Why you should visit Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula
Why you should visit Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula
The Kamchatka peninsula is one of the most unique and stunning places in Russia with incredibly diverse nature and wildlife. Here you can fly over active volcanoes, see bears roaming in the wild and take a dip in natural hot springs. Even for Russians, it’s a dream to visit given how remote it is from just about anywhere else in the country. Found in Russia’s Far East, the peninsula is closer to Alaska or Japan than to the capital Moscow. But, for those searching for adventure and willing to travel the distance, Kamchatka will provide unique experiences and stunning hiking trails.
hOW TO GET TO Kamchatka
Kamchatka is not the easiest or cheapest place to get to, even if you are travelling from within Russia. While the country has a vast and far-reaching train network, it doesn’t go as far as Kamchatka, so you’ll need to fly. If you are travelling from Europe, your best bet is to take a direct flight to Kamchatka from Moscow. If you are coming from Asia, perhaps it is possible to fly to Vladivostok, another city in Russia’s Far East, and then take a three-hour flight north up to Kamchatka. The peninsula has one airport located in a town called Elizovo – it’s about 20 km from the regional capital of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Catching flights between Kamchatka and Moscow can be a bit of a tricky affair. Tickets are usually released in batches, so one day there may only be business class seats and overpriced economy tickets available and the next – a whole bunch of economy seats at a reasonable price. This actually happened to me, as I was booking last minute and couldn’t find any affordable tickets. And on the day I was ready to cancel the whole trip – I checked one last time and suddenly the tickets appeared.
Weather IN Kamchatka
The weather varies depending on where you are but it is safe to say that, in general, it is unstable and unpredictable. The coastal areas can experience cyclones from the Pacific that bring rain in the summer and snowfall in the winter. During the hiking season in the summer, it is best to be prepared for any weather. Make sure to bring waterproofs and warm clothes for the evenings. At higher altitudes, it can get quite cold and windy and there can still be residual snow on the ground even in the summer.
When to VISIT kAMCHATKA
Kamchatka is popular during all seasons. In winter there are lots of opportunities to enjoy snow sports but summer is best for hiking and exploring the volcanoes and geysers. The hiking season in Kamchatka runs from July to September, when the temperature properly warms up. Some of the hiking routes may not be accessible before July as the snow melting in early summer can cause walking paths to turn muddy and slippery. So both July and August are good choices to get the best weather conditions. July is better for all the gorgeous flowers in national parks, but August is berry season – offering some additional sustenance to hikers.
Hiking up volcanoes
Volcanoes are a trademark of Kamchatka, giving it a unique landscape. There are over a hundred volcanoes on the peninsula with about two dozen active ones. The highest active volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka at around 4,800 metres. While it is possible to hike this mountain, it’s not the most accessible one and would require a multi-day hike and climbing experience.
A popular day hike is the Avachinsky volcano (2,741 metres) which can be combined with hikes through Nalychevo nature reserve that I will talk about further down. To do this climb you’ll need to start off nice and early from Elizovo and drive to the foot of the volcano. While we didn’t go up Avachinsky, our hike ended near its foothill and we had an offroader bus take us back to town from there. The road to Elizovo is long and very bumpy as it goes through a dried-up riverbed. During the high season, you could try to wave down a car or walk the whole way but it will take up about three hours on foot. So I’d recommend organising your transport in advance or taking a group tour.
Two other popular volcano hikes are up Mutnovsky (2,323 metres) and Gorely (1,829 metres) which can be done in two day-hikes with one night in a tent. Here you can see fumaroles – openings on the volcano’s surface that emit volcanic gases emitting a strong sulfur smell. Much to my regret, I didn’t visit these two active volcanoes as they are further away from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky or Elizovo and involve driving over a mountain pass to a valley where you can set up camp. The hikes themselves don’t seem too challenging, but just for the sake of not worrying about logistics, I’d recommend going with a tour.
Nalychevo nature reserve
Kamchatka has several nature reserves to explore and you can read about five of them on this website (it’s only in Russian but you can translate the page). Since I ended up doing a hike through Nalychevo nature reserve, relatively popular and easy to get to, I’ll go into more detail about it.
Our route took 10 days to explore but it’s definitely possible to break it up into fewer days. There are also two possible starting points, both a 30-minute drive from the town of Elizovo where the airport is.
We started in the village of Pynachevo from where it takes around two days to cover the 40 km to the Central Cordon. This is essentially the centre of the park where there is a WWF-funded museum, ranger huts and hot springs. Many tourists fly there by helicopter – you will see quite a few of them landing and taking off during the day. There is a designated campsite around halfway between and then another near the Central Cordon where you could also pay to stay in huts depending on availability. All in all, four days return trip.
A potential extension of the trip is going to the Dzendzur volcano. Around 9 kilometres from the Central Cordon, there is another campsite near more hot springs. There you can set up camp, leave your heavy bags and set off early the next morning for a trip to Dzendzur, 20 kilometres round trip. The route follows down a narrow ledge with a powerful mountain river by your side. So it’s not a walk in the park and requires a lot of uphill walking. It’s a tough hike and usually packed with bears, but we didn’t see any as we were walking in a noisy group.
The third possible route is past the Avachinsky volcano down south. This area is a lot more popular with locals. From the Central Cordon, you can head over the Avachinsky pass and into a volcanic desert. It’s at a higher altitude than the rest of the park so less mud and fewer mosquitos but more wind. You’ll be surrounded by volcanoes and lots of volcanic rock mixed with solidified lava. It’s spectacular and can be done as a stand-alone hike or by combining other parts of the park.
Extend your stay
While exploring Kamchatka’s nature is an absolute highlight, there are activities to be enjoyed that are less demanding physically and come with more comforts. A popular option is taking a helicopter tour. As I mentioned earlier, you can fly into Nalychevo Nature Reserve to experience its hot springs, rather than walking 40 kilometres. Another popular helicopter trip is a day tour to the Valley of Geysers located inside the Kronostksy Nature Reserve in southern Kamchatka. The area with one of the largest concentrations of geysers in the world, second only to Yellowstone National Park in the US, is impossible to reach other than by helicopter. And no trip to Kamchatka would be complete without tasting its famous seafood: the Kamchatka crab and salmon caviar. If fishing is something you are interested in, there are tours that can take you out to sea to try your luck at getting your own catch.
Surfing
Yes, you heard me right. Kamchatka’s Pacific coast has become a popular destination for surfing. And it’s the best surfing location Russia has to offer. It’s still a diamond in the rough, so don’t expect the same facilities and weather that other destinations might have. But it will definitely be a unique experience with powerful winds bringing in perfect waves. There are local surfing schools to choose from that can organise the experience and teach the basic skills. They can organise camping or glamping on the beach too. A popular haunt is the Khalaktyrsky beach, a short drive outside of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. You won’t see many swimmers here as the temperatures are cold even in the summer, but with the proper gear, it’s a great place to be enjoyed by surfers. The beach is also famous for its magnetic sand – a product of the peninsula’s volcanic activity.
Group VS solo
I am a big fan of solo travelling and would rarely take a group tour unless I felt it was necessary. Whether you decide to book a tour really depends on what you want to make of your time in Kamchatka, but given how remote some areas are and the quality of the roads – it may be challenging to get around on your own. We went on a group tour for our hike in Nalychevo and it definitely felt like it was the right call to make for several reasons. First of all, it’s not a popular route – you will occasionally see other hikers but most of the time you’re on your own in bear country. The paths were not well-marked and not always visible under the overgrowth, so it can get quite hard to navigate. Being with an experienced guide, who walked the route a few weeks before we set out, helped a lot and made sure we were safe and didn’t get lost. A tour will also help organise transport to your hiking route of choice – which can be a potential obstacle if you don’t speak Russian.
Gear FOR hiking Kamchatka
This is by no means an exhaustive list and most gear is typical of what you’d pack for a multi-day hike in the summer. But there are a few things that are really necessary for Kamchatka, so give it a read: