“It was built as a herder station in Soviet time and served as a home for a herder for around 20 years. It became a ranger cabin in 1995 and I visited it many times over the last 15 years. It has a cozy small room, which serves as both a dining and sleeping area. The old metal stove can heat the room in a short time. When it rains or snows outside, herders bring their horse saddles inside. The familiar scent of horses, livestock dung burning in the stove and food mingle in the air. After a hard-working day, we have a quick dinner and go to bed early. When we are 7-8 people, we are like tinned fish. If we fall asleep early, I sometimes wake up around midnight. Our food attracts our little friends, the mice. They are noisy at night, organizing marathons in the room. They chase each other, run through our sleeping bags, noisily trying to make holes in our food bags. As the fire dies, the hot room starts to cool down. The old wood frames on the three windows let fresh, cold air enter the room and it touches my face. In the wilds of Sarychat, I get plenty of sleep in a short time. I wake up in the deep night, open my eyes, look at the clear sky from my bed and think about the galaxy and thousands of other things. I see hundreds of shining stars, falling stars. When the moon is up and there is snow, I can see the mountains clearly. Sometimes, I hear wolves howling. I used to think, what shall we do if a bear comes to the cabin? We often saw a bear’s pugmarks around the outside, even on the window glasses, but it never entered inside. Until this summer. This summer, a bear broke into the cabin at least four to five times. Fortunately, it entered when the rangers were not there. It broke all three windows and kitchen utensils. We set a camera trap inside and recorded how the bear was making a mess. But we enjoyed watching it and no one got angry. Bear in Cabin 1 Bear in cabin 2 We were able to pay for the cabin repairs thanks to funding from local responsible tourism efforts and the family of Nancy Wheatland Biglow, who made a donation in Nancy’s memory. We replaced the old wood frames with strong new ones and added metal protection on the windows and door to make them bear-resistant. Now, the cabin is warmer, safer, and a bit more comfortable. But maybe it lost a little something? I don’t think it will let me feel fresh and cool air on my face at night anymore. When I wake up in my bed in the city, I often think about Sarychat’s night view from the cabin window.” Kuban and Sarychat’s rangers use this cabin as a base for their work to protect snow leopards and their prey. Long-term conservation like this is only possible with consistent funding – which is why monthly donors are so vital to our mission. Will you join Team Snow Leopard as a monthly donor? If you join before Earth Day, you’ll be invited to a special online LIVE Chat Event with Kuban on April 22 at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT. Photo credits: SLF-Kyrgyzstan, SLCF-Mongolia Acknowledgments: We thank the family of Nancy Wheatland Biglow for their generous donation in her memory. The post The Starlit Cabin: Where Wild Things and Rangers Meet appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.