Day 6: Shorter hiking around Khibiny Mountains

We spent another day with Katia. She is extremely knowledgeable about the area and is very passionate about the plants and mountains.

Instead of going on a really long hike like the day before, we took a short hike around a valley tundra to see more of the plants there, and afterward we took a ski lift to the top of a hill which we snaked back down in a roundabout way that took us through a small canyon and to an alpine lake. We saw a lot of the same plants but in some different environments.

Pinguicula vulgaris, a carnivorous plant. Coin for scale. If you zoom in on the leaves, you can see the small flies that are stuck there.

Dactylorhiza fuchsii, a gorgeous alpine orchid

A type of Dryas

Hybrid: betula pumila var pumila x betula nana

The two types of Betula are very common here and will sometimes hybridize. It is fairly easy to tell the difference between the two species and the hybrid (unfortunately I can't find the right pictures at the moment to demonstrate this... we have taken tons of photos).

Lunchtime view of the town of Kirovsk and the mountain we hiked a loop around via Geographers' Pass the previous day.

Still snow on the ground in some spots. It often melts out on the bottom due to trickling water, so it can be dangerous to walk on the snow since you can fall through.

Saxifraga aisoides

Participating in true Russian activities... swimming in an alpine lake in this case. Igor actually remarked that he is surprised (and proud!) of each of us and our willingness to try out as many local things as possible. I myself didn't actually go swimming, but I did roll up my pant legs and step into the lake for the experience.

Tomorrow is a trip to the Lapland Nature Reserve!