2021-06-18 55 38

Location

In the field near Yegoryevsk/Golubovaya.

Participants

V1993 (talk)

Plans

Note: it's heavily recommended to read 2021-06-16 55 38 first and keep following railway map for this one too.

By this point I've already learned that this was a virgin graticule with a history of failures, but I was determined to change that. This time I planned to take train route Stupino -> Zhilyovo -> Kurovskaya -> Yegoryevsk (geohash) -> Kurovskaya -> Mikhnevo -> Stupino, using taxi to reach Stupino's train station once again. This meant waking up at 3:15 AM and coming back around 11:00 PM, but I was determined to do this.

Expedition

So, I once again woke up at 3:15 AM, with no life choices questioning this time, dressed up and set for Stupino station. Had to buy only one-way ticket this time since I was going to return another way. It was pretty cold this morning (12C or so, I think), so waiting on station turned out to be a bit less comfortable. Got to observe a couple of locomotives pulling away parts of a long freight train in the meantime, then boarded the train, got off in Zhilyovo, brought (once again one-way) ticket to Kurovskaya, and got onto the train there.

Like in a previous trip, it was a really calm ride along pretty landscapes. Unlike the previous trip, only very few people got onto train in Voskresensk, so this ride was calm 'till the very end. I also probably should mention that Kurovskaya is the end point of this route too, making it even more oddly satisfying.

So, I got off the train in Kurovskaya and tried to walk off the platform - to get tickets and take a look at the city - only to be stopped by turnstiles and have to wait to let out by station worker. Sigh. Now - a bit of trivia about Kurovskaya. This place is, apparently, most famous for huge explosion that happened there in 1978, which left 60m wide and 10m deep pit in that place. Despite not being quite big in passenger part, there is a constant movement of freight trains through Kurovskaya, much to my enjoyment.

Anyways, I got onto my train to Yegoryevsk once it showed up, but first an explanation. It goes all the way from Moscow, with Kurovskaya being a long (10min) stop, but still - a midway stop. So, once I've walked into train car, I was met with rather peculiar sight of a couple of guys outright sleeping of benches, who probably decided to travel with as much comfort as they can. Either way, while it wasn't quite as nice as travelling all by alone or with two-three companions in a train car, it still was far from crowded, so this part of trip also was fairly nice.

Finally arriving in Yegoryevsk I've finally turned on GPS recording and went into what looked like a rail station's building. Actually, it turned out to be motor-coach terminal, so I had to go back and consult the map, which revealed a path that would take me in exact direction I needed to go.

We're interrupting our article at the most exciting point to bring v1993 some sleep. We'll continue later on.

Actually continued few weeks later.

After following said path along railway I've crossed the railway (at road crossing) and followed the planned route forward. Unfortunately for me, it lacked pedestrian part along almost entire way, so it wasn't quite safe. After a while, I've reached the village (technically city outskirts, but really more of a separate village) near the hash, causing quite an uproar among local dogs (luckily for me, all of them were behind fences). At this point, I've tried to approach hashpoint, only to find our that I'd have to go trough tiny but really nasty forest.

Examining the map, however, revealed another potential route that I could try (it went trough the field), so I went on and took it. Eventually, I found myself unable to progress due to weeds being a little too big to step om. Looking at map and finding out that I was just about 20 meters away from hash, I've put on my coat and simply walked forward toward the hash, almost swimming in grass, pretty literally boiling in the process. After making photo at hash I quickly got out and took my coat off. Phew.

Now, in uplifted mood, I was walking back towards rail station (and main part of the city) when the worst possible thing got into my field of vision: a dog, not behind any fence and off the leash. My heart skipped a good dozen of beats at this point, but, to my insane luck, this turned out to be a friendly non-local dog brought by a group of people not permanently living there.

After this, I've successfully returned to rail station. But, having entire day left, I've obviously decided to go and take a look at Yegoryevsk. First of all, it turned out that street leading from railway station/motor-coach terminal to actual city is pretty long (it also includes a bridge across river, which is pretty nice). At its end, where actual city began, there was a shop where I got three liters of water. That may sound like quite a lot, but I drank all of it by the end of the day!

Afterwards, I went down the street towards local museum, obviously without any hurry and looking around in process. Sadly, it turned out that historical section of museum was closed for restoration, but at least gallery was still functioning, which I've visited. I didn't took any photos there, but it was quite an interesting exposition, inducing stuff from marble to wood work to uranium glass. After finishing with museum, I got pretty hungry and backtracked to local cafe, where I got one huge chicken leg, some cake and tea. Afterwards, I went back to station, where I spent rest of time until my train mostly sleeping.

Trip back went mostly smoothly, I got some chips while at Kurovskaya. Since it was pretty late (and I woke up really early), I've spent most of trip from Kurovskaya to Mikhnevo asleep as well. In Mikhnevo I've encountered some really confused station guard who just couldn't comprehend that I've just arrived from Kurovskaya and not lost at all. Also encountered local unfriendly dog, who forced me to take another route to my platform. From there, I got to Stupino and back home without issues.

Tracklog

Photos

You'd also look like this while being boiled alive
Colors aren't quite right, but you got the idea
Music shop and... weapons shop??? Well, there's a gunshot sound effect in general midi, after all...
One of streets in Yegoryevsk
Yegoryevsk's railway station. Notice large amount of wood being transported.