Alone in frozen nature

[Karolis Mieliauskas]

I‘am lithuanian adventure rider Karolis Mieliauskas, I spent seven days riding on frozen Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake by volume and the deepest in the world.

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It was a solo travel, I had no support truck behind me, no people waiting for my emergency call, no satellite phone and no experience in riding on ice, not even a tent. It was me, my motorcycle, water, hot tea, snacks, extra fuel, basic tools and some clothes.

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At the first day of my journey I faced a lot of difficulties at once. The visibilty was extremely low, the snow cover was very thick and a snow storm was raging. In the snow storm I lost all signs of track. I tried not to stop, as restarting became very difficult due to the deep snow (the amount of snow was so large, it sometimes nearly reached my knees). I was approaching the outfall of Angara (330 rivers inflow to Baikal, while Angara is the only outflowing river), which was waiting for me, such a huge body of unfrozen water in front.





Suddenly, I noticed a human trace and saw two silhouettes in the distance. Approaching them, they were on foot with backpacks, moving slowly and looking at me. I stopped, started to speak, and guess what: they were Lithuanians, just like me. The World has become very small.

During the entire journey I had to cope with extreme cold - sometimes it reached -30̊C - as well as ice cracks – passing/jumping/over them was the biggest challenge. It required a lot of physical energy. Other thing is constantly changing ice and snow condition. In the evening you think you know ice already and may imagine tomorrows ride. But once you start in the morning, you see that ice is different again. It's like this every single day. Snow became harder, ice rougher and vice versa.







Regardless of all the strugles I had to survive. I will not stop. I will continue my adventure with my loyal friend - motorcycle. Next stop - Oymyakon, the coldest inhabited place in the world. 

Follow my next journey on facebook https://www.facebook.com/thecoldestride/

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Cheers!

[daveuprite]

FANTASTIC !!

That's what it's all about.

Keep the pictures coming please....

[zimtim]

Hi and welcome
Great RR
One of our inmates Tramp put a link up to your exploits fairly recently.
Keep 'em coming

[chunky butt]

Wow, is that photo of tener lady on ice for real.......brilliant

[daveuprite]

Wow, is that photo of tener lady on ice for real.......brilliant

The really frightening thing is that beneath the bike is the deepest lake in the world. Gulp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lakes_by_depth

Presumably Karolis you had good information on the thickness of the ice? - or did you just hope for the best?

[dibbs]

Brilliant job, but too cold for me!!!!!

[wideparting]

fantastic,makes Scotland look positively tropical.

[Karolis Mieliauskas]

Day #1 is completed! Guys, you can find more photos on my instagram "thecoldestride" !

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[Tramp]

Best of luck on truly epic adventure....but then again your mad

[Karolis Mieliauskas]

Best of luck on truly epic adventure....but then again your mad

Thank You, lad!