Russia: Kayak Kamchatka's Wild Zhupanova River

No expedition is without a goal, and here is ours: to make the kayak journey down the navigable length of the untamed Zhupanova River – 80 of its 100 miles. This fast and clear river is born from the high mountains’ snow melt of the Karimsky Range and runs all the way to the Bering Sea. The Zhupanova River is one of the most scenic in Kamchatka, with its massive, untouched watershed flowing through a valley of volcanoes and snow capped mountains. The Zhupanova is mostly navigable from approximately 20 miles west of the Semyachik Volcano to the Ocean. We’ll start out by flying our kayaks and river gear to put-in at the upper river region via a Russian MI-8 helicopter. We’ll then continue flying (if weather permits) up to the top caldera rim high on the Semyachik Volcano, The helicopter then ferries us over to our base camp at the Karimsky Lake.

At the Karimsky Lake Base Camp beneath Mt. Karimsky, a very active 5000 ft. volcano, we spend a few days exploring the fantastic surrounding landscapes. We walk around the crater rim of the deep blue (and warm) lake with the same name – it has an active volcano spouting from the center of the lake. The Karimsky Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in Kamchatka – explosions occur periodically with outpourings of lava and ashes from the central crater.

Finally, we shoulder our backpacks and break up camp and hike for 2 - 3 days (approximately 20 miles) down to the upper Zhupanova River basin to our put-in. The next week thereafter  is spent swiftly paddling down the river, camping at night on the wild shores, hiking, and sharing stories and caviar with our Russian co-guides. The last day of our river journey we’ll slowly meander through the lower delta maze of channels all the way to the open ocean of the Bering Sea. The last night we’ll camp on the sandy beach on the Pacific shores. Finally we will be picked up by helicopter and flown back over the mountains to Petropavlovsk.

This is a challenging sea kayaking and long hiking journey that simply can’t be compared. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that can’t be missed!