My trip to the Kola Peninsula on the Ponoi River in Russia was an adventure in the purest sense of the word. At 67 degrees latitude and above the arctic circle, the surroundings were otherworldly. The ecosystem is tundra with scrub birch, spruce, berry bushes and moss being the primary flora. The local wildlife includes Russian Brown Bears, Reindeer, Moose, Wolverines, Mink, and some interesting raptors including Peregrine Falcon and White Tailed Sea Eagles.
       The rivers themselves are pristine and hold some of the last completely healthy populations of Atlantic Salmon in the world. Fishing on these rivers gave me an idea of what the great North American rivers such as the Penobscot, Connecticut, and Keenebec must have been like in colonial times before dams and logging changed them forever.
        Our travel arrangements were handled with expertise as always by Frontiers International. Shackelton International, the new owners of the Ponoi River Company, are doing a great job. The camp we stayed in was simple but comfortable, with walled tents and wooden floors, running cold water and woodstoves. Elegant gourmet meals were served in large communal tents. Hot showers, sauna and even massages were always available.
       There was plenty of time to experience all of this, too, because it was never dark the entire time I was there. That far North the sun swings around in a huge tilted circle. It was high over our heads in the daytime and crept along the north horizon in the wee hours, but it never set. I took full advantage of the endless light and fished and painted at all hours. I averaged about four hours of sleep a night usually in quick naps and I'll never regret it. Fishing, and the landscape were just too good to miss. Our group of 15 anglers caught almost 400 salmon from 5 to 30 pounds; about 30 pounds per person for the week. Many of our fish were caught on the dry fly. We skated big floating deer hair flies across and downstream and the aggressive Ponoi Salmon chased and attacked them. On many occasions, the same fish would hit several times on one cast and come back cast after cast until it was hooked. This made for exciting visual angling, especially because some of the fish were 3 feet long.
       I painted quite a bit. I completed five watercolors and an oil during my week long stay in Ryabaga camp. All my paintings were of the Ponoi River itself. My subjects include a sunset scene of a broad view of the river with our tent camp in the foreground and several compositions of the powerful geometry of receding river held in place by tapering ridges of rock and scrub vegetation. I also did a still life of a coin bright salmon lying on the shore. I hope to return to the Ponoi soon, perhaps as early as next year. If you would like to join me, contact me here.

See also, The Montana Paintings & The Bahamas Paintings