Winter Roads of Siberia

It was a calculated risk. During three years of preparation for an attempt at driving across Russia, Gary and Monika Westcott had heard rumors of an ice road up the frozen Lena river, from Yakutsk to Ust Kut some 1,200 miles away. However, when they arrived in Yakutsk (see Russian Life, March, 1996), 1,340 miles west of their starting point in Magadan, no one seemed to know about the road. The only way to find out for sure was to get on the ice and drive.

And hope not to get mired in the muck of the Spring thaw.

By Gary Wescott. Photos by Gary & Monika Wescott.