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Tim and Colin: Bog crawl in Siberia
Oct 21, 2004 14: 37 EST
The guys rowed across the Bering Sea, and now they are hiking Siberian wilderness, all the way to Moscow. Here's the latest from the teams webmaster on Tim and Colin's Vancouver-Moscow adventure:
"The week's end finally brought relief from a stretch filled with unimaginable difficulties. The team arrived in the town of Kenergino after thirteen days of nonstop trudging through Siberian wilderness with 70 lbs backpacks and no other human in sight.
Waist high bog
Although cold is generally the feature associated with Siberia at the onset of winter, it was a warm weather front that caused the difficulty. The temperatures warmed to just above freezing, which brought torrential rain, thawed the thin layer of ice hiding the waist high bog and increased the danger of river crossings.
The rivers you heard about last week became more dangerous as they became completely covered by thin ice in the cold period that preceded the warm front. The team constantly broke through the ice and plunged into the water. The ice covering made it impossible to know the depth of the river and the team constantly feared they would break through into a river that was above their heads. This could mean death. The fast flowing rivers would easily pull them away from the opening in the ice they created, leaving them with no route to escape from the river.
Breaking the ice with hands and thighs
When they weren't crossing rivers, they were slogging through bog. The terrain was made up of varying depths of bog, covered by a thin ice sheet and a 10cm layer of water on top. The warmer weather ensured that they would repeatedly break through the thin ice that covered the often waist high quick sand of mud. Once the ice broke, the bog's victims would sink into mud and a girdle of ice would trap them. From that compromised position it was impossible to resume walking on the surface of the ice. One was forced to continue to walking through the thick mud, breaking the ice with hands and thighs until thicker ice was reached. The difficulty of moving through the sludge combined with the off-balancing weight of the backpack often forced the team to crawl on hands and knees through water and mud. This could go on for kilometers until the bog lessened or the ice hardened.
A banquet
So this is the story of the last few days. The team was constantly wet and forced to travel in horrendous conditions, which were compounded by pounding rain and almost hurricane force winds. Logic suggested they should wait out the weather, but their limited food rations resulting from 3 days spent on the wrong path last week forced them on despite the difficulties.
Their hardship finally ended on Saturday when they arrived in the village of Kenergino. As they approached the village, its bemused inhabitants rushed out to greet them and repeatedly asked "Where's your boat?". No one had ever walked into their village and they were shocked. Their shock quickly gave way to hospitality. The mayor provided them with free accommodation, opened the communal bathhouse for the team, people made them feasts of food and saw to it that the minor repairs to their equipment were made. Even the school opened its doors on Sunday and brought in two of its staff to prepare a banquet of fresh bread, borscht, roasted chicken, cheeses, chocolate, and more.
Another 3 weeks of bog ahead?
The team will spend a few days in the town, mostly eating and enjoying the warmth of heated homes. They hope to be able to use a boat from one of the town's people to cross a 40 km stretch of water that borders the town. If they are unable to row across this stretch, they will need to travel another 200km through bog to get to the other side of the inlet. This would likely take 3 weeks, where as by boat it would only be one day. The mayor is helping them find a fisherman who would be willing to go out into the water with them. Although boats often travel this water in the summer, the approaching winter brings on stormy conditions and increases the difficulty of the crossing. Nonetheless, we are hopefully that the team will be able to secure a boat and avoid another 3 weeks of treacherous bog and rivers."
Chukotka is the most Eastern region of Russia and of the whole Eurasia. It is washed by waters of two oceans – Arctic and Pacific. A half of the territory lays beyond the Polar Circle. The whole area is occupied with tundra. Coasts are reach of scenic bays, full of sea birds and mammals. Aborigine people – the Chukchis, the Escimos, the Evens, the Yukagirs are mostly engaged in reindeer breeding or in hunting for sea mammals.
The climate is extremely rigorous with average temperatures of January –18…-42oC, of July +4…+14oC, of the whole year –4…-14oC depending on the site. Fast changes of weather, strong winds and sunless days are characteristic features of Chukotka. (Source: Ecotours).
Satellite photo shows the village, Konergino, the team is currently in. You can also see the severe bog they had to hike through. Imposed over image of the Chukotka area, by Ecotours.
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2004
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