What Dimitri's been up to

Dimitri is presently having a very difficult time out there, though he seems to be enjoying it thoroughly. The snow is mostly gone and he's trying to climb a small mountain today, not easy with a sled and no ice to slide it on. The bears are awake, the blueberry's are in bloom, and dimitri is really hoping it's a nice snow topped hill on the opposite side of that hill!

I apologize for the delay in the postings, Dimitri has been unable to do it with his technology and I was out of town. He's hoping that he will be able to continue after Vayegi, but he's really not sure. It's far from the ideal conditions to be traveling where he is and he's just not sure if it's worth it if he's only covering 3-4 GPS miles per day. There may be easier terrain however and he may be able to leave his sled which would make a world of difference.

see some clips from his updates are below...

Dimitri, May 26...

One more thing i forgot to say in my voicemail, from 18:30 til 02:00 the huge fat mosquitoes are everywhere and yes I see blueberries everywhere...


Dimitri May 23...

Current location: 64°1928N,173°2800E

Got 13.2 miles down yesterday in 14hrs 20minutes,going up the river. Still a lot of swimming involved every time I need to cross the river which is almost every curve...
No bears. Tracks seem to be older. I think that they have moved downstream where I saw them earlier.
I am having a few problems with my feet that I am trying to treat (one blister and an inflated throbing toe), dry suits are not made to be trekking with for miles and it's hard to fit the suit with a pair of warm socks inside my ski boots, making it hard on the feet.
It's starting to rain again,turning the snow into slush... Not easy going but I am making progress up the lamuskaya valley.

I am taking a large amount of pictures of different ice formation,ice floes,animals , tracks and scats,enough to keep me quite occupied ...

Ok, I gotta go for a swim...

Have a great weekend!
Dimitri


Dimitri, May 22...

My current location is 64°2459N, 173°4264E and I am progressing on the Lamsukaya river towards Vayegi .

Hi ilima and Erik,

My current location is 64°2459N, 173°4264E and I am progressing on the Lamsukaya river towards Vayegi .

it feels like I have fallen in the bear pen at the zoo. At least, I can clearly study their habitat...

Came in contact with two of them yesterday. In both cases, I came upon them about a football field away around a river bend. The first one, we stared at each away, he ran away after I shot a flare but then he/she settles in a bit further after the next bend in the river. I had to wait for him to move. The 2d flare did not deter him at all. He finally decided to move up the river at his nonchalant pace, sniffing, scratching the ground along the way and I followed him carefully keeping my distance but visual contact. After about 1/2 mile, he finally got off the river, climbed into a tree to have one last good look at me and disappeared in the bushes.

The second one looked at me. I made one step forward, he got scared and ran away...

I can't proceed at night (there is still light then but it's dimmer) because I need all the light I can get to look for bears and proceed
carefully. I want to avoid surprising them.
No ipod for the last few days!


The river is currently surrounded by impenetrable bushes. The river is my only option.I also have to swim quite a bit with my dry suit between snowy patches. It started raining last night...

I also see a lot of beautiful birds, geese, ducks, eagles, what looks like swans, etc... It's beautiful.

The river is meandering so much... It's taking forever... I did 10 miles yesterday in 12 hrs but I am only 3 GPS miles (miles in a straight line) closer to Vayegi. 82.5 GPS miles to go. It should get better as I gain elevation until I get to the other side of the pass, until I get to the Vilyuneyveyem river... Which means the "ear" river in chukchi or chuvanska...

Have a great weekend, I miss you both and definitely definitely love you Ilima.

Dimitri Bernard Kieffer

Btw, bernard means strong ike bear.(I am definitely not going to test this..) Maybe it is meant for me to be here and conquer my fears and even greater respect for bears... But no worries, I am not turning into some crazed "grizzly man". I am definitely living an intense experience



Dimitri, May 21...

You should see my neighbors ! Bear tracks everywhere and I am not talking about the type of bears you might find in Neighbors... It's getting to be quite challenging, I am having quite a bit to swim with my dry suit!

My trip is going well although I now have to swim (in my dry suit) some sections of rivers instead of being able to ski on them...Spring conditions apply...

Dimitri, May 19...

It took me 7 days to cover Anadyr-Krasneno and I left Krasneno last night (where I was very well received by the mayor alexei nikolaiovich beriskin)
I am progressing straight south west towards vayegi. I hope to be out of the state of chukotka, before may 31st when my permit expires.

I will definitely let you know if the situation changes.

I am currently trekking in the middle of the lake krasnoye (current Location:N64°3089,E174°2227).