Dimitri's picking up speed

Dimitri checked in with me yesterday (friday 4/25) and it sounds like he's picking up speed. He was two days out of Uelkal, tackling 9 miles the first day with a bit of a late start and 12.5 miles the next. He's replaced the skins on his skis and it seems to be helping him to move along a bit quicker, though the absence of 40 mph winds is probably the true savior.

I think the solitude is starting to set in a bit and he would probably be more than happy to have a traveling buddy about now, but his spirits remain high, and he's happy to be getting back into good trekking shape. He's gotten lucky with company on the past few legs of his journey, but I gather it's few and far between who'd volunteer to be in those kind of conditions. It does look like an amazing part of the world though for those tough enough or crazy enough to attempt it on foot. I'm sure it doesn't help for him to call in and hear my excitement about my upcoming vacation to Hawaii. I guess for the present we have different ideas on what's worthy of vacationing - though in all fairness his journey is more like work than it is like vacation. Hopefully we'll get a warm summer here in the northwest and he'll be able to fully thaw upon his return in July.

This next section between Uelkal and Anadyr should take Dimitri about two weeks to complete and since his PDA won't charge up enough with the solar panel, you'll have to put up with my updates until then.

Thank you for your interest and your positive, warming thoughts going out to our chilly yet determined friend out there in the arctic.

Aloha, 'ilima

In Uelkal, and now bound for Anadyr...

Day 5: 4/19
I spent the morning working on sending and typing my first dispatch and waiting for the storm to die down.
Temperature varied from 25 F with a 20 mph wind to 9 F at night.

Sea ice landscape while crossing the bay

Started walking at 15:00 and stopped at 24:30, having completed the last few hours under a beautiful moon, lighting the sea ice ahead of me.

On a side note, I learned on that day that I should definitely not mess around with video equipment in a storm... It just does not respond very well...
On the other side of the spectrum, I have started to use more and more a good old compass strapped around my neck when I have zero visibility instead of constantly checking my GPS, which is not always easy to extract from my coat with 3 pairs of gloves.

Camped at 65.493N, 179.348W.
Covered 7.5 miles, total : 38.2 miles

Day 6: 4/20

12:30-21:30, 9 hrs / 10 miles
Moving on the sea ice for the first 5.7 miles, and then landing on the coast after having passed a few ice surges.

On the coast, as I was approaching the land, I saw in the distant a wezdehod passing by and was consequently able to reconnect with the wezdehod tracks, taking me South towards Uelkal. I continued for another 4.3 miles, bringing it to 10 miles for the day in 9 hrs.

Around 19:30, a major Purga started to come through, hindering my progress.
I ended up setting up camp in a little dip, sheltered behind an old oil barrel and my sled.

Temp: 25F, 10 miles covered, 48.3 total
Camped at 65.416 N, 179.315 W

Day 7: 4/21
Over the last week, the weather has alternated between a few hours of sunshine and April type "purgas" (snow storms), hindering my progress, especially when the the 20-40 mph wind is directly facing me !

So, that morning, the storm was still blowing and I was really debating on whether it made any sense to get on the road...
Was I better off to wait in the tent or go.... then again, I had no clue how long the storm might last and I could not afford to wait too long.

So I decided to go, knowing that I will not be able to follow any wezdehod tracks in the snow . Wezdehod actually don't travel in purgas, quite afraid to be stucked in the middle of the storm, as I learned last year, when I had to wait for a week for a wezdehod to depart from Lavrentiya to Uelen to get to my starting point with Karl Bushby.

I struggled all day in the storm, stupidly barely ever stopping to grab some beef jerky or a Larabar nor rehydrating with some of my favorite NUUN based water, (as I usually methodically do).
Having walked from 12:30 til 19:30, and only covered 5 miles in the blowing storm, I decided to stop.

Having wet and cold hands, turning into "iced claws" that I could not warm up, I realized that I could not operate efficiently enough to go through the entire process of setting up my tent.

So, to avoid the risk of getting frost bites or hypothermia, I decided to bury myself quickly behind my sled wrapped into my sleeping bag + a bivouac bag + my tent wrapped around me as an additional bivouac bag.
I spent the night getting progressively covered with more and more snow, pinning me against the sled... Not the most pleasant night, but at least I was able to sleep in warmth, sheltered from the storm by my sled and a pinning wall of snow.

Covered 5 miles, total 53.3 miles, camped or should I say bivouaced at 65.373N, 179.315W

Day 8: 4/22
Woke up the next morning, all energized and ready to face the Purga which by then had somewhat decreased.

Covered 9 miles in 12.5 hrs (11:00-23:30) on rolling hills, going eastbound to Uelkal, after having to rectify my direction from the stormy day before where I could not move straight towards Uelkal.

In deed, unable to completely face the storm, on the day before I had to go straight South instead of South East where was located Uelkal .

Most of the day, in the fog, I was aiming at old listening antennas in the horizon, left over from the cold war.







I started to the see lights of the eskimo village Uelkal (170 habitants) in the horizon at 22:00 and entered the village at 23H30, after having passed multiple trenches of snow surrounding the village, as a result of the storm.

I knocked at the door of Gamza, whom I met the previous week on my way up from Anadyr to Egvekinot in the Wezdehod.
He and his pregnant wife Sonia were kind enough to let me crash on a sofa for the next two nights.
In exchange, I gave him most of my cold medicine as well as a few other items which are not easy to get in Uelkal since he and his daughter had a bad cold...

Uelkal: 65.3227N, 179.1740W


Day 9: 4/23
Spent the day in Uelkal, working on my gear, attaching new skins on my skis, resuplly, accessing the internet to catch up at the local school and even attended a practice of traditional eskimo dancing performed by some of the students, very similar to what I had the pleasure to see in similar inupiyak villages on the other side of the "pond" in Alaska such as Wales.

I always feel priviledged that I have been exposed to both eskimo and inupiyak cultures on the two contingent continents and try to "nexus"/ connect them through my own story telling.

Day 10: 4/24
Made a presentation at the school in the morning on Nexus expedition in front of most of the students (48 total) with the help of the English teacher acting as a translator .
I always love to see the students excitement when I share my story, and hear the various types of questions they bring to my attention in Russian and today even in English.
Some day, I will compile all of these questions and post a FAQ (Frequently and not so frequently asked questions ) on the website.



I arrived in the village of Uelkal after having only completed 63 miles since Egvekinot and having to face a few storms.
I have been able to reduce my cargo (fuel, food) and worked on setting up new skins on my skis which should allow me to move faster , weather permitting...
Now, I am, ready to depart with my sled for Anadyr !

Report Day 1- Day 4 From Egvekinot on to the frozen bay

Leaving Egvekinot...

First day: 4/15 started at 5pm, having to take care of administrative matters in Egvekinot and over emails, working on my documents/permits for the next Russian state I will be crossing . Planning ahead...

Starting location in Egvekinot : N66° 19.126, W 179° 07.078

Clear weather, did some filming as I was leaving the frozen majestic harbor of Egvekinot .
Love to see the ships stuck in the ice for many months.

Got followed for a while by the local border guards, asking me how far out of town I was planning to spend my first night. I said "10 kilometers" and apparently that was a sufficient answer for them to turn around and get back into egvekinot .An hour later, in the middle of the bay, I came across two men pulling out their crab basket out of the ice, and they gave me their crop (one small one) which I enjoyed on my first diner in my tent.

Reflected a bit that night outside the tent while staring at the moon on how good it was to be back in the chukotkan tundra and actually on the frozen sea...
Camped at N 66°14.376 W 179°09.010, covered 5.5 miles in 4.5 hrs

Day 2: 4/16 foggy and snowy,+11f, had to navigate with my GPS to avoid going around in loops. No visibility.Weather cleared in the afternoon for a few hours.I gave quite a bit of my extra fuel and food to the only vehicle I saw that day, a huge truck bound for Anadyr. Trying to get rid of some my huge cargo so that I can get some speed...

Camped at N 66°10.125 W 179°12 730, covered 5.2 miles in 9 hrs.

Day 3: 4/17
Colder -9f, slept near the coastal cliffs on the sea ice.

Got woken up by an avalanche of rocks coming down the cliff. Quite surprised, at first I thought it was a polar bear near my tent, which confused me since they are not supposed to be in the region for another month, when they will be on their Northern migratory route.

A wezdehod came near me at 3pm and as usual not comprehending at all why I am walking / skiing through chukotka with a big sled and asking me if I wanted a ride... I thank them but NO.. However, after they left, I followed their tracks and even changed to Montrail sustina running shoes which I could use on the hard packed trail for the next few hours.

Another wezdehod came near me at 6pm huffing and puffing, with 4 drunken men aboard. At first, they worried me a bit as if I came across a pirate ship in the open sea... In the end, we connected and they asked me if I wanted anything. I responded WATER since the night before I had messed up my drinking water, while gathering with a shovel the snow on top of the ice. I dig a bit too deep and got frozen sea ice water mixed with frozen snow. After the melting process, I realized that I had some terrible salted water for the day that even wonderful NUUN tablets could not save and honestly, I were too lazy to get out of the tent in the storm and collect more snow, use more fuel and start the melting process over. I thought that I will drink it for a day and that it will teach me a lesson for the next time while collecting snow to make water.In return I gave them 2 small bottles of kirchwasswer,(Oregon cherry brandy from clear creek distillery, which makes a killing gift in the Russian chukotka... Some drink the little bottle right away, some want to collect it..)We then took pictures together like old friends, drank tea and one of them even gave me some single binocular...!

At 9pm, as the weather was becoming very foggy , I saw two more wezdehods, one of them was driven by Viktor, the driver of the second wezdehod that took me 4 days earlier from Anadyr to my starting point in Egvekinot. Viktor stopped his wezdehod , invited me in the back of the wezdehod and offered me tea and two sandwiches with thick Russian bread, salami and cheese. PERFECT !

Hit the spot and saved me time on preparing diner

Camped at N 66°03.318 W 179°27.119, covered 10.3 miles in 10 hrs.

Day 4: 4/18

This is the season of the "PURGAS", spring storms. Second one since I started, hindering my progress. I still move in the storm but much slower. Spent most of the day in the storm with a short apparition of the sun in late afternoon. The only vehicle I saw today was an abandoned wezdehod in the middle of the frozen sea ice.

To distract me in this land of white on white (to the point where it makes you dizzy), I listened to audiobooks such as "a moveable feast: by Ernest Hemingway, and or varied podcasts such as Studio 360 PRI from NPR and the Seattle Bob Rivers show. Can't listen to music too much when I am in this "white on white" zone because it becomes too hypnotizing...

Camped at: N 65°55.685, W 179°35.698.Covered 9.7 miles in 10 hrs.

Covered 31 gps miles since I started, 20 miles over the last 2 days. I hope that I will be able to pick up the pace soon, as I reduce my cargo, (consuming some of my food and fuel). Approximately 145 miles until I reach Anadyr.I am still in the middle of the bay, sleeping on the ice, not trespassing anyone's property, I believe... ;-)I will try to send pictures in my nest dispatch...

Not able to being able to use my folding keyboard in the small tent, I am typing this email one letter at a time with my stylus and it is painstakingly slow. I feel a bit like the writer of the "Diving bell and the butterfly " but not quite!

And He's off....

Dimitri phoned in yesterday from his satellite phone and reported that though he has been off to a slow start things are going quite well. On his first two days he was only able to cover about 10-11 miles total due to very snowy, foggy conditions and a lot of excess weight. On the morning of his third day (Wed. 4/16, USA) he was able to unload some of his excess gear onto a passing vezdehod, which he will retrieve upon arrival in Anadyr. With the lighter load he was confident he would be able to get closer to his goal of 18-20 miles/day.

The weather had cleared up and the temperatures had dropped to -11 deg. farenheight so he couldn't stand still and talk for long but he was very excited to get trucking. His satellite phone batteries are charging up well with the solar panel, so as long as it's sunny we should hear from him every couple of days.

So please keep your good thoughts with him and we'll update you as soon as we hear more...

Finally able to start my trek in Egvekinot!

I have completed my registration process in Egvekinot which all foreigners must do in major cities and ports in Russia if they are staying for 3 days or more.

This means that I am free from administrative matters for a while and able to start my trek.

I want to thank the local administration of Egvekinot for having been kind enough to store my sled over the last 11 months, while I was waiting to be able to return.

It's -13 Celsius, clear sky and I am excited to start, similar to a dog at the start of the Iditarod !



Egvekinot is an urban-type settlement in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia and is the administrative center of Iultinsky District.

Egvekinot used to be an important port, supplying the Iultin mine about 180 kilometers straight north.
Egvekinot used to have more than 5500 habitants which went down dramatically to 2000 after the mine was closed in 1993.

However, it has one of the only 2 ski slopes in the entire state of Chukotka and as I say to anyone here, it could have the potential to become some day a great ski resort for the Far East market.

If the Chukotkan administrative matters ever become simplified, it could become a great location for Japanese skiers (a lot closer than going to Canada) and it is definitely cold enough, global warming in effect or not....

Maybe I should start campaigning for Egvekinot Winter Olympics 2030 !

Ready to start my trek tomorrow morning

Here is a shot after making it through customs in Anadyr...

Yes, I am now in Egvekinot thanks to the great help of a few friends.

First of all, a big thank you to my girlfriend Ilima for spending countless hours helping me to get ready before and after I left Seattle when we realized that I left my upmost important maps on the floor while packing in Seattle! Grrrrrrrr !
She was able to send them to me via Bering Air to Anadyr where they will wait for me for the Anadyr-Omsukchan sections.
She also sent me digitalized copies for the first section which I was able to print in Egvekinot.

I also want to thank Elena Vasilieva from Bering Air, the English school teacher Leonid Tererhov from Rhatyrka as well as a few other important friends in Anadyr for all the help they have provided to me to expedite my arrival in Egvekinot.
Seattle-Anchorage-Nome-Anadyr-Egvekinot in 5 days ! I may have broken a record on this popular route ! ;-)

Finally thank you in advance to Erik and Ilima for your help posting when I will not be able to do so over the next few months.



Check the plane wing on the side of the trail !




OK, I have checked all my gear and I am ready to start trekking tomorow early morning.


The weather is currently sunny, cold (-13 C) and crisp, perfect to start my trek on skis.

I have changed my scheduled route Egvekinot-Anadyr, planning to follow backwards the wezdehod route that I took on the way from Anadyr to Egvekinot via Uelkal, an eskimo village of 170 people on the coast.

This first section is going to include at first a crossing of the frozen bay for going straight South for about 30 miles,which will then lead to a coastal section all the way to the eskimo village of Uelkal.
Afterwards, I will be going West up a river bed and avoiding surrounding mountains.

In the river bed, I plan to stop potentially at the only place where I saw anyone on the way besides the village of Uelkal... a fishing camp where Pietr, a chukchi from Egvekinot spend his winters fishing, and welcomes the wezdehod drivers passing through...


Think of it as the ultimate "truck stop" where you can get freshly caught delicious small fishes !



Afterwards I will proceed South West on miles and miles of rolling hills and flat plains to finally reach the bay of Anadyr, which I hope will still be frozen at that time !

Thanks to my GPS, I was able to mark the trail with check points "bread crumbs" and counted a total of 180 miles. I am planning to take between 15-20 days to complete this section, depending on the condition of the snow, the weather and how my body is going to adjust to have to pull an heavy sled for the first time in 11 months...

Paka !
Dimitri

Dimitri is leaving for Egvekinot, right now!

We just received a text from Dimitri: “I am leaving for egve right now.” Egve=Egvekinot. His only option to travel is by armored tank, for 18-24 hours! The next available "tank ride" would be in a few weeks, so he had to mobilize fast to head out.
He was able to buy his way on a cargo wezdehod for a more reasonable sum of $300 (vs $3200 for a chartered one!).
This is more comparable with the one way plane tickets that were currently not available...

Dimitri is the only passenger on this"cargo" tank.
Dimitri is now in route to Egvekinot which is the town where he last stopped his expedition.
This is logically where he will re-start his human powered expedition.
See the picture of the vezdehod in this post.

Update from Dimitri

Dimitri is looking at the vezdehod, (a military Tank!), option to get to Egvekinot. An 18-24 hours ride! The next flight on 4/22 is sold out. After several hours of interviews, conducted by the custom officers, Dimitri made it through with “ALL” of his gear. He is very ecstatic about this. After an exhausting couple of days of dealing with multiple administrative issues, Dimitri was able to get some much needed sleep and seems to be looking at the bright side.
He told us, “I am thinking of the problems I run into as challenges to over come!”

Dimitri arrives in Russia!

Dimitri arrived in Russia. We received a text from him at 10pm on the 8th of April. He conveyed that he had made it through customs and is looking at complications getting to Egvekinot, with in Russia, to resume his expedition. The flight to Egvekinot, on April 22nd , does not have seats and booking a private "taxi"vezdehod would cost $3,200.00 US.
So, Dimitri is working with all of these contacts to find an alternative solution such as getting on a "cargo" wezdehod for a much more reasonable cost.
This is all the information we have at this time.

Most likely flying to Chukotka, Russia on Tuesday April 8th 2008

One step closer...

I have booked my Alaskan Airlines flights leaving Seattle on Monday night April 7th 08, connecting in Anchorage, Alaska and landing on Tuesday morning April 8th 08 in Nome, Alaska.



I have received confirmation from Bering Air that I will be able to get on the flight scheduled usually on a weekly basis on Tuesday April 8th 08 out of Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Chukotka.



This is a chartered flight for the gold mining company Kinross to transport some of their North American employees (mostly managers, engineers, builders) and cargo to Anadyr where they will connect to their final destination and exploration center in Kupol, Chukotka.

The last variable element is whether or not, Kinross will supply enough cargo in addition to the 4 reserved passengers to Bering Air between now and Monday to justify the flight for this week.



Once I reach Anadyr, I plan to use Chukotavia to fly to Egvekinot (where I last trekked and which is therefore my starting point) or go by vezdehod, depending on what will get me to Egvekinot the soonest.

Once again, the reason why I am choosing this route to return to Anadyr and Egvekinot is because it is by far the most efficient route there is.

This route involves less far eastern russian cities in flight connections, therefore requiring less permits and less chance to lose my cargo along the way between multiple airlines.

Green light to enter Chukotka !

Yes, it is true, and I have confirmed that it is indeed NOT an April’s fool joke!

I have just received this morning all of the remaining documents that I needed to be able to proceed through Chukotka and as you can imagine I am quite excited about this.

Before anything else, I want to take the opportunity thank the local government of Chukotka for giving me the opportunity to continue my expedition through their beautiful region.

At this stage, I am now finalizing my logistics and especially booking my Seattle-Anchorage-Nome-Anadyr-Egvekinot flights, which I could not have done any sooner not knowing when the permission will be granted.

The airline Bering Air operates usually a weekly flight from Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Chukotka, Russia on behalf of a Russo-Canadian gold mining company.
They tend to prioritize their employees and gear but hopefully, I will be able to get on this Nome-Anadyr flight in the very near future.

The other flying routes via South Korea, Japan, Magadan, Khabarovsk, etc... are not any simpler and may require additional permits, which I am not really keen on fetching at this stage, as you can imagine.

Once again, I am very glad that the paper work has been finalized and I can’t hardly wait to get reunited with my sled in Egvekinot !