Russia - Kamchatka, Days 4-5 - Avachinsky Volcano, Hot Springs

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After returning to the hotel, freshening up and packing, we were amazed to discover the giant beast of a truck that would be taking us to Avachinsky Volcano. The night before, our main guide (through Maria translating) tried to impress upon us the potential difficult trekking we would be facing as bad weather was expected. Additionally, bad weather could impact the route up even with that behemoth. So we packed accordingly. He also tried to make sure we understood the very real possibility that bears would come into our campsite. Yikes!

We loaded up and climbed into that monster, stopping first for some snacks and drinks. It was surprisingly comfortable actually! After about an hour, we turned into what looked like a park entrance and then slowly started making our way upriver, often times passing cars that clearly did not use 4WD. There were lots of markers on the way; i knew some people hiked all the way from the entrance we turned on, but was glad we were not taking that route! Eventually, we got to a pit stop, a bunch of cabins and two outhouses for men and women. Ew. Then we climbed back and.... drove about 200m before picking our campsite for the night. A ranger told us we had to camp on one side of the road, and were not allowed to use the bathroom even on the other side (we did sometimes of course).

Well, the site was gorgeous! There were a bunch of prairie dog looking rat things that would come right up, looking for food. People thought they were cute; I distrusted them. Our guides also said they were worse than bears to be sure anything that had food smell on it was put in plastic or left in the kitchen. Once we claimed our tents (some better than others), set them up, and put our stuff in, we were free to admire the view. We only got to glimpse the peak of Avachinsky a couple of brief times because the mist was continually surrounding it. Sometimes the clouds would clear and we would see some blue sky, other times, the mist was rolling up the valley looking to swallow us. It was pretty incredible - I wish I could post videos on here!

Some of us got talked into peeling potatoes - I am somewhat glad I do not yet have the photo of me looking like a babushka, sitting on a stool in the kitchen tent peeling potatoes with a few others. For dinner, it was generally light, but we had potatoes (of course) and some cured fish, the smoked cod surprisingly good. The first night was hard, at least for me: it was rather cold, outside noises kept many of us up at night, and I was worried about the next day's trek!

Climbing Avachinsky

We woke up not too early, surprisingly, had some breakfast, and started trekking towards our first volcano. It was initially flat, with small rolling hills, and we were taking photos; our team leader had to run back to try to find our banner while we waited at the trail entrance sign, but the banner was missing. We continued on, walking up past another camp spot, though this place seemed strangely empty. Further up, we started to approach our first glacier crossing. Our guide told us how to properly stomp and plant our feet up (no need for crampons). Actually, I found this this easiest part of the hike and my favorite actually. Further up, the glacier started to thin out and we moved to make our way onto land.... only this land was a thick deposit of steep, wet ash. This was horrible! For every two feet you would climb, you would slide back down at least one. It was slow going and I greatly missed the glacier - this was slow and exhausting work and really affected my rhythm, which had been fine up to this point.

Further up, we encountered a decent trail that gently curved up the slope, but by this time, I was near the back portion of our group. The weather was never really good, constant rain or sleet, wind, mist, and no sun to be seen. So, it was turning into the kind of trek I had been expecting and I was losing morale. We had a stop a little further up the path, then continued on up a steep slope of boulders for the next 40 minutes or so. By this time, we had been trekking over 4 hours and when we got to our next stop, where the rain was coming down pretty good, I was miserable. It was even frustrating to add extra layers - everything was wet!

Here, we had a decision to make. It seemed the weather was not going to improve and appeared to actually be worsening. And directly in front of us was a high steep slope of that fun ash we had encountered earlier. None of us was looking forward to it. So our guide said we could continue or go back. I offered a third: some go back, the rest continue. Then there was another: those who continued would go for another hour and reassess at that time.

I was not happy, but physically I was ok at that point, but we were told it would be at least another 6 hours to the summit and I just did not think I had that in me. So rather than slow the rest of the team down (I am a very slow hiker!), I decided to turn back along with 5 others. I think all of us were relieved. One guy who has hiked and climbed a lot could have done it, but he said he never feels the need to summit for summit's sake - we were not going to see anything do to the weather, so what was the point. I whole heartedly agreed! 😉 We made good time coming back and enjoyed ourselves for a bit. C and I were happy to slide down the glacier, once the one guide who came back with us deemed it somewhat safe (i.e. not super long and steep where we might take off and not be able to stop). At a certain point, most of us were sliding down on our butts and staring at the views (when they were visible). We encountered a young guy with two older ladies as we crossed a 'bridge' over the river. The bridges were two planks on one side, to a little island, than a ladder to the other side. The planks were wobbly, but for me, the ladder was super easy and I crossed like I do it everyday. A couple of the others struggled a bit, just the heights I think. Then we got back to camp, cold, wet, hungry. Changed. Then the guide was able to get us some firewood somehow, and C started a fire. So, we enjoyed sitting around, drying our clothes, chatting, and having some whiskey.

A couple of hours later, 5 more people returned. Apparently, they tried the vertical ash slope which took over an hour, and at the top was when they gave up. The lead guide did not want to separate due to the basic need for having two guides, but one of the women on the group was an experienced mountain climber so she was designated as the second and six more (including the other two geologists) plus the guide continued on.. But the second group got lost coming back down. They also encountered another team going up at that point. They joined us around the camp fire as we waited for the remaining group to come back. It was a nice bonding experience though.

Around 8:30 pm, we saw the 6 members of our team and the guide who had in fact made it to the summit. They had a rough time. The winds were pretty brutal, the weather never letting up, and the guide did not have his food supply (that was with the second group's guide), so he actually struggled up. But summit they all did! We had started dinner, penne pasta with chicken, and it was just about ready when they returned. Unfortunately, Luke went to change and by the time he got to the kitchen tent there were three pieces of penne waiting for him. And.... that was it. Yikes.

The next day, we all got up and packed up our wet camp. Those who had properly functioning tents (us) made sure that we marked our territory - I put my handsewn mask on ours. Some of the others had had leaking tents, though it was questioned whether they had actually shut the windows properly. No idea. We made our way back down the mountain in the Beast.

Hot Springs

Then we stopped at a hot springs place. This was actually pretty cool (I mean, it's no Iceland, but it was nice). There is one fairly small women's dressing room, super humid, so we changed and went out to the tubs full of water. The main large one is kept at a consistently high temperature, but there were four smaller ones, two on each side, that were fed with black hoses, allowing the occupants to adjust the temperature as desired. There was also a door to a beautiful glacier lake outside. We all tried it - some going full in to the freezing water, others dipping their toes. I dipped up to my knees the first time. Second time to my waist. And third time to my shoulders. It was refreshing, but.... BRRR!!! Unfortunately, there was a bit of ugliness as a large Russian woman started yelling at our group. Maria and one of our guides yelled back to her and Maria said to ignore it, but she explained that we are supposed to only be wearing swimsuits, preferably bikinis for women (yeah, no). We had an Emirati woman in our group who was in a burkini and that appeared to set the rant off. So, we had a lot of things to say about the woman ourselves, but otherwise, it was a nice time.

Gotcha!

When we got back to the hotel, many of us laid out our tents, boots and wet clothes to dry in what little sun there was. Took a shower, and got ready to go to get dinner. Ugh, that was an experience. First, we went to the local camping / outdoor store for supplies, such as gators and crampons for the next adventure. Then we were to meet up with the 'easy' group at Gotcha, a local restaurant. When we arrived, everything was completely in the dark! I was like, is this like and experience type of restaurant or something? But no, it was the power being out. So, we (the first group to arrive) sat with the Easy group by candlelight and beers until everyone arrived. By then the power came back on and we had a full private table in the back. It was turning out to be a great dinner. Maria translated the menu and it sounded so delicious. I ordered the spinach risotto with crab. While we waited, we caught up with the other team who had been indeed taking it easy - nice pretty green walks, flowers, even a bear! They laughed at our adventure in the weather.

At a certain point, I realized I still had not got my food, but everyone else had. Luke said I could share his ribs while I waited as he knew he would just finish mine any way. Half hour later, still no risotto and a guy at my table who had also ordered it already had his. I asked the waiter who said it was still cooking, but I could tell by his expression that he had forgotten it. Another half hour, people are getting dessert, no risotto. I was so hungry and tired I was almost in tears. So, I decided to go for a walk. Twenty minutes later, came back, went to the bathroom, peeked at the table, still no risotto. I went back out for another walk in the other direction. When I came back, Luke was waiting for me and said it was there. I was so annoyed as it was 10:00 and the only reason I came is because we were supposed to have dinner at 6. I did NOT want to be up this late. By then, I was actually not even hungry. But Luke made me eat, and I gave him about a quarter of it. I was still annoyed, so he, Ben, Maria and I sat at the bar and had a drink. Then went back to the hotel. Not even an apology from the waiter or anyone to me. Luke said they had come out and felt bad, but it was never ever said to me. Disappointing as it was otherwise a lovely restaurant....C'est la vie.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Russia
Your hike sounded cold and miserable. I think you made the right decision to turn around with nothing to see. Oh no, you didn't leave any food for Luke. I imagine he was very unhappy.