Tag Archives: Expeditions

Have been staying at a great home stay in Khuzir.
Tomorrow morning Scellig and Hobnails saddle up and head north.
The second half of the trip is more remote and likely will have less chance to send photos and rely on voicemail sat phone contact until close to Severobaikalsk in the north .

It will be an adjustment again trying to bet in the walking routine and tent life.
Had many of the creature comforts of life here in Khuzir over the past 24 hrs.
Like Antarctica, it took a few hours to get used to going up and down steps etc compared to a constant horizontal surface.

Almost full moon Shaman rock Khuzir

Beautiful sunset at Shaman rock this evening

Sunset Shaman rock Khuzir

Sunset Shaman rock Khuzir

Sunset Shaman rock Khuzir

Sunset Shaman rock Khuzir

Sunset on ice Khuzir day 13

Sunset Shaman rock Khuzir

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

Hobnails and Scellig

Visited the local hospital in Khuzir this afternoon.
Run by nurses with irregular visits from doctor from mainland.
This depends on weather and time of year.

Hospital founder/ director Khuzir

That period between ice melting and open water + the opposite in fall are especially difficult for the community.
Was told today that electricity from mainland only appeared approximately 11 years ago.

Khuzir has unfortunately become a victim of its own success in relation to being overloaded with tourists ( a lot of Chinese recently)in summer especially but increasing in winter months with ice/snow sports, mountain biking, marathons, motor bike rally’s etc

Most employment is in tourism and fishing.
Apparently the fish stocks are quite depleted at present.

Signs of international corporate presence used in summer months only Khuzir

Church

Shaman rock sign Khuzir

Sunset on ice Khuzir day 13

Khuzir

A time to recharge and dry things out

Museum/arts centre closedown winter Khuzir

Old house and well near centre of Khuzir

2 Russian ladies Khuzir

Almost full moon Shaman rock Khuzir

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

Bill

Day 12-17 Almost full moon as we get closer to Khuzir

Hobnails and Scellig are now in Khuzir … tired after a long 37 km day
The blue ice made a big difference getting here
Looks like more snow to the north.. not what we were hoping to see
We plan on spending 2 nights in Khuzir and visit some local families and learn more about the history of this very special place
It will also provide the opportunity to get some rest , dry out some clothing etc
Let’s see what tomorrow brings!
Hobnails and Scellig

Cloudy, more wind, some windchill.
This was the most windy am so far.
To have a vital piece of equipment or clothing be blown away would obviously be a disaster.
Breaking camp this morning Day 12 took a bit longer because of the wind.
One needs to take more care with everything.

Evening Update

Hobnails and Scellig are now in Khuzir … tired after a long 37 km day.
The blue ice made a big difference getting here.
Looks like more snow to the north.. not what we were hoping to see.
We plan on spending 2 nights in Khuzir and visit some local families and learn more about the history of this very special place.
It will also provide the opportunity to get some rest , dry out some clothing etc.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings!
Hobnails and Scellig

Day 11 Sunrise

Day 11 Ice Cracks

This place continues to amaze!

The constant cracking and explosive sounds reflect the continued dynamic nature below the ice.

Day 11 First bit of blue ice seen on the afternoon

The difference travelling on blue ice is like night and day.
Scellig feels much happier also.
Hope it continues…

The sound of the Hobnails on ice remind me of the magical footsteps of Irish Dancers such as David Geaney and colleagues on the floors of the west Kerry halls and pubs

Day 11 Finally some patches of blue ice

Worked hard to find a camp spot on the ice closer to some cliffs to avoid being very exposed in this open, windy patch of water.

As a result stopped walking around 6.15 pm after starting at 8 am.

Day 11-12 Scellig on lunch break

One challenge is to get close to land and avoid open water area before light fades for the day.
One is much limited here with darkness coming around 7 pm.
It usually takes about 1 hour to set up tent etc and another 30 mins to melt snow etc.
With camping on the ice , ice anchors are needed which takes a lot more time than snow pegs etc.
The reverse needs to be done breaking down camp each morning.

It’s amazing how simple life can be with spending 8-9 hrs each day seeking out ice patches to walk on to reduce the load

That’s one reason why time efficiency is so important.

Hobnails and Scellig

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

Bill

Signs of Icefishers’ presence.

Editor’s note: there is no email reception today, so we have an audio report (broken into 2 parts b/c of upload limits) and a few pictures from yesterday.

Stay tuned for more.

The Simple Life in Baikal

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

Bill

Day Seven
Distance Traveled: 19 Km

This is what Day Seven looked like:

Day 7 Magical rock formations with lots of energy

Day 7 camp

Day 7 Typical conditions for most of the day.

Day 7 Start

Day 7 Beautiful Island – Reminds me of Scellig

Day 7 Baikal inukshuk

To see the full photo gallery from this trip, look here.

Day Six

This is what Day Six was like….

Day 6 Lots of ice and rock sections to negotiate as take chance to stick closer to shoreline because of wind and poor visibility

Day 6 More Whiteout Conditions

Day 6 Cool Rock Cave

Persistent snow whiteout conditions

Day 6 Start

Lots of tricky navigation

Day 6 Hard work for the hobnail boots and Scellig

Day 6 Beautiful snow covered forest

Day 6 Cool ice artistry a gift from Baikal

Day SEVEN

Distance Traveled: 19 Km

Day 7 was the toughest day so far.

Editor’s note: Today’s communication was called in by satellite phone so there are no pictures. They will have to wait until Bill once again has email availability.

Photo from Day 5

It snowed all day, from start to finish, really for nine hours.

There were often total white out conditions, and snow all day was really the last thing I needed. The wind was from the south-west, but it was quite warm.

This makes the snow wet, sticky and heavy, making the sled feel about twice the weight it normally does. This makes it harder on the back and the legs, and things start to break down more easily in those conditions.

This makes it even more important to look after the body and work around things.

I covered around 19 Km today, which wasn’t bad, considering the conditions.

I did fall a couple of times on my ass pulling the sled in deep snow and standing on snow-covered ice makes it very hard to get traction sometimes.

I tried using snowshoes, but the conditions are so variable with snowdrifts, ice, and trying to see through the whiteout conditions. There were also other navigation issues, trying to get out around the ice. Trying to go a non-direct route is also a challenge because it’s hard to see where the ice is until you can get close to it. Visibility at times was down to 200 meters, so it was not an easy day’s travel.

We’ve lost a bit of ground, time-wise, but we have to go with the conditions. It’s a great example of how small we are in this big natural world, and we have to adapt to what we get.

Let’s see what tomorrow will bring.
Bill

To see the full photo gallery from this trip, look here.