Frolikha LaKE

Project dates: July 13 -27, 2010

Project Duration:  Two weeks

Languages:  Russian & English

Project Location: Frolikhinskii game reserve,  northeast shores of Lake Baikal,  Ayaya Bay, Republic of Buryatia , Russia. The project site is located 45 km east from Severobaikalsk.

(If you have  Google Earth program, you can see a map of this project).

Setting: The campsite is in the vicinity of Ayaya Bay (the "very, very beautiful bay").

One of the highlights of the whole trail, Ayaya Bay, is the deepest and coldest bay at Lake Baikal. To get there, you must cope with the most difficult part of the entire trail. Bouldering across huge ragged rocks directly above, sometimes almost in the lake, you will need sure footedness, concentration, time and patience. In exchange you will soon get to one of the most beautiful places at Lake Baikal with a most impressive panorama, a wonderful sandy beach and the chance to make a detour to Lake Frolikha, which is (at least) a 6 km-hike into the mountains. This lake is not only renowned for its unique position amidst beautiful scenery, but also for its endemic biodiversity. Some species to be found have not changed since the ice age, e.g. the Davatshan fish

Long-term Goal: The beauty of Northern Lake Baikal is vast and unique: snow- covered, jagged mountain ranges, the huge, yet shallow delta of the Verkhne Angara river and the sheer infinity of Siberian taiga surrounding the coastline of the oldest and deepest lake of the world. Almost the entire North-East of Lake Baikal is a nature reserve, beginning from the most northern Verkhne Angara Game Reserve to the Frolinski Game Reserve down to Bargusinski Nature Reserve. There are no roads, no railway and no villages. To discover this wilderness means to leave civilization behind you and cross Lake Baikal by boat.  

The long distance trail is about 100km long and starts from the ranger station of the Verkhne Angara Game Reserve, follows endless sandy beaches, rests in real bay paradises, climbs steep cliff lines, makes a loop to the Frolikha lake from its deepest bay called Ayaya (the "very, very beautiful bay") and ends in the relaxing atmosphere of the hot springs in Khakussy. Mostly the trail exactly follows the coastline, but some parts also lead deep into the Taiga forests or test your bouldering skills.

Both aspects, nature conservation and the unique travel conditions are the main reasons to explore, develop and organise our first long distance hiking trail project as part of our Great Baikal Trail activities. In summer 2009, we headed off for F.A.C.T - the Frolikha Adventure Coastline Track. The project was initiated by our German partner BaikalPlan. Here are our major guidelines:

• We want to leave as little footprint as necessary, use natural surroundings for any of our construction work and avoid excavations.

• The trail must be "ready to walk" within the shortest time possible. This point remains one of the most important ones to us, because everyone always underestimates how long it usually takes to promote a new tourist highlight. Whether a trail or anything else - the hardest work is not the construction or to put markers the right way, but the marketing itself!

• F.A.C.T.'s beginning and end must be clearly defined in advance.

• F.A.C.T. is designed as a long distance trail to attract people who want to spend more time than the usual three days in Siberia (Trans-Siberian Railway - Irkutsk - Listvyanka - tourists). Therefore the effort must be worth it.

• The project must be coordinated with local organisations and administration structures from the very beginning. F.A.C.T. must become part of the existing Reserves.

• F.A.C.T. is designed to empower local tourist concepts and structures.

After three years of intense exploration, discussion and coordination, we started implementing the project. In July 2009, about 30 volunteers of the German Baikalplan assoc. and the Russian GBT assoc. blazed the trail, cut off some heavy brush along its route and secured dangerous parts. Almost 100 km of the trail were completed. The section of the trail along the shoreline remained as experienced hiker terrain. The trail will need maintenance once in several years. The portion of the trail from Ayaya Bay to Lake Frolikha has always had high tourist interest and the scope of work is higher there to meet popular tourist trail standards. Some portions of the 6km trail have to be improved others have to be rerouted. The biggest challenge was find the way avoiding the boggy areas. Most of the scouting and planning took place in 2008-9.

Project Work: Improving 4 km of the trail from Ayaya Bay towards Lake Frolikha. The main goal is to link a new stretch of the trail with the existing trail. Establishing and widening the trail bed in areas where such work is necessary, clearing fallen trees, rerouting some sections of the trail, building small bridges and dikes, and reinforcing the trail along the slope, laying gravel on the trail bed in boggy areas, building walkways across streams.

Work Schedule: The group will work 5 days a week, 6 hours a day with rest breaks and a longer break for lunch. Please read the description of a typical day at the camp.  Depending upon weather conditions and the mood of the group, the crew leader has the authority to change the daily working schedule.

Meals and Accommodations: Volunteers will set up a stationary tent camp on the shores of Lake Baikal. You will live in primitive wilderness conditions: in two-person tents, cooking over a campfire, with Baikal nearby to swim in, and pit latrines for general use. There will be three hot meals and two snacks a day, and volunteers will share cooking and cleaning duties during the project.  The GBT staff will buy all the food in advance of the project. See our MENU for examples.

Entertainment and Relaxation: During the project the group will have a chance to make several short hikes around the area visiting Lake Frolikha and enjoying wonderful vistas.

At the end of the project the group will be brought to the hot springs of Khakussy, which is a place with some small huts and lodges. It is the highlight of the 100 km trail.

 For two weeks you will live and work together near the shoreline of Lake Baikal.  The camp location will give you plenty of opportunities to relax and explore the beautiful natural setting around the lake.  You can enjoy fabulous sunrises and sunsets, take walks along the shore, go for a quick dip in Baikal in the morning or after a day of satisfying work, go fishing, or simply watch the waves crash on the shore.  And don’t forget the evenings, which you will spend talking and laughing by the camp fire under the starry Siberian sky, getting to know a group of new friends who were recently strangers, your new crew-mate family for the full two weeks of this unforgettable adventure.

Contribution Fee: 13900 Rubles (approximately $ 450 US or ˆ 320,  please check the current exchange rate at http://www.cbr.ru/eng/currency_base/daily.asp). The contribution fee covers: a special invitation from the GBT organization, which you can use to apply for a Russian visa; GBT staff person meeting you at the airport or train station in Irkutsk; help with arranging your accommodations in Irkutsk; visa registration with the Russian authorities; arranging transportation to Ayaya Bay, the project starting point (cost for transportation to Ayaya Bay is not included in this overall fee, but is not a large sum of money); all transportation within the project area; all meals on the project; the services of a crew leader and interpreter during the project; all administrative expenses; project entertainment costs including week-end excursions; tools and other equipment, including a tent for two persons to sleep in. 100% of the project fee goes for direct project expenses.

Required Experience: None

Age Range:  18-60 years

Additional Requirements:  Please make sure to carefully read the General Information for Volunteers and the List of Necessary Equipment.

Fitness: Trail building includes: walking 1 - 4 kilometers a day through forested area on the trail; using pick, shovels, and other tools to dig out vegetation to make a path; lifting logs and other debris; hand sawing; and carrying and using other tools. There will be day hikes on the days off, including a steep climb to the local rock promontories. You will need to carry your personal stuff and project gear and food to the project site, so it may turn out to be physically challenging.

Transportation and Meeting Location:

This project starts in Severobaikalsk, a town located at the very north of Lake Baikal. Once in Severobaikalsk, the GBT staff will organize transportation to the project site.

Severobaikalsk by air:  Moscow to Irkutsk (5.5 hours), and then by train (1.5 days).

Severobaikalsk by train:  Moscow to Severobaikalsk (4 days), or Moscow to Irkutsk (3.5 days) and then Irkutsk to Severobaikalsk (1.5 days).

It’s not convenient to travel from Ulan Ude to Severobaikalsk by train because the train goes through Irkutsk and takes almost 3 days.

This project starts in the vicinity of Ayaya Bay. It is difficult to get there independently, that is why the GBT prefers to put the whole group together in Severobakalsk and rent a van to get to Nijneangark (30 km from Severobaikalsk)and a boat to travel to Ayaya Bay from there. Volunteers travel independently to Severobaikalsk. In Severobaikalsk the GBT staff will help you by organizing a minibus to Nijneangarsk and a boat to Ayaya Bay; It takes 30 - 50 min to get from Severobaikalsk to Nijneangarsk, costs 200 – 300 rubles (about $10 US or  ˆ8 ), 4-8 hours to get from Nijneangarsk to Ayaya Bay by boat depending on the weather. Most likely the boat will be provided by the reserve administration.

If you have questions regarding transportation, contact our volunteer coordinator.

Please note that your contribution fee does not include any expenses incurred while getting to the  starting point of the project, which is the vicinity of Ayaya Bay.

Important Visa Information:

1. The Great Baikal Trail is registered in the Federal Migration Service as an organization with the permission to obtain invitations to foreign visitors. This process takes between 4 and 6 weeks. However, it may take even longer, which is why we accept personal data for invitations only up until April the 1st. After April the 1st you will still be able to obtain an official invitation through specialized agencies like:

• Get Russian www.getrussian.com/order/forms.php?a_aid=BaikalInfo

• Red Star at www.waytorussia.com.

2. Every foreigner traveling through Russia has to comply with the obligatory visa registration process in any location where you stay for more than three business days. Since this process takes at least a day, project participants should arrive in Irkutsk no later than July 11th (and then take train to Severobaikalsk the same night) or  in Severobaikalsk no later than July 12th.

3. If you participate in one GBT project, we can offer an invitation for 20 days visa. If you are going to take part in two or more projects we can accommodate your needs. In the case that you would like to stay longer and travel around Baikal: it is possible only in the company of GBT people (and that MUST be arranged beforehand). The GBT invitation is for a cultural connections visa, which makes our organization strictly responsible for every second of your being in Russia. We’d have problems if a person with our registration travels somewhere on his/her own.

Contact Yulia Misevich, international volunteer coordinator, at gbt.volunteers@gmail.com, with any questions.

If you are interested in participation, please fill in GBT volunteer application form

Note:  In the past we have had a few instances of technical difficulties where some information sent to us through the website was lost in transition.  If you do not receive a response within a week of writing us please email us at these addresses: gbt.volunteers@gmail.com and yulia@greatbaikaltrail.org.

Project Personnel:

Project Manager: Eugeny Mar’yasov. Eugeny has been a GBT project manager and crewleader since 2003. He is very involved in ecotourism development in Lake Baikal region and Northern Baikal particularly.

Responsibilities: The project manager is responsible for the overall planning, coordination and implementation of the project.  However, while the manager will be in frequent contact with the volunteer group throughout the duration of the project, she will not always be present at your project location.  Your crew leader will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the project.

Crew Leader: TBA. We will send you background information about your crewleader several weeks before the project starts.

Responsibilities: The main GBT staff member on the project, the crew leader coordinates the day-to-day trail work and the organization of the camp.

Assistant Crew Leader: TBA.

Responsibilities: The Assistant Crew Leader will help the crew leader in the management of the project. 

Translator: TBA

Responsibilities: The translator is responsible for translating for the crew leader (who may or may not speak English) and helping with communication between Russian- and English-speaking crew members. The translator also plans and conducts the social activities of the group.

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