Trekol Traverse

Greetings All,

During the afternoon of August 15 we were taken ashore by Zodiac boats to rendezvous with the first overland group.  On the way we spotted a Polar Bear swimming towards shore.

Swimming Polar Bear

The ice has melted and they have no choice but to go ashore. The first overland group had arrived by a Trekol, a Russian made vehicle built to travel across the tundra with minimal impact.  

The Trekol Awaits

We were to follow the same route going in the opposite direction.  We would start at Drum Head (also known as Dream Head) on the northwest coast and cross two passes to reach Doubtful on the southern coast.  Here is a map showing our route.

Trekol Traverse (click to enlarge)

As we approached the beach I was amazed to see an Arctic Fox brazenly approach.  

Hungry Arctic Fox

After we landed we were told that this desperately thin fox had followed the Trekol for the last 10 km.  A big man all bundled up in a parka and accompanying the Trekol on a quad bike tossed a hunk of salami to the hungry fox.  I was surprised to see the wildlife on Wrangel being fed as it is a federally protected wildlife reserve but I was happy to see the starving fox getting some food.  The first overland group had a great trip and I was eager to start.  We piled into the back of the Trekol and set off with our driver Vova and guide Oksana. 

Our group in the Trekol

Oksana told us the man on the quad bike was Sasha, the director of the reserve, and he was to accompany us.  Not long after we started we spotted a Polar Bear on the beach.  He looked a little thin and untidy as we drove past.

Polar Bear on Beach

We entered an area where Snow Geese abound.  Up to 60,000 pairs breed on the island, the only large breeding colony on the Eurasian continent.  This year has been hard on the geese.  Spring came late and many pairs did not breed.  We spotted one pair with 5 gray chicks in tow.

Snow Geese with Chicks

 
We passed a couple of Arctic Fox dens where the inquisitive kits came to check us out.

Arctic Fox Kit

In the late evening we arrived at Tundra Hut.  It's not clear when the hut was built but over the years it has housed numerous researchers. This year Olga, a park scientist who is studying Snow Geese, lived here.



Trekol and Tundra Hut

The following morning Oksana cooked oatmeal and toast for breakfast to fuel us for the day ahead.

Breakfast at Tundra Hut

We left the Tundra River and entered the Mammoth River Valley.  It's easier for the Trekol to travel along the gravel river beds and causes less damage to the tundra.

Tundra River Valley

 

A hatch was cut through the roof and Marc and Jens squeezed through to photograph the many birds and animals we encountered.

View from the Trekol Roof Hatch

 

We passed more Arctic Fox dens but in the morning fewer kits are up as they are too sleepy to play.

Sleepy Arctic Fox Kit

Two Snowy Owls were engaged in a squabble over what we did not know.

Dueling Snowy Owls

Most of their chicks have already fledged but we encountered three.  They could not fly yet and scuttled across the tundra to get away.  They lack the white plumage of their parents and their eyes are a more intense yellow.

Snowy Owl Chick

 

For lunch we stopped at a hut that was used back in 1975 by scientists introducing muskox to the island.



Muskox Introduction Hut

The corral that once held the 15-20 muskox brought over from Nunivak Island in Alaska remains near the hut. With the coming of winter, the muskox escaped never to return to their enclosure.  Only 6 of the original muskox survived but were prolific breeders.  Today there are 800 muskox on the island.  As we neared Doubtful, our final destination, 6 Arctic Fox kits emerged from their den on top of a river bank.  They stared at us inquisitively before resuming their play.

Arctic Fox Kits at Play

Back at Doubtful we stayed in a new hut under construction.  It lacked the character of Tundra Hut but was more spacious and comfortable.  The next morning we headed out on our last drive toward Doubtful Pass.  Not far from the hut a herd of 8 muskox were grazing on the tundra.  They stopped and assumed the defensive posture at our approach.

Muskox

We stopped at an abandoned forest rangers hut.  Yes, at one time there was a forestry project being conducted in the island even though there are no trees!  We headed back to the rangers station at Doubtful.  An Arctic Fox approached the Trekol looking for a treat but we had nothing to give.  He was a beautiful healthy fox capable of feeding himself.

Arctic Fox

Back at the station Sasha took us for a tour.  A mammoth tusk had been washed down from the hills and still lay where it had come to rest.  Wrangel Island may have been the last place on Earth where woolly mammoths survived!

Mammoth Tusk

Some of the rangers, inspectors as they are called here, had taken up residence in what appeared to be abandoned cabins.  Many had relics from the Soviet Era and it was like walking back in time.

Kitchen and Sleeping Quarters in one of the Cabins

Brilliantly colored wildflowers were still in bloom amongst the "artifacts" left behind by the Soviets.

Forget-me-nots

We watched as the Spirit of Enderby cruised toward us in the bay and all too soon our overland trip was over.  I can't think of a better way to have spent my birthday then on wondrous Wrangel Island!  

We hope all is well back home,
Peggy and Marc

The Wonders of Wrangel Island

Greetings All,

We're still in the Siberian Arctic exploring remote Wrangel Island.  On the morning of August 15 we set off to explore the area around Komsomol on the west side of the Island.  There is an abandoned Arctic Fox trapper's hut here complete with a baidara with the walrus skin now eaten away.  Leg hold traps hang from the front of the cabin and the doors and windows are studded with nails to ward off Polar Bears.

Arctic Fox Trapper's Hut

We took a short walk along the beach where a Gray Whale was feeding just off shore.

Gray Whale

A raft of Long-tailed Ducks bobbed along on the surf.

Long-tailed Ducks

Daisies carpeted the shore of a tiny lake.  Plants here grow low to the ground to avoid the brutal Arctic winds.

Daisies

Tiny flocks of Dunlins were feeding with their long beaks in the shallows around the lake.  

Dunlin

Tracks of a Polar Bear mother and her cubs were clearly embedded in the mud along the lake shore. You could even see the imprint of fur surrounding her footprint. 

Polar Bear Tracks

She was still there with two cubs resting on the far shore of the lake until our intrusion caused her to get up to investigate.

Polar Bear Sow with Cubs

She settled down shortly after once she saw we were no threat.  In the afternoon we landed at the Sovietskaya River and took a long walk.  We started along the riverbed where Pomarine Skuas were pretending to be injured in order to lure us away from their nest.

Pomarine Skuas

 

We climbed to the top of a ridge where an expansive view enfolded before us.  A Polar Bear sow with two clubs were on the valley floor below.  Even though we were far away, we disturbed her and she ran off with her two cubs in tow.

Polar Bear Sow with Cubs

Even though Polar Bears are fearsome predators, they are very cautious.  They tend to flee rather than confront potential danger.  We spotted another 7 bears dotted around the ridges in the distance.  The day was not over yet.  After dinner we did a zodiac cruise along the bird cliffs at Pitchiy Bazaar.  Thousands of Common Guillemots, Brunnich's Guillemots,  Horned Puffins, Pelagic Cormorants, Pigeon Guillemots and Kittiwakes were nesting on the rocky cliffs.  Thousands more flew overhead creating a deafening raucous.

Bird Cliffs at Pitchiy Bazaar

From above an Arctic Fox was attempting to raid the colony for chicks or eggs.

Arctic Fox

It was nearing 9:30 and the sun was setting, it was time to return to the ship.

Sunset at Pitchiy Bazaar

The next morning we continued our exploration of Wrangel Island.  We headed toward our landing site at Drum Head (also known as Dream Head) but were distracted by two Polar Bears on the beach.  We drew closer and closer but not so close that we would interrupt their friendly sparring. 

Sparring Polar Bears 

As we neared our landing site a lone Reindeer stag stood on the tundra.  Velvet hung in tatters from his massive antlers.  

Reindeer

Reindeer are now scarce on Wrangel.  They were introduced to the island in 1938 and the herd had grown to a whopping 8000 individuals!  In the winter of 2005-6 disaster struck when a staggering 6000 reindeer died!  A freeze/thaw/freeze cycle left the grass frozen in big chunks of ice.  After eating this grass the reindeer died.  Nikita explained to me later that the consumed ice froze and killed the bacteria that the reindeer needed to digest the grass.  Eventually the reindeer died with full tummies of grass.  Today only 400 reindeer remain on the island!  We crept ashore cautiously taking great care not to disturb the reindeer.  Suddenly, Nikita spotted a Polar Bear heading down the beach in our direction!  The reindeer was quickly forgotten and Nikita told us to sit down and remain quiet.  It seemed crazy to sit down and wait while a full grown polar bear approached but that is exactly what we did.  I figured out of 50 people that there was at least 1 person I could outrun.

Waiting for a Polar Bear!

I couldn't see the beach as we were sitting below a gravel bank but some of our group higher up were getting excited.  I partially stood and could see the Polar Bear cautiously approaching not more than 150 feet away!

A Polar Bear Approaches!

 

She finally figured out what we were, turned and ran a short distance down the beach.  She settled and sauntered off at a leisurely pace.

A Polar Bear Retreats Down the Beach

 

I can't imagine what more wonders were in store for us but I was eager to find out.  We had just learned that there were 2 last-minute cancellations on the next 2-day overland tour and the spots were ours!  We would get to see the interior and spend 2 nights on Wrangel after all!

We hope all is well back home,

Peggy and Marc

Into the Realm of the Polar Bear

Greetings All,

Our expedition to the Russian Arctic began in Anadyr in the Siberian region of Chukotka on August 8.  Here is a map which shows our intended voyage route.

Voyage Route

 

A two-hour charter flight from Nome, Alaska brought us across the Bering Sea to Anadyr situated on a spit of land jutting into Anadyrskiy Bay.

Anadyr

 

The weather was sunny and warm as we explored the city, stopping first at a Russian Orthodox Church built with wooden logs.

Russian Orthodox Church

We sat on benches along the Anadyr River where to our delight Beluga Whales were swimming past on their way back to the sea.  We waited for the last ferry/barge to deliver us to The Spirit of Enderby, our home for the next two weeks.

Boarding The Spirit of Enderby

 

The Belugas were swimming around the ship and Marc did his best to get a good photo of them.



Beluga Whale

 

On board we settled into our cabin on the 4th deck then prepared for the mandatory lifeboat drill. 

Marc in Our Cabin

Overnight we headed north along the wild Chukotka Coast encountering heavy seas.  At daybreak the seas were still rough and all I could do was drag myself to the bathroom where I spent the morning retching.  Midafternoon we dropped anchor in Preobrazheniya Bay where the swells had eased and I finally felt better.  Marc was doing marginally better lying in his bunk for most of the day.  It was too blustery to do any landings or zodiac cruises so we continued our journey north.  The following morning we had our first landing on Yttygran Island, home to Whalebone Alley.  In the 14th-15th centuries the Eskimos hunted Bowhead Whales here.  They processed the whales and stored the meat in stone pits until winter when their dog sleds could carry the meat back to their villages.  Seven tall bones were stuck into the ground.  They looked like Mammoth tusks but Nikita, one of our guides, told me that they were the jawbones of Bowhead Whales.

 

Peggy at Whalebone Alley

 

The Eskimos used them to create a rack that was high off the ground on which they stored their baidaras or walrus-skin boats so that their dogs would not eat them.  The next day we arrived at Cape Dezhnev, the northeastern-most point on the Eurasian continent.  

Cape Dezhnev

 

A lighthouse stands as a historic monument to Semyon Dezhnev, a Russian Cossack, who was the first European to sail across the Bering Strait in 1648.  His great accomplishment was forgotten for almost a hundred years and Vitrus Bering is usually given credit for discovering the strait that bears his name despite having sailed through it 80 years after Dezhnev!

Lighthouse at Cape Dezhnev

 

On shore we climbed to the abandoned village of Naukan.  In 1958 the Soviets forced the Noukan people to resettle in another village that could be more easily resupplied.  The remains of their subterranean houses with whale bone and drift wood roofs lay testament to a community that once thrived by hunting whales.

Subterranean House in Noukan

 

The seas were still rough so Rodney, our expedition leader, decided to skip a few landings and head north to Wrangel Island, our ultimate destination.  We were north of the Bering Strait and had now entered the Chukchi Sea.  I had been anticipating reaching Wrangel Island for months after reading Jennifer Niven's historic novels "The Ice Master" and "Ada Blackjack".  The novels were gripping and once I started reading them I couldn't put them down.  One hundred years ago the Karluk set out on a Canadian Artic Expedition only to get stuck in the pack ice in August!  She kept drifting north and then west until finally being crushed by the ice and sinking in January 1914.  The 25 passengers including the crewman, scientists and an Eskimo couple with 3 and 8-year old daughters made their way over the pack ice to Wrangel Island.  Some perished on the way, others got lost and perished on nearby Herald Island and others died after reaching Wrangel where they struggled to survive until being rescued in September 1914!  Among the 14 survivors was the Eskimo family and the expedition cat, Karluk.  Finally, on August 10, 2014 I got my first view of legendary Wrangel Island!

Wrangel Island

 

We made our first landing on Wrangel Island where 5 passengers from the first cruise of the Spirit of Enderby were waiting to be picked up.  They had spent 10 days on an overland trip across the Island.

First Landing on Wrangel Island

 

I was surprised by the number of buildings and junk left behind during the Soviet Era.  At one time there was a village, airstrip and meteorological station here.  Huts stood abandoned and hundreds of barrels and machinery, including a steam shovel, sat rusting in the Arctic sun.  

Remnants of the Soviet Era On Wrangel

 

We took a short walk across the tundra where a few wildflowers still bloomed and two muskox bulls sparred among the rubble.  "To see more wildlife we'd have to explore the ice floes" Rodney told us.  We left 5 new passengers ashore to go on a 2-day overland trip.  How I wished I was going but there was no space.  I reluctantly returned to the ship not wanting to leave the island I so much wanted to explore.  My spirits lifted just as soon as we entered the ice on our quest for wildlife.

Zodiac Cruise Through the Ice

 

Rodney had spotted a group of Walrus on a floe and we weaved our way carefully through the ice in search of them.  We approached slowly not wanting to startle them into a stampede.  Walrus are easily disturbed and it's best to view them from a distance.  This was a small haul out of about 20 animals.  

Pacific Walrus

 

Pacific Walrus, the subspecies we had encountered, prefer to haul out on ice where they feel more safe.  Here they are hunted by humans and Polar Bears and are more wary than their Atlantic cousins. They haul their immense bulk, up to 2000 kg, out of the water to sleep and rest after forging for mollusks on the bottom of the sea floor.  They grab the sediment with their front flippers and feel for mollusks with their long whiskers.  When they find them they suck them out, like eating oysters at a bar.  We left them in peace and went of in search of more wildlife.  Suddenly, Meghan, our guide, shouts "Bear!"  Somehow she spotted a white polar bear sleeping on a white ice floe a half-mile away!  As we approached the bear rose to her feet and we could see she had a cub! No - 2 cubs! Hold on - 3 cubs!  

Polar Bear Mom with 3 Cubs!

 

We watched in awe taking many photos.  Wrangel Island is a magnet for polar bears, particularly females looking for a place to den and have their cubs.  When the sea is frozen, they hang out on the ice hunting mostly seals and the occasional walrus.  When the ice is gone they are forced ashore to wait for freeze up or to hunt lemmings onshore.  What a privilege to see such a beautiful bear and her three cubs in their natural habitat!  We can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

We hope all is well back home,
Peggy and Marc