2004-08-28 - Problem
25/8 2004 - A gray and rainy day, 10°C, our last restday at N 62°30´05.6 E 151°41´31.3.
Four days of rest sounds luxurious, right? But for us, that means four days without paddling.
Just setting a fishingnet at the right place, checking it every four hours, cleaning the net, taking care of the potential catch, mending the net and than preparing the fish to eat, it takes at least a couple of hours every day. On top of that, restday is when you look over all of your equipment properly, wash clothes and mend them, look over the technique and most of all, this is the time when you take all those shots by camera and camcorder, that one missed during the paddling. For example views of the area.
For this reason, yesterday after sending the dispatch, I left Johan looking after the camp, hiked up a steep scree of loose rocks on the other side of the river, and immediately hit the wall that has hindered a lot of the human conquest of Siberia, the mosquitoes! I brought the rifle, but forgot the mosquito repellent and the bugshirt.
Gee, I felt like I was loosing my sanity in the attacks that followed. However, I eventually found a place which suited my aim, a log on the steepwall, overlooking the immense vastness, taiga and the Kolyma River. It was worth all the itching during last night!
So far, during these four days of rest, there´s been no time to read one single page in those good books we´ve brought for these moments...
We´re leaving for the small settlement of Seimchan tomorrow, w reckon it will take us four days to get there. |
