Monday, August 03, 2009

4-day trek to lake heart (near lake baikal)

this trip would be more appropriately named "experience life as a siberian exile".

we just got back from a 4-day trek (and also one day of climbing which i'll write a separate post about) in the hamar-daban mountains south east of irkutsk (about 5 km south of sludyanka). we had very little expectations before we set out, signed up for the trek because it fit well with our schedules and we wanted to get outside and do something active. little did we know that it'd be one of the hardest backpacking trips that either one of us had ever done.

first day involved hiking along an old road for a good portion of the day, visiting a lazurite mine, and then slogging for 2 hours uphill through a mosquito infested bog/swamp to find a campsite that our guide had never been to. almost lost my shoe twice to the bog. oh and it rained for a good portion of the day. let's say bog walking with packs (or in general) is not fun. camped in the only non-swamp area we could find on not so flat ground (we were supposed to camp about 5-10 minutes further in a meadow).

second day we bushwhacked through wet shrubbery on uneven ground (swarming with mosquitos) uphill in rain for an hour, before rejoining the trail that we set out on in the morning. ended up on top of cherkogo peak (2090 m) in fog and occasional rain, with about 30 feet visibility. had a fun, exposed hike down and spent the night near a small hut, which had a great wood stove to dry our shoes.

third day we day hiked up to a pass then up two peaks. it was a beautiful clear day and we actually got to see lake baikal. our guide victor suggested we take the "direct" route back to the hut to pick up our packs. turns out he assumed a trail existed that led from a ridge down to the hut. it involved going up two more peaks, then down a loose, steep (3rd class) gully and bushwhacking because no trail actually exists. ended up moving camp down near some waterfalls (trail passed 7 waterfalls) which were really beautiful but we were all exhausted from the day hike. at the end we got to downclimb a 20 minute section of 3rd class boulders in the rain.

fourth (last) day started by hiking down a slippery trail then straight up a rocky gully (very, very steep) and then about 16 km down a nice trail and rocky road back to the trail head.

we had two days of rain, two days of sun with a bit of rain. 4 days of wet shoes and socks, 4 days of wet packs, 4 days of swarming mosquitos, and 4 exhausting and physically challenging days.

all that said, now that we're dry, back at the hostel, things are drying and we're washing our clothes, we had a great time on the trek. not something we'd voluntarily do again, but all the hassle and adventure is what makes in memorable. victor was a good guide (except for not knowing a couple trails/directions/campsites and understating distances by as much as an order of magnitude), we had good company (our two fellow trekkers Julie and Graham from the UK were fun to be with and had great attitudes) and we did enjoy the suffering and crazy things we went through now that it's all over...

will post pictures sometime...

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