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Tim and Colin: Maps and Rafts in Siberia
Oct 12, 2004 13: 00 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:
Men don't ask directions
Although "men don't ask directions" Yulya's feminine influence or the 40 year old maps, decided that the locals could likely provide some insight as to the best route to minimize river crossings and other unpleasantries.
They were wrong. Just how wrong became apparent after a full day's hike lead the team to the tip of a spit that lead to no where else. Locals advised them that they would be able to cross via land to the other side, but this proved to be completely false. A mere 100 meters away stood an abandoned sealing camp that they were aiming for. Yet a deep channel of water made reaching their destination unattainable.
The Raft: Winds would make it capsize
Rather than backtrack 25 km over difficult terrain, the team decided to try to build a raft to cross the stretch of water. Using discarded oil barrels and fishing net they created a suitable raft.
Colin and Tim launched their vessel into the icy river waters to test its stability. The winds howled across the landscape at speeds reaching 100 km/hour and it soon became clear that to cross would be impossible. The gale force winds would make them capsize or even worse blow them into the North Pacific.
Siberians have no need to travel such distances
Disappointment sat heavy with the team as they retraced their steps and set out to find a better route. There is little that can be done to avoid false excursions such as these as the team is trailblazing this overland route from Provydenya to Anadyr.
No one travels through this area: Siberians have no need to travel such distances from their villages and maps are not regularly updated. An extra 50 km added onto their trek forced the team to ration their food supplies.
The team stripped
Winter is fast approaching. The howling winds are of such an intensity that one of the tents has been blown down in the night and when walking the team has to lean into the wind at a 45° angle. The falling snow whips at their face and bodies like a sandblaster. The rivers are freezing over, but not yet to the extent that they can be safely walked over.
Their last river crossing was quite difficult and a day later would have been impossible. The river was chest deep and had 20 feet of ice on both sides of the shore with open water in the center. The team stripped from the waist down, except for their boots, which they needed to break through the ice on the surface of the water.
Happy Thanksgiving: Freeze-dried chicken curry
With each step they would break through the ice and plunge into the freezing waters. In another day the entire river would be ice covered and they wouldn't be able to lift their legs high enough to break through the ice in the chest high waters.
Although the team has had to endure some hardships this last week, Thanksgiving was celebrated. They had a delicious meal of freeze-dried chicken curry followed by chocolate for desert. Not quite like having turkey with the family but certainly a memorable way to celebrate the occasion.
No sails, no engines - just raw human energy. From Vancouver to Alaska, across the Bering Sea and into Siberia, two BC adventurers Colin Angus and Tim Harvey have rowed and bicycled their way since June 1. The trip is a 11 month, 18,000 km journey that will take them to Moscow using only human powered modes of transportation.
Currently they are at in Siberia, after crossing the 400 km Bering sea in a rowboat purchased on E-Bay only a few months ago. The 18 ft rowboat was packed solid with 1500 lbs of gear and provisions - everything needed in Siberia. In addition to food, they are carrying Arctic expedition clothing, four season tents, -50°C sleeping bags, skis, winterized bikes, ocean survival suits (just in case), and other essential gear they'll need to cope with temperatures that regularly drop below -60°C.
Colin and Tim started out cycling, the bicycles each carrying 140 lbs of gear, clocking 120 km a day. Grizzly bears and blistering heat were are all part of the daily routine, in Yukon the were almost caught in forest fires reducing visibility to 30 meters. In order to stick to their schedule, they decided to canoe from Whitehorse towards Fairbanks along the Yukon River. The voracious forest fires created a river journey that Colin described as "the liquid road to hell". The flames crept up to both sides of the river, creating a constant smoke that obscured the river banks and made breathing difficult. "It's like being in pea soup with iridescent displays of light."
They cooked, ate, and slept in the canoe (bought in Whitehorse for $200). The boat carried more than 700 pounds, including both bikes and all the gear. This made it quite unstable and left little room to sit, let alone sleep. Strong headwinds assaulted the overburdened and undersized canoe for five days. They could not afford to wait a week until the weather system passed. The constant 24 hour daily paddle took on new meaning as they were both forced to paddle the canoe to keep its nose pointed into the waves and stay on a forward course. After nearly sinking and 48 hours without sleep they reached Fairbanks.
In Fairbanks, the bikes underwent a transformation to enable them to endure the hardships of Siberia and a rowboat conversion was finalized. Next, the rowed over to Siberia. Currently they are on a loong winter walk to Moscow.
Colin Angus
Colin Angus and pals traveled the 7,000 km length of the Amazon River in a raft - from the first trickles of melting snow in the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean. In five months, they crossed a desert, climbed mountains, shot rapids and ducked bullets, and 119 days after setting out from Lima on Sept. 13, they navigated the entire length of the river.
Based in Vancouver, Colin has spent the last twelve years pursuing a life of adventure. Colin sailed across the Pacific Ocean (much of it solo) as a teenager, organized the self-powered expedition down the Amazon, and most recently completed a descent of the 5,500 km Yenisey River through Mongolia and Siberia.
Colin has authored two books for Random House and co-produced two documentaries for National Geographic, one of which garnered awards at the Banff and Telluride Festivals of Mountain Films.
Tim Harvey
Born and raised in BC, Tim has long enjoyed exploring the coastal wilderness by kayak and canoe. Tim spent seven months in Central America, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency to work as a photographer on biological inventories of threatened marine and wetland ecology.
Image of the guys and their current position, courtesy of the team.
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