Warm congratulations are in order for Nessim, Max, Marc-Olivier and Brecht!

At the end of Day 7, they arrived on the shore of Lake Baikal at their revised final destination of Bougouldeika. Brecht's GPS showed that his hardy participants covered a total of 105,9 kilometers during this challenging expedition.

As Eric Bonnem of Expeditions Unlimited reported yesterday, the group made the difficult but wise decision to adapt the original expedition route:

The wind continues to blow upwind on our group and reaching Olkhon Island is now mission impossible. They would still have at least a hundred kilometers to cover in 3 days when their average daily progress has dropped from around fifteen kilometers to five with the unfavourable wind. Also, they decided to reroute to Bougouldeïka, their new objective, to simplify the logistics of pickup. The team is in great shape and experiences a fantastic polar adventure that reminds us that in the end, it is always nature that decides. 

Brecht sent us these glorious final images of their time on the lake.

Our team is now settled in a guest house in Bougouldeika. Their bellies are full of delicious hearty food and they are about to head to a well deserved sauna before eventually falling into a soft, cozy bed.

Marc-Olivier, Nessim and Max still have two full days to continue to explore the breathtaking region around Lake Baikal. Tomorrow they are planning to take a mini-bus to Olkhon Island where they will spend a final night before heading back to Irkutsk and eventually points west.

The spirit of adventure continues in this sublime region of our globe.