Genesis, the creation of the world, is still ongoing in Kamchatka. The peninsula between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Strait is bursting, bubbling, steaming and does not rest for as much as a moment. The volcanoes, which rank with the most active around the globe, have come to form breathtaking landscapes. Eternal ice is to be found on summits reaching the height of up to 5000 meters, with huge geyser fields bustling incessantly. The land is subject to constant changes. In advance of the impending outburst of the volcanoes, the icebergs get warm on the peaks of the mountains, crashing as they do into the crater and forming large lakes that are to vanish after the volcanic eruption. No wonder that about a third of Kamchatka's territory is included in the UNESCO's list of "World Heritage".

routes

This is our first night on the terrain. Heavy fog covers the landscape. Valentin, our Russian mountain guide, persistently maintains that we are at the foot of the Gorly, an imposing mountain with a chain of 11 craters which are intermittently active. But apart from a thick "porridge" of clouds, we see nothing and focus on pitching tents under the menace of a cyclone approaching from Japan. The camp was set up in an area which was covered by a thick layer of black volcanic ash, lava rocks and many basalt stones as a result of a volcanic explosion that occurred just 7 years ago. Now and then, you may see new life growing from the ashes, with the vegetation and bloom attempting as it were to take advantage of the short summer season before the snow heaps reaching the height of up to 18 meters have covered them again until the next summer, in about 9 months' time.
The cyclone hit us with all its power in the middle of the night. Fierce winds came to shake the tent, with rainstorms getting in and wetting my stuff in a matter of minutes. The temperatures went down below zero, and the cyclone winds thus lowered the ceiling of the tent right on my face. Under these conditions, it was not even possible to dream of sleep. "Welcome to Kamchatka," Valentin greets in the morning the wetted expedition that shudders with cold, which is somewhat dismayed at the boisterous reception. We then proceeded to climb amidst a thick and dense cloud towards the summit of Gorly, one of the most active volcanoes on earth. During the next couple of hours, nothing could be seen except for fog. With nothing else to do but climbing and thinking,