SEASON: June 10^th - September 15^th
Departure 2024: July 28^th
GRADE C.
Group size - up to 16 pax.

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An intermediate level trek within everybody's capabilities: about 5 hours of walking a day. The route will allow you to visit three unique places on Kamchatka - the huge caldera and the two lakes of Ksudach Volcano; Kamchatka's largest hot springs at Khodutka Volcano, among the most beautiful of Kamchatka's many volcanoes; the craters of the active Mutnovsky Volcano, and a unique collection of craters located at the top of Gorely Volcano. There will be opportunities to see a variety of wildlife on the way: bears, abundant bird life, and spawning salmon in the rivers.

19 DAY ITINERARY

ROUTE PLAN

SOUTH KAMCHATKA FROM THE SPACE

Day 1. Arrival in PKC. Transfer to a hotel. Welcome dinner in a city restaurant.
Day 2. Helicopter MI-8 flight into the caldera of Ksudach Volcano (1,1 hour): land and make camp on a sandy beach near the hot springs of Lake Kluchevoe. Relax in the lakeside hot springs.
Day 3. Excursion to the crater lake of Schtubelya, and the lovely waterfall where water cascades out of the crater. Explore the area around these two lakes, fish for Koho salmon,  and climb Lukina Mountain (1900m) to admire the wonderful panorama of volcanoes beyond.
Day 4. Trek on to Khodutka Volcano (15km). During trekking you can observe the results of the great eruption of 1907, when the entire surrounding woodland was covered by lava slag. Now this huge territory has little vegetation, making it a good place to observe bears, deer, foxes and rabbits.
Day 5. Trek to Khodutka Volcano (20km).
Day 6. Trek to Khodutka Volcano (10km). When approaching Khodutka Volcano over the caldera' ridge, a magnificent view opens up. In the background: the rocky cones of Khodutka and Priemysh are seen and also the thick forest that you will soon enter. A large green valley stretches out below you; here and there the thin line of the Pravaya Khodutka River sparkles and steams through the trees, leading to the boiling Khodutka Lake which is located in a large green glade in the forest. Hot water from innumerable steam cones forms a small stream. Strong jets from the bottom and banks make this stream a real river 10 meters wide and more than human's height deep. Behind the glade this river flows into a picturesque birch-tree forest and as you continue along the river the gradually water cools allowing you to find a place with just the right bathing temperature for you. A good evening's rest at the base camp.
Day 7. A rest day on Khodutka Hot Springs where you can either relax at camp or make a day climb of  Khodutka Volcano (2087 m above sea level) or Priemysh Volcano (1200m), with more terrific views of the mountainous scenery. Return to the base camp after the climb.
Day 8. Trek to the Asacha River (18 km). You will cross a  picturesque plain where bears feed on wild berries and hike around a wetland where a variety of bird life may be seen.
Day 9. Trek along the Asacha River to an old mine shaft where Soviet geologists did initial drilling for gold deposits (18 km). This day you will be traveling through richer vegetation with a large variety of birds and mammals.
Day 10. Trek along a path to Gribnaya River (23 km).
Day 11. Continue trekking along a path to the Gorely Volcano plateau (20 km). Woodland vegetation here comes to an end and the route passes on to high Alpine tundra.
Day 12. Trek down to the Gorely Volcano caldera (12km) through lava fields and volcanic ash. Make base camp.
Day 13. Ascend the active Mutnovsky Volcano (2323m). Day trip. The Mutnovsky Volcano's nest of merged craters is perhaps the most beautiful volcanic phenomenon of Kamchatka. The view from its top is magnificent: steep walls surround the vast and deep crater cavity with glittering glaciers split by cracks and torches of fumaroles oscillating far below and drawing a translucent veil over the northern crater. Also visible is the southern crater under its armor of ice and above all this a column of vapour rising from the craggy rim of the active Funnel crater.
Day 14. Reserve day in case of bad weather.
Day 15. Day trip to ascend Gorely Volcano (1829m).  A chain of 11 craters across it's peak make for a unique sight. Or rest for the day if preferred.
Day 16. Reserve day in case of bad weather.
Day 17. Drive by 6WD to Paratunka resort. Accommodation in a hotel. Rest and swim in a hot thermal pool.
Day 18. Return to your hotel in Petropavlovsk. Optional tour of city by bus with visit to a museum.
Day 19. Transfer to the airport. Departure.

Cost EUR 2900.00 per person. Group size min 8 guests.

Price includes:

• Full board (all meals)
• Twin bedded accommodation in hotels in city and Paratunka resort
• VauDe tents
• English-speaking rep at the arrival and departure in the PKC airport
• Transfers by coach, 6WD bus and helicopter MI-8
• City tour and museum fees
• Guide, interpreter and cook services
• Visa invitation and visa registration
• Permits

Questions? Interested in booking a trip? See here for answers to frequently asked questions and here for more Kamchatka pictures, click here for booking details or ask your questions here.

SEASON: June 25^th - September 15^th
Departures 2024: July 29^th
GRADE C.
Group size - up to 16 pax.

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A trek of stunning vistas, the route of this trek passes through the most active volcanic zone of the peninsula and along a high-mountain (1000 meters above sea level) plateau, surrounded by 9 of the highest volcanoes on Kamchatka. Passing through a variety of volcanic scenery, some formed only 20 years ago, you will witness the beauty of the largest active volcano of Eurasia, Kluchevskoy (4850 m), and you can see where a new dome is forming in the crater of  Bezymyanny Volcano.  This trek will be mainly through tundra, where there are plenty of marmots, ground squirrels, foxes, and bird life, and there should be multiple possibilities to see bears.

Day 1. Arrival in PKC. Transfer to a hotel. Welcome dinner in a city restaurant.
Day 2. Drive by 6WD bus to the old Cossack settlement of Milkovo (306 km). Here lunch will be prepared in a local restaurant and there will be a chance to stroll around the village to get a feel for Russian rural life. Continue driving north of Milkovo and camp out in the wilderness in a mixed evergreen and deciduous forest along the banks of the Kamchatka River (Kamchatka's largest river which runs northward through the central valley of the peninsula).
Day 3. Drive to the base camp on Tolbachik Volcano (this will be base for the next 3 nights) in tents. This place, reminiscent of  the Moon, is famous because it was here that the first Soviet "Lunar roving vehicle-1", was tested.
Day 4. Excursion (day trip) to the lava fields of the Northern vents of Tolbachik Volcano, which were created in 1975 and 2013.
Day 5. Ascend Plosky Tolbachik (3085m). At the top you will be amazed by panorama of Tolbachik Dale and also 50 slag cones, where the famous Holocene eruptions of Tolbachik took place. 
Day 6. Trek on to Bezymyanny volcano (12 km). Travel to Tolud Pass between volcanoes Tolbachik, Zimina and Udina, you will arrive on 8th day in the area of Plotina (Dam) Hill, whose volcanic plateau is divided into Western and Eastern parts. Stop over for the night near Tolud River.
Day 7. Hiking through Tolud Pass and continue trekking to Bezymyanny volcano (12 km).
Day 8. Trek to Bezymyanny volcano (12km). Base camp (cabins and tents) near Plotina Hill. From here Polenitsa Hill, Mars and Jupiter craters will be visible.
Day 9. Ascend the active  Bezymyanny volcano and return to base camp (2860m, 4 hours).
Day 10. Trek along the Studenaya River stopping off at lava canyons. View wild fauna (10km).
Day 11. Trek down to Kopyto Hill (14km). Make camp. 6WD truck meets the group at this point.
Day 12. Drive to the settlement of Esso, home to the Evens, one of the 4 indigenous peoples of Kamchatka. Visit the local museum to learn something of their culture. Welcome dinner with Even folk concert.  Accommodation in apartments.
Day 13. Return by 6WD bus to Petropavlovsk and stay in hotel.
Day 14. Departure.

Cost EUR 2400.00 per person.

Price includes:

• Full board
• Twin-bedded accommodation in hotels in city and Esso settlement
• Tents
• English-speaking rep at the arrival and departure in the PKC airport
• Even folk concert in Esso settlement
• Transfers by coach and 4WD/6WD bus
• City tour and museums fees
• Guides, interpreter and cook services
• Visa invitation and visa registration
• Permits

Questions? Interested in booking a trip? See here for answers to frequently asked questions and here for more Kamchatka pictures, click here for booking details or ask your questions here.

SEASON: July 15^th - September 15^th
Departure 2024: August 29^th

GRADE C.
Group size - up to 16 pax.

In two weeks you will pass through all the climatic zones of Kamchatka: from glaciers on Mutnovsky Volcano onto high mountainous tundra. Make ascents of active volcanoes, then relax in hot geothermal springs in the afternoons; gradually descend to the Pacific Ocean through sub alpine, forest, and savannah areas.   Encounter the bird species of each zone, see bears along the way, and watch salmon swimming up rivers to spawn.

Day 1. Arrival in PKC. Transfer to a hotel. Welcome dinner in a city restaurant.
Day 2. Drive by 6WD bus to the Gorely Volcano caldera at the base of Mutnovsky Volcano. This caldera is an otherworldly landscape of dry ash and scattered volcanic rocks from the many eruptions of Mutnovsky and Gorely Volcanoes. Here base camp is made between the two volcanoes. Take short walks up the encircling ridge lines to see the large mountain marmots that inhabit the area. See the Kamchatka rhododendrons and variety of other mountain flowers.
Day 3. Day trip to Mutnovsky volcano (2323m). The Mutnovsky Volcano's nest of merged craters is perhaps the most beautiful volcanic phenomenon of Kamchatka. The view from its top is a magnificent: steep walls surrounding the vast and deep crater cavity, glittering of firn and sparkling glaciers split by cracks, torches of fumaroles oscillating far below and drawing a translucent veil over the northern crater, the southern crater under its armour of ice and above all this a column of vapour rising from the surrounded by cogged crest Active Funnel crater (10km).
Day 4. Trek down to the Voinovskye hot springs (18km). Starting at the Mutnovsky Thermal Station on the North East side of Mutnovsky Volcano you will descend along an abandoned geologist's dirt road into the valley of the Mutnovsky River. During the decent alpine vegetation is replaced with sub alpine, and you pass the first bushes and trees. This section of the trek affords a spectacular view of the richly vegetated lowlands through which you'll be raveling in the coming days and magnificent scenery in the surrounding mountain cirques. Make camp on the banks of the Mutnovsky River. Bath in the small, wild, Voinovskye hot springs which bubbles up in a sandbar with the river flowing all around. Days 4 and 5 of this trek require several river crossings. Although these river crossings are neither difficult nor dangerous, the pace of the hike can be seriously slowed if you are constantly changing footwear. It is recommended that thigh high rubber boots (see recommended equipment list) are used for this section to keep up the pace of the hike.
Day 5. Trek to the Zhirovaya bay (16km). Hike through a birch forest along the valley of the Mutnovsky River to it's confluence with Zhirovaya River. Continue along Zhirovaya River until it opens up into the picturesque lowlands of Zhirovaya Bay. Make camp on Zhirovaya Bay.
Day 6. Rest day on the Pacific Ocean. Stroll along the expansive crescent moon beach of Zhirovaya Bay. Visit the fishing station at the mouth of the Zhirovaya River to see how Kamchatka fishermen live and work during the summer salmon run. Watch for seal heads popping up in the surf and sea birds gliding on the ocean breezes overhead.
Day 7. Trek to the Zhirovaya hot springs (12km), you will pass through the giant 2-3 meter-high grass of the savannah. This section of the hike is made up of easy, level, walking along an abandoned dirt track through the rich greens of a Kamchatka's summertime birch forests. Make camp on the Zhirovaya hot springs. The Zhirovaya hot springs bubble actively off a small hillock and stream into a variety of pools where you can relax and bath choosing the temperature that is right for you. Nizhne-Zhirovski thermal springs are in 9 km from mouth of Zhirovaya river at the right side of it. Ground at the main field (120x60m) warmed up to 40-60'C. Outlets of thermal waters is like boiling reservoirs (2 m in diameter), there is gryphones without visible gutters, and hot springs. On the plate formed small bath (pool) (42-98'C). There is two more thermal plates, at the left bank of river (in 500m from main group of springs); each plate is 150x70m gathering streams to thermal waters with temperature about 35-84'C. At the rivers-bed blue-green aquatic plants growing. Chemical structure of water is chloride-sodium with general mineralization about 1,2-1,5 g/l. Structure of gas is carbonic acid-nitrogen.
Day 8. Trek to the Viluchinskye hot springs (12km). This is a hard day of walking over a 725 meter pass covered with dense vegetation which requires hiking in places along stream beds. On the upper half of the ridge break out of the vegetation into high alpine meadows. A marvelous view of the Pacific Ocean and the Zhirovskye hot springs opens up below. From the pass Viluchinsky Volcano, hidden to this point in the hike, stands massive and imposing over the landscape. Descend the pass down a steep ravine and into the valley of Viluchinsky River. Make camp in the lowlands next to Viluchinsky hot springs.
Day 9. Rest at the Viluchinskye hot springs located at the foot of Viluchinsky Volcano, and visit a lovely waterfall. The Viluchinskye hot springs are comprised of a variety of small ponds, pools, and tubs. A small lodge complex built and maintained by a Kamchatka Alpine & Ecological club is located nearby.
Day 10. Drive by 6WD bus along the Sukhaya River (Dry River) to the Avacha Volcano plateau (140km). Making a base camp between Avachinsky and Koryaksky Volcanoes (960m).
Day 11. Ascend Avacha volcano (2748m). The trail ascends by a gradual slope to the top (time needed 5-6 hours for the ascent). You can have lunch on the edge of the crater of the volcano (filled to the brim with hardened black lava after an eruption in 1991) of the volcano while enjoying the magnificent panorama of the Pacific Ocean, Petropavlovsk, Koryaksky Volcano and Nalycheva Valley.
Day 12. Reserve day in case of bad weather.
Day 13. Return to Paratunka resort by bus. Accommodation in a hotel. Rest and swim in pool.
Day 14. City tour & departure

Cost EUR 2500.00 per person.

Price includes:

• Full board (all meals)
• Twin bedded accommodation in hotels in city and Paratunka resort
• VauDe tents
• English-speaking rep at the arrival and departure in the PKC airport
• Transfers by coach and 4/6WD bus
• City tour and museums fees
• Guides, interpreter and cook services
• Visa invitation and visa registration
• Permits

Questions? Interested in booking a trip? See here for answers to frequently asked questions and here for more Kamchatka pictures, click here for booking details or ask your questions here.

SEASON: August 1^st - September 10^th
Departure 2024: Upon request
GRADE D.
Group size - up to 12 pax.

Kluchevskoy Volcano is the highest point of Kamchatka and the highest active volcano in Eurasia. This beautiful volcano has an almost perfect cone shape with the slopes covered with snow and ice. Steepness of the slopes ranges from 20 to 40 degrees.

See Kluchevskoy Volcano in REAL TIME! (GMT +12:00)

Day 1. Arrival in PKC. Transfer to a hotel. Welcome dinner in a city restaurant.
Day 2. Drive to Milkovo settlement with stops for a snack and to view the wonderful landscape and magnificent volcanoes. In Milkovo lunch will be prepared in a local restaurant and there will be a chance to stroll around the village to get a feel for Russian rural life. Continue driving north of Milkovo and camp out in the wilderness in a mixed evergreen and deciduous forest along the banks of the Kamchatka River (Kamchatka's largest river which runs northward through the central valley of the peninsula).
Day 3. Drive to Apokhonchich Mt. (900m above sea). Stay overnight in tents.
Day 4. Trek of the pass (3200m).
Days 5-6. Continue trek of the pass (3200m). Advanced camp.
Day 7. Ascend & descend active Kluchevskoy volcano (4750m).
Day 8. Reserve day in case of bad weather.
Day 9. Trek down along Bogdanovich open glacier to the plateau. The glacier is located between the four highest volcanoes of Kamchatka: Kluchevskoy, Kamen, Krestovsky and Ushkovsky.
Day 10. Trek down to Plotina Mt. Spend the night in tents.
Day 11. Trek down to the Tolud seismological station (12km).
Day 12. Trek down to the Lunakhodchikov base (14km). This place, reminiscent of  the Moon, is famous because it was here that the first Soviet "Lunar roving vehicle -1", was tested.
Day 13. Excursion to Severny Proryv (lava outburst) near the Plosky Tolbachik area. Day trip.
Day 14. Ascending Plosky Tolbachik (3085m). At the top, see the 365 degree panorama of the Kluchevskaya group of  volcanoes and beyond, and 50 slag cones, where the famous Holocene eruption of Tolbachik took place.
Day 15. Return to PKC. Hotel in Paratunka resort. Bath in a pool of thermal hot water.
Day 16. City tour. Souvenir shop. Depart Kamchatka.

Cost EUR 00.00 per person.

Price includes:

• Full board
• Double accommodation in hotels in city and Paratunka resort
• Tents
• English-speaking rep at the arrival and departure in the PKC airport
• Transfers by coach and 6WD bus
• City tour and museums fees
• Guide, interpreter and cook services
• Visa invitation and visa registration
• Permits

Questions? Interested in booking a trip? See here for answers to frequently asked questions and here for more Kamchatka pictures, click here for booking details or ask your questions here.

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