-----Original Message----- From: dimitri kieffer [mailto:dimitri_kieffer@hotmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 6:45 PM
Back in Nome because of a few "technical issues"... where I can hear people going home from work roaring on their snowmobiles and their trucks. Where one needs to watch out when walking down the street, having to dodge snowmobiles. This is also the only place where I have seen rows of cars with engine running in front of grocery stores while people conduct their shopping. People tend also to plug their car at night to electric outlets to make sure they can start them in the morning... I also smile when people refer to "spring temperatures" when it goes all the way to 30F...
In any case, if you care to know, I am going to give you some news on what has happened.
Bottom line:
Erik, of course, there is no need to share this with the Northwest Cable news or any other reporting agencies, not the best PR.
let's start with news on frost bites:
Got a few frostbites in -42F. Now wearing a thick black glove on my left hand which allows me to type easier. Don't call me Michael Jackson quite yet. My fingers have level 2 frostbites except for the black one which is level 3. By the way, it goes to level 4 and that is = amputation. The doctors won't be able to tell for a few days how quickly they will heal. Need to wait til the blisters open up. I also have frost bites on my face and strangely enough on my knee even though i was wearing 4 pair of pants. But those are not major...
In any case, here is what happened:
Karl and I left Nome on Tuesday Jan 31st at Noon. Slept Tuesday night on the coast in front of sledge island, Wednesday night in front of Cape Rodney, Thursday night in a cabin North of Cape Wooley (by Feather river). Considering the cold weather though, we slept in our tent inside the cabin, sheltering us from the wind. We slept Friday night by Cape Douglas right before moving inland towards Teller. We took the coast route instead of the inland road to Teller because we heard that on the coast, we will have more snow and less hills (both making it easier to pull a sled). It was cold though, it was -30F when we left Nome and got down to -42F This is how I got frost bitten on some fingers. It only took a few seconds of skin exposure to nail me.. Last year, walking up from Anchorage I had time to get used to the Northern climate, I guess not this time.
The real issue happened on Friday night when we stopped to camp along the coast near Cape Douglas. It was sunset and the wind was picking up and of course it was still around -40F. We had to make a quick decision. I suggested to camp on the sandy/snowy beach but Karl thought it will make more sense to sleep right off the coast sheltered behind a 7 to 8 feet tall ice wall. We both heard some hurling noise from the ice and I regret I did not insist more on sleeping on the actual beach, eventhough we would have had to climb over the ice wall. So we camped there and around 10pm, we noticed that the wind start to really really pick up, shaking the tent back and forth for the next 36 hours like a Mexican Pinatta at a wedding, snow was even falling inside the tent from God knows where.... On Saturday, we woke up at 8am and decided that considering the storm , we will better wait until it dies down a bit, not even coming out of the tent the entire day. something I have never done before... On Sunday morning, despite the continuing conditions, we decided that enough was enough and we needed to progress. We came out of the tent and discovered with the GPS very quickly that we were 28 miles off shore ( I repeart OFF SHORE) , South East of King Island. Felt like the twighlight zone... The ice pack we were originally on had separated from the coast and taken us off that far off the coast. No wonder the storm felt so strong behind what we thought was our sheltered area since we had been navigating in the middle of the sea !
We tried to progress towards the land but there was too much open water and without the dry suits, waiting for us in Wales, we could not swim between ice pans. So, as a last resource, we used the sat phone and embarrous, called the state troopers. They sent evergreen helicopters to our rescue. they show up 1.5 hr later and took us to the land. They drop off Karl on the coast right at Cape Douglas (where we got off land on the ice pan while camping) with all the white gas and food we had left, 22 miles South East of Teller). I wanted to continue with Karl but taking into account my fingers we both agreed that it would make more sense for me to return to Nome to get treated and see how quickly I will recover for the Bering crossing. Therefore, if my fingers allow, I will meet Karl in Wales (Western point of Alaska facing the Bering crossing) where Karl and I really are going to need each other. I may get back to Seattle to rest completely and get healed at the burn center but this is still up in the air...
Have a good time wherever you are and don't forget to take good gloves... ;-)
Dimitri
PS: see below for more local Alaskan news that I shared with some of you before I left and that others may enjoy to read as well.
Had some muktut, seal oil and reindeer stew yesterday. Spending some time with local inupaks. One interesting quote yesterday was when I asked a woman from shishmaref in Nome (check on a map where it is, it's an interesting village of 300 people in Alaska on a little spit, stucked between the Chukchi sea and an arctic lagoon, just South of the arctic circle. Because of the global warming, this village is progressively being eroded into the sea and they are progressively relocating this entire ancient village to a new location), what does polar bear paws ( a delicacy up North) taste like and her response was "as delicious as walrus meat"... Felt so much more informed, kind of like when I used to tell people that "racoon taste like dog" not even thinking I was saying anything strange. At least, I have not heard anyone yet say anything like "it taste just like human flesh..." One more thing you may like. I walked into a local Catholic church in Nome today and I saw the following sign:"please put all goose down parkas on the tables in the hall. Others might be allergic to these items and we need to be able to welcome everyone in the chapel".
Later and thinking about all of you,
Dimitri