2007 Route Completed - Uelen-Egvekinot 425 miles

From Dimitri,

I am stopping my expedition in Egvekinot this year for the following 2 reasons:

- After having talked to a lot of locals (hunters, wezdehod drivers,etc...) I have decided that it makes more sense for me to wait til next Winter and return in January 2008 to continue my journey on zimnik winter roads towns, potentially going on the following route: Egvekinot- MysSchmidta - Pevek-Bilibino-Chersky - then down on the Kolima river to Seymchan where I will then connect with the Westward road to Yakutsk.

- My current propusk permit could not allow me to take advantage of the last 3 weeks of snow (May) and continue now from Anguema north bound towards Myschmidta.

Editor's note: Karl has chosen to continue on at this time through a separate route through the Spring.
_____________________

Arrived today at 9am (May 16th) in Egvekinot after having completed about 425 miles by foot and on back country skis from Uelen. First advice before anything else: If anyone of you is going to talk to Karl before he leaves Anguema, I strongly advice him to leave his sled at some point on the road (before kilometer marker 66) with one of the few trucks going by, and continue with the bare minimum towards Egvekinot.

The road is quite dry for the last 66 kilometers, with only a few patches of snow. As a result, he could permanently damage the bottom of his sled.

At KM 33, he might be able to sleep as well at the "rest area/gastinista" if he does not arrive in middle of the night... I did not stopped there for that reason!

Summary of latest events:

1. Karl and I met with Sasha the local policeman in Anguema on Monday night(5/14). We all agreed that since Karl and I now had different plans (Karl is now continuing on the Southern Chukotka route and I am planning to resume my expedition in January 2008 on the Northern Chukota route), it did not make sense for us to continue together.
I got the green light from policeman Sasha to leave Anguema alone as long as I would stay on the road all the way down to Egvekinot which I did. I left the Chukotsnab Satellite phone with Karl since he was going to be behind me and could potentially "rescue" me in case of an emergency and in case I could not get assistance from one of the truckers.

After leaving Karl amicably, I departed Anguema at 9am on Tuesday May15th and completed the last 90 kms of this section in 24 hrs, taking advantage of the Belli Noche ("white night") and the fact that there is only 1 flight per week Egvekinot-Anadyr on Thursday and therefore I needed to press on to make it).On the road, I talked to the few truckers that came by and they all advise me to drop my sled asap since the last 33kms did not have much snow.

At 2:30pm, at mile post km 66. I dropped my sled with Egvekinot firemen driving by who agreed to take it in their truck and keep it in Egvekinot until my arrival. I quickly gathered a small duffel bag containing the bare minimum to be able to make it through the night while walking (water, food, clothes, IPOD...). I walked through the night on this beautiful road with an interesting past. At 9am today May 16th, I arrived in Egvekinot by foot straight at the airport where I quickly asked if I could buy a ticket for Anadyr the next day, which was allowed (weather permitting of course).

OK, what are my plans for the future?

1. Flying tomorrow to Anadyr (weather permitting) and trying to coordinate with Bering Air my departure on the next flight to Nome. If no flights are scheduled for the next few weeks and if the pogranitshik allow me, I will fly through Magadan, Moscow or else to get back to Seattle.

2. Once I arrive in Anadyr tomorrow, I would very much to like to meet with
the following people, (amongst others) to help me secure my return to Chukotka.

-Natalia Slugina (to explain my plan for next year and see how I can secure my propusk for 2008)
-Anatori Panov (to explain my plan for next year)
-Svetlana Kazmin (to solve some fine related matters)
-Pogrenitshik (and get my satellite phone and beacon back)-Local administration (to register if I stay more than 3 days )
-The owner of the company ACR4 (26864) to see what I can do to buy a Russian satellite phone and emergency beacon. I am not sure yet where I am going to stay in Anadyr.

That's all for now!

Btw, Egevkinot and the mountains around is quite pretty! It even has a ski lift! Thank you for your support once again!
Dimitri