Leg 220, Olekminsk to Tiksi, Sakha Republic, Russia
DAY03_30.PLN (5.1 KB)
Started in the Sakha Republic, 1500 nautical miles later, still in the Sakha Republic. It’s huge!
03-29 Olekminsk UEMO 5:22 PM
03-29 Berdigestyakh UCED 6:31 PM
03-29 Magan UEMM 6:59 PM
03-29 Yakutsk UEEE 7:05 PM
03-29 Sangar UEMS 7:49 PM
03-29 Kyzyl-Syr UENK 8:31 PM
03-29 Vilyuisk UENW 8:47 PM
03-29 Verkhnevilyuisk UENI 9:10 PM
03-29 Aykhal UERA 10:56 PM
AP broken, keeps rolling right, rebooting the plane (total shutdown while gliding) doesn’t help, restart
03-29 Aykhal UERA 11:06 PM
03-29 Poliarny UERP 11:15 PM Udachny diamond mine 66°26’07.6"N 112°18’53.9"E
03-30 Olenyok UERO 12:28 AM
03-30 Saskylakh UERS 1:43 AM 20 knot tailwind
03-30 Tiksi UEST 3:21 AM
Flight time 9:49 12 stops
Departure from Olekminsk with a near full moon in the sky
Following the Lena river further while the sun comes up
I’m going to need that sun visor soon, still won’t budge
Ice free so far, no early morning fog luckily, 18F outside
Zooming over the vast boreal forest in Olekminskiy Ulus
Lining up to land at Berdigestyakh Airport
So peaceful out here
Yakutsk, port city on the Lena River
Mezhdunarodnyy Airport Yakutsk
Home to the Mammoth Museum with millennia old fossils of woolly mammoths
Also showcasing history of the region
Yakutskiy Gosudarstvennyy Ob Yedinennyy Muzey Istorii I Kul’tury Narodov Severa Im Yem Yaroslavskogo
Yakut State Museum of History and Culture of the Peoples of the North named after Yem Yaroslavsky. I have no clue what that skeleton is from, it sort of reminds me of Xenon 2, something I would expect to see as a boss in a bullet hell shooter.
Institut Merzlotovedeniya Im Akademika P.I. Mel’nikova So Ran (Permafrost Institute named after Academician P.I. Melnikov So Ran) showcasing fossils, including a mammoth calf, in below-freezing temperatures. And The Kingdom of Perfmafrost on the right, ice sculptures underground
So much to see in Yakutsk but it’s time to move on, following the Lena river some more
It must be quite a sight when it melts, all those overflow patterns say enough
Sangar, Kobyaysky District
Sangar Airport next to the Lena river
Kyzyl-Syr Airport on the Vilyuy River
The Vilyuy river is frozen solid as well
The river behind my house used to freeze over too in winter. I has been getting less and less each year and no freeze up at all this year (just a bit along the edges and slower water) The spring high water has been the lowest I’ve seen it yet since living here (about 18 years) There was very little snow as well this year.
Krayevedcheskiy Muzey Im P Kh Starovatova (Museum of Local Lore named after PKh Starovatov) in Vilyuisk. I didn’t expect to find a space suit out here
Verkhneviliuisk, population 3,015 male and 3,442 female in 2010
Basking in the frigid low sun
That moment just before touchdown, priceless
(probably why Asobo draws it out with the exaggerated ground effect!)
Vilyuy river, A-331 crossing the river (what do they do when it melts?)
And indoor running at Stadion Üs Khohuun, too cold for outside training
Further over Olenyoksky District
Aykhal AIrport
Poliarny Airport
Which is near Udachny Diamond Mine, 2,100ft deep open pit mine
Following the Udachnaya pipe diamond deposit in the Daldyn-Alakit kimberlite field in Sakha Republic
Since 2014 the mine went underground to follow the diamonds, no longer expanding the pit
Fun playground but I don’t dare land in it, no room to get back up to speed
The town is named after the deposit, population 12,613 as of 2010
Heading on to Olenyok, icing imminent
Back to the popsicle express
Olenyok River
Olenyok Airport, they just looked at me funny when I asked for de-icing
To Saskylakh, getting a bit claustrophobic in here entombed in ice all the time
Flying out over the Anabar River from Saskylakh Airport
72 degrees North in the arctic circle, very remote
To Tiksi, final stop for tonight, long way
Anabarsky District
I admit I was watching Netflix for the rest of the 90 minute flight. Terrain quality is very poor this far North, not much more than a small bubble around airports, rest low res sat data.
Landing at Tiski Airport
I always wonder what life is like in these very remote places
Heading east tomorrow, towards Alaska. Saying farewell to these longitudes.