March 25. By 14.00 the team is ready. 13 people on 12 snowmobiles leave from the Tazovsky settlement in the direction of Antipayuta.

Tazovsky, is located 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. The population of the Tazovsky region is 16.3 thousand people. Representatives of 36 nationalities live, the most numerous of which are the Nenets. A significant part of the indigenous people roam all year round with their numerous deer within the Gydan Peninsula. On the territory of the district there are 11 settlements, 5 administrative-territorial units. The vast expanses of the area contribute to reindeer herding. The livestock of deer is more than 120 thousand heads.

Metropolitan Paul addressed the assembled expedition members: “I would like to wish all the mercy and help of God, ask the Lord for blessing on your good mission, which will contribute to the development of our region.” I hope that with the help of the Queen of Heaven you will overcome your path safely and without loss and I would like to give you a copy of the icon of the Queen of Heaven “Otrada i Solovoshenie”, from the Vatopedi monastery of the Holy Mountain Athos attached to the prototype, to strengthen the forces. May God grant the Queen the heavenly blessing Vila your works! “

Weather conditions allow you to reach the late night Dixon. We plan to stay here for a couple of days.

Dixon is the northernmost locality of Russia. It is located on the rocky island of the same name and on the shore of the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea. Sea port. The Dixon district is an arctic desert with a harsh climate (the settlement is located beyond the Arctic Circle, on permafrost).

Preparations for the expedition “Northern Troopers-2017” is in full swing. Purchased from a regular supplier – the company “SportLine” sports fuel with high octane numbers, arrived at the storage point. On the continuation of the entire route from Arkhangelsk to Dixon, the captain of the Polar King vessel, Igor Tolkun, informed us of the location of the cargo: “10/28/2016 20:30 Moscow time, anchored in the roadstead of Dixon (Chaika), the vessel is ready for everything unloading the general cargo. ” Our comrade, the head of the Department of Energy of the OGMS of Dickson Island, Vladimir Krylov, sent a photoreport on the shipment of barrels of fuel.

With the weather, the whole day was blizzard. Several times stopped and put the tent, tk. It is impossible to move in conditions of zero visibility. Far after midnight we get to the village of Tazovsky. The film crew of the local TV channel did not wait for us, left, deciding that, taking into account the weather conditions, we will arrive in the village not earlier than in the morning. We are greeted by colleagues and friends, we load machinery into special vehicles and gather in the living room of a small departmental hostel.

Today was a difficult day. Having left Sopkargi for a long time searched for the place of crossing through the Yenisei, the icebreaker was again missed, the canal was fresh. We deviate from the given course. Picking up a suitable place for the crossing, after a few hours (!), The whole team manages to move to the other side. By closer to 12 o’clock in the morning we stop for the night at 240 km from the village of Tazovsky.

They spent the night at Sopochnaya Karga meteorological station. We are grateful to the team and personally to Alexei Bystrov for many years of friendship and a warm welcome. The most delicious fish you have! The weather is clear, to Tazovsky 500 km. During the expedition we collected a large number of photo and video materials. One of them wants to be demonstrated now. This is the host of the Arctic we met on the way back. They threw him cookies, and he ran! Still a baby Umka, but growled in an adult. After making a few shots for the film, we let the bear cub go. A month later the report film “Northern landing 2016” will be ready. Follow the news of our site and become the first spectators!

By 18.00 local time we arrive in Dixon. Clearly, -17C. Today is a day off, and frolicking children meets us on the road. Local children are modest, they are difficult to make contact, but the “Northern Troopers” team is received with sincere joy. There is no high-speed mobile Internet, a cinema, buses, cafes and there is no person who has never seen a polar bear, northern lights shimmering and the blooming spring of the tundra. We are met by Larisa I. Vakhrusheva, director of the Dixon Secondary School. A week ago we had a meeting with the schoolchildren, they were all in the village of 44. After watching the film “Taimyr 2013” (see here the films “The Northern Troopers”), we talked about choosing a profession, serving in the army, men’s deeds, presented souvenirs.

That’s it, we were met at Stergigova! Thanks to the small team of the weather station, people with a big open and pure soul! Such an attitude is the rule for the tundra: here a person is really a friend to a person, a friend and a brother. There are too few people in the Arctic, meetings are too valuable. This is one of the reasons that the “Northern Troopers” do not lay absolutely new routes: every year they are expected in towns and villages, at polar stations. And when you are expected – you can not deceive.