A Trip To The White Sea

Greetings, friends.
I don't know many people who want to spend their vacations in the northern latitudes. Most people tend to go on vacation to warmer places where they live. But I adhere to the bird rule: in summer, you need to go north; in winter, you need to go south. I don't like hot weather; I prefer the temperature range from +15 to +25.
For about 10 years now, every year at the beginning and end of summer, I have been visiting my son in the Arkhangelsk region, often called the Russian North. But every time I would like to go to the White Sea. The shortest distance from my son's house to the sea is about 250 km along the Onega River to Onega Bay. That's exactly what we decided to do on May 29th.

We had to drive the main part of the way along a dirt road. After the rains the day before, it won't be so easy. We understood that. We had to make it to 3 p.m. to walk along the exposed seabed after low tide and visit Bird Island.
My son was driving the car. I drove 1200 km yesterday, so I can rest on this trip.

During the trip to the sea, we met at least about a dozen red foxes. It was already dark when we drove back, so we no longer saw the red-haired predators, but little hares and their mothers jumped along the road. But I didn't take a picture of them; they flashed very quickly in the headlights of our car, and it started raining again.
It's a good thing that not a single bear came out onto our road. This happens quite often in these places.

An old wooden church. But we couldn't get there because it's on the other side of the river.But the son said that there is a village with a similar church ahead. He drove this road 5 years ago.

Once upon a time, quite rich people lived in these parts. The families were large, and they lived in houses specific to these parts. These houses were built with the understanding that it might be necessary to stay in the house for a long time during a winter snowstorm. There are many such old houses in the Russian North, in the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions. Now such houses are no longer being built, and the old ones are being destroyed because no one lives in them anymore. People are leaving these places in search of more comfortable living conditions.

This village is not visible from the road; you need to turn off onto it towards the river.
At first glance, I even thought that no one lived here, but I realized that I was mistaken. A friendly, cheerful dog ran out from one of the yards to meet me.
The village looked abandoned, but we stopped for almost half an hour to enjoy the view of the church and the river.

My team is my son, daughter-in-law, my daughter-in-law's dad, and my granddaughter.

Has anyone noticed that there is also a separate, similar tower in the photo of the previous church? It turns out to be a bell tower. Apparently, due to the design features of wooden churches, the bell is not installed at the top.
Moreover, there is another practical purpose of this bell tower.

In the old days, villages in the Russian North, especially in border or inaccessible places, were often fortified. A free-standing bell tower (and not attached closely to the temple) served as such a tower. It was placed so that it controlled the approaches to the settlement, for example, to a ford across a river, a narrow passage between marshes, or a hill from which it was convenient to fire at the enemy. The tower had a flanking advantage: it allowed us to fire along the walls without exposing ourselves to a direct assault. Sometimes, combat tiers were built inside, and an opening was made at floor level, leading to a wooden defensive platform that connected to the general fighting course of the city walls.

source

Ascension Church
The year is 1651.
A monument of urban planning and architecture as part of the "Complex of Wooden Churches" ensemble.

One last look at the church, and we drove on. My granddaughter wanted to stop by here on the way back to talk to the dog again. But it wasn't meant to be.

There were many rivers of different sizes along our route. But almost all of these rivers had muddy water due to the rainy weather.
I have a great desire to visit my son for a month and go fishing every day.

We arrived at our destination on time. The water receded from the shore, and we safely walked along the bare seabed and visited the island where gulls, sandpipers, and other birds nest.

Wow, there are so many birds over the island, and how much they scream!

It was a wonderful walk. I lost track of time; it passed faster than I would like.

An interesting place for a photographer.
When I showed my wife the photos, she said she also wanted to visit those places.

Goodbye, White Sea. Goodbye, North.
I won't be going there this fall. I will be planning a trip for 2027 with the possibility of visiting Arkhangelsk.

This is our way

By the way, the location of the City can be seen by clicking on the link to the map in the comments to the article by @travelfeed and @worldmappin

Don’t Worry, Be Happy _{(C) Bobby McFerrin}

_{Text & Photography by @apnigrich
With love @apnigrich}

Good luck and have fun