The Goliath Expedition

I found camp Dvoynoye having depleted all my gas and food. From here I need to switch focus and start thinking about getting back to Alaska with sufficient time to obtain a new passport, new visa and propusk (permit) then return with enough winter left, (hopefully late February) to allow me reach the ‘Road of Bones’ before I end up dragging my sled in the dirt. Yes, I’d have liked to have made it to Bilibino but in the grand scheme of things I guess I can suck it up.

I was beaten up pretty badly the first day out of Komsomolskiy. Lost the sled due to the lack of snow and pulling on snow/ gravel mix. Strong windstorms battered my tent and a broken tent pole had me positively worried. I had enough fuel only if rationed it to half a tank per day. Normally in winter I use one tank every day, in summer it’s one tank every week. I found it all but impossible to use only half a tank a day so soon ran out of fuel. Finding open water and getting wet boots, which needed a lot of work to just get them usable, did not help with the fuel situation let alone my feet or sense of humour. The morning I made for Dvoynoye camp I was out of fuel and food with all my hopes pinned on a less then certain grid reference. A second tent pole had been broken and I felt just one storm away from a disaster. I got lucky with the weather however and after that first night never encountered another bad storm. Temps dropped to -30C and below so it got a little rough at times. Deeper snow on the higher ground held me back now I no longer had a sled. Struggling to get the tent up with torn gloves left me with blistered fingertips the night before I reached the camp. Luckily I didn’t get frostbitten, but it had me worried for a while.

All said and done its time to get the right kit, and get back in time to try catching up on lost time. With a good sled, the equipment and right time of year I can make, Bilibino in 5 or 6 days. At Dvoynoye I faced a long wait for the last convoy to travel on the 29th before this road is closed for winter. My friends in Pevek stepped in to help and the Kinross Mining Company has let me jump one of their helicopters ferrying stores from Dvoynoye to the main project Kupol Mine. In the next day or two I hope to hop another chopper to a town with an airport, could be Pevek or Bilibino not sure yet. From there I will fly to Anadyr then back to Alaska, hopefully before the end of November.