Russia - Kamchatka, Days 7-9 - Mutnovsky Volcano, Best Campsite ever, Rafting

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After getting back into the Beast and departing Gorely, we made our way along what was basically an ice road towards our next destination:

Mutnovsky Volcano.

After about an hour of driving (why were they so concerned about the roads again??), they stopped and asked if this was a good site to camp. Yes! Oh, the views. The flowers. The sunset. And you could see the steam clouds from the volcano just over the rise. It was so beautiful! And it was dry and nice weather to boot! So, we set up our usual tent and C was the one to cook for us tonight. And it was gooooood. Apparently, none of our guides were cooks.

The next morning we woke, had a brief breakfast and started the hike up Mutnovsky. It was a fairly gentle slope from our campsite up the hill and toward the main entrance. It was very busy! There were lots of kitted out 4WD trucks making their way up the glacier. We hiked up, again, I liked hiking on the glaciers! However, I will confess, I was quite sick on this trip and was just miserable the whole time. Mutnovsky is similar to like Yellowstone - a lot of geothermal activities and sulfur vents. It was a full day adventure. On the way back, we hiked down towards a tall waterfall coming through the valley, I believe it was approximately 70m in height. It was so cool.

After return back to the campsite, about half the group made their way to nearby ice caves, about an hour hike. I remained and enjoyed some vodka, which we had put on ice. I took some photos of hte nearby gophers who were just starting to come out. We also saw bear paw prints nearby that looked somewhat fresh. Yikes! Now that we were done with the 'hard' part of the trip, we were able to relax and enjoy the night. We hung around a campfire, the group that came back from the ice caves had found some wood. The stars were nice, the sunset gorgeous... the views just incredible! This was the most naturally beautiful location I have ever camped in my life!

The next day was a nice long drive back in the Beast along the glacier roads, more scenic beauty along the way. We stopped at the volcano overlook again, more photos, a little picnic, just a nice long break to stretch our legs. We even saw a bear in the far distance! As we were driving, someone spotted him and we pressed the button for the Beast to stop. The driver came to open the door and ask what's up - he seemed unimpressed with our bear sighting! That was the only one of our trip....

BBQ at hotel

That evening, we had a bbq at the hotel, since the kitchen was closed due to them hosting a wedding. We were warned by our guide that no good Russian wedding occurs without a fight, so to make sure to watch ourselves. However, the people seemed to be having a good time, and had an interesting bridal couple vehicle to leave in. A little girl was so infatuated with our Indian friend - a little crush I think! But we had a good night, drinking vodka, grilling chicken.. yum!

Rafting on Bystraya River

The next day we headed to what we thought would be white water rafting on the Bystraya River. We drove for about an hour and then stopped at the side of the road and joined another group of people on a big truck with a kind of canvas cabin on the back where we were all grouped as we drove through the forest. When we arrived at site, we were each given waders and life vests. Hmmm... this did not seem like white water rafting to me. The easy group had also mentioned the boat trip was underwhelming. And sure enough, we put 8 people in each inflatable boat and.... well, just coasted down the river. It was overcast, drizzling, a bit chilly, no bears, nothing much to do... lol We stopped about an hour in for fishing. Not really my thing. But a couple people caught some fish. Then we got back and continued on. There was honestly nothing wrong with the boat trip - if you like fishing, I imagine this would be a nice little adventure. In the middle of nowhere, calm and peaceful. However, we were expecting white water rafting.... so very different!

However, the lunch at the end made the whole trip worth it! We went up the hill to kind of a little cabin area which looked like a nice place to stay. We went into what looked like a home and they had dining tables set up to serve us home-cooked, local and traditional foods. They had pate, caviar on toast, salads, and fish soup. It was delicious, and also included a shot of homemade vodka. Later, after most people were done and had gone out, one of the guys was cooking and served us fish! I gathered from their gestures, that this was the fish that we had caught that day! So, we of course could not leave without trying it.

Hot springs

Our next stop was what i would call a redneck hot springs. This place was hap-pen-ing! We walked from the main entrance to an area with a river and pools of hot springs along the banks. There were cars parked, music blaring, food cooking, and people everywhere. I mean, it really looked like tailgating at a Nascar rally or something! I was not in the mood to join the swimmers, so Luke and I sat and planned our trip to Moscow instead. It was hilarious to people watch though! Definitely an experience.

That evening we went back to Gotcha with about half the people. I just ordered a salad this time - no excuses right? Someone ordered the crab risotto and I was like, I just can't even look at it right now! It was fun, but we were still hanging out around 11pm when they turned on the lights. Sophie kept trying to get them to turn them off, but we finally figured out it was due to Covid restrictions - countrywide. so, time to return to hotel.

Last day

The next day, we packed and departed our hotel. We went to do some souvenir shopping at a market (I found nothing of interest). Then we stopped a bear statue at the entrance to town for our last group photo, with both the hard and easy groups. We got to the airport and I was one of the first through. I got a beer to hopefully help me sleep for the flight. It was so cool to see the giant volcano, Avachinsky, out the window behind the planes. The flight was full again and I sat next to one girl from the easy group - she was a bit disappointed in that it was too easy. We're trekkup, and we go for adventure, so she would have liked something a little more middle ground. But otherwise, we were still so amazed at the natural beauty of the area and it was definitely such a memorable experience!

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Camping
What a beautiful stop.