13 Jul 2019

Exploring Devil's Ravine on Wrangel Island

Our first excursion on Wrangel Island - Devil's Ravine! A couple of expedition staff ferried from Kapitan Khlebnikov ashore to connect with, and collect, the local rangers to accompany us for the duration of our three days on Wrangel Island. You could sense the excitement in the air over breakfast and during Zodiac line-up. Including international flight time, an entire week is needed for travellers just to reach this isolated, high Arctic reserve. And in early summer, only an icebreaker can penetrate the surrounding sea ice. Expeditioners were given three excursion options, varying by distance and exertion level. Just up the hill from our Zodiacs, we passed the site of an ancient Paleo-Eskimo camp dating back to 1750 BC, which was discovered in 1975 by archaeologist Nikolay Dikov.

In the long walker group, expeditioners ascended the closest peak and were afforded expansive views of the ocean, sea ice and sky. We stopped at the edge of the ravine and scanned the horizon with our binoculars for any sign of wildlife. About a kilometre away, 14 musk oxen were clustered together resting on the tundra. Crossing over Devil's Ravine we started our descent along the river where a rainbow of tundra flowers blanketed the mountainside - shades of pink, purple, yellow, white, orange ... it was virtually impossible to side-step them. The other two walking groups later shared that they had seen two musk oxen fairly close, an Arctic Fox, Lemming and a wooly caterpillar. Back on board, our Wrangel Island Ranger Gennadiy and Ecologist Pavel gave a talk about their ongoing responsibilities and work on Wrangel Island as the ship departed Krassin Bay, bound southwest for Cape Blossom.

Between Krassin Bay to our next anchorage at Ptichy Bazar, we moved through what seemed like endless kilometres of sea ice. White, frozen puzzle pieces of all shapes and sizes emerged from the fog before us. As we drew closer, sunlight filtered through the mist transforming the greys and deep blues into every shade of turquoise. Eventually, the fog burned off and revealed spectacular 360-degree views of glistening snow-capped pack ice extending beyond the horizon.

After dinner, we enjoyed a Zodiac cruise in search of wildlife under a glowing amber sunset. Darkness never falls here, the light simply dims temporarily. Two Walruses snoozed on a wedge of 'hammock' sea ice; cutting the engines, we drifted and bobbed until one of them raised his head in curiosity and discretely slid into the water. Behind us, Ptichy Bazar bird cliffs were a hive of activity with Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Puffins and Glaucous Gulls above and below the water. The evening light here was a photographer's dream; the cliffs burned orange and clusters of birds collected on stage-like ice fragments just a few metres from our Zodiac.

Images (c) A.Tockston