Muir's Tours - Siberia - Kamchatka

Kamchatka - Summer - Trekking the Rim of Fire

Wildlife viewing & hiking trip on the Pacific Rim of Fire - the unique Kamchatka peninsula.  The area has about 190 volcanoes, some of which are active, as well as more than 200 mineral springs. We will be trekking in an area that is home to the largest brown bears in Siberia, magnificent sea eagles and six species of salmon. In summer and autumn we enjoy the trekking / hike to a vantage points to see the Kamchatka river "boiling" with salmon moving to their spawning areas.

One of the highlights of the trek is an ascent of Plosky Tolbachik volcano.

The small group size of 10 - 14 hikers means this trekking itinerary will be flexible and will allow plenty of time to indulge in your favourite interests, be it photography or plant life etc.

WWF Russia benefits from the major part of the proceeds from this trip, with the balance of the profits going to our other core charities.



Itinerary

Day 1 (Optional)
Arrive in Moscow in plenty of time even allowing for the usual delays. Short sightseeing tour of the city with an English-speaking guide (in case if the flight will arrive early enough). Dinner at the restaurant. Overnight at the three star hotel.

Day 2
Breakfast at the hotel. Sightseeing tour of Moscow, including visiting the Red Square and the Kremlin. Boat cruise along the River Moskva. Lunch at the restaurant in downtown. Transfer to the airport. Take a night flight to Petropavlovsk (9-hrs flight and 9-hrs time difference).

Day 3
Arrival in Kamchatka in the morning (local time). Bus transfer to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the capital of Kamchatka (about 30 min.). Short sightseeing tour of the city. Transfer to Paratunka (a resort village not far from Petropavlovsk, famous for its numerous thermal springs), accommodation at the hotel with thermal pool Virginia or Lesnaya (double rooms; each hotel has it own thermal pool; in one hotel, facilities are in the rooms, and in the other on the floor). Dinner at the restaurant. Free afternoon, rest in the thermal pool.

Day 4
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer by 6WD bus to the caldera between the Mutnovsky and Gorely volcanoes (about 4 hrs). The road passes by the Vilyuchinsky volcano, a favorite place for downhill skiing for Kamchatka dwellers (quite often snow lies there even in July). Lunch en route. Dinner, overnight at the base tented camp.


Day 5
Breakfast. Hike (without backpacks) to the Mutnovsky volcano (about 40 min.). Hike into the crater of the Mutnovsky active volcano through a crack in the volcano's edge. The view is alarming and fantastic: eastward a glacier descends the crater's wall to end in a bluff eaten by fumaroles; opposite it rises a sheer rock, here and there columns of water vapor are curling upward. The appearance of this crater is changeable. The crater contains a lake of bitter whitish water and two groups of powerful fumaroles. One of the fumaroles throw off small drops of melted sulphur, the other — powerful jets of vapours, water and sulfureous. Near the crater, there are vast mud pits. Excursion into the crater takes about 4 hrs.

Mutnovsky active volcano being a nest of merged craters, is perhaps the most beautiful volcanic phenomenon of Kamchatka. The view from its top is magnificent: steep walls surrounding the vast and deep crater cavity, glittering of firm and sparkling glaciers split by cracks, torches of fumaroles oscillating far below and drawing a translucent view over the northern crater, the southern crater under its armour of ice and above all this a column of vapor rising from the Active Funnel crater, surrounded by a cogged crest.  Return to the base camp (40 min.). The total distance of hiking during this day is 18 km. Lunch there. Dinner, overnight in tents.

Day 6
Breakfast. Ascend and hiking excursion to the chain of craters of the Gorely volcano.  Gorely volcano is a unique collection of craters. The chain begins with the West crater, no longer active and surrounded by low rocky walls. The crater's bottom is occupied by a glacier. Next is the chain composed by craters of different age. Most of Gorey's activity is concentrated in the Central crater. On its walls and bottom, there are permanently active fumaroles; their deposits are colouring the crater's walls. The biggest and the most beautiful crater is known as the "Blue Lake". Its bottom is occupied by a lake of tender-blue water where blocks of ice float. The last in the chain is the "Cup". This crater is on the top of a low and perfectly formed cone. Inside is a shallow lake of violet coloured water. If the weather if favorable, all the craters can be visited in a single day. The hiking distance is only 20 km and should take about 8 hrs allowing for plenty of time to take in the details; according to the clients’ wishes it is possible to return to the base camp earlier. Picnic lunch. Return back to camp.

Day 7
Transfer by 6WD bus to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Visit the fish market. Optional (for additional fee) visit to the Museum of local lore, the Museum of the Institute for Volcanology, Salmon Museum, or the museum and visitor center of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve (learn about the special protected nature areas of Kamchatka - Kronotsky Nature Reserve and South Kamchatka State Nature Sanctuary). Lunch at the café. Transfer to Paratunka, dinner and overnight stay in the hotel.

Day 8
Breakfast at the café. Bus transfer to the area îf the Tolbachik volcano (more than 500 km, about 10 hrs or more with stops in interesting places). On the way, we will make a stop in the Malki thermal springs (taking curative bath in the springs is possible. There are 3 “baths” and a cold spring). Picnic lunch. On the further way, we will have an opportunity to watch just from the bridges salmons migrating to their spawning grounds. Overnight in the tented camp.

Day 9
Hiking excursions at the bottom of the Plosky (“Flat”) Tolbachik volcano. The altitude of this area is 1000 m above the sea level. (the testing of the Soviet lunar exploring vehicle took place there).  Picnic lunch. In the afternoon, hiking to the dormant volcano Krasnaya Sopka (Red Knoll) - 3 hrs, about 5 km. It is quite possible to see hares, reindeer and bears there. Overnight accommodation in the tented camp (another option is a wooden hut with rustic facilities).

Day 10
Hiking without backpacks to the area where the “Eruption of the Century” (the Big Cleft Tolbachinskiy eruption) took place. It is considered one of the largest basalt eruptions ever known in the volcano belt of the Kuril Isles and Kamchatka. It lasted for one and a half year (July, 1975 - December, 1976) and was included in a list of six the most powerful cleft eruptions ever happened on Earth. The events were evolving in the mid of a wood 18 km to the south from volcano Plosky Tolbachik. The eruption was accurately forecasted and studied by the scientists of the Institute of Volcanology (P.I.Tokarev). A flaming “candle” reached 2,5 km in height, and the ash cloud was 12 km long. In sequence, new clefts evolved one after another, and as a result four new cones of Tolbachinski volcanoes were formed (from 100 to 330 m high). Eruption turned an enormous territory around volcanoes into a burnt desert, the forests captured by the ash fall dried off to the root. Lakes evaporated and rivers disappeared. Those animals that had survived left the area for the best. Hiking excursion in the Peplovoe (“Ash”) Plateau (8 hrs, about 18 km). A view to this area is nice and unusual: a row of flat volcanoes, numerous clefts, streams of hot gases coming through them. Ascend 3 small volcanoes. Visit the “Fairytale” forest (ash buried the forest and dried it out while standing during the eruption). Return back to the hut.


Day 11
Hike to the bottom of the Plosky Tolbachik and ascend this volcano (the total hiking distance is 20 km; this route will take us from 1000 m to 3000 m above the sea level). Ascend to this volcano does not require special technical skills. The whole route will take about 9 hrs. A view to the magnificent volcanoes of the Klyuchevskaya group (laying to the opposite side from the Tolbachik volcano) will open from the upper plateau (if we hike across the plateau). There we can see an interesting phenomenon characteristic only for this area: horizontal icicles of snow about 20 cm in length. Lunch en route. Return back to the tented camp (or wooden hut) for dinner and overnight.

Day 12
Reserve day for the case of bad weather. In the afternoon, transfer by 6WD bus to Esso, the national village of the Evens and Koryaks (about 4-5 hrs). Visit the ethnography museum, attend the folk performance. Overnight in the private hotels or in the hotel of local Administration

Day 13
Drive to the village of Anavgai to visit the ethnography complex, where we can see the authentic “chums” - traditional dwellings of the indigenous people which were covered by reindeer skins. Talk to local people living there, taste traditional cuisine and phyto-teas. Performance of the folk ensemble “Nurgeneck” and a childrens folk group “Orjakan”. For additional payment, you can request a 2 to 3 hour horse riding trip or a helicopter flight to the nomadic camp of the Even reindeer herders). Overnight in a “chum” or private hotel in Esso.

Day 14
Transfer to the river Essovskaya Bystraya (so-called “47 kilometer”), relax in thermal springs and after that rafting down a very dynamic and picturesque section of Essovskaya Bystraya river. Overnight in a tented camp.


Day 15
Bus transfer back to Paratunka (7 hours +). Overnight at the hotel.

Day 16
Transfer by 6WD bus to the bottom of the Avachinsky volcano. Ascend the Avachinsky volcano (its total elevation is 2741 m). Usually tourists start ascending early in the morning. They cross the deep gorge of the Suhaia (“Dry”) river and ascend the volcano. They stop for a lunch at the attitude of 2000-2200m and then continue ascending along the new cone of the volcano to the edge of its crater. The ascent usually takes about 6-8 hours. During the ascent and from the edge of the crater, wonderful views open up. To the south, the cities of PK and Elizovo can be viewed, as well as the Avacha river valley, Avachinskaya bay, volcanoes Vilyuchinsky, Gorely, Mutnovsky and (if clear) the snow-white cone of Opala volcano. To the west we will see the massive cone of the Koriaksky volcano. To the north we will have an impressive view of the Nalychevo river valley and the Zhupanovsky and Dzendzur volcanoes. Drive back to Paratunka, dinner and overnight in the hotel.

Day 17
Bus transfer to the airport, depart for Moscow. Arrive in Moscow, transfer to the international airport for the flight to your home country.

Dates: 17 – 31 July  2008


Price Indication per person GBP / USD / Euro:   1330 Euro per person in a group of 14 participants, 1460 Euro per person in a group of 12 participants, 1640 Euro per person in a group of 10 participants. Plus the cost of any flights you need - the flight to Petropavlovsk will probably cost Euro350 if a return ticket or Euro 210 if one way only.

The base currency is the Euro and exchange rates could have an effect on the amount you pay if you do not provide Euros.                                      

Deposit: 50%                                                    
Email for current price

There is an internal flight from Moscow to Petropavlovsk  and these are purchased at the time of booking and the actual cost will depend upon market prices at the time.  Book early for the lowest price.


What is included

All transfers and transportation within Moscow and Kamchatka. Accommodation in basic hotels and huts (nothing except basic exists here) in Kamchatka and good quality hotels in Moscow.  Meals as stated by the code (B = Breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner). An English speaking guide.  All sightseeing costs and fees. Visa application support. All support staff.

What is not included
International airfare or departure taxes from home / Moscow / home. Flight to Kamchatka and back to Moscow (we can arrange this for you). Travel insurance. Visa fees. Alcoholic or soft drinks while trekking or any drinks when in hotels.  Tips.  Items of a personal nature.

Airfare (from the UK to Moscow)
As a guide, the international airfare should be in the range GBP350 to GBP450 including outbound taxes for economy class.

Visas
A visa is required for Russia and this will cost about GBP40 / USD60. We will provide a service to ensure you obtain a visa for Russia with a letter provided to confirm that you have been invited to Russia.

Travel Insurance
Comprehensive personal insurance, including search and rescue is required on this trip. For UK clients we recommend the policies of the British Mountaineering Council, for their expertise in evacuation from remote areas worldwide. Details at www.thebmc.co.uk  As Insurance is always provided by a company based in your home country, we are unable to suggest suitable insurance companies unless you reside in the UK.