Trekking at the village Bolshie Koty

The settlement Bolshiye Koty is situated 18 km from settlement Listvyanka on Baikal shore. In spite of the nearby location to settlement Listvyanka, there are no roads leading to Bolshiye Koty. You can get there only by cutter boat or on foot, there is a walking path along the steep slopes of Primorskiy ridge.

 

The length of the trekking route is 20-22 km, the duration of the route is 2 days. 

 

 

The path starts right from the outskirt of settlement Listvyanka and lies along picturesque forests and cliffs of Baikal National Park, going up to the mountains and down to the water. 

 

First 2-3 km the path dodges on steep slopes of the abrupt coast, it’s better to pass it round going higher. Then the path goes down to a pebbly beach and goes not far from the water edge practically as far as Bolshiye Koty. In hotter weather it is possible to combine having a rest with bathing. The meal will be served in the form of snacks on the shore of lake.

 

In the evening you arrive to a tourist center with a romantic name `Priut Starateley` (Prospector’s Shelter). The tourist center is situated in a picturesque valley Chernaya and consists of cozy wooden houses with 2- and 4-people accommodation. The facilities (toilet and water) are outdoors. There is a bath-house and a separate dining-hall. You’ll have the dinner and overnight at the tourist camp. In the morning after breakfast you go up to the observation area with a wonderful view of the blue mirror of Baikal surrounded by the mountain ridge Khamar-Daban and at he boundless sea of the forests.

 

After descending the way goes to Bolshiye Koty. At settlement Bolshiye Koty you can visit Baikal Studies Museum and Biology Institute Aquarium. There are more than 400 exhibits at the museum, a rich collection of insects: bugs, butterflies, dragonflies. Bolshiye Koty is situated in on the territory of Near-Baikal National Park. Genuine taiga, rich in mushrooms, berries, medicinal herbs, and rare species of wild flowers, practically approaches the settlement. There was an old Evenk settlement at this place and in XIX century it became an outpost of Russian gold prospectors. In the deep of the valley there are the remnants of “Gold Fever” that seized the Primorskiy mountain ridge. It is, firstly, a wooden drag constructed by exiled Lithuanians and Germans and an old dam.

 

Then we’ll continue the tour by walking to Cape Skreeper, from where a wonderful view of Baikal opens up. It is a climb to the height of about 200 meters above the sea level. There is a cave on the abrupt slope of Cape Skreeper. Its territory is 60 square meters. The cave used to be inhabited and people found stone hunting weapons in it. After a snack at the lake coast under Rock Skreeper we’ll return to Bolshiye Koty and