Wk 11 Polar Husky Style...
Date Posted: 5.1.2007
Location: 65º34N 171º00W
Laverentiya, Chukotka, Russia
Weather Conditions: Cloudy and light snow, 12°F (-10 °C)
Five days, five communities and more than 130 miles....the mighty Polar Huskies have been cruising - tails swooshing. They may have been idle for more than seven weeks, but on just their second day on the expedition trail, the Polar Huskies covered more than thirty miles in eight hours. That is ten miles more than our planned daily average. It didn't stop there. The Polar Huskies continued this pace every day for the following four days - in a ground blizzard, on glare ice, through pack ice, along leads of open water, up mountainsides and down steep valleys. "Even after fourteen years of running Polar Huskies they continue to surprise me" says Paul. Mille continues, "Polar Huskies are the most awe-inspiring athletes, with spirits and hearts that never fail. They always step up to the challenge."
This week's challenge, Polar Husky style, was for all members of Team GoNorth! to meet in the community of Laverentiya at the mouth of the Bering Strait by Saturday night. The two teams of Polar Huskies, Paul, Mille and our coastal Chukchi teammate Artur, set out dog sledding from Provideniya, the expedition starting point. On Wednesday, setting out from Education Basecamp at the University of Minnesota, Aaron and Jeff were to fly to Nome, then fly across the Bering Strait to Provedeniya, and from there make it to meet the team using Russian 'snow vehicles.'
"I was elated when I woke up Monday morning to the message that the expedition had taken off from Provideniya in typical grand Polar Husky style" says Aaron. "Our journey to Chukotka has been long with the tremendous challenges in just getting the expedition in the field. On Monday morning before leaving for the expedition I ventured out to Eden Prairie, Minnesota to be with Mr. John Clay's fourth grade students at Eden Lake Elementary. "It was amazing! In hallways beautifully decorated with life-size drawings of Polar Huskies, everyone was cheering to read the breaking news of the expedition being on its way and Mr. Clay's students were busy at work making kits for me to bring out on the expedition. Each kit had stocking cap, toilet paper, great gorp with M&M's and chocolate chips in 'burped bags,' and a letter of encouragement for each of the team members." Thank you Eden Lake Elementary!
On the first day we dog sledded to the small community of New Chaplino. Sitting in a bay nestled by mountains, this is a small community of about 120 people. Artur's niece lives here and soon after we had set up camp where we were going to be staying, she invited us to a dinner of sea cucumber and 'grib'!
The sea cucumber - or 'uba' as they are called in Russian - grows on the ocean floor of the bay. Making holes in the ice during the wintertime, a big rake is used to gather the cucumber and bring them up in nets. Like a cucumber, 'uba' is fresh in taste, but just a little bit sweeter. How is that for getting your veggies?!!
A big blubbery blob, 'grib' look like either seal or maybe walrus blubber stored in big glass jars. We were unsure what it was as Artur's niece grabbed a glass and started pouring it for us to have a taste. It turns out it is the most delicious sparkly drink with a sweet taste much like apple cider. Grown in large glass jars with a cloth lid, the big blob is actually a fungus. Water is poured with the fungus and then after sitting for a few days, it is all ready to drink!
We did see many seal this week. Lots of them, playing on the sea ice soaking up the sun. We also met many Native hunters going out by dog team to hunt seals or traveling between the communities just like us. Seals are called 'nurpa' in Russian. Because Artur speaks very little English, we have been learning many phrases this week and doing a great deal of sign language. The next community on our trail was Artur's home community, 'Yanrakynnot' (we call it 'Yansk'), which was founded by his grandparents. Being in a hurry on our way to Laverentiya, we would only come into a community at the end of the day and head right back out the next morning, knowing that we will be spending time to enjoy each community on our way back to Provideniya instead.
So far the sun has been shining from a beautiful blue sky making the snow mushy by early afternoon. We had been getting up at 4 am and on the go a couple of hours later. It was getting late as we were heading out of 'Yanks' but Artur kept signaling that 'no worry, around the corner, lots of wind.' Considering it was another gorgeous day, we figured the mountain on the cape to our North was protecting the community and the winds would pick up a bit as we rounded the cape onto straight stretch of the land. The wind did indeed pick up making for perfect conditions dog sledding on beautifully smooth ice along the beach with a nice breeze and sea gulls screaming in the air above.
The pleasant day did not last for long. Strong winds had pushed out the sea ice from the cape so that it was now wide-open water. Instead, we had to head west, climbing the cliff up onto the mountainside and into the winds. Within minutes, we went from a peaceful morning on the beach, to a complete ground blizzard with winds whipping at 40-45 miles an hour blowing the snow across the land making it impossible to see more than 100 feet. Up in the sky it was still blue and the sun continued to shine. The Arctic tundra is actually a polar desert with little snow. But with wide-open spaces and no trees, the snow gets moved around in the high winds. That is why the snow at times is hard-packed like cement, making for hard drifts. Aaron explains, during the ground blizzard the clouds in the sky were cirrus clouds, which is what we call fair weather clouds also known as 'mare's tales' or 'feathers in sky.' That means it was a high pressure system in the area producing beautiful weather! But the strong winds that developed at the surface created the blizzard on the ground.
That night we made it to a traditional tundra cabin for Artur and two friends that had set out from Yansk to travel with us carrying supplies to stay in. Lying in our tent we hoped for the winds to clear. In the most incredible style, the Polar Huskies had indeed pushed their heads into the northern winds for another 30-mile day. But we would not be able to push through one more day like that to make it to Laverentiya by Saturday. And hopefully, the high winds would not last for days as that would make it impossible for Aaron and Jeff to be able to fly across the Bering Strait from Nome to Provideniya.
Aaron and Jeff flew across the strait in perfect conditions and found themselves soon walking the streets of Provideniya soaking in the many impressions. "It is obviously a place of history" says Aaron. "It is unlike any place I have been in the Arctic. Bright colors, abandoned buildings, people dressing beautifully, old and new all mixed together." Jeff continues, "I was taken by the sharp contrast of the gorgeous scenery with sweeping grand mountains and the square cement buildings meant to withstand the forces of Arctic nature. It is difficult for me to fathom people making a way of life here compared to at home." That night we were welcomed by Igor who made us tasty Chukotka dumplings. A local Yupik, Igor joined the team to help us translate in the communities.
"When the alarm went off at 2:30 am it was light out. I have never experienced the Arctic light before!" says Jeff. "Piling into a large fancy looking six-wheel vehicle, we left Provideniya with no Polar Huskies, but sure in Polar Husky style" grins Aaron. Trucking across the snow-covered tundra we were not on any kind of road. Instead we were following trails and sticks placed in the ground. Once in a while we would loose the trail and we would all look for sticks in the snow, get sight of one, head for it and be back on trail. Five wild, crammed, bouncy hours later we pulled into the community of Lorino. Just like Paul, Mille, Artur and the Polar Huskies were met by the border guard the minute the sleds came to a stop earlier in the week, so were Aaron, Jeff and Igor. They were asked to show all permissions, passports, and visas since we are now in a new region - the Chukotsk - of Chukotka.
With upbeat Russian pop music glaring from the radio and stuff dangling from the rearview mirror, Aaron, Jeff and Igor were soon driving down a dirt road. The driver was no less than the Mayor of Lorino, Andree Gino, who kindly offered his Jeep to chauffeur Aaron, Jeff and Igor on the last leg to Laverentiya. Once in a while, the mayor would stop to back up the small Jeep as they pushed their way through the snow drifts to climb long steep inclines. Aaron says, "At one point we were going through some deep snow and heard a loud clunk. The mayor jumped out, put on his gloves, crawled underneath the car, and put the muffler back in place. Igor turned to Jeff and said, "Russian vehicle." We smiled, chuckled and moved forward... Polar Husky style!
Not even 24 hours earlier, the Polar Huskies were climbing up, up, and up flying down the same very steep inclines. To break the sled in the downfall, we put on chains over the front-end of the runner. That was not enough to make the last down-slope onto the beach of Laverentiya. To get to Laverentiya from Lorino traveling on the sea ice, one has to travel around a large cape leading into Laverentiya Bay. Once again, the ice has gone out leaving nothing but open water and us traveling overland to get around it.
Getting into Laverentiya with small sleds or in some sort of vehicle is not a big problem as you can just head down the winter road. But the winter road is sheer ice and barreling down the steep mountainsides was not an option with the big komatek sleds and mighty Polar husky power. Instead, we had made our way towards the beach. Standing atop the cliff, we hooked up Artur's snowmobile behind the sled to use it as a break to slowly maneuver down onto the sea ice - one team at a time. Challenge completed, we were in Laverentiya! Polar Husky style!
Met by Dimitri Vladimirovich, who is helping us here in Laverentiya, we set out following him on his snowmobile cruising through town, met by cheers, waves and soon to follow, an entourage of barking dogs. "We were really not sure what the plan was, but that Dimitri was guiding us to our place to set up camp with the dogs. We were a bit horrified when our caravan came to a stop in the middle of town center. Were we camping right here on the plaza!?!?" said Mille. No, instead Paul and Mille immediately had to report to the police station to get our permissions to stay in the community, while Artur kept control of the two teams of Polar Huskies 'parked' on the main street. Polar Husky style!
Laverentia is a large community with about 2000 people. Just like every other community, it is powered and heated by coal. The smokestacks towering into the sky is very much what one notices when approaching the communities from the land. It is accompanied by the smell of burning coal, which turns snow black from the soot. Measuring the amount of soot on the snow pack is part of the snow samples collected in the field by Team GoNorth! while traveling. We are not taking samples around the communities since that would be misleading. The coal burned in the plants is mined in Chukotka and shipped to each community by barge, so it is efficient. But it is also obvious that there are not a lot of resources to control any pollution from the burning of coal. Coal is a fossil fuel, just like gas or oil, and when burned it emits carbon dioxide that lead to climate change. That said, there is no air conditioning here in Chukotka, so once winter is over the need for energy goes down unlike places where we stay cool inside by using air conditioning. How is your community powered? Make sure to post to the Nature Map in the Climate Zone and join this week's chat on the topic of Climate Chaos Wednesday, May 2 at noon CST.
On Saturday morning the team was finally united. What a journey! As Jeff put it, "I left my home in Central Minnesota and two days later I am 4000 miles beyond my wildest imagination, in the Russian Arctic." Polar Husky style!
What powers 'Polar Husky style' is obviously the Polar Husky spirit and no two dogs embodies that more than this week's Polar Husky Superstars, Disko and Rubi. Very intelligent and a great runner always 'on the hunt,' Disko is now the number one lead dog on this expedition. Extremely affectionate, always happy and very very sweet natured, Disko aims to please and has truly grown into his role of leading the pack. It was actually Aaron that on an expedition a couple of years ago decided to try to put Disko in lead and Disko stood up for the challenge with surprising confidence, invigorating the team with his cheerful nature.
Extremely powerful and never-stopping, Rubi is as invigorating with her sheer force and wild energy. She is kind and gentle with people, but Rubi is no doubt the alpha female of the Polar Husky kennel. With a mindset to always go forward and never give up, she matches any male in brute strength and will. When you hear Mille's thrill cut the air "Rubi, Rrrrrrubi, Drruuuuuuuubi girl' it is bound that a team of Polar Husky sled dogs will be flying across the snow full-steam ahead - Polar Husky style.
