Let's Say Goodbye to 2K20 · 47 pics

Hey everyone! 

Despite the fact that I haven't published anything recently (due to heavy employment in my main job), I am invisibly on our favorite blockchain — I follow its development, as well as support some blogs and curation projects. I hope that next year I will have more free time to publish my travel posts and pictures. :) However, by the end of this year, I have prepared this post and I would like to share some idea with the community.

For some of you this year was very difficult, for some just unpleasant, but for some people like me, this year was quite bearable. I will say this — the collateral damage from the pandemic this year was minimal for me. The biggest problem was the inability to travel around Europe again (I was going to visit Germany and Italy), but I traveled a lot in Russia. Moreover, 2020 was a Year of Great Walks for me — this year was a record for the number of walks, both urban and in nature. Now, it's time to say goodbye to this year. I decided to make this post and came up with this challenge called Let's Say Goodbye.

The idea is as simple as it gets. You publish a post about what interesting (or not so interesting) happened to you this year, in a free form, preferably with photos, in any language (or without text at all), and use the #letssaygoodbye tag among the first five tags. I will be happy to search and read your memories and impressions of 2020 until January 11 next year. The most interesting posts (in my opinion) I will definitely comment and come up with something with a reward. It is possible that major curators will also be interested in this challenge. :)

For example, in my post, you will see some pictures from my nature walks in winter, spring, summer, autumn, and winter again.

So, let's say goodbye to 2K20!

January

In my hometown — Chelyabinsk, the Southern Ural — a huge pine forest located right within the city. Morning walks in the fresh air in the winter forest are a charge of vivacity and good mood for the whole day. :)

Febraury

We have several national nature parks in the Southern Ural, and the Taganay National Park is the most famous. In February, I took a walk to the Black Rock, one of the landmarks of Taganay.

March

In the first month of spring, we still have snow, and walking is not much different from other winter walks — the sun, the silence and the creaking of snow under your feet. I have already made a post about such a walk once.

April

Since April, my walks usually take place near water — in the Southern Ural, there are more than three thousand lakes, hundreds of rivers and quarries. In these pictures, you can see one of the longest rivers of my native land called Miass.

May

In the pine forest of my hometown, there are several old flooded quarries. The quarry you see in the pictures called the Blue Quarry, and it is a very popular place for walking.

June

There are many abandoned and flooded quarries in the Southern Ural. Quarries are an integral part of the historical heritage of the 19th century, when mining industry was developing in our region. One of the most famous quarries called Kaolin Quarry, a favorite place for summer vacation. Look at the color of the water!

July

This year we had a very hot summer. In July, the temperature reached 40 degrees Celsius! For us, this is an abnormal weather, and on such days, we walked, escaping from the heat, in dense pine woods. Despite the heat, it was a great summer.

August

In August, we have already autumn. The sky covered with clouds and often there are prolonged rains. One day in August, I walked along the shore of the largest artificial lake in the Southern Ural — the Argazi Reservoir.

September

In September, I took a grand vacation. For the first time in my life, I made a big road trip — I drove almost 7,000 kilometers from Chelyabinsk to the Republic of Karelia and back, on the way visiting such cities as Kazan, Sviyazhsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, Plyos, Vologda, St. Petersburg (the pictures below are in the same order) and several other smaller towns. I was in each city for two or three days, and every day I had walks that left unforgettable impressions. It was a unique experience, which I will definitely tell you about in my blog.

October

Autumn is the most beautiful time of the year in the Southern Ural. The best time for walking. The best time for bright photos. In my pictures, you can see another quarry called the Student Quarry. Yes, this is a favorite vacation spot for students of a large university located nearby.

November

In November, I visited the Taganay National Park again, and saw with my own eyes another unique natural attraction — the Stone River. This amazing place deserves its own post (and it will definitely be), and now just a few pictures of the river of rocks which stretches for several kilometers between the mountains.

December

As soon as the first snow falls, winter comes. A couple of decades ago in the Southern Ural, snow already fell in November, sometimes even in October. Recently, probably due to global warming, we have less and less snow, and our winters are not so severe. However, as you remember, morning walks in the fresh air in the winter forest are a charge of vivacity and good mood for the whole day. :)

That's how I remember this year — the Year of Big Walks. What was 2020 like for you? I hope that those who read this text did not have serious troubles this year. Tell us about how you spent this year in your post using the #letssaygoodbye tag. It is not necessary that your post be as long as mine is. Finally, I want to wish you all only one thing — that in the New Year everything will be good for you (or even better).

I apologize for my English,
Thank you,
And ...

Yours,
Alexander F.

Russia, 
2020. 
...