Tour «Volcanoes of Kamchatka»

Tour Volcanoes of Kamchatka. Meeting and accommodation

Flying almost across Russia from west to east, you arrive in a land of volcanoes, hot springs and friendly people. You will be met at the airport by your guide and transferred to your hotel in the city. We are accommodated in the hotel in two-bed rooms, each with a fridge, shower and toilet.

With tourists arriving before 12:00, we take an excursion to the Pacific Ocean. Here you can walk along the beach of black volcanic sand or even dive into the cold waves - it all depends on your bravery. In the evening we return to the hotel.

Tourists arriving after 12.00 noon are directly checked into the hotel.

Volcanoes of Kamchatka - the excursion begins. Transfer to the Tolbachik volcano

We will leave our hotel rooms and go on a trip to the Klyuchevskoy group of the volcanoes locating at center of the Kamchatka peninsula.

Tour Volcanoes of Kamchatka – Ascent to Plosky Tolbachik

If weather is fine, then at first day we will hike to the top of the volcano with a height of more than 3 000 meters above sea level. There is no need to use mountaineering gear, but anyway it requires physical demanding like other ascending trip to the volcanos.

Tolbachik (Tolbachinskaya sopka, Tuluach) is a volcanic massif situated in the east of Kamchatka peninsula and belongs to Kluchevskaya group of volcanoes. The massif is formed by two joined stratovolcanoes which have taken their places at pedestal of ancient shield volcano. This is a an extinct Ostry Tolbachik volcano with a collapsed summit (3682 meters) and active Plosky Tolbachik volcano (3140 meters).

We will need to hike more than 20 kilometer along the stoned relief while climbing. We will leave all our belongings in a base camp and carry only a small backpack which could be contained a bottle of water, snack and warm clothes.

We will get up at dawn, have a hearty breakfast and go on our way. It will take about 6-8 hours to reach the summit and descent will take about 4-5 hours. If you read thoroughly our recommendations on what you will need to bring, a warm gaiter will be of a great service, because small stones and sand won`t get into your boots on a trip. While ascending it`s important not to hurry, but to climb higher slowly, listen to our chief guide and protect your travel-companions from unexpected rockslides.

The path to summit goes through angular stratification of solidified lava flows and the sites of fallen volcanic bombs. The volcanic slope we will ascend is rather gentle. En route we will pass small snow fields.

From the top of the volcano the bravest hikers will get a view of the many kilometers long burnt down valley covered with ashes. Of course, on the way we will make stops for a rest where you see the valley situated at the south part of the foothill. Finally a giant crater which has a diameter of about 2 kilometers is waiting for us at the top of the volcano. We will have time for rest, enjoying views and for taking memorable photos.

Descent will be easier and more quickly. We will head back the camp where a hot dinner will be already cooked for us.

Tour Volcanoes of Kamchatka – Northern and Southern breakthroughs of the 1975-1976.

We will continue our learning about natural processes and go on a trip to the Northern breakthrough. The chain of young cinder cones starts there. One of those cones was named on honor of scientists, Gregory Stepanovich Gorshkov. This part of fissure eruption was more active. The witnesses described that bright lights flashed and St. Elmo's fires appeared there during eruption. Thus, 7 new cinder cones were created.

We will need to climb to the height of about 300 meters, but from the summit we will get a panoramic view of the Tolbachinsky dale. If you look into the distance you will see the chain of other cones magically formed as a line.

We will go to the neighboring cone where rock outflow was more active and it is possible to explore it there. There are a lot of colors of stones: from blue color to bright red one; some of them are very hot and it is impossible to pick it up.

At the same day we will be driven to the area of Southern breakthrough. The eruption was not so large there, but it will be interesting to visit lava caves and walk around Dead forest near the cone of ancient collapsed Zvezda volcano.

Return to the hotel

Today we will leave our marvelous camping in the mountains and head to the hotel.

Boat trip to Russkaya Bay

Today we will take a break from hiking and spend the day on a boat and feel the energy of the Pacific Ocean.

The first point of our journey will be Avacha Bay - one of the largest in the world. Its area can accommodate the entire merchant fleet of the world. At the same time, it is very conveniently closed from ocean storms by an isthmus, known simply as ‘the gate’.

The smell of the sea, wind, salty splashes, landscapes of Kamchatka shores - this will be our route to Starichkov Island. Starichkov Island itself is a protected reserve territory. On its steep cliffs and nearby kekuras nest a large number of Red Book birds.

After taking photos of sea creatures, we continue our route southwards. On the way we may see orcas - their black backs with white spots appear out of the water. Often they swim close to the boat.

At the entrance to Russkaya Bay there is a rookery of Steller sea lions, several males and a harem of females. The boat comes close enough to them to hear their growls.

After fishing and a hot lunch of delicious ukha we return back to our harbour.

Departure to the Southern group of volcanoes. Vilyuchinsky pass. Ascent to Gorely volcano.

The southern group of volcanoes is located 90 km away from the city, but the part of the way we have to move on absolutely off-road, so we will drive this distance in 4-5 hours.

Our first stop is the Viluchinsky pass. There is a viewpoint to the Viluchinsky volcano and stretching many kilometers’ valley. The place has benches and information stands.

Our next stop is the active Gorely volcano with the height of 1829 metres. The ascent to its summit is long but not difficult. The trail is well visible. It runs between old, bizarrely frozen lava flows and slag fields.

Gorely volcano has several cones and 11 craters. Two craters are of particular interest to tourists: the Active Crater, where volcanic activity continues at present, and the Blue Lake, the bottom of which is occupied by brightly coloured acid lake.

We will go along the edge of two craters and will be astonished by rock formation which formed their walls. We will ascend the absolute top and take photos of surrounding beauty. Descent requires physical demanding, so you`d better to bring with you telescoping trekking poles which will help your joints to cope with various kind of loads.

We will spend the night in tents at the foot of the volcano.

The foot of Mutnovsky volcano (Dachnye springs).Return to the hotel.

After breakfast we leave towards Mutnovsky volcano. Today we plan an excursion to the fumarole fields between Dvugorbaya and Skalistaya mountains - Dachnye thermal springs. They are also called the Small Valley of Geysers because of their intensive output of hot water and steam.

We will have enough time to see all the geothermal manifestations: gushing mud puddles, whistling vapour-gas jets, boiling pots. Such natural activity is typical for the Kamchatka region.

The next natural object is a large waterfall called the Spokojny waterfall. It is formed by intensive melting of snow, which is always present in this area. Water streams gather in the river and descend down the rocks in a wide effective cascade.

After the excursion, we return to the hotel.

Optional excursions / Spare day

We keep the day free so that every traveller can choose an activity of his choice

If you want to see bears - go on a helicopter tour to Kuril Lake, to visit geysers - to the Valley of Geysers. If nature and hiking are not enough for you, we suggest visiting the Vachkazhets mountain massif.

For those who would like to get acquainted with Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - you can go on an independent walk along the central embankment, on Nikolskaya and Mishennaya hills.

Transfer to the airport

We say goodbye to some of the participants - we organise a transfer to the airport with a visit to the fish market and souvenir shop. And with the rest of the tourists, who decided to stay longer, we continue exploring Kamchatka.