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kamchatka - trekking, volcanoes & brown bears
In the Far East of Russia, sandwiched between the Sea of Okhotsk in the west and the Pacific Ocean in the east, lies the 1200 km long Kamchatka Peninsula. In August 2019 I spent three weeks there and took part in a trekking tour with expedition character in the south of Kamchatka. In an area near the famous Kurile Lake I went on a six-day tour to explore the wild, rough and untouched wilderness. In addition, I spent some time at the Kurile Lake to observe brown bears and climb the Ilyinsky Volcano, which dominates the area of Kamchatka's deepest lake. In August 2021 I returned to Kamchatka to explore the northern part of the Peninsula.
Trekking trough the Kamchatkan wilderness, Pauzhetka area, Southern Kamchatka
Top of Avachinsky volcano, 2741m, with Koryaksky volcano, 3456m, seen in the background
Approaching Brown Bear, Kurile Lake, Southern Kamchatka
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One highlight of my second Kamchatka tour in August 2021 was the multi-day hike around the Tolbachik volcano in the south-west part of the Klyuchevskoye plateau. Another one was the strenuous ascent of the still active Avachinsky volcano (2741m) near the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
To get to the starting point of our tour in the south of Kamchatka, our small group of trekking enthusiasts used a helicopter. In the small town of Pauzhetka we pitched our tents on the private property of a former bear hunter. From there we started our six-day wilderness adventure near the Kurile Lake.
tour info
The tour in August 2019 was organized by Diamir, Germany and led by the German tour guide Marco Grünler and the local Russian guide Ivan Popov. Local tour operator was Kamchatka Jurta Llc. aka KamchatkaPure. The tour in August 2021, led by German tour guide Thorsten Kutschke and the Russian guides Roma, Igor and Aleksey, was again organised by Diamir, Germany. Local tour operator was Volcanoes Land.
highlight
Exploring the untouched and rugged wilderness of Kamchatka on foot.