A gift of 5 kg:s of moose ribs

1 Mar, 2005 

GPS-pos: N67°49′ | E156°13′ | Alt: 11 M 

First day of March today and we’ve taken a second day of rest at a tiny log cabin. N67°49’15.6 and E 156°13’07.7.

The weather is wonderful, clear and sunny with a morning temperature at -37°F with a  incredible top at only 15°F! (in the sun that is, but anyway). No wind.

Written by Johan Ivarsson

We expected to leave today. But whilst preparing a trout soup yesterday evening, a buran (snowmobile) drew up and stopped outside the cabin. Two yakut hunters, on their way

back to their nearby cabin after a hunting trip in the mountains, rushed into the cabin. They both had, what we would consider as severe frostbites, due to a long time without warmth and some parts of their cheeks had turned black, but this is normal for them and nothing that seems to bother a Siberian. (As it does with Mikael, who’s cheek is turning black, but not swollen right now) They probably were as surprised as we were in meeting other people out here in the middle of nowhere. But they were happy to be able to warm up a bit before continuing across the Kolyma towards their cabin. Before they left, they gave us another proof of what incredible people that live out here, when they handed over a 5 kilo heavy piece of moose ribs. They never cease to amaze me!

Therefore, since we neither want to carry the weight or waste good meat, we’ll stay another day and eat it up! Even though we’ve had some hard going until now and that Kolymskaya feels very far away, it can’t be compared to the unbelievably hard and freezing cold days that we experienced during the first skiing part of the expedition, from Zyryanka to Srednekolymsk. I’m amazed that we got through that part without more problems, or that we got through at all! Now we have longer and warmer days with the wonderful sun making everything so much easier, and it’s even possible to enjoy some parts of the day. During the other stretch it was just a dark, cold and horrible fight to survive.

I’m glad to have experienced that part, though, because it’s a lot easier to find motivation when I think back on that time, knowing that it could be worse!