part of Russia. In one of last days our stay on the peninsula, when we had already traveled around its western part and were on south coast, near the Motovsky Gulf, I separated from the group and went to the German one. Most of the way was known. On the route I met a beautiful sand beach, formed by the tide.

I often stopped and took a lot of pictures, which was difficult to do, moving in a group, time passed and the tide began to rise. Because of this, he faced the difficulty of crossing the river. Stumbled in two places. In both cases, after the bumper was hidden under water, afraid to take risks, he turned on the reverse gear. Interestingly, there was no typical tundra vegetation in that place. Tall grass grew around, like reeds, as high as a car, which made it difficult to navigate. These thickets were entangled with a whole network of roads. I returned to the same place several times, but then I found a waterfall, found a road that went above it, and drove through a shallow ford. With the understanding that there were few hours of light left, my triumph was not strong. Another circumstance prevented rejoicing - there was little fuel left in the tank, and there was no spare canister with me. In order to drive fast, without things jumping in the cabin, I unloaded almost everything from the car the day before, leaving only a sleeping bag, an ax and some food for the evening and the next morning. Not far from Nemetsky, on the banks of Vaida Bay, there is a small military unit for detecting (airborne objects). My hopes to get hold of diesel fuel from the military did not come true. Their refusal was so categorical that ... it seems that tourists are very fed up with them.

But once on the shore of the cape, the problem was forgotten. I was alone. By the way, later it turned out that the German Cape is perhaps the most popular place among tourists coming to Rybachy. Therefore, I was lucky. In German it is beautiful in its own way: the tundra rich in color spreads like a soft carpet among very unusual rocky formations with a layered structure.

In the sea, to the left, the coast of Norway is visible in the distance.

I am sure that all of you, well, or almost all of you, have heard about this place at least once, but perhaps did not attach any importance to this. Remember the line from the song "Rybachy melted in the distant fog ..."? So this is what they say about him - about the Rybachy peninsula, covered with eternal glory, located in the very north of the European part of Russia

I have been to the Kola Peninsula many times. But all these trips were in autumn, winter or spring. It was impossible to go there in the summer. But - I wanted to. And not just in summer, but always on a polar day, when the sun does not go down below the horizon. And now the trip planned a few months ago seems to be taking shape - and proven friends are ready to keep company, and there is a suitable car, and the boss does not mind. Let's go! Our goal is the Rybachy Peninsula.

The Rybachy Peninsula is the northernmost part of European Russia. This is border area, therefore, to visit it, it is necessary to issue passes at the Murmansk Border Detachment or at the FSB Directorate for the Murmansk Region - the procedure is simple, but can take up to a month of waiting.

TITOVKA
We got out of Murmansk only in the late afternoon - buying food, fuel, packing luggage and canisters took almost half a day. We flew about a hundred kilometers along the asphalt and behind the border control post, crossed the Titovka River over the bridge, turned right off the road - the journey began! There are four of us - Vladimir Kondratiev from Murmansk, Alexander and Evgeny Zarodov (father and son), as well as the author of these notes. Transport units - prepared for the trophy "UAZ" on the "collective farm" bridges and 500 cc ATV Polaris.

We move along Titovka. The history of the name of this river and the bay of the same name in the Motovsky Bay goes back to the 16th century, however, then it was called Kitovka because of the mass release of whales onto land. In ancient times, Sredny and Rybachy were islands and there was a “whale crossing” between them and the mainland. Over time, the land rose, but the age-old instincts of the animals remained.

The exact purpose of these seid stones in the Saami culture is still not clear. Whether they served as landmarks in the desert tundra, or were used as religious attributes

Soon we stopped on the shore to the parking lot. We had a bite, admired the completely shameless ducks stealing our bread, and drove on - there is nothing to waste precious time sleeping. Light after all, a polar day!

PASS
The only road with big land monks of the Pechenga monastery were also building on Rybachy for their horse carts. Then, after the Soviet sappers, in 1940, the first tank passed through it. During the war, it was occupied by the Germans - until now, fortifications and barbed wire are everywhere around. And left and right, under the slopes, the remains of equipment are lying around, serving as a sobering factor for any driver. The road is tricky - winding turns, then rises, then descends from hill to hill. I can imagine how hard it is here in winter in ice or blizzard. It’s not without reason, probably, that since the war times, the stream before the ascent is called Drunk - here it was supposed to pass a glass for good luck, and on the descent Sober - in order to drink cold water and take a break, wiping the sweat off your forehead... Surrounded by the amazing beauty of northern landscapes with saucers of lakes looking at the sky between the hills covered with soft moss and reflected in the water with some unreal green color. True, having barely descended from the pass, we found ourselves under low dense clouds and a fine, sluggish rain, which later accompanied us throughout the trip.

HISTORY LESSONS
We go around the Motovsky Bay. To the east goes the legendary Musta-Tunturi - a four-kilometer ridge, the only section where German troops could not cross our land border. From June 29, 1941 until the end of the war, the front line here remained unchanged! But the names of all the dead defenders of Musta-Tunturi are still unknown. Every year, searchers pick up and rebury their remains. But to the right of the road is the camp of one of these teams. Despite the early morning, the attendants are on their feet, water in the cauldron gurgles on the fire. They invite you to sit down, treat you with tea, show you your find yesterday - a military-style flask with the surname of a soldier scrawled on it. We get acquainted with the leaders of the group - Alexander and Ksenia. They are from Nikel, they have been working with schoolchildren here for more than a year. The city administration supports - allocates tents, equipment. Yes, such history lessons will be remembered by the guys for a lifetime!

STRICTLY NORTH
We skip Big Lake - the former garrison of anti-aircraft gunners, almost a city. In 1959, an air defense regiment with a missile system was transferred here from Tallinn, the same one from which a U-2 spy plane was shot down near Sverdlovsk a year later. And in the fall of 1994, the last residents left the village.

The vector of our further route points strictly to the north along the Bolshaya Volokovaya Bay. We drive along the coast, breathing in the real Arctic wind at the stops. Even inclement weather does not spoil the joyful mood from the anticipation of a meeting with the peak point of the trip. And that's all, they've arrived! Vaidaguba, German Cape - only the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole are farther! Historians believe that people have lived here since the Stone Age. In the 16th century, merchant ships moored on Vaida (translated from Finnish as “change”), trade was carried out. German is usually interpreted as "foreign". It seems that everything is mixed up on this small piece: the ruins of an old pier and a monument to the defenders of the Fatherland, a Sami well and a completely modern weather station, stones with mysterious signs and ... a solar-powered payphone.

DESERT COASTS
We collect water from an ancient well in an eggplant and head to Cape Skorbeevsky. Another legacy cold war, another abandoned garrison. An eerie sight...

We spend the night near the waterfall on Zubovka. I can’t even believe that earlier these lands were so populated that the Dutch traveler, enveloping Rybachy by the sea in 1594, seemed to be alone big city- there were so many buildings on the shore.

SECRET PLANS
It's time to reveal a little secret here. In addition to the usual desire to visit Rybachy, I had one more goal. Now that the “secrecy stamp has been lifted” and the system for issuing passes to the border zone has been worked out, it is a real pilgrimage here in the summer. Jeepers, motorcyclists, cyclists, walkers… But almost everyone travels along the same route in the central and northwestern parts of the peninsula. There are even firms that specialize in off-road tourism, taking clients to predetermined points, almost like along the Golden Ring, only with planned adventures in the form of fords and destroyed bridges. But nowhere did I find any mention of their visit to the eastern part of Rybachy. Even in Google Earth this area is hidden for some reason by a veil of "unreadability". So let it be "our little edge of the Earth"!

Roads in the tundra are unpredictable. This is hardly vehicle someday he will ride - his destiny is to become the prey of "metal hunters"

BPM
Leaving the Zubov Bay, we rush to the east, towards Tsyp-Navolok, along the rocky coast of the sea. After a couple of kilometers we see smooth sandy surfaces and the remains of many fortifications - during the war there was an alternate airfield. And soon we find ourselves on the VRM. This abbreviation is deciphered both as “Let's drink, guys,“ Moskovskaya ”, and as“ The patrimony of meteorological fishermen ”, and as“ Here are the ruins of the lighthouse. The latest version is now the most correct - since 1953 there was a fan radio beacon (BRM). According to the signals sent by him, warships were guided and cargo ships. Some analogue of the modern GPS system. In 1979, the outdated design of the lighthouse was replaced by a new one, but soon no one needed it. From the former genius of human thought, in addition to the ruins of a two-story building, auxiliary and outbuildings, there are several 75-meter towers, placed for almost five kilometers along the sea.

CHICK-PILLOW
We entered Tsyp-Navolok after midnight. As expected at this time of day, normal people were already asleep. We stopped in the center of the village near the lighthouse, looked around. Nobody. Only a couple of dogs run around the car and beg, barking softly. We notice that a door opens in a house nearby and a figure of a young guy in a shirt and camouflage pants appears on the threshold. The building is located behind a low fence and a gate with a star. Let's go and say hello. It is difficult to talk, because the cold, almost icy wind almost knocks you down. Visiting guests are rare here, so the conversation is quite official: “Who are they, where from, why, do you have passes to the closed zone?” We are at a military facility where civilians are not supposed to be. Zhenya is jokingly interested in the presence of a shop or stall in the village, which immediately defuses the tense atmosphere - we are invited to the house to drink tea. I have never eaten such delicious bread that sailors bake in Tsyp-Navolok! Better than any croissants! Andrei is a midshipman-contractor and has been serving here for several years. He grumbles that they pay little, but is not going to leave yet: “I feel at home here, and who will teach these young people? All the same, it rests on the midshipmen. ” Although most of the strength of 27 years, no more. And the philosopher: “What is there to do in winter besides work? I’m writing poetry out of boredom - last year I wrote the whole notebook!” And after tea, he gives us a real apartment for the night with six almost closely standing soldiers' beds and a stove.

VISIT MIHALYCH
The usual drizzle is pouring from the sky, and sleeping under a warm roof, and not in a wet tent, is the height of bliss. Therefore, the morning begins closer to dinner and ... with one more check - this midshipman dropped in and said that we should show up with documents at the outpost. The border guards in these parts own all the functions of power - from the priority for the protection of borders to the police and "fish supervision". While we were washing and getting ready, the head of the garrison himself visited us. The serious mustachioed officer meticulously studied the papers, but after looking business card”- a magazine with material about our March trip to Cape Svyatoy Nos, his eyes softened and the tips of his mustache crawled up - everything is fine, his own! It's time to sit down at the table together, because besides getting to know each other, there is another reason - the most important, perhaps, in this situation - today is Navy Day! After a small buffet, Andrey Mikhailovich proudly showed his farm. Behind the shabby facade of an outwardly unsightly barracks, it turns out that there is a completely modern building with all the amenities and with a European-style renovation. There is a sauna and a la swimming pool on the street. It is difficult to imagine with what difficulty all this was built and delivered along the “roads” on which the military “Ural” “takes off” three wheels per trip, and the same VRM masts serve as landmarks in winter. But nevertheless people live and work. On the territory of the village there is a weather station, founded already in 1921, a functioning lighthouse, from which we have an amazing view of the stormy Barents Sea, Anikievsky Island (oh, the weather would be better!) And the deserted shores for many, many kilometers around. But even at the beginning of the last century, there was a fishing post of the Savin brothers, the largest buyers of fish in Murman, there were colonists' houses, a church and even a Red Cross hospital.

STONE CHRONICLE
Weather conditions did not allow us to get to Anikievsky Island. Here is what is written about him in the Guide to the Russian North, published in 1898: “During the stop of the steamer in Tsyp-Navolok, it is curious to visit the Anikeev island lying near it, one of the plates of which is a stone chronicle of Murman. It is all carefully and beautifully covered… with carved names of Danish, German and Dutch skippers who came to Murman for fish in the 16th, 17th and XVIII centuries. The inscriptions are especially beautiful: Berent Gundersen 1595, 1596, 1597, 1610, 1611, 1615 blef jeg frataget skif (“they took away my ship”). Below, under the inscription, a warrior is depicted ... "And even further:" The Russian inscription carved in a curly letter is beautiful and interesting: Summer 7158 (according to the new chronology it is 1650. - Approx. ed.) Grishka Dudin grieved. And the expedition of M. Oreshty in 1995 discovered even an earlier Pomeranian autograph: “Shurechanin Vasily Malashov was standing in 1630.”

ON THE BACK WAY
Almost a day spent in Tsyp-Navolok flew by unnoticed. In two days we definitely had to return to Murmansk. We say goodbye to the hospitable hosts and, as usual at night, we start. Although what kind of night it is, rather a light twilight.

If you look at the map, then there are several roads leading to Ozerok - the nodal "crossroad" of Rybachy. We choose the shortest, but, as it turns out later, the most difficult - "Zubovsky tract". He goes through the mountains among the tundra swamps flooded with multi-day rains. Puddles, often as deep as the hood of a lifted UAZ on 35 wheels, come across every 50-100 meters. And stones, stones, stones! The speed of advance is about 3-5 km / h. It is sometimes even easier to ride a quadric, as you can go around obstacles along the edge, but the wind and rain make it a very difficult walk.

STONE GIANTS
After 12 hours of non-stop travel, the loop along Rybachy closed, and we went down to Sredny. Now the direction of movement is counterclockwise. From Cape Zemlyanoy we drive along the western coast along a long 30-meter cliff, made of the thinnest slate plates, through which many small springs make their way. The famous "Two Brothers" are gigantic remnants. Some kind of mysticism is blowing here - it is not without reason that the Sami have since ancient times considered Mount Pummanki to be the habitat of sorcerers (noids). According to legend, two of them - the brothers Noid-Ukko and Noid-Akka - were punished for their atrocities and turned into these stone statues.

38 STARS
A little further on the high bank we meet a practically untouched coastal battery of the 1950s (judging by the nameplate on the gun, it was made in 1946). Multi-level system of moves, mechanisms in lubrication. During the war, the 221st battery was also based here, which destroyed a German minesweeper on June 22, 1941 and thereby opened the combat account of the USSR Navy. The barrel from one of her guns with 38 stars (according to the number of enemy ships sunk) now lies in a ship cemetery about four kilometers from this place.

GLORY TO THE HEROES!
We spend the last night on this trip at the exit from Sredny, on the bank of the river under the Musta-Tunturi ridge. Sanya Zarodov tells how, while still a schoolboy, he participated in the installation of the first obelisk on it. Carried sand upstairs in a backpack for the foundation of the monument. Suddenly, our camp is illuminated by the sun peeping out of the clouds - in a week we have already weaned from it. We look at the brightened mountains and somehow automatically begin to discuss the route of the next trip to the North. Severe beauty, the attraction of the North, the end of the Earth - seemingly banal phrases, but ... oddly enough, very honest and appropriate here.

"Two brothers", who were worshiped and feared by the Saami, considering them to be petrified evil sorcerers. Now, at the base of the northern remnant, a geocache cache is hidden

The song of the war years “Farewell, Rocky Mountains” was heard by many, and some may even remember the words of this song, which mentions the Rybachy Peninsula, melting in the distant fog. But at the same time, few people thought: where is this land? It is located in the very north beyond the Arctic Circle, 150 km from the regional center of Murmansk. And the German Cape, located on the peninsula, is the northernmost geographical point of the mainland of the European territory.

History of the peninsula

In this harsh but beautiful place, located on the shore and Motovsky Bay, people began to settle a long time ago. The name of the Rybachy Peninsula, according to surviving documents, was given back in the 16th century. And indeed, in the waters surrounding the peninsula, which do not freeze all year round thanks to the North Cape current, Pomors have been fishing since ancient times (herring, capelin, cod, etc.). Russian Empire the peninsula began to belong to 1826, when it was finally established state border with Norway. After the 1917 revolution, the western part of the island went to Finland, which was later annexed to the USSR after

During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Arctic became the scene of fierce battles between Soviet troops and Wehrmacht troops. The German command attached great importance to the capture of the Kola Peninsula, rich in nickel deposits, and planned to capture Murmansk, the main base of the Northern Fleet, as soon as possible, but these plans were not destined to come true. The Rybachy Peninsula stood in the way of the invaders, which is the most important strategic point from which the entrance to the Pechenga, Kola and Motovsky bays was controlled. Rybachy remained for them an unsinkable battleship, which played a decisive role in protecting the northern borders of our Motherland.

At the end of the war, Soviet military garrisons were located on the Rybachy Peninsula, located almost on the very border with Norway, and entry into its territory was limited. Currently, most of the garrisons are closed, and almost everyone can get there.

Peninsula today

The Rybachy Peninsula, whose map is replete with bays and bays, rivers and lakes, has become a place of pilgrimage for ecotourism lovers. Fans of off-road racing and fans of extreme diving come here not only from Russia, but also from other countries.

Also, many representatives of youth patriotic clubs come to the Rybachy Peninsula in the summer season to visit the places of bloody battles of the Second World War and maintain the monuments to the fallen soldiers in proper condition.

This is really the real End of the Earth - further only the boundless expanses of the Arctic Ocean, against which everyone arriving here is sure to take memorable photos. Fishing Peninsula and the Sredny Peninsula adjacent to it are also attractive because here you can most often observe here. It is not for nothing that the longest polar nights on the mainland (42 days) and (59 days) are here.

we, of course, could not refuse the offer to trample on the northernmost geographic point mainland European territory. Yes, and they promised different beauties ... things in the teeth, a camera around the neck, jumping into the car - we are going to the Rybachy Peninsula.

Strategic map of the area with important notes :) blue dotted line - our approximate route

the weather in the Arctic is all so sudden. and if the never-setting sun accompanied us all the way to Teriberka, this time we passed almost the entire way in foggy milk. almost the checkpoint and the barrier did not slip through :)) - access to the peninsula itself has been open since not very long ago, but harsh guys in uniform are interested in the purpose of visiting)

after the barrier, the civilized road ends. the cars are clustered, the guys are pitting the wheels - they are getting ready for the delights of off-road life :) and then beauty begins.
the Titovka river and the cascade of waterfalls Melnichny.

I would love to spend more time on the waterfalls, but it was evening, and it was still a long way to go to the place of spending the night .. limited to a couple of views

five-minute rest before the mountain pass.

the fog thickens. Musta Tunturi - mountain range separating the peninsulas average and Rybachy from the mainland.

driving along the pass in the fog is still a pleasure. visibility tends to zero - I'm going there, I don't know where.

mountain roads can be dangerous even if they are not high mountains.

rescue operation to get a stuck tractor. they say he has been resting here since the beginning of spring) the operation ended successfully, after 2 days on the way back, they got just at the very moment when they managed to pull him onto the road.

the fog has cleared, the pass has been passed - we are on the Sredny Peninsula.

in general, Sredny and Rybachy are often called in one word - Rybachy. but in fact there are two peninsulas - one passing through the isthmus into the other. Average in Rybachy.

the time on the clock is midnight, it was decided to stop here.

having dinner (or what is the name of the meal after midnight? :), we explore the surrounding area. a suspended project of a hotel - a recreation center (according to the plan, it should have already been commissioned). very nice project, I hope someday it will still work. we walked to the houses, looked - if everything is completed, it will turn out great. there are not many cozy places of rest on the coast of the Arctic.

the next day came - there is a long excursion along the Middle, but by the evening we should get to Rybachy itself. the path is expected to be difficult)

we go along the coast. if you look very carefully - you can see Norway :)

somewhere around here:) here and sms come "welcome to Norway". Pts nice, but the connection on the phones was turned off just in case :)

A lonely sail turns white in the blue fog of the sea ...

subtle natural toning. once again we were lucky with the weather, it seems that there is not much sun, but it is not cloudy either.

us there! I like places where there are not many people, to put it mildly)

our little gang

They promised to show us "two brothers". what is it, what does it look like? .. we drive the first car: "Guys, tell me at least where to look? what if we miss it?" ...No, they say, don't miss it! You will see, you will immediately understand!
and really .. they didn’t miss and understood :))

"Two Brothers" are multi-meter stone remnants located on the coast of the Sredny Peninsula. In ancient times, they served as landmarks for fishermen, and the Sami considered bizarre stone sculptures to be sacred, they performed sacrifices and pagan rites here.

brother one.

and another brother.

There is a beautiful Sami legend about the Noids. it means that they are not brothers, but the groom and his wife. well, it doesn’t matter .. the spectacle is impressive in any case)

view from the viewing stone away from the brothers)

encyclopedic reference: the peninsula is a plateau, abruptly breaking off to the sea. The plateau is composed of shales, sandstones and limestones.

a few kilometers from the "Brothers" there is another interesting place - the Coast of Red Stones. or the Coast of White Stones (apparently, it depends on the weather at the moment :))

stones of amazing alien shapes honed by the ocean-sea.

yes, and indeed - the stones in the sun are red.

and without it - white.

selfie - holy :)

I've also guarded the surf a bit. the most difficult thing is to simultaneously catch a wave and a ray of the sun, which peeked out timidly from behind the clouds))

the panorama in a narrowed form looks so-so .. I recommend to see it live :)))

perfect place for lunch.

I also didn’t know that there are eagles on the Kola)

to be continued...

In mid-July, due to official business, my colleagues and I ended up on a two-week business trip to Murmansk. Since they arrived in Murmansk in my car, they tried to spend their free time actively: they saw the city, repeatedly fished in the Kola Bay, went to Teriberka twice, and I also managed to visit the Rybachy Peninsula ...

One weekend, I was lying on the sofa of a rented apartment and decided to read information about the Rybachy Peninsula and reviews of car travelers on my smartphone. The more I read, the more I got excited about the idea of ​​going there. Given the bad roads and the lack of preparation for the trip, I planned to drive only to the Musta-Tunturi pass, walk there on the rocks, through the battlefields and return back. It took no more than half an hour to get ready, in fact there were no fees, I just drank coffee, smoked a cigarette and drove off. I planned to refuel on the way, stop by the store for some food and water, but somehow I skipped all the stores and, having refueled, went with a bottle with about 50 ml of water in the back seat. This attitude to provisions was a big mistake, I realized it quickly. During the entire two weeks of our trip, the heat was around 30C, which, coupled with high humidity, created a terrible stuffiness. The day of the trip was no exception and I wanted to drink already 50 kilometers from Murmansk.

The route from Murmansk to the Titovka checkpoint is excellent, everyone’s documents are checked at the checkpoint. As I understand it, the main requirement for free travel is citizenship Russian Federation. After the checkpoint, turn right onto the dirt road, in fact, from this moment the adventure begins. The road along the Titovka River is full of pits and potholes, like the rest of the way, it probably makes no sense to paint the quality of the “coverage”, because there is none there, there are a lot of reviews on the Internet, I can only say that it is quite possible to drive, if carefully.

The road along the river abounds scenic views and I repeatedly stopped to admire and take a picture. Unfortunately, the photo does not convey the height.

After a while the road leaves to the left of the river and, wriggling, rises higher and higher to the pass. Not the Caucasus, of course, but the rocky northern hills have their own, special beauty, it’s not just that people who have visited these places once come here again and again.

While driving along Titovka, I was very thirsty, there was a feeling that the palate was stuck together and cracked, I definitely decided that I would reach the pass and turn around. At some point, while driving around another pit, it seemed to me that a bottle was lying in the road dust, I drove, looked in the mirror - it really seemed like a bottle. He stopped, approached and was stunned, in the dust of the road lay a one and a half liter sealed bottle of water “Holy Spring”. At that moment, for me it was a sign, a sign that I had to go further, beyond the pass. And indeed, it was worth getting drunk as the mood immediately rose and the strength and desire to go further appeared. After that, I got to the Musta-Tunturi pass quickly.

Unfortunately, I was not prepared for this trip and did not have a plan, any points of interest, so, stopping at the pass, I just walked along the surrounding rocks. He climbed the peaks in search of traces of the war. Found.

Echoes of War

Behind the pass, the road began to descend, also replete with views worthy of an artist's brush. I have repeatedly stopped and admired. Thus, he reached the Sredny Peninsula. I did not like the path through the Sredny Peninsula: a dead road, pits winding the car from side to side, a speed of 10 km / h, a monotonous landscape on the left and Bolshaya Motka Bay on the right. From time to time on the coast of the bay there were camps of visiting fishermen and tourists. Sights of the Middle - monuments to Soviet soldiers who fell in battles. In my opinion, it is necessary to go to the Middle to touch the history of the Great Patriotic War, not passing like me, but thoughtfully, knowing specific points. It was in these places and about the events that took place in these places that Konstantin Simonov wrote the poem “The son of an artilleryman”.

Reminds me of K. Simonov's "Son of the Artilleryman"

The Middle Peninsula is war

The middle one traveled along the eastern coast and ended up on the isthmus with Rybachy. I set myself the task of getting to Cape German, the northernmost point of the peninsula, which is also the northernmost point of the European part of continental Russia. In one of the reviews I read that it is better to get there by west coast Rybachy, I did just that. Having passed the isthmus, I immediately turned left onto the road leading to Cape German, leaving the abandoned village of Bolshoye Ozerko on the right. The Rybachy Peninsula is no longer as monotonous as the Middle one, at least it seemed to me so. I was driving towards the sun, sometimes it made it very difficult to go around stones and pits, but the views were simply fantastic.

The road on the western side of Rybachy is better than on the eastern side of Sredny, the speed is also 10-15 km/h, but somehow more varied. The car talks less from side to side, but there are a lot of large stones and fords. If you do not hurry, then it is quite passing by almost any car.

Perhaps the strongest impression on me was the beach, about one kilometer short of Worm Creek. Dark gray sand, as transparent as an angel's tear, sea water in the rays of the setting sun, calm and warm evening ... I didn’t swim right away, I decided to cheer up on the way back, but, looking ahead, I’ll say that I didn’t succeed, because the low tide had pushed back by that time 150 meters of water and the view of the beach was no longer so fabulous. The photo cannot convey, it must be seen in person, it's worth it!

From this place it remains a stone's throw to Cape German. Having wandered a little along the roads of the tundra in unsuccessful attempts to bypass the military unit standing in the way, I reached my destination.

Below is a short video sketch, which I blinded from videos shot on a mobile phone. Filmed with one hand, the other held the steering wheel, respectively, the sections that had to be overcome holding the steering wheel with both hands were left behind the scenes.

At the end point, I stayed no more than an hour, walked, admired the sea and drove back. The return trip followed the same route. I left home at about 2:30 pm and came back at about 9:30 am.

While driving along Rybachy, I met a car of French travelers. I didn't see any people nearby, so I just drove by. Having already returned to St. Petersburg, I went to the site indicated on the board of their car and read information about them, about the car and their travels. Read it, it is interesting to look at our country through the eyes of foreigners who have seen it not only at football stadiums and bars in big cities.

P.S. I consider it my duty to ask you, friends, please do not litter. The tundra will not take anything, everything that you left will lie for decades, if not centuries. The soil layer is very small, do not tear it with tire treads, it will heal for a very long time, there are roads there.

P.P.S. A week ago, I was sure that there were no more riders on Rybachy by car, but now I’m already thinking about the right preparation and how to plan the route. I will go, I will definitely go again, but not in a hurry, with fishing and spending the night in a tent ...