ok. one of my goals since living here in russia was to get to siberia. of course, i had romantic visions of dog-sledding across frozen ice-sheets waving at polar bears along the way and wearing reindeer an bear-fur wraps, knocking down ice-cold vodka shots with my new russian-eskimo friends and wearing those uber-cool fur boots - the original uggs. SO. since THAT wasn't going to happen, i discovered that there is an amazingly huge, fresh, beautiful lake in southern siberia. and it is surrounded (almost) by hiking trails. known as the Great Baikal Trail, they offer incredible views of the lake, the mountains and all of the tiny fishing villages dotting the shoreline. and there are expedition companies that lead tours there! sign me up. i booked a short 3-day hiking trek with a company called Baikal Adventure and hoped for the best. late september can be quite cold, but everyone told me that typically that is the time for "woman summer," so it actually should be pretty nice! i requested a sub-zero sleeping bag just in case.
here is the trip in pictures...with some stories along the way...
now, let me start by saying this was one of the hardest hiking trips i have ever done. it really tested me physically, and mentally. the last day almost broke me. i was so tired, and sore, and mentally exhausted from trying to keep my spirits up through the rain and the cold and the fear. but also, i am so darn proud of myself for doing it. i kinda had no choice...in russia, there aren't a lot of "plan B's"...you kinda have to stick with plan A for better or worse. so no matter what, no matter how i felt, i had to hike myself out of there. no one was going to come get me. and also, i'll say that it really could have been a LOT worse. no one got hurt, it was beautifully sunny on the last day. we had enough food (WAY too much in fact), and good company. there were just a FEW things i would have changed...
we covered 50km in 3 days, and we lost the trail (twice), so in true, classic russian way, we just went overland! Which meant climbing straight up( and then straight down) 2 mountains. Small ones, but still. Carrying 50lb packs on our backs was not easy doing that. There were times it was so steep I couldn't look up past where my hands would reach cuz my head would hit my pack, and I didn't want to lean too far back anyway. It was scary. But we made it. So many russian traits were solidified in my mind on this trip. First of all, when they say "strenuous" they actually mean nearly impossible for the average fit person. And there is no such thing as giving up even when it makes no sense in the WORLD to keep going. And why stay hydrated? There's a lake right there! We'll have tea at lunch! (In 4 hours). I had about a half liter of water with me and our guide said "why do you carry so much water with you?!?" And then on our last day when it was clear we didn't need all our food, I suggested leaving the three loaves of bread out on the beach for the birds. The guide said "no! We can't do that, that would mean we quit! We have to carry everything with us, it would mean that we fail at being ale to carry all our supplies!" I didn't have the energy to argue that we wouldn't need it, so why carry it all the way back??? And the an hour later we ran into some horses on the trail and fed the bread to them. That was allowed, somehow. It was ok to feed to horses, but not to birds. I guess it was the idea of leaving something behind. I admire the principal, it just makes no sense.
And also Siberia is really cold. Like, really cold. Even tho we were in southern Siberia, it was below freezing every night. I wore all my clothes, and smartly packed those hand warmer things, the toe version, which are sticky, and I stuck them all over my body to help warm up the sleeping bag. They gave me an amazing sleeping bag (as i requested...). It weighed a lot, but was worth it in the night. I stayed warm, mostly. It rained day 1 and night 1. With wind that howled thru our tents at night. We cooked in the rain, and were so hungry our guide gave us cabbage to nibble on under the trees while we watched him make borsch. He was a funny guy. Really sweet, an amazing mountain man, but not such a good guide. Lost the trail, and also didn't really prep us for anything on the trail (like that we would be walking on the edge of a cliff 90%of the time, and to watch our step), and he was super fast so he would always be really far ahead of us letting us fed for ourselves when we essentially rock-climbed the face of the mountain. Russians are tough, make no mistake. There was one part where we had to traverse a few washes along the shoreline. We were prob 100' up. And there had been some landslides in the washes, so the footholds were, um, barely there. Zhenia (guide) nimbly scampered across (oh, his bag was HUGE too. He carried most of the food and gear, while we carried our tents and sleeping bags, a few extra clothes for the night and some food). When I approached, he said "just run!" Right. I clung to the wall, accidentally setting off another small slide of rock, then made it past. There were 2 more washes just like that. This was definitely the scariest hike I've ever done. And it was cold and rainy for the first 2 days. Gorgeous sunny fall day on the last day, thank goodness. And the lake is stunning! Snow-capped mountains on one side, forest-covered ones on the other (our side). Would be so cool to come back when it's frozen. Not to hike. Just take a picture. :). Anyway, I'm proud of myself for doing it. I'm exhausted and sore and have lots of bruises. And I spent the entire day after the hike in bed at the marriott, save venturing out for dinner. But I was with three terrific Portuguese folks, a brother and sister and their friend. the brother and friend were both nurses, the girl was a pharmacist. And they had great senses of humor about it all...in a way, what else could we do? we made each other laugh so we weren't so cold/scared/tired. And we had great international conversations around the campfire. And it was fun to translate a bit of russian into English so they could understand. Everyone spoke English, but zhenia sometimes needed help. And he taught me some more russian, which was fun.
here is the trip in pictures...with some stories along the way...
ok, the last city, Irkutsk, is where i was headed. it is about 80km from Lake Baikal, and the largest city in the region. the Irkutsk region is the size of "five Frances" as my driver who picked me up informed me. and Irkutsk is the most populated, at around half a million. It's maybe kinda like des moines. has a lovely river running thru it, and seems to have a decent economy, at least from what i could tell on my short stay there.
this is the shelving unit in the hostel i stayed in the first night. it was a nice-enough hostel, quite cozy. but not very quiet. very, um, communal, even tho i had a private room. the bathrooms were shared, and there was a small dining table with a few chairs in the main room where you could hang out and cook if you wanted to. i knew that i would want more privacy, a more comfortable bed, and a BAR when i got back from the hike, so i quickly booked a room at the marriott for my return nights. sorry hostel. too old for you.
the rest of my room. i thankfully didn't have to share! i arrived after an overnight flight, so i took a nap, then showered and decided i'd venture out to see some of the town. i was told that my hike organizer was going to come by "some time in the evening to talk to you." not knowing exactly "what time in the evening" is, i figured i had a couple of hours to try to find some dinner. on my way to the tram station to head into the center of town, i heard english! there was an american student speaking with her french colleague. i asked if i could tag along, and i ended up hanging with them for an hour or so. amy, the student, just fell in love with russia on a trip here a year ago or so, so she quit her job as a CPA and moved to Irkutsk to study russian! go figure. she showed me where to buy amazing siberian white honey. yumm!
here are my trip companions arranging their bags. i was sizing them up, hoping i could keep up. i was pretty sure i could, but you never know. turns out, we were all pretty much the same level. i was behind a lot, especially on the mountain climbing, mostly cuz i was so scared. and my pack was SUPER heavy...i ended up with a lot of the densest foods somehow. Zheniya wasn't so good with food distribution. (though, after we finally found the trail on day 2, he offered to take some weight from my bag. it was painfully clear i was holding up the group cuz i was slow. i didn't hesitate. and when i handed over the bag of food, his eyes got really wide at the weight. even tho i was slow, i think i impressed him having carried all that weight on my own without complaint. after that, i was quick like a bunny, and was on his heels the whole time. redemption!)
ok. you will note that the steering wheel is on the RIGHT side. this is true for over half of the cars in Irkustsk!!! the girl who picked me up from the airport just shrugged when i asked her about it..."we get cars on their way to being imported to europe, i guess?" was her response. it is uncanny tho. they drive on the right side of the road. it's just that HALF the cars have their steering wheels on that side, too. bizarre. oh, and if you look real close, you can see that the small sign above the glove compartment says "you are now leaving the american sector" (as in, leaving west berlin), in the languages of the four nations that controlled berlin. don't know why, but i thought it was pretty funny that they would have that sticker in their van, all the way in southern siberia.
this is what it looks like to ride in a russian car. the drivers are insane. but, if i was putting together a team of people for something like "the amazing race," i would pick a russian as the driver. there is a small, but very real chance you could die. but, on the other hand you would definitely win. they are fearless.
our lunch stop right before starting the hike. a small fishing village named Goloustnoe. local cuisine is omul - smoked fish. yay! more smoked fish!
and here it is! they just set it out on a plate for us to dig into! it was cold. and smokey. but actually, tasted ok.
more of the meal. local version of a pelmeni (dumpling), blini's and coffee.
i think this is the "main drag."
and we're off! this is pretty much what i saw the whole trek. flashes of the yellow sleeping pads of my portugese companions. this is the closest i was to zheniya, the guide (red pack), aside from when he encouraged me to run across the small rock landslide.
the lake! on a cold and rainy day!
this is a rusty, fallen down sign. i told a picture of it, because it has a quote, in russian, from the American preservationist John Muir. i thought that was pretty cool. i think the Great Baikal Trail is the next frontier of trails to trek...alongside the grand canyon, appalachian trail, and pacific crest trail. americans should test themselves here in russia. and help build up the trails as well! on the other hand, it's kinda cool that it's so rustic and untouched out here. pluses and minuses.
a local fisherman. they wade in with long nets, or lines and catch the omul. fishing is not as lucrative as it once was tho. according to zheniya, a budding environmentalist himself, ever since the chinese started manufacturing cheap plastic netting, there has been overfishing in Baikal. so the fish are much smaller than they used to be.
a forest ranger's cabin. beautiful siberian woodworking.
and we trudge on!
fishing boat.
zheniya peeling potatoes in the rain for our borsch.
joa and marta eating cabbage under the trees, trying to stay out of the rain. didn't really work.
borsch over the campfire!! zheniya is a master outdoorsman. he can make a fire anywhere with anything. the key, he says, is digging a hole to protect from the wind. and to never give up.
first morning! this was after i spent a few hours trying to warm myself with the toe-warmers. after i warmed up, i was really quite comfortable! i heard the wind whistling thru my tent, but since i pulled the mummy bag over my face, i was completely warm. whistle all you want wind! but it was really hard to get up.
my home!
morning coffee. it was instant, but i didn't care. instant coffee is amazing, ONLY when camping.
day 2!
me next to a sign about the trail, and the kinds of wildlife you could find. we didn't see any. the animals knew it was too damn cold to be out there.
another small "village."
a siberian totem pole!
ok, so you can see the yellow and green pads, and if you look really closely, in almost the very center of the photograph, you can see zheniya, ploughing along on the "trail" along the shorline. one of the times we were left to negotiate the slippery rocks ourselves.
siberian tea! (bark floating in the water)
this is the bag of sweetened condensed milk that zheniya and joa couldn't get enough of. they put it on everything!!
zheniya cleaning out the pots. with a funny little seat strapped to himself. apparently this is a very russian camping style. strap a piece of foam-core to your butt, so you can sit anywhere you like!
ok, this is one of the mountain faces we climbed. you can't really tell, but it is VERY steep. you can't even see all the way to the bottom.
this is the top! of the first mountain face we climbed this day trying to find the trail!
maybe the trail is down there? who knows? well, let's go see! and down we went!
sunset on day 2. clouds finally starting to clear.
this is the camp on night 2. more signs about what you can and can't do...you can light a fire, pitch a tent, and play guitar! (they chose an icon of a guitar to mean "relax."
morning on the last day. we can finally see across to the other side to the snow-capped mountains!
still quite cold, tho. and today, we thought we were going to take a boat back! so all we had to do was hike to the next village, about 20 min away. after day 2, climbing up and down 2 mountains in search of the trail, the boat was a welcome idea. plus, the portuguese had to catch a train this night. so we were in high spirits. zheniya went ahead to arrange the boat, and we followed behind, and were instructed to set up camp on the short. we built a fire and had a delicious breakfast, smiling in the sun, ready for our boat!
a gorgeous wooden cabin in Bolshoie Koty, the fishing village where we waited for the boat.
an old engine. there were two, rusting away on the beach.
making breakfast!
some locals out to enjoy the "woman summer" morning.
i think this might be the one phone in town. this town is only accessible by boat, except in the winter, when they drive across the ice the 19km from Listvyanka, the main village on this side of the lake.
small mac truck in a trailer?
a beautiful morning. i still wore all the clothes i had, tho.
ok. so. we found out that there wasn't going to be any boat. well, there could be, but not until 8pm, which was too late for the portuguese to get their train. so zheniya broke the news that we would have to hike the 19km to Listvyanka. it would take about 5-6 hours. it was already nearing 1pm. we were deflated. we were exhausted, sore, and mentally unprepared for a 6-hour hike that would end by climbing, constantly, up switchbacks to cross the pass that would lead to the valley where Listvyanka lay. we could go by the shore route, but it was even more dangerous than that rocky cliffs we had been on already. we vetoed that. so off we went. trying our best to keep our spirits up. it helped that we came across a few horses grazing.
this is zheniya feeding them the BREAD that i suggested we leave behind. ok, it was really fun to feed the horses, i'll admit.
that's zheniya. he's a farm boy, really comfortable around animals. he has 2 daughters, too. i fear for when they start dating. he's a tough one. on our second night he drug a HUGE stump of a tree out of the woods, and then proceeded to heave/chuck a giant stone at it to break off pieces for our fire. it worked. he is amazing. but not at directions. the thing is, he has the ability to climb anything, anywhere, with anything on his back. but we don't. he just forgot that little fact.
this is how beautiful the lake is when the sun shines down...it is so clear.
i made it to the top of the pass!! i honestly thought this trip to the top of this pass would break me, after everything over the past 2 days. the cold, the rain, the trailblazing, the fact i haven't hiked in a year. the stress at work, and what i was returning to. lugging a pack that weighed half of what i do (ok, maybe a third). but i did it.
a "hiker" at the end of our trail at Listvyanka. not sure what he is meant to be, but i thought he was funny.
the team!!! we did it! me, joao and hugo and marta in the back. i will forever love these guys. if it weren't for joao behind me the whole way up the pass, i never would have made it. and thank goodness for marta, the other girl in the group who kept us on track on the last day and made sure zheniya didn't get too distracted (which he did...quite often...). and hugo for being a kind, nice supportive man who laughed at my jokes.
so there are a lot more stories, but you can write me if you want to hear them. i'm just glad i did it. and i'm glad i'm home.
