River rafting from Bama. Location: Tsipa River. General information about the route

Night, empty streets of Irkutsk and we approach Andryukha’s house. Even in the morning we were rowing with oars, pulling catamarans through the small channels of Snezhnaya... but now, now we are at Andryukha’s house. Tea by the light of an electric lamp, a hot shower, the Internet... and I only have 1 night to take advantage of all the benefits of civilization. Well, I sat on the Internet until 6 in the morning, then went to sleep a little - half an hour) Because in half an hour I got up!

DIARY OF AN ALLOYING ON VITIM

After having a little snack, we went first to the bus station - they dropped Lyokha off there, then to the railway station - I was supposed to drop off there. We parked at the station, I called Dimon so that he or Kostyan would come to the car and help drag the equipment into the waiting room, but Kostyan could not come because he was God knows where (walking around Irkutsk), and Dimon, of course, could not leave everything unattended what they brought from Bratsk...

Ten minutes later Kostyan was at the station! Finally we met! Long time no see!

Having dragged all his things to the station, Kostyan asked: “Did you take the alcohol?” Well, my... Forgot! We quickly drove to the Andryukha garage, took the “liquid” and back to the station - time was running out, and there were traffic jams on the roads... I honestly began to get nervous. The boys call and announce landing...

We made it! We carried all our clothes to the train in a shuttle run. The guide is slightly perplexed, looking at our huge pile of things, perplexed - but remains silent. But when boarding, some mustachioed man suddenly began to squeal at us, actively began to urge the conductor not to let us into the carriage with so many clothes, and even threatened that he would call an inspector and get both us and the conductor... Asshole. He yelled and got into the carriage.

The conductor, of course, asked us to hand over our clothes to the cargo-luggage compartment, although there was little time left before departure... Fortunately, our eloquence was developed and we convinced him that we would stuff all our belongings on the shelves so that no one would notice! We agreed that he would let us into the carriage provided that we paid for our luggage at the ticket office. Okay, while the boys were loading and laying out my clothes, I ran to the checkout and paid for 3 pieces of luggage for 80 rubles each =)

We said goodbye to Andryukha and went to the carriage...

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In the carriage, I really didn’t notice our pile of things - the boys laid everything out correctly) The train started moving - which means we can consider that the trip has begun! It takes almost a day to get to Chita - and you need to keep yourself occupied with something... Half of our fellow travelers in the carriage are conscripts, shaven-headed guys, cheerful - telling stories about how cool someone was treated and playing cards... And we, what are we... reading reports about hiking along Vitim, studying maps) The reports are somewhat alarming about “2-meter shafts”, “powerful pressures” and other terrible obstacles on the river... Talk about bears, nature and about my hike to Snezka, from which I just returned yesterday.

Since I didn’t sleep all night, when the soldier’s backpack fell on our table with a crash (it was like a sign - stop talking, it’s time to sleep), I decided to fall asleep...

11,07,2013

A tedious day passed on the train and here we are in Chita! Cool morning, fresh outside! The shuttle method of dragging clothes...first on the train, then on the platform, viaduct, station! We need to go to the bus station, how good it is that it’s right here - near the train station. Taxi drivers, seeing our clothes, come up and twist the car keys on their fingers and ask:
- where we go?
- to Romanovka!

Prices for taxi driver services sound like bids at an auction:

- six pieces!

- seven!

- eight five hundred!!!

- thank you, no need, we have a budget option for delivery)

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We will get to Romanovka by bus, which departs every morning directly from the station. We bought three tickets for 450 rubles each!

Before departure we have about an hour, which we spent exploring the surroundings of the station - well, what can I say, it’s beautiful!

I found a cell phone stand and bought a SIM card so I could call home. We called and informed our relatives that everything was fine with us and that we would not be in touch soon.

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We bought something to drink/eat for the trip and boarded the bus. I would like to note how tolerant people are! No one even said a word to us, although we filled almost all the free space on the bus (PAZ) with our clothes =) In order to somehow assuage our guilt, we encouraged everyone who was uncomfortable sitting to calmly sit on our things, put their feet on our backpacks, etc. .d.

Before departure, we paid the controller only 1,200 rubles and went to Romanovka! On the way, we chatted with fellow travelers who told us how dangerous it was on the river, the water was big and we would certainly capsize at the first rift) We pay absolutely no attention to this, we know how much local bikes love to be spoiled!

I can’t say that the road was boring, because we were driving fast, talking, and small funny incidents - like how Dimon on the bus caught the bag of one man who was sitting opposite him on the bus (well, tell me who transports the rod, with attached spinner!!!).

3 hours later we arrived in Romanovka, when we passed the bridge I was already wondering how we would shuttle things to the river again, but the bus driver, a cool guy, drove right up to the water!!! Thanks a lot!!! All the passengers on the bus wished us good luck and moved on...

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Here we are on Vitim, slipway! The weather for the slipway is perfect! In order not to waste time, we immediately begin assembling the catamaran... While Kostyan and I were busy with the slipway, Dimon went to the local stores to buy food for lunch (getting our own food now is problematic and time-consuming).

We had lunch, the catamaran is already assembled, all that remains is to tie the backpacks and we can move!

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At 14:45 (IR) we set sail from the shore and slowly drifted downstream. Very friendly locals wave to us, children who are swimming in the river are discussing something and also wave to us with their little hands. And we are waving our oars, really impatient to wind the first kilometers along the river and move away from the population. There is no forest for many kilometers around the village, only bushes and rare larches and pines.
Today is a “symbolic sailing day”, you need to arrive early to sort out your food and equipment - in short, calmly get into marching mode.

10 kilometers later we moored to the high right bank near a small larch grove - the trees are needed to be able to stretch the awning (otherwise clouds are floating on the horizon). I immediately set up a tent, made a fire (at this time the boys were carrying backpacks to the camp), pulled up the awning... Kostyan set about preparing the soup, Dimon helps him.

Well, with nothing else to do, I went to leave the spinning rod, absolutely not hoping for a catch (I thought “well, since there is a large village nearby, the locals have long ago scooped everything up with nets”), but it was a great surprise when, on the 3rd cast, the spinning rod bent into an arc! About a minute of struggling with the fish and now there is a pike in my hands (by my estimates, about 3 kilograms).

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Dimon took the fish and went to clean it, and I went on to spinning it. Small perch are caught well, but I let them go, I need something larger. Before wrapping up the fishing rod, I caught another pike. I cleaned it and went to camp.

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It's evening, and we haven't packed the provisions yet - so we got busy! We laid out a bunch of food under the tent, put aside what we would eat in the next three days, and put the rest away. Everything that needs to be done on the first day is done, now you can relax!

We ate soup, which there was absolutely no need to cook, because... I caught some fish and could have dinner for it. Although after the soup we ate it too! Fried and eaten with 5 drops of alcohol! We went to bed when it got completely dark, the sky was overcast with clouds... thunder... lightning...

12,07

The drawn-out sound of the zipper unbuttoning in the tent breaks the almost perfect morning silence and then he appears - that is, I. The duty officer, by lot it fell to me to carry out the first duty, so before dawn, and I’m already on my feet, wandering through the morning dew in search of dry wood for the fire. My friends are still sleeping, so I try to do everything as quietly as possible - fire, water in the boilers and everything is ready! Buckwheat porridge, tea with sweets - delicious! Five minutes before breakfast was ready, I woke up two sleepy people, but they left the tent only after ten =)

Breakfast, setting up camp and packing things - we completed everything before 12-00, not bad, considering our unsportsmanlike pace - we were going here to relax, after all! In the morning it was cool and we were dressed warmly, but when we got on the water, the sun burned mercilessly - it seems like what’s the problem, undress and sunbathe! But no, gadflies! The damned gadflies give no rest, circling as if over a herd of cows and stinging, stinging...

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The kilometers stretch on for a very long time, here the river is completely flat and there is no talk of any riffles. It’s hot, Dimon doesn’t listen to our advice about headwear and... in the evening he’ll pay in short...

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After about two hours, the sky begins to be covered with clouds, so that sometimes the scorching sun disappears behind them, which is very pleasing! With the appearance of clouds, the first hills, rocky cliffs and rifts began to appear! How happy you are when, after a monotonous rowing 10 km long, a small but nimble roll appears!

At three o'clock we got up for lunch and while we were eating, the clouds gave way to leaden clouds, so quickly that we barely had time to put on our raincoats before the lightning flashed and it began to rain. We walk in the rain, look at all sorts of strangely shaped rocks, asking each other what he sees on that rock =) Almost the same thing as looking at clouds. On one of these rocks I saw what looked like a fist with a thumbs up (Like).

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You don’t want to walk in the rain for too long, so we look for a suitable parking spot and find it! Just beyond the mouth of the river. Multa, about 50 meters from Vitim there is a good parking lot with a fire pit. It’s been raining, and it’s still raining, but I need to make a fire - so as not to delay, I go to the shore and make a fire (and in pouring rain it's not that simple). While I was making a fire, the boys brought their backpacks and began preparing dinner. Tent! We need to stretch the awning - that’s what we did... and what do you think? The rain stopped immediately! =) You can safely finish the soup and have dinner.

Now I’ll tell you the consequences of the fact that Dimon did not want to cover his head from the sun. Heatstroke! Is your head splitting? Well, take a pill...

A great evening, the forest colored by the setting sun, an hour of goodies and the crackle of a fire!!! Amazing evening!!!

Walking time 5 hours 45 minutes, distance covered 32.5 km.

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13,07

I had good dreams at night and generally slept well here! The night is warm, the morning is also warm - not even usually like that. Early in the morning you could easily walk around in just shorts and a T-shirt! This morning Kostyan came on duty and prepared a lot of porridge =) I don’t even remember the last time I had such a hearty breakfast. Having barely finished the porridge, we unanimously decided that there would be no lunch today - because... no need to eat so much!

We got ready and left at 12:15, the weather was great! The sun, a light breeze, no midges - this cannot but rejoice. You paddle yourself, turn your head around and just smile, just like that, because it’s good! There are still very long reaches on the river, but you still feel that there are much more riffles!

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We go, occasionally checking the “pilot” to know my location relative to the rifts and clamps (which are described in the “pilot” as very dangerous and require increased attention). We waited for many kilometers and looked for landmarks of the clamps, from which we needed to rake as actively as possible (on the advice of the pilot), but when we met the landmarks, we simply did not understand... Either I’m reading the “pilot” incorrectly and checking it with the terrain, or this is such a joke... In general, in those places where we were supposed to be pinned down, turned over and broken all our bones, there were ordinary ems... I can’t even dare to call them pinches. But still very beautiful! Huge rocks hanging high above your head cause some delight!

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This place was very reminiscent of the Oka Sayanskaya before the tributary of the river. Zhombolok. And the three of us noticed it! So the upper part of the Oka is quite similar to the Vitim.

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We reached the first shivers, according to the “pilot” - shivers 1 and shivers 2. They didn’t stop and look around, despite all the assurances of the people who compiled this description of the river. From the top you can see everything perfectly! Both shivers are rocky, both have clear “corridors” among the boulders, the shaft is small (70-80 cm no more). The shivers added a lot of variety to the day; you had to work and maneuver! They went perfectly, although at one moment Dimon, for no reason at all, wanted to barge (back stroke), the timely command “MOVE!” and he changed his mind).

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Looking at the photo, of course, it becomes clear that the water is far from large. I’ll say more - we thought that we were walking through very low water, but as we find out later, this is an average level! If only there was a flood here! A meter or two of water and it will be a lot of fun!

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We decided to stop for the night almost immediately after Sh-2 (shiver2) on the right bank. At the beginning of eight, we were already lighting a fire and boiling tea in front of a high rock, next to which tall grass The brook is babbling. Before dinner I fished for five minutes = 2 medium-sized perches.

For the evening the program is standard - fire, dinner, sleep!

Walking time 6 hours 50 minutes, distance traveled 43.5 km.

14,07

A wonderful Sunday morning began with the grinding of teeth and the creaking of sand! Which was everywhere, outside the tent, inside... in shoes and even in a pot of rice porridge. I don’t know how Dimon got the water for the porridge, but he definitely scraped the river sand and didn’t regret it. After finishing the sand, we drank a mug of tea - thank the gods it was without sand - and began to get ready for the journey.

We got on the water, noted the time - 11:30, not bad! Today we want to reach Ingur, and if possible, even further. The character of the river is the same - reaches and rare riffles. After 20 minutes of rowing, we heard the noise of a motor, it was a fisherman going up the river, he stopped near us to ask who they were, I don’t know you, go... where are we heading. We also asked him about the nearest tributaries - the locals know the distances between the tributaries very well. It’s 10 km to Konda, 60 to Yumurchen. Ingur is almost in the middle between us and Yumurchen.

Shortly before Konda, we passed rift No. 3 (although there were actually several of them - it’s not entirely clear which of them is the third one). Immediately after the rift, the wide mouth of the Konda River appeared on the right, strewn with stones along its entire bed. A nice place!

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After Konda there were long stretches of stretches, but this did not bother us at all, because the banks were very picturesque. First on the right, then on the left, stone sculptures of bizarre shapes suddenly appeared among the trees.

Well, there was still a current here, albeit a small one - the main thing is in the center of the stream (although you still need to find it) and you will move!

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Looking at all this beauty, we had lunch right on the catamaran, made sandwiches and had a quick snack.

The wind rose, of course, “in the wind’s face”! We move along the reaches at a snail's pace, only on the rifts we manage to pick up speed. In addition to the riffles, there were several rifts, very similar to those that we passed in the previous days (and it is completely unclear why those received their “names” of numbers, but these did not...)

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At six o'clock we noticed a path on the LB leading into the bushes - we did not go out. After 30 meters, a well-equipped camp appeared on the same bank!

So this is where the path leads! We turn around and row towards the path against the current. A good place to spend the night is a flat clearing where you can place a bunch of tents, a fireplace, a fire pit, a table - what else do you need to be happy?!

We set up a tent, lit a fire and started cooking cabbage soup!

I took out the map and realized that we had finally reached Ingur, it was 50 meters away from us! I went to the stream to look for blackcurrants for tea. I walked and wandered along the stream, but found nothing except a multi-million cloud of mosquitoes that followed me! I brought this cloud to the camp).

So everyone had to fasten their mosquito nets on encephalitis.

When the mosquitoes calmed down a little, I went to the river and lo and behold! I smelled a pleasant blackcurrant aroma! Based on the growing smell (like in a game of hot/cold), I found thickets of fragrant bushes - the tea would be excellent!!!

Before going to bed, we drank several pots of delicious tea, but still didn’t stay too late - we went to bed at half past ten (I wonder why it doesn’t work out like that at home...)

Walking time 6 hours 30 minutes, distance traveled 33 km.

15,07

Fog. So thick that absolutely nothing is visible! Coming out of the tent, I didn’t even see the table, which was about 15 meters away... Complete silence, even the birds weren’t singing, the mosquitoes weren’t buzzing - as if I was alone here, I’d just left the tent and there was no one around for many thousands of kilometers! But no, not alone, in the tent someone turned over from one side to the other... That’s right, we need to cook =)

The kettle quickly boiled and I indulged in the pleasure of drinking a mug of aromatic tea with currant leaf, looking either at the cauldron suspended over the fire, or at the river, which was just beginning to appear due to the fog.

According to tradition, five minutes before it was ready, I said the standard “rise!” towards the tent, and people in the tent began to move...

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After breakfast, when they were drinking tea, a man in the uniform of a traffic police officer suddenly appeared from the clearing fog. This is a fisherman, he comes here every morning to fish from a nearby lake, he says that only pike and perch are caught here...

We talked to the guy, I took a couple of pictures and we moved on - down the river.

The riffles on the river have completely disappeared, the continuous reaches stretch for many kilometers, and the wind, which suddenly rose, strives to drag it back upstream. So we row, overcoming the wind, waiting and hoping that around the bend there will be a long-awaited roll, but it’s not there...

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At three o'clock in the afternoon the wind became so strong that it became impossible to row against it! It’s not like we’re standing still, we’re being carried back... There’s nothing left to do except moor to the nearest shore and wait out. They did so, stood on the shore and had lunch.

When the wind died down a bit, we moved on. Soon the wind stopped blowing completely, so we could relax. At one site we met many people at once - two were seen on a hill, one fisherman on a pebble spit and two more on a camp site. The population is right!

Shortly before Yumurchen we went out to inspect the winter quarters on the left bank. It’s a nice, solid hut, with writing all over the inside in the manner of “Vasya was here.” It can be seen that the hut is popular with fishermen and tourists from all over the country (the geography of those who subscribe is very diverse). There is a large blackcurrant bush growing near the winter hut, and of course we picked pockets full of leaves for tea.

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A little time passed from the moment we inspected the winter hut when the famous rock on Vitim appeared - the “Church” rock. This is a rock outcrop with a cross on top. The rock is a landmark of the right tributary - the Yumurchen River; this place cannot be confused with any other. Excellent at the mouth of the river sand beach, a lot of firewood = so let’s chill out, we’ll spend the night here!

First of all, I took a spinning rod and went up the tributary. I didn’t catch any fish, but I had plenty of time to admire the beauty!!! How I regretted that I did not take a camera with me... Streams flowing like waterfalls into Yumurchen, riffles, beaches with stones of bizarre shapes! Eh...

When I returned, the sun was still in the sky, but it was about to disappear behind the horizon, so without wasting time, I quickly took a swim! The water is very warm! Swimmed, cliff dived and washed! How good I felt at that moment!!! My friends followed my example and swam too!

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Then there was sunset, we drank tea with currants and watched... watched as the setting sun painted our beach in bright orange colors, and then slowly went beyond the horizon. It began to get dark and suddenly my soul began to feel somewhat uneasy... First, splashes on the water, not at all like the splashes of a fish, then voices somewhere far away in the forest... Brr, I feel somehow uneasy... Who wants to wander around the forest at night? ! Well, nothing, everything seemed to have calmed down, I was the first to go to the tent to make notes in my diary.

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I made all the notes, checked the map, figured out tomorrow’s route and was about to get into my sleeping bag... Kostyan shouted: “Lekha, get out quickly!”, “Yes, faster!!!”, “WELL!!!” I started up and flew out of the tent like a bullet. At my questioning glance, he eloquently said: “Wow!” and pointed his finger at the sky. And in the sky there is something very bright, moving across the sky, randomly and slowly fading... This is such a UFO. Lights out!

Walking time 7 hours 10 minutes, distance traveled 35.5 km.

16,07

Something not entirely clear happened at night... Around two, or maybe three, Kostyan woke me up, I woke up very quickly and in an instant I got out of my sleeping bag! He began to say alarmedly: “Lyokha! Quicker!! Come on, we need to get pregnant faster!!!" At the same time, he dashingly tries to escape from the tent...

I frantically try to find the oar, but it's GONE! What to do!!! AHHHH!!! Literally a second later my brain wakes up and I say to myself in my thoughts: “What the f..!”, and then in Kostyan’s ear: “What are you driving! What’s the matter with you!?”….Kostyan woke up and said that he didn’t know – he must have had a dream...

In the morning it rained a little, but stopped in time, just when we had to have breakfast. The sky is cloudy, we are also a little gloomy. Just in case, I ask Kostyan: “I don’t know if I had such a stupid dream, or if something really crazy happened at night...”, I didn’t have time to finish, Kostyan nodded - it was =). Dimon, although he slept soundly, also woke up at the end of the night performance, so another “witness”))

For breakfast we ate buckwheat, which initially turned out to be very salty (the cook accidentally poured too much salt), but we fixed everything, how? We washed the porridge right in the river, in running water, just like that!

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We set off at 11 am, not in the best mood, because before sailing I read from the navigation guide “after the right tributary of Yumurchen, on a 100 km section there are only reaches”... Although in the same navigation guide it was said that there is still something - the Purikonsky roll .

It's starting to rain, it's good that there's no wind - let's move quickly! We reached a riffle, which is located in the right channel (the river is divided into two channels by a large island). The directions said that this is the most difficult Purikonsky roll - those who are not confident in their abilities are recommended to follow the left (calm) channel. But we are confident in our abilities! Let's go to the right!!! When we came out of the channel, the impression of the roll was... pfft, no! We were finally convinced of the delusion of the pilot...

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An hour of rowing after a roll, in the distance you can see a house, another, and another... So Bugunda!

We are hanging out at the very beginning of the village, we need to talk to the locals. We climbed the high bank to the nearest house, in the courtyard of which there were many children and a woman who was baking cakes in the summer kitchen. No one paid attention to us, as if we weren’t there!

I called one boy over and asked if any of the adults could talk to us, he nodded and ran into the house. A large Siberian man came out of the house... for some reason the woman immediately went into the house, even throwing her cakes.

They asked him about life and existence. It turns out that there are only two residential buildings in Bugunda, the rest are empty.

He himself is visiting here, apparently with this woman, and came by boat from Krasny Yar.

After talking about this and that, I asked if it was possible to occupy some empty house to spend the night, otherwise it would be late in the evening and it would rain from time to time. The man scratched the back of his head, he clearly didn’t want us to stop nearby, and came up with his own version - not bad, by the way!

- You can spend the night in my winter hut, it’s a good winter hut!

-Where is it? Will we find him?

- Well, I don’t know, I’ll try to explain. 15 km from here... and began to tell all the landmarks along the way.

- Thank you, we’ll try to find it)

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We said goodbye and moved on... We follow the signs, everything is as the man said! Islands, the personalized rock “PEACE” (interestingly, there was an ordinary rock, of which there are hundreds on the river, someone wrote the word PEACE on it and now it has become an exact landmark), a long reach, a large island, a hill...

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When we approached the big island, it started to rain so much! That from its noise you couldn’t even hear your own voice! This made us wildly delighted and we started shouting, trying to shout over the rain: “HARDER!!! STRONGER!!!" And the rain began to fall even harder!!! After shouting, we calmed down... and the rain began to calm down with us.

At 20:00 we found the path to the winter hut, just opposite the hill that the man described to us. It was still raining, but not as heavily as half an hour ago. The trail went somewhere upward, and before dragging the backpacks, it was necessary to check whether the winter hut was still there, so Dimon and I went to investigate. We climbed the path to a birch grove, walked through it and ended up in a swamp! And there, behind the swamp, there is a winter hut...damn far away!

He sent Dimon to the shore to untie his backpacks and slowly drag the necessary things here, and he himself went to trample the path through the swamp. While I was walking to the hut, I realized how much I had “cooled off” from the rain, and when I went inside, I actually started to shake... So, I need to light the stove! But the pipe is dismantled!

After jumping a little, waving his arms to warm up and stop shaking, he began to assemble the fascinating “potbelly stove” construction set.

A couple of minutes and I was already striking a match to set fire to the dry wood that was in the winter hut, albeit in modest quantities, but still...

I went ashore to get my backpack, carried all my things and started preparing dinner. It turns out I wasn’t the only one who got cold in the evening, everyone was pretty exhausted today - so I went to the river to get some medicine =)

We spent the evening warm, with wet clothes hanging around, a hot dinner on the table, and “medicine” in mugs! Oh good!!!

Walking time 8 hours 30 minutes, distance traveled 45.5 km.

17,07

I slept well in the warmth and dryness, I didn’t even want to get up, but I had to... Dimon is on duty, he gets up an hour earlier than the others and prepares food. At ten o'clock he wakes us up... Well, I think we'll eat now and move on! But no - bummer! Dima says that he cannot make a fire... He argued this by saying that there is absolutely no firewood in the swamp, and in the birch grove too. “Well, cut the birch bark and cook exclusively on birch bark,” I said and then went to bed.

Half an hour later, Dimon came again and said that nothing had worked out... “To hell with you!” - Kostyan said and went to prepare breakfast himself. I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t - I just lay there and looked at the ceiling...

At breakfast, although, one might already say, at lunch we decided that we would spend the day here, wash our things, dry them, and sleep in the warmth! The day turned out to be very boring... At the beginning of the day, I washed my clothes, I shaved, and that was it... that was the end of the useful activities.

For the rest of the day, with the rain pattering on the roof, we played cards, drank gallons of tea, and poisoned the midges that crawled into the winter hut through all the cracks!

Before going to bed we listened to music on the phone….

18,07

The weather has improved, the gentle morning sun is shining, the birds are humming something cheerful. There is nothing more you could wish for in the middle of a swamp at 7 am =). There is a lot of morning dew on the grass and flowers, so it was not in vain that we trampled everything around the winter hut thoroughly yesterday! While the water in the boiler was heating up, I took a camera and took some photographs of this marshy area, which had become very beautiful and welcoming under the rays of the sun...

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Rice porridge with halva and crumbled cookies is an unusual breakfast for an ordinary city dweller, isn’t it? And here, on a hike, it’s very edible and tasty! We quickly ate the porridge and just as quickly drank a mug of tea - we are in a hurry... Since it is far from the river and we have heavy backpacks, it seems that we will leave very late today. (I don’t know why there was a rush, but it happened naturally...automatically).

As a result, due to the rush, we got on the water at 10:50! In the morning it was clear, but now clouds and clouds began to move in - as if it weren’t going to rain... It didn’t rain, it was just that the sun was hidden behind the clouds most of the time and sometimes peeked out for 5 minutes. So there you go! These 5 minutes - the sun burned as if these were the last 5 minutes in history, when the sun could stretch its rays to the earth, water, and to us!

Rifles occur quite often! You can relax and just go with the flow, just steer a little so that you don’t run aground. How many kilometers before the village of Krasny Yar we heard the noise of an engine somewhere behind, the noise slowly approached, voices and laughter slowly began to be heard. I wonder who is so funny there? Let's hang out on the spit, wait for the merry fellows, and at the same time stretch our legs.

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A few minutes later a catamaran appeared, it’s unlikely that the locals here go on Raftmastere, so they’re tourists! Let's go on board!!! Hello brothers watermen!!! Four Muscovites have been rafting down the river for three weeks now, with a 3.5 horsepower engine, without straining at all. Nevertheless, they are in a hurry; they need to get to BAM in a week! We chatted and they moved forward, we’ll meet again in the village...

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Krasny Yar, a fairly large village, stretches along the high bank of Vitim. The village has a shop, post office, and a communication point. There is a Muscovite catamaran on the shore, they went to the store... We just went for a walk around the village, to see how people live here.

(PHOTO37-39)

After a decent walk, we went to the shore, where a number of local residents had gathered, who already knew us from somewhere, knew what city we were from, etc. The Muscovites were the first to leave the shore, followed by us. I must say that on the oars we were not far behind the loaded Raftmaster, which was moving under the motor!

Around the bend, opposite Yar, after whom the village is named, we found Moskvites who had docked for a snack. They invited us to their “table”. Red deer meat fried in sour cream, lard, black bread - delicious!!! We drank alcohol, first from Moscow, then from Irkutsk, and decided that alcohol is the same everywhere! =) Having had a good snack, noticeably cheerful and a little tipsy, we moved on. The guys from Moscow do the quota of 60 km every day in order to reach it in a week... ours doesn’t have the quota, so we very soon stop for the night on the right bank.

(PHOTO40)

We set up camp at a cool temperature, cook dinner, I feel very good! So good that I even decided to go to bed early). I lay down, listened to the rain dripping and the loud humming of the mosquitoes that had huddled under the awning of the tent... The boys finished their absinthe in front of the fire and also went to bed...

Walking time 6 hours 40 minutes, distance traveled 40.5 km.

19,07

I woke up from an annoying alarm clock that I could hear for a long time through my sleep. When I opened my eyes, someone had already turned it off. It’s not my duty, so I can still sleep, and the one who is on duty should get up and go prepare breakfast! But no one even thinks to move!

- Kostyan! You're on duty, get up!

- There’s not a single birch tree here... (mumbled through his doze)

- WHAT?!

— …

To hell with it, well, with breakfast, let's sleep more!

It felt like I slept no more than an hour, I tried to wake up the boys, but they were sleeping as if they were dead...

But I still can’t sleep, I’ll go outside, make a fire, and boil some tea!

It's drizzling outside, everything that lies on the ground (firewood) is damp, but we spent the night in larch forest! Under the fluffy crowns, in any rain, you can get dry twigs, five minutes, and the kettle is licked from all sides by bright flames...

My partners slept well and crawled out of the tent just as the porridge was approaching. The rain stopped pouring, the sun came out, but apparently not for long, because... the clouds have not gone far...

That’s right, when we got on the water, it began to rain, like mushrooms! Then it started pouring! Mushroom too!!! An unusual combination - cold rain and scorching sun). I must say that in the morning we drink a lot of tea, so in the first half of the day we often want to “stretch our legs” =), we are cultured people, so to “stretch our legs” we head to the shore and land on land!

(PHOTO41)

In Krasny Yar, local Buryats said that soon there will be places where Lenok bites well.

So while the boys were stretching their legs, I decided to cast the spinning rod a couple of times, and on the first throw I got a bite! Lenok, a very strong fish, fights three times more fiercely than a pike! He brought out a Lenka - he’s not big! Just a kilogram, but how I fought!!!

(PHOTO42)

At three o'clock in the afternoon - lunch! We stopped specially in a place where you can go fishing! While one person is preparing food, the rest scatter along the shore and fish all the holes. No, I didn’t catch any lenka here, but I did catch some pretty big perches, all in one place! Probably got into the pack =).

(PHOTO43)

A long series of “Shipishki” shivers began, which, it seemed to me, were nothing of themselves - ordinary rifts...

Only a few places have slalom sections (and even then you can safely bypass them).

After one of the “spikes,” a downpour began, but this time it was not mushroom, gray, cold... Brr...

Near the stream at the PB we met two guys who were trying to fish, the rain threw off all their cards, and they were carried away by the current from the mouth...

Instead of greeting, one of the guys told us: “Why don’t you sit at home in this weather!”... And himself! That's it! =)

These guys came here from the right tributary of the Khulugli, where there is a hydrometeorological station. There are boats at the mouth of the river, nets are hung on the shore, there is chaos all around - which was caused by the flood! It passed just recently, the river is still muddy and very cold. We didn’t go to GMSki because it was late in the evening, and the station is located somewhere on a hill, a hike there would take a lot of time, and conversations even longer!

(PHOTO44)

Due to the influx, Vitim is also cloudy and cold, I don’t really want to drink tea from such water... We decided to walk until the water becomes at least a little clearer. At half past six we saw a cable stretched over the river, and along the banks there were towers and various buildings... The water here is already quite clean, so if the place is not occupied, we’ll spend the night (by the way, after the “spikes” it is very difficult to find a suitable place to spend the night).

On the right bank there is a broken catamaran with water measuring instruments, a staircase leads up. At the top there is a house (locked), a shed, a bathhouse, a barn, some kind of booth... This is a water-measuring post attached to the HMS on Khulugli, now everything is abandoned here...

(PHOTO45)

We will spend the night here, put up a tent, or spend the night in the bathhouse. In the meantime, we need to get on with the fish and dinner. Dimon and I cleaned the fish, after which I decided to try my fishing luck again, the result was that I lost my favorite lure... =(

Meanwhile, at the top, Kostyan lit a fire, and was about to boil water, it started to rain! Very suddenly! And I have all my photo/video equipment on the street!!! I ran to save it, I was in time, the trunk got slightly wet... The rain started quickly, ended quickly, but it still completely flooded our fire...

We distributed the responsibilities like this: Kostya and Dima prepare soup and tea, and I cook the fish. I decided to fry the perches and bake Lenochka in foil. I cooked in the bathhouse, in the stove, saving firewood, which obviously comes with fire during the day... In general, the fish was ready, the boys were also about to finish cooking, so I’ll go for a walk around the neighborhood...

(PHOTO46)

And then the devil pulled me to go into the woods, which is located behind the bathhouse... First this smell... then the outlines... and then I came very close... It was a dog, which they skinned and stretched the carcass between the trees... Here, involuntarily, all sorts of bad things will begin Thoughts will creep into your head and you will begin to turn around at every rustle!

He came to the fire and told his friends about what he had seen, everyone clearly felt uneasy, they looked at each other... In an amicable way, they should have left this place, but it was already getting damn dark! We decided to pull ourselves together and not worry, not to be afraid of anything or anyone, etc.

And... it worked). Half an hour later we were sitting at the table and devouring delicious fish on both cheeks!

We went to sleep on the floor in the bathhouse, there were no midges here, which was strange by the way, and it was warm and dry... Good night!

Walking time 6 hours, distance traveled 31.5 km.

(PHOTO47)

20,07

Helicopters, helicopters...who's flying this early? Right over your head! Damn, I woke you up... It’s good that I have to get up soon anyway - I can hear Dimon rattling dishes on the street. Kostyan is sleeping; the terrible roar of the helicopter could not wake him up, but Dimon, who came in 10 minutes later, was able to. “Get up, barmalei, food is served!”

A thick fog is spreading along the river - as a rule, this is a sign of good weather. I just need clear sunshine to charge the battery on my camera. We had breakfast slowly, waited until the fog cleared - it’s not very pleasant to walk along the river when you can’t see anything, not even the shore...

We left at almost half past eleven, the fog did not deceive us - the weather was excellent, the sun was shining brightly, a light breeze was blowing. Everything was going perfectly, even the flow of the river seemed to speed up! There are riffles and rifts around almost every turn of the river!

Often you come across islands that split the river into many channels - the main thing here is not to make a mistake in choosing the right one! If you go the wrong way, you will certainly run aground... you will have to pull the catamaran through. But we did everything right, we went into the deepest channels. The channels are also full of riffles and rifts, some of which are quite good, with a roll of up to 1 meter. After many kilometers of stretches, we try to catch as much “turbulent” water as possible...

(PHOTO48)

In the middle of the day, clouds began to gather around, but they did not come close. They circled somewhere to the side, as if warning us not to relax. There is a burnt forest all around that was on fire 30 years ago! Now everything here is overgrown with bushes and grass - there are simply no places to park!

Every free patch of land is littered with charred trees or overgrown with rose hips... All this makes us wonder, where will we spend the night today?

Usually we start thinking about parking at 6-7 o’clock in the evening, but here we need to use the first piece of land suitable for spending the night, which we started looking for at 5 o’clock!!! We tried to break through the bushes in the fire pit - to no avail, we examined all the spits - which were solid stone kurums...

How lucky we were when we found a great place! Immediately after the roll, opposite the ringing stream. I still think this is one of the best places we spent the night on this trip! Rocky shore, small puddle lakes, sand closer to the forest, a lot of dry firewood and absolutely no mosquitoes!!!

(PHOTO49)

I won’t describe dinner, since it is absolutely the same as on any other day, but I’ll tell you a little about the night... I love spending the night near raging water (rapids, waterfalls, etc.), there’s just this sound that I love! The sound of the water on the rift and the rushing stream on the opposite bank inspires me, so I decided to take some pictures of the starry sky at night. And so, at about one in the morning, I left the tent, and there... The brightest moon illuminates everything around so much that you can easily do without a flashlight!

Walking time 7 hours, 10 minutes, distance traveled 46 km.

(PHOTO50-51)

21,07

It was cold at night, but in the morning when I got up and went to make a fire, it was even colder. There is a thick fog over the river that cannot be penetrated solar heat. Therefore, you need to quickly light your personal “sun” - a fire! I’m warming up, and at the same time I’m preparing breakfast.

The battery on the camera is more than half discharged... And the solar battery is acting up - it won’t charge... Just in case, I’ll try again today, the sun will definitely be hot today (a foggy sign)! The fog is clearing, the sun is starting to warm up a little - we can get ready to go...

(PHOTO52)

We left at 11 o'clock, the character of the river was exactly the same as yesterday - often riffles and rifts, burnt forest along the banks and complete absence normal places to stay for the night - it’s very good that we stopped on time yesterday, otherwise we would have had to walk until dark...

The sun is beating down mercilessly! Everything around is hot, even clothes; it’s better not to touch some objects at all - they’re too hot.

Three hours in the heat and we decided to stand on a rocky spit for lunch. I went to the shore barefoot - oh, in vain... The hot cobblestones burn your feet, especially hotly when you have just come out of the cold water and you step with wet feet!

During lunch, we noticed that a small cloud was moving behind us - maybe it would bypass it? I didn’t go around... Just as we got onto the water, it started to rain, we barely had time to put on our raincoats. The warm shower lasted for two minutes, and then the cloud ran further forward. The scorching sun is again... and it’s so hot in a raincoat! Hurry up and take it off!

(PHOTO53)

While moving, I threw a spinning rod in some places, after one of the rolls there were 2 bites - a large perch took 1 spinner, but could not bring it out - it fell right at the side, 2 lenok, which I did not miss! Fish for dinner =). Then there was a snag... I lost another lure...

As I already said, parking is a problem here, but we found another good place! At seven o’clock we moored to the right bank (now it’s a shore, but when the water is higher it’s an island), there are cobblestones and large pebbles all around, there’s no real place for a tent. We split up and went to look for sand - we found it! There is a lot of firewood here, we will burn a big fire!!!

We sit and eat, drink tea, it’s already past ten... I hear someone walking along the river - voices! Wow, who's that out on the water so late? I shout: “Good evening! Why are you on the water so late!?”, in response: “We’ll dock now!” The travelers settled down not far from us—about a hundred meters—then they came to get acquainted. It turned out that men from Chelyabinsk are rafting along Vitim for the eighth time, fishing, relaxing, and they really like it here. During these eight times they studied the river thoroughly, they know all the stops, winter huts and fishing spots! We chatted a little, then the men went to their place to set up a tent and cook dinner...

A little later I went to their camp, it turned out that they spend the night there every year! The camp is equipped, there is a bench, a fireplace... I asked about fishing, places best suited for spending the night...

Before going to bed, Kostyan lit a huge fire, higher than his head! He must have been visible very far away! We looked at the fire, drank tea with condensed milk (thanks, guys), it was cool!!!

Walking time 7 hours, distance traveled 41.5 km.

(PHOTO54)

22,07

The hydraulic alarm woke me up at 7 am, went outside, watched the fog creep in and went back to the tent. Porridge with condensed milk, raisins, sweets! So much sweet stuff! Yes, it’s not at all difficult to get up early for such a breakfast. It’s a very relaxing morning... it seems like we got up early, ate early, which means we should have left early too, but no! Sometimes you want to sit and enjoy yourself with a mug of hot tea... eh!

We started packing only half an hour after our neighbors set sail. The whole night, and then the morning, were absolutely windless, but as soon as we took up the oars... Yes, the wind was in our faces! Oh well, if it were just the wind, but it’s gusty and very strong! When a gust hits, we make every effort, pull out meter by meter, try not to be carried back!

How good it is that island robberies soon began! In the channels, the river is compressed and flows noticeably faster, especially noticeable to us, fighters against the headwind.

(PHOTO55)

At three o'clock we were tired of fighting - we got up for lunch, I immediately took a spinning rod and walked along the shore. When I fish like this and catch something, I put the fish in a visible place on the shore to pick it up on the way back... in short, I lost 2 perches, came to the boat with only one... When I returned from fishing, a man with a dog passed by on a boat, friendly - they both waved to us =).

The wind died down only in the evening, when it was time to look for the camp, and good places It's still not crowded here. We noticed a hut on the right bank, we need to go out and have a look. The location is very good, on the top of the hill, the view is excellent!!! But there is so much garbage here - mostly tin cans (there are hundreds of them here). It’s obvious that someone was here recently and will most likely return, so we won’t linger here, but I’ll just tear up Sagaan-Daila a little...

(PHOTO56)

We carefully study all the surroundings - we urgently need to find a place to camp! Half an hour later, we moored to a long spit on the left bank and I went to investigate, meanwhile the boys went further along the river, if anything happened, they would pick me up and go on searching. The braid is very long! Probably 400 meters, and I ran all of it, or rather jumped on the cobblestones. A more or less suitable place turned out to be almost at the very end of the spit. The place for the tent was not chosen - on small pebbles, very close to the water, so if Vitim gets up, we will be the first to know about it!

While they were sitting and having dinner, thunder was heard, then again, closer this time. The wind began to pick up and we saw a huge cloud that was being pulled right towards us! Oh, I've never eaten so quickly! We had to have time to eat and take shelter in a tent, which, by the way, is the highest building in the area...

(PHOTO57)

I left the plate outside - the rain would wash it away, took a mug of tea and ran to the tent! As soon as everyone climbed in and zipped up the awning, it went boom!!! Right over your head!!! It began to rain, thunder rumbled directly overhead, and lightning... They sparkled right above our tent! Every time they flashed, a bright light permeated the tent, as if we were lighting a 200-watt light bulb inside! It was really scary, everyone was silent... But when the lightning flashes moved a little to the side, it became calmer, I finished my tea, joked a little about the extreme evening and went to bed under the sound of rain...

Walking time 7 hours 20 minutes, distance covered 38 km.

23,07

How does the weather affect your mood... For example, this morning there was a small conflict due to the fact that Dimon did not salt the porridge! It’s not a big deal, but when you wake up in the morning, hear the rain, hear the wind, you become a little irritable... Probably the whole point is the wind, which exhausted all our nerves and strength last day, today it will be the same...

Today we will reach the village of Ust-Karenga, we want to buy fresh bread and maybe something else, for example mayonnaise (Dimon mentions it at every meal - “Eh, now I wish I had at least a little mayonnaise!”). Okay, you need to read the directions so as not to miss the village, although how will you get there? Karenga is a big river, you can’t pass by!

At the beginning of eleven we were already at the oars, fighting the mighty wind! Which sometimes reached such force that we had to simply dry the oars and wait for the gust to end (at such moments we were powerless, we were simply spinning in one place...). Well, at least the sky has cleared up a little...

The only things that distracted us from the wind were beautiful shores and beautiful rocks going deep into the water - one of these rocks should serve as a landmark in front of the mouth of Karenga.

(PHOTO58)

So a rock appeared on the right bank, similar in description to the landmark from the navigation guide, then several islands... “Go to the far right channel!” - so it was said in the pilotage. But damn it! It is so small, narrow and not visible at all... An inner voice simply commanded “Turn to the left!” It's deeper there! Wider! And you can see the exit from the channel!” Okay, let's go left... What a fool! It was necessary to go into the right, narrow channel, the only way to get to the path leading to the village...

We moored right at the mouth, but on the wrong side of the tributary. You can, of course, try to ford the river, but you don’t really want to. From here you can see the exit from that narrow channel - there are two pvc boats of Chelyabinsk residents already familiar to us.

We had lunch right here. The store is just a stone's throw away, but what's the point!

I took a walk along Karenga, there was garbage in the river, all sorts of cans, wheels and other rubbish...

(PHOTO59)

A few turns from Karenga we met a very young guy and girl on a boat - they were fishing. When we approached them, it started to rain - we couldn’t talk, the guy started the engine and sped off up the river. We promptly put on our raincoats and moved on. The rain, I must say, stopped after a few minutes - it just scared me.

We reached a huge spit, which is called the “fish factory” - 9 km from the mouth of Karenga. The spit itself is rocky, but at the end there is a lot of sand - which is very useful! We pitched a tent, lit a fire next to the “bench,” cooked dinner, lit some alcohol...

A great evening in front of the fire, we sit slightly tipsy and look into the distance - to where the river carries its waters...

Before going to bed, we were a little frightened by a red deer that was barking loudly somewhere on the opposite bank. Shouting: “What do you want!?” and with a couple of exploded firecrackers we calmed the beast down and calmly went to bed...

Walking time 6 hours, 10 minutes, distance covered 27 km.

(PHOTO60)

24,07

Day! How we all love this day! You can sleep, fish to your heart's content, then sleep again, wash and dry all the dirty things!!! Today is just a day, so you need to complete the first point - get some sleep!

Oh, if only it were so easy! The morning sun was too hot! Already at 9 am it turned our tent into a greenhouse with incredibly hot and stuffy air - we had to postpone the “sleep” item until the shadow came to our tent.

If not sleep, then food! We need to whip up something... Strip down to your underpants - let's sunbathe, prepare breakfast, perhaps this is a good start for a day! By the time we had eaten and warmed up well in the sun, the shadow had approached the fallen tree that we were using as a bench and we could proceed to the “sleep” point! The boys went to take pictures by the river, and I lounged in the shade right on the warm sand, closed my eyes and….

I took a vertical position for lunch to have a little snack. I remembered about acc. camera, which was almost completely discharged and tried to charge again (it should gain a charge from such a sun). Then there was a big wash - they washed absolutely all the clothes, hung them up - in such heat everything would dry in a matter of hours! After washing there were water treatments. It's awesome to splash down in the cool water in this heat. The current here is quite fast, so you shouldn’t swim far from the shore - it will carry you away and then you’ll have to rush along the shore to the camp.

There are many fry swimming along the shore that are not at all afraid of humans! You can put your hands in the water and they will tingle them slightly - this is a massage). These fish are also great at washing dishes! You just need to put the plate and spoon under water and leave it all for an hour, when you return - everything will be clean!!!

(PHOTO61)

Since we couldn’t buy bread, we’ll make flatbreads! I kneaded the dough with yeast, put it in a bag on warm stones for a couple of hours - the dough has risen, you can cook! Dimon at this time took a fishing rod and went fishing - finally! For 1.5 hours I fried delicious flatbreads... Dimon appeared on the horizon, came up and began to talk about how much fish he had seen, how they constantly got off his hook... oh, you fisherman!

(PHOTO62)

This is the only way to use flatbreads! A great addition to dinner, especially after eating crackers for many days. We leisurely have dinner, drink tea, watch the sunset... I had a strange feeling - “it’s as if I’m very close to home now,” friends say they feel the same thing - very strange, because home is about 1000 kilometers away!

The guys went to bed early - right after sunset, and I went fishing. The men advised us to go fishing here at night. At first I walked up along the spit and threw a spoon, then, when it became dark and the moon rose, I turned around and started throwing a popper... There were zero bites, only the noise of a popper on the river and some strange birds singing in the forest. I obviously don’t like this kind of fishing - it’s fruitless, so I reel in my fishing rod and go to camp...

There are still smoldering coals from the fire, which I fanned and boiled a whole kettle. I sat there for a whole hour, drank tea and thought about my own things...

25,07

During breakfast, noise and screams are heard somewhere in the forest. What can be so heatedly discussed? early morning, In the woods!?

We are trying to listen and understand what they are talking about, but nothing is clear, and in general, we need to eat and leave already, otherwise we have been sitting too long.

The day really relaxed us...

At 12-20 we finally got on the water! The sky is gray, completely covered with clouds - it should rain, but it doesn’t... No rain, no wind, no sizzling sun! It's very good! The current carries us with great speed - we can simply raft, but we row, multiplying the speed!

Oh, after the last windy days (when we dragged along like a snail), it’s a great pleasure to rush along the river like that.

(PHOTO63)

With such a current, we very soon reached the right tributary - Mukdakachi (the directions say that there is good fishing on this river). This place is very remarkable! There are rock outcrops “Three Brothers” here. Three rocks of different sizes lie in the middle of the river bed; surely some beautiful legend is associated with these stones.

(PHOTO64)

After the “three brothers”, the three friends observed many beautiful rocks and streams along the banks. It’s good that yesterday I was able to charge the battery at least a little - I had the opportunity to photograph this beauty to my heart’s content.

(PHOTO65)

It began to rain lightly, but soon stopped - just as we began to look for a place to spend the night. They found it only at half past seven. To put it bluntly, the place is not a fountain, there are a lot of stones - there is nowhere to even stick tent pegs, there is almost no dry firewood, but there are a lot of midges that are trying to gouge out your eyes...

Midges, damp firewood that barely burns, and then it began to rain - fine, nasty...

We quickly ate and went to the tent, there was nothing to do outside in the rain - you couldn’t even really light a fire...

Walking time 7 hours, 10 minutes, distance covered 50 km.

26,07

I woke up all night to the sound of ever-increasing rain. It poured heavily all night - the water in the local rivers should rise, including Vitim. The rain stopped only in the morning, so I didn’t sleep much and was restless. In the morning, the sun even seemed to be starting to appear, but the clouds closed every time the sun found a small piece of clear sky...

The man on duty did not prepare tea today, which caused my indignation! When asked to put my plate aside and put the kettle on, he didn’t respond... I didn’t want to strain the situation, so I took the kettle myself and put it on the fire. But damn, then I finally lost it... It was all due to lack of sleep and the midge that was constantly biting into all exposed parts of the body. After a couple of minutes of letting off steam in the form of a scream, the duty officer admitted he was wrong. After which everyone apologized to each other and the mood improved! =)

We left at 11:45, the sun is hidden behind the clouds, but you can still feel the warmth from it - very stuffy! I even stripped to the waist so I could breathe easier. As I undressed, the sun came out and forced me to put my clothes back on! Getting burned is a very big nuisance on a hike; you simply won’t be able to row. I got dressed and the sun disappeared behind the clouds... and it began to rain! At first it wasn’t strong, but then it went wild! A powerful downpour, and a prolonged one! It took 1.5 hours!!! Well, after this kind of rain, the rivers will definitely overflow their banks... When the rain stopped, we were finally able to have a snack and take a couple of photos.

(PHOTO66)

After the snack, there was a very cool shiverka, which for some reason was not marked in the navigation guide. Right turn, decent pressure against the protruding rock on the left bank and at the exit there is a good shaft - a little more than a meter high! I couldn’t take pictures because I was working with an oar so as not to get caught...

By seven o'clock we began to think about spending the night, according to the map there should be 2 winter huts nearby, we'll try to find them. There are no winter quarters, but there is a huge island! And as we already learned from this trip, the islands are always full of firewood! But finding a place for a tent is more difficult - you don’t really want to sleep on cobblestones, so you need to look for sand or small pebbles. I found an island of sand, almost the only one, near a large log, next to a bush, into which a huge amount of driftwood had accumulated during the flood - you couldn’t imagine a better place!

Before the fire, we drink tea for a long time and discuss the further schedule of the hike - we want to stay in all the major tributaries, devote more time to fishing, etc. Enough drinking tea, let's go to bed!

Walking time 8 hours, distance traveled 57 km.

27,07

I wonder how the body knows when to wake up? A few minutes before the alarm! And this only happens when you really have to get up - on duty, for example. So today, the alarm clock is set at 7:00, and I woke up at 6:58!

If anyone is scared by our “relaxed schedule” with getting up at 7 am, then I’ll explain - at least during my duty we lived according to Irkutsk time, and not Transbaikal time, so we can say that getting up is not so early! In addition, the person on duty got up first, and only then, when tea and breakfast were ready, did everyone else get up.

At night it rained again and soaked all the wood on the island... The driftwood absorbs water very quickly - you can’t make a fire with such wood! It’s good that I hid a whole armful under the awning in the evening! It's cloudy outside, the last drops of the night's rain are falling from the sky, and there's a small breeze that constantly blows into the fire, making the coals even hotter! The porridge is already cooked, the tea is boiling, we can wake up the guys...

The morning is very calm, we are relaxed, but we act surprisingly quickly! Same inexplicable fact– sometimes you’re in a hurry, you want to get out quickly, but it doesn’t work out very well, and vice versa – you’re not in a hurry, you do everything calmly and then – at 10 am you’re already on the water!!!

(PHOTO67)

We'll row to Kalakan, walk along the river, go fishing, maybe stay overnight. We agreed yesterday that we would go slowly, do a lot of fishing and relax! Good plan, but! The meeting, which took place a couple of kilometers before Kalakan, ruined everything...

Some people now thought – probably a bear! No - a man on a motorboat, he was going up the river with a dog on board and stopped near us:

Hello, where are you coming from?

Hello, from Romanovka to BAM, from Bratsk.

So apparently the Ministry of Emergency Situations is looking for you!

Ministry of Emergency Situations!? Yes, it’s still too early to look for us, our exit from the route is still oh so soon...

Well, here the turntables circle all day long, they fly in and say “we’re looking for three, they’re rafting down the river”...

-…

Okay guys, good luck!

I started the engine and went up the river...

I don’t know how to describe what was happening inside me then... I was just wondering, were they really looking for us?

Who else then!? Who else walks in threes?! Well then why are they looking? No, we shouldn’t, the deadline hasn’t expired yet! There was a kind of dialogue going on in my head with myself, which I translated into a dialogue with friends. We began to evaluate various options, discuss what to do?

What can you do, there is only one way out - quickly go to the exit point from the route and find out what’s going on...

(PHOTO68)

After the right tributary Kalakan, the “canyon” began, there was beauty all around! Rocks, numerous waterfalls and streams, and we sat gloomy, thinking... Suddenly we heard the noise of a helicopter. There he is flying on the horizon. It's flying towards us, descending!

I already thought that now we’d find out everything, the helicopter would land on that island over there and everything would fall into place, but the helicopter just flew over our heads and flew on!

After this helicopter, now every stream that noisily rushes into Vitim seems like a helicopter from afar (I mean by the sound). It’s funny, someone suddenly says: “Shh, be quiet, there’s a helicopter again!”, Everyone listens: “Yes, it’s really a helicopter, maybe for our souls?”

What are the expressions on our faces when everyone understands that it’s just a stream making noise in the distance =)

(PHOTO69)

At seven o'clock we moored to the right bank, there must be a winter quarters somewhere here. That’s right, winter hut, bathhouse...

We will sleep in the winter hut, the roof is leaky - if it rains, it can get wet, although you can find places where there will be almost no dripping.

We whiled away the evening playing cards, drinking tea...

When we went to bed, we could hear a motorboat going upstream on the river. We went out to see if they were coming towards us? The motorboat reached the turn, turned around, and went back without even showing its nose...

Walking time 9 hours, distance traveled 69.5 km.

28,07

It had often rained the previous days, and tonight was no exception. Strangely, despite the leaking roof, we slept well, completely oblivious to the dripping water inside the hut! In the morning, for the umpteenth time, I woke up a few minutes before “getting up”! I literally opened my eyes when Kostya immediately came in and said that everything was ready, he did not forget to mention the water - it had risen! Here's some rain for you!!!

The water rose quite a lot, it was very muddy and cold... And most importantly, it flooded the place where the chaff was located! Somewhere out there, under one hundred and fifty knots of water, there is a jib tied to a tree that prevented our catamaran from sailing away without us. Huge respect to Kostyan, for about 10 minutes he stood in the cold water and untied the rope that was tangled in the bushes under the water! At half past ten we were ready - we could set sail!

(PHOTO70)

The speed of the current is amazing! Carries with great speed! Yesterday, I thought that we would reach Kalar in about half an hour, but we arrived in 10 minutes! There is a powerful flood on Kalar - entire trees and bushes are floating from the river. The tributary has overflowed so much that it is not entirely clear whether the Kalar flows into the Vitim or the Vitim into the Kalar! The rivers are now the same in width.

(PHOTO71)

After Kalar, the current accelerates even more! Of course, so much water was added! The joy of great speed was soon overshadowed strong wind! Twice as strong as we've seen before! It is impossible to row - we have to dry our oars and hope that the water is stronger than the wind and we will move along the river at least a little. And yes! We were moving! Quickly! Even the enormous wind could not stop us!

So we melt wherever the stream takes us, and not where we want. I measured our speed on the Kalar – Tsipa section, it turned out to be 10 km/h! This is despite the fact that we did not use oars! Tsipa – the picture is the same as on Kalar: muddy water, trees, bushes...

(PHOTO72)

There are a lot of trees now, and they are moving faster than us. You need to be very careful, because... each of these logs wants to skewer our catamaran. In principle, dodging logs is not difficult. Yes, it’s not difficult if that powerful wind doesn’t blow! He doesn't even let me turn the kat around. And if on straight sections we can at least somehow dodge or steer, then on turns we are simply blown away into a catch... we have to wait for the gust to weaken and go out into the stream.

Two hours later, abruptly (very abruptly - completely unexpectedly!) the mountains around parted, the wind disappeared (completely!) and people appeared - a lot of people! Fishermen on boats, along the banks... All this in just one minute! In the first minute in the Bambui Basin...

Five minutes later we passed this “crowded place” and numerous islands began, which divided the river into 2-3 channels. Some islands were flooded, only the tops of the bushes were visible.

It started to rain, warm! Warm pleasant rain! This is where our childhood began to play! Get out the mugs and let's pour it on each other! We were wearing raincoats, but it didn’t help - after 10 minutes it was just as damp under the raincoat as above it). And I don’t care that it’s damp, I don’t care that it will soon start to get colder... We had fun! As children!

After the rain, the clouds cleared and the top of Mount Shaman, the highest point in the area, became visible. It’s beautiful, but my camera was completely discharged... So from now on I only took pictures with my phone.

(PHOTO73)

At half past six we got up on the island of Bator - this is one of the highest islands here - so it won’t flood if anything happens. It is clear that people come here very often - we have never seen so much garbage on this river - car tires, bricks, armored beds, iron and much more! We chose a more or less clean area for the tent, cooked dinner and didn’t go to bed for a long time... Fire, stars...

Walking time 8 hours, distance covered 78 km.

(PHOTO74)

29,07

It’s been raining since morning, I don’t feel like getting up, let’s sleep a little more... After that very little bit, Dima woke me up. It's amazing how quickly he prepared the food! Well done - I praise you! The sky is gray after the rain, but it seems to be clearing slowly. The water dropped by 10 centimeters, I put a mark in the evening to find out how the level would change.

The directions say that there is a village at the mouth of the Bambuika - you should definitely go there, if there is a connection, call home, clarify the situation with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and charge the battery for your camera, otherwise you will have to take pictures with your phone until the end of the trip...

We reached the mouth of Bambuika in an hour. The water in the tributary is clean and transparent - especially compared to the water of Vitim, which took on a brown tint due to the flood. The current at Bambuika is strong, we won’t be able to row upstream, so we’ll have to walk along the path that starts right from the mouth.

Taking with us everything we needed, Dimon and I set off along the trail, and Kostyan stayed by the catamaran to light a fire and prepare tea.

“Let the people’s path not be overgrown!” There is only one name left of the trail, there are many branches that run into the windfall... You have to break through the bushes. In some places there are mattresses and clothes lying around... Not the most pleasant place I have ever been...

After wandering around this forest for half an hour, we decided to go back. We walked to the shore with pleasure, because the mosquitoes are fierce...

I have never met anyone like this... These Bamboo mosquitoes are the real embodiment of evil! Hurry, run to the boat and row away from these terrible creatures...

I don’t know if this village exists there, but I can certainly say that no one clearly uses the path...

The Bambui depression ended when we came close to the South Muya ridge. To Mount Shaman! As soon as we entered the canyon, the wind blew...

Exactly the same as the wind that blew in the mountains before the Bambui Basin... In addition to the wind, numerous trees and bushes appeared here floating along the river (yesterday, at the entrance to the basin, they disappeared). A huge thundercloud is moving behind us, you can see how it sparkles and rains. Will it really get wet?

It all worked out, the cloud moved away.

(PHOTO75-76)

A series of rolls and shifts began. Everything is very simple in our water - you have fun jumping on 1.5 meter shafts and rejoice!

The only problem here is the slalom between trees that are dangerous for the catamaran.

We moored to the shore near the Tuldun Shivera to look at the trail to Mount Shaman - we are now right at its foot. There is a path, but it gets lost in a birch grove... Oh, how we wanted to go up! But this whole situation with the Ministry of Emergency Situations... we need to go to the bridge...

The Tuldun shiver pleased us with its huge shafts of 2-2.5 meters! It’s like being on an amusement ride – you climb up a “mountain” and then have fun sliding down it!

In rift No. 17, near the island, we saw the first and only “barrel” of our entire hike! A small barrel - nothing remarkable, except that it is the only one. (At the station we will later meet two tourists who passed here a day after us, when the water subsided. So, they told a very interesting story about the “Huge cooper half the size of Vitim!”)

The section where the Vitim cross the South Muisky ridge is, in my opinion, the most beautiful along the entire stretch from Romanovka to BAM!

(PHOTO77-78)

At the exit of the river from the ridge, a thick fog rose... You can’t really see anything, but you can hear it! Great to hear!

The whistle of the train, and then the sound of wheels - we got there! Very unexpectedly a bridge appeared. The mountains parted, the fog cleared, and there it was, in plain sight - the bridge across the Vitim - the end of our journey...

(PHOTO79-80)

The anti-stapel was held on the left bank near the bridge, we will spend the night there - we were already late for the train today. We sort out the equipment, dry everything wet, and prepare dinner. The mosquitoes here are probably even worse than on Bambuika - we spend the whole evening wearing mosquito nets, with our hands hidden in our sleeves.

When we sorted out the equipment, I went to photograph the surrounding area, namely the famous road bridge for thrill-seekers, BAM...

(PHOTO81-82)

In the village, which is located not far from our camp, I met local jade fishermen. From them I learned about the Ministry of Emergency Situations - they weren’t looking for us, they were looking for Chitintsev.

After long gatherings with the jade workers, I went to the camp to go to bed early - tomorrow I will wake up at 6 am. Let's go home!!!

Walking time 7 hours, 30 minutes, distance traveled 74.5 km.

That's all, we can consider that the campaign is over. I don’t see much point in talking about a restless sleep in a shaking tent due to loud night trains, about 13 ice creams eaten solo almost immediately, about spending the night at a train station, etc. Instead, I will say that this is only half of the planned route. In the future we are going to raft from the BAM to the mouth of the Vitim - to the Lena!

The population of the village is approximately 3000 inhabitants, houses are located along both banks of the river. In August 2009, a road bridge was built here - the first and only one across Vitim before the intersection with the BAM. A few meters away, across the current, a stretched metal cable remained from the ferry. The ferry itself stood on a hill about 150 meters from the left bank.
The Chita-Romanovka highway, or as it is called, the “Romanovsky Tract,” crosses the Yablonovy Ridge and is a little more than 160 kilometers long. More than a hundred of them are taiga highways with remnants of crushed stone pavement with potholes, pits, gullies, bumps and potholes. Almost all road signs found in the wooded part of the road are riddled with bullets and buckshot. From Chita to the slipway (the place where the rafting began), my friend Denis drove me in a right-hand drive Toyota. He also helped purchase groceries in stores in the regional center.
By the way, in Romanovka and about 15 km along Vitim, there is cellular communication, but at that time it was supported only by Megafon. I even saw payment terminals in two stores. However, for some reason, SMS messages were not sent, and after three days my phone died and did not respond to a special device for charging it from AA batteries.
Before launching, I planned to buy a few loaves of local bread from the village canteen. However, the bakery only started working at 11 am, and there was no point in losing three whole hours because of this. After visiting the four shops located in the village, I had to buy three loaves of some stale, dark, heavy, round-shaped and slightly bitter buckwheat bread tightly sealed in cellophane, as well as two sliced ​​loaves from the day before yesterday.
Having crossed the river, we went down to the left bank, where in about twenty minutes I pumped up the boat, threw my stuff into it and swam, having previously put on a life jacket. Subsequently, it was practically not used for its intended purpose and was useful only as a soft seat.

The 2-seater PVC boat “Leader” did not cause any particular complaints, although I will even note its advantages: the strength of the material (it remained unharmed after hitting sharp stones) and the quality of the valves (I never had to pump up the boat). Among the positive aspects are the wide blades of the oars, which made it possible to quickly maneuver in sections of the river with a strong current. Disadvantages: the pump is made as if for indoor mattresses and the plastic bushings of the oar holders are gradually pushed out during rowing (they can fail in a serious situation). Both the left and the right had to be constantly “straightened” using improvised means (a lighter, a cartridge, etc.).
We agreed with Denis on a control meeting 10-12 kilometers downstream, where the road approaches the river almost closely. There I had to finally make a decision to sail further along Vitim or return to Chita.

In general, I began to mentally prepare for rafting in October 2009: I studied the experience of water athletes on the Internet, downloaded General Staff maps, Vitim tourist maps, printed out reports from groups that had been on this and similar rivers, photographs, stories of single tourists. IN free time compiled a list of necessary things and products, visited tourist equipment stores of almost all chain companies and centers existing in Moscow. As a result, at Decathlon, under a little pressure from my wife, I bought a good light tent and other little things, and for my birthday, my beloved gave me a waterproof Garmin GPS navigator. The boat was purchased on the penultimate day, in the Chita store “World of Adventures”.
The trip itself was inspired by an article by B.V. Vladimirov that came up in my spare time with a description of Vitim and tourist trips around its basin (magazine “Physical Culture and Sports”, Moscow, 1971). In addition to her, there were other reasons that I was a little tired of telling my relatives, friends or just acquaintances about, many of them, the meaning of the idea remained unclear. I did not find approval from anyone: the whole idea was perceived as crazy in advance. What caused everyone the greatest bewilderment was the fact that I was going to sail alone. As a result, despite the thirty-second year of my life, I had to become like a ten-year-old child and lie that I would allegedly sail with the aforementioned Denis.
He really thought about going with me, but some health problems prevented him. Moreover, the friend’s subsequent refusal was received with relief (I remembered his constant requests to close the window in the car so as not to blow, to put on boots so as not to get wet, etc.). He is, of course, a reliable and trusted friend, but not an extreme sports fan and, like most normal people, prefers relaxation in comfort. And I myself, I think, would not be so eager to go on this trip if I lived in the same Chita - a city practically surrounded by taiga, where a ten-minute trip from the center is enough to stop and, for example, go fishing or pick mushrooms. In fairness, I note that a couple of years ago, traffic jams began to appear on the roads of Chita, regardless of the time of year.

The peculiarity of Vitim is that there are, in fact, no options for “emergency departure from the route” - all around is wild taiga. Over a distance of 750 kilometers from Romanovka to the Baikal-Amur Mainline bridge, not counting several shepherd camps and a hydrometeorological station on Kalakan, there are only three villages: Yumurchen (about 120 km from Romanovka), Krasny Yar (about 220 km) and Ust-Karenga (about 380 km). km). These settlements are practically cut off from civilization and are officially equated with the regions of the Far North. About once a month, an all-terrain vehicle with food arrives from the village of Tungokochen, located 170 km east of Vitim. The journey on it, for example, to Ust-Karenga, takes almost two days. Air traffic is very irregular, and in the summer, when there is special need, local residents sail to Romanovka by motor boats.
Without taking into account days, it took 11-12 sailing days to raft to the BAM bridge and 2-3 days to way back(about 4 hours to Chara, from where, if you’re unlucky with a plane, it’s two days by train) and only then to Moscow. This time was not enough until the end of the vacation. Therefore, the astronomical route had to be shortened from 750 to 105 km with further access on foot to the Romanovka - Bagdarin highway.
So, on August 7, 2010, at approximately 9 a.m. Chita time, leaving Denis on the shore, I cast off and sailed. The weather was clear, the air temperature was about 8-10 degrees, the water was about 16. The width of the river in the village area was 100-180 meters. At about the twentieth minute I hit a rapid that carried me aground in the middle of the river. I had to take off my sneakers, roll up my pants and drag the boat along the small pebbles for about thirty meters. Such incidents never happened again. After refloating, he fell into a drain at a speed of up to 8 km/h. Then the river changed its character, narrowed to 80-100 meters and began to move calmly, measuredly and slightly winding to the north at a speed of about 3 km/h. The banks were sandy cliffs overgrown with bushes, no more than 3-4 meters high, occasionally cut through by rocky beds of dried up tributaries.

From time to time you could hear the noise of cars from the highway, sometimes you came across vehicles of people who had come to haymaking standing on both banks. After about seven kilometers, rocks began to appear.

At intervals of about one and a half kilometers, quiet sections of the river were interspersed with small riffles with occasional stones standing across the flow. Since the noise of the obstacle was heard from afar, it was always possible to psychologically prepare for its passage; it was also possible to calmly and in advance moor to the shore, inspect the area from land, outline the passage routes, or make a decision to carry out (pilot) the boat. During the entire journey, I didn’t have to do either one or the other.
An hour and a half later, the ringing tone of a mobile phone was heard from the inner pocket of the Gorka. It was Denis. He said that, as agreed, he was waiting for me on the shore “next to the rock, which is right behind the rift.” Throughout the entire 12 km, there were about eight riffles and various rocks, so somewhere after the sixth, I stood up in the boat and examined the shore. After passing a powerful roll with elements of a waterfall and rocks sticking out of the river, I immediately saw Denis standing peacefully on the shore, who had lit a fire and was trying to fish with his recently purchased spinning rod. He managed to catch nothing. Even though he was the only fisherman I saw on this river. Having opened and heated a couple of cans of stew on the fire, we had lunch and drank half a bottle of Ulan-Ude vodka, which we didn’t really like, to start the rafting. There were no reasons to cancel the trip, therefore, having warmly said goodbye to my friend, I moved towards the unknown waiting for me, hidden behind the meanders of the river, the rocks descending to it and the ridges of the Vitim Plateau overgrown with dense taiga.

The nature of the current did not change much, the rocks were practically uninterrupted and alternated with each other, approaching from the left bank, then from the right bank. More often, multi-kilometer stretches of stretches with a channel width of 100 to 120 meters began to be encountered, where the river, hidden from the wind, stood like a mirror. Therefore, we had to row, and not just sit and contemplate the picturesque landscapes. I determined my location and speed using the navigator.

In the evening, downstream, the sound of a motor boat was heard. I decided, just in case, to cover the double-barreled shotgun with a tarpaulin. A little later I saw two slightly overgrown men in Chinese camouflage suits. They sat in a small metal vessel with a motor and oars. As the boat approached, one of them asked how far I was swimming. Having announced the name of some nearby tributary, I buried further. I haven’t met any more people on Vitim, despite the assurances of “experienced” tourists that once wild river turned into a “passage yard”.
There were almost no signs of human activity. Occasionally, at intervals of about 15-18 kilometers (further - less often), winter quarters came across on different banks of the river. There was no particular desire to go into them, spend the night there or leave matches there. Somewhere at the 25th kilometer, next to one of the cliffs lay the twisted and rusted remains of a large iron boat. There were no gunshots, traffic noise, voices or other man-made sounds. Not even a plane flew by. The feeling is indescribable.

On the first day, judging by the navigator, I swam about 35 kilometers. I didn’t do any radial forays. Quite late I started looking for a place to spend the night. As soon as the sun hid behind the top of one of the mountains, increasing rumbles of thunder were heard from behind the rocks. Therefore, as soon as possible, I moored to the left bank, got out of the boat and dragged my things to a small hill. While I was setting up the tent, it started to rain. Having broken dry branches and taken a small piece of birch bark, he made a fire. When it flared up, it poured and sparkled all around. We had to have dinner in the vestibule of the tent. The rain rhythmically pounding on the roof contributed to a good sleep. By the way, during the entire rafting, for some reason, mosquitoes never bothered us. Of course, there were them, I saw several of them, but the insects did not fly into the tent, and I did not have to use repellent.

The next morning was cloudy and cool. For some reason, almost half of the bread remaining in the bag was wet. Having had breakfast and lowered the boat to the river, he sailed on. Gradually the weather began to improve. However, on this day it often rained, so five times we had to moor to the shore, cover the boat and stand under some tree for more than half an hour, waiting out the rain. For some reason, the sensations at such moments were not entirely pleasant, although I was in no hurry and studied the tracks of wild ungulate animals that were often found here. The river, just like yesterday, consisted of reaches, but the riffles looked more serious and came across more often. The width of the channel was no more than 80 meters, narrowing in some places to 7-12. The highest speed measured on one of the rapids is 17 km/h. The water in Vitim seemed somehow black and at the same time transparent.

For some reason, I began to compare the passage of some obstacles to driving in the oncoming lane of a busy highway. On this day I probably saw all or more than half of the elements characteristic of so-called rivers. third category of complexity. I didn’t quite like the standing oblique shafts and barrels, which were most confusing. The height of some of them seemed to reach one and a half meters. By the middle of the second day of rafting, I felt that I was starting to “read the water” on my own, in the language of the watermen. At least, it was possible to successfully maneuver “bypassing” dangerous stones, large shafts and deep barrels. I remembered some documentary about fishermen in the tributaries of the Yenisei, ascending and rafting along them in narrow, long kayaks, and it was said that the most important rule is not to let the boat turn across the current.
The most difficult ones seemed to be the oblique shafts. The so-called “toadstools” (vertical currents) of any fear, incl. and after hitting them, they didn’t call. Most likely, in this form they can only be dangerous for narrow kayaks. Turbulence at the junctions of the jets also did not cause any particular trouble. Entry and exit from any catch occurred without problems. The “scratching” of stones along the bottom of the boat at high speed was not entirely pleasant. Most of the riffles went along the main stream, and three times it was slightly overwhelmed by the wave.
On this day I swam no more than 25 kilometers. I chose a place to spend the night in advance; I even had enough time for a small radial excursion. In the forest and along the path leading from it to the river bank, fresh traces of roe deer and wapiti were clearly visible. I wanted to hunt, but clouds suddenly began to swirl and thicken over the river. The spectacle is much more beautiful than what appears in the photographs.

The rain did not take long to arrive and poured down in a prolonged downpour - almost until early morning.
The morning of the third day was not particularly different from the previous one. The sun, as usual, is still covered by morning layers of fog until 12 o'clock, the dew disappears no earlier than at 14.00. Temperature - 7-11 degrees.
Having had breakfast and quickly getting ready, I begin the third day of rafting. Nothing extraordinary happens on this day. The shores become even more picturesque. The tall cliffs hanging over the river with pine trees growing on them are impressive. Some of them barely hold onto the rock slabs that have broken off and tend to fall into the river. On one of the flat and steep walls I saw something similar to cave paintings depicting people with disproportionately large heads. It was not possible to take a detailed photo due to the insufficient resolution of the mobile phone camera.
The river bed became even more winding and, despite the water often pouring from the sky, it did not become wider and resembled a canyon. There was no feeling of being “tight”, because... the river occupied less than a quarter of the entire visible floodplain.

Several times we came across diving ducks and broods with almost adult but flightless flappers. Not allowing them to approach more than a hundred meters, they, noisily flapping their wings, swam forward until the boat caught up with them again. This went on for about a kilometer, then they got tired, and sometimes hiding behind stones standing in the water, they let me through. I shot at dives a couple of times, but they turned out to be the same shy ones as everywhere else. Although they could get us up to 40 meters, they quickly managed to dive at the last moment between pressing the trigger and the approach of the shot charge. I could, of course, get confused and get game, but I didn’t have such a task and I didn’t want to bother with it for several hours afterwards. On this day it rained frequently and lasted for a long time; we managed to advance only 9 kilometers. By evening it cleared up a little.

Having had dinner and settling down for the night, I realized that falling asleep to the sounds of rain was much more pleasant than falling asleep in the calm. This time there was complete silence, rarely broken by occasional splashes of water and the sound of branches breaking somewhere deep in the forest. For some reason, stories about bear observers began to come to mind, Bigfoot, spirits of shamans and other forest evil spirits. Not exactly intrusive, but after a sound similar to the tossing of stones lying on the shore, I climbed out of the tent and directed the beam of the under-barrel flashlight towards the source of the noise. However, I saw nothing but trees and stones. Just in case, he fired into the air. An echo echoed throughout the gorge, and the suspicious sounds died down. Having drunk 150 grams of Nemiroff’s pepper for a sound sleep and fired a couple more times from the gun, he threw several thick branches into the fire and fell asleep. Half asleep, I heard, as if somewhere not very far away, but also not so close, something voluminous was tossing and rolling in the water, deep and heavy splashes and the noise of bottom pebbles were heard. I also wanted the wolves to howl at least a little. But for some reason they decided not to make me feel terrible. In the morning, in the direction where the noise was heard, no traces could be found.
From the morning of the fourth day there was thick fog. The phone finally died, there was no need to take any more photographs.. Gradually the fog began to rise and fly by like a cloud clinging to high and rocky mountains. Around two or three o'clock the weather cleared. Having swam about 9 kilometers, I saw traces of a car walking along a pebble spit along the left bank. On both sides, mountains approached Vitim steeply. A little further, on the left, a semblance of a small gorge could be seen. The water in the river, due to the abundance of brown cameos, seemed reddish. A little later, opposite a beautiful rock, I saw a clearing with a table and a fireplace standing on it. Along the sand and pebble spit, somewhat reminiscent of a beach, in a couple of rows, for about 80 meters, there were one and a half meter stakes, most likely intended for drying poachers’ nets.
Nearby, on the left, a small tributary flowed into the Vitim, with 20-centimeter graylings and small perches frolicking in it. Having compared the data from the navigator and the General Staff map, I determined that this tributary is most likely called Shcherbakhta.
Footprints on the shore indicated that a couple of days ago people came here in a car. Most likely, it was a Niva or UAZ. The place is picturesque and, apparently, despite its remoteness, enjoyed some popularity for several years. Evidence of this was a large garbage pit dug nearby. There was a stump about 70 meters away, which most likely served as a sighting target. There are countless bottle fragments around him. Not far away is a pine tree with a black circle drawn on its trunk. Apparently, people come here to fish, hunt, look for placer gold, drink vodka, or just relax.
Along the stream there was a road overgrown with grass. Its contemplation suggested thoughts that, in any case, it would someday lead to the “Bagdarinskaya” highway, from which it would be possible to walk or hitchhike to Romanovka, and from there to Chita.
I decided not to take my things with me, since a boat, a tent, a cotton sleeping bag, a spinning rod, a gun, cartridges, a backpack with the remaining food would increase the path to the highway by 5-6 times. He hid everything in the thicket of a young birch tree. , I pre-dried the boat and put it in waterproof bags along with other things. I decided to go in boots, a “slide”, with a gun, cartridges, a 1.5-liter bottle of mineral “Cookie” and mosquito repellent ointment.
At first it took a very long time to climb the mountain. As I drove, I decided for myself that I couldn’t get here in a UAZ or on my own along this road. Here you need to have better driving skills than me, as well as an ax, a saw and, preferably, a winch.
On the mountain, which is very typical for Transbaikalia, there was a swamp. From the height there was a beautiful view of Vitim winding far below. For some time the road went through the forest along the river, then turned right and led into the barely visible blue distance. As luck would have it, we had to walk through treeless areas, under the inopportunely emerging and brightly shining sun. Then mosquitoes and midges appeared. Since I wanted to get to the highway before sunset, I had to pick up my pace. There were traces of wild ungulates everywhere. Gradually the road became more traveled, but at the same time muddy and sticky, so we had to walk along it on the grass. There were small lakes with herons flying around them like pterodactyls, as well as swimming ducks and coots.
In general, the walking part is the most unpleasant part of my route; it was there that I first thought that being at home with my family was not entirely boring. I walked, with small stops, for about seven to eight hours. I approached the highway almost “automatically,” like a robot, stepping on the unusually hard road surface with my feet. As soon as I collected the gun in its case, I heard the rumble of a truck heading towards Romanovka. The KamAZ driver stopped and agreed to give us a ride to the village. Seryoga, as he introduced himself, said that he was from the Nerchinsk region Trans-Baikal Territory and works at the Khiagdinskoye uranium deposit located off the highway. According to the driver, there is uranium everywhere, incl. and in Romanovka itself, in some places, layers of radioactive ore allegedly come to the surface, and the level of radiation in the village is more than ten times higher. For obvious reasons, health care institutions traditionally do not keep statistics on cancer diseases.
In Romanovka it took a long time to catch a passing car. The Buryats driving right-hand drive foreign cars and Chinese trucks rushed deftly and quickly because, apparently, they were afraid of the person in the “hill” and with a sheathed gun under his arm. There were several people on the street who, restraining the usual village curiosity, at first did not even raise their eyes to me, but then politely responded to my greeting.
A “couple” passing by, consisting of a young man and a girl, clearly of a rustic appearance and carrying an antediluvian string bag, said that they were also “having a ride” to Chita, however, I, they say, was doing it wrong, because. I'm just standing by the road. Drivers, according to experienced people, will think that I am lazy and will not stop. That is, following the logic of the “couple”, if you go further along the highway, the chances of leaving will increase as you move away from the village. In addition, according to them, the timber trucks will leave after midnight, and it will become very easy to leave for Chita..
Having followed their advice, about four kilometers from Romanovka, we managed to “saddle” a passing passenger car. A couple of kilometers later we passed a wise couple from Romanovka who were waving to us. The driver of the foreign car, a Russian guy, as he introduced himself, Alexey, lives in Bagdarin. I was traveling to Chita on business. On the way we started talking. He talked a lot about uranium, gold, the gangster Bagdarin, as well as the construction of the Chita-Khabarovsk highway, where he worked part-time as a shift worker. The driver also suggested that the things I left on the river bank had probably already been torn apart by a bear. The bear could easily do this both out of curiosity and by smelling the smell of cans of “stewed meat”, familiar to many animals of the Trans-Baikal taiga. We got to Chita quickly. Afraid of getting lost, Alexey dropped me off on Marshal Belik Avenue and went to the KSK area. Before that, I fed him Buryat buuz in a cafe and filled him with gasoline. I got home for fifty rubles on another hitchhiker. Yuan, to my joy, has not yet become a means of payment in Chita.
The things that were lying in the left place safe and sound were picked up two days later. I returned there with a driver in a Land Cruiser. It took about three hours to get from the highway without any problems, sometimes we had to use an ax to cut down the trees that lay across the road. On Shcherbakht we caught perch and grayling.
Summing up the trip, I would like to note that rafting is one of the most interesting species active rest. The desire to walk Vitim to the intersection with the BAM alone faded a little, but did not completely pass. The main problem is the length of time required and the inability to shorten the route to at least a week. Both the length of my vacation and my wife and children, who wait every year for a joint trip to the seaside, cannot afford more time. At least someday I will find myself on Vitim again, and next year, without fanaticism, I will definitely try to raft for three or four days on another Siberian river. I am currently considering Chikoy, Menza or Gazimur as options. However, I will now take less food.

19 days, XXX kilometers.

Vitim is a large right tributary of the Lena River, one of the wildest and most unique rivers in Eastern Siberia. The total length of the river is 1978 km. It is born on the eastern slopes of the Ikat ridge. In the upper reaches it is called Vitimkan. Translated from Evenki, “kan” means small, i.e. Little Vitim. Vitim itself is formed at the confluence of the Vitimkan with the China River, flowing from the slopes of the Tsipikansky massif. Vitim on the way to the Lena, skirting the Vitim Plateau and crosswise crossing the ridges of the Stanovoi Highlands, sharply changes the direction of the flow several times: north-eastern - in the very upper reaches, southern - after the confluence of the Chyna, eastern - after the confluence with the Zaza River; Below the confluence of the Karenga, the river flows north (with some deviations). Vitim is a technically complex river, with a diverse set of natural obstacles. The difficulties of sailing along it are caused by the huge mass of water that rushes during summer-autumn rain floods. They follow the Vitim one after another, coming first from the right, sometimes from the left along its large tributaries. It is rare for a flood to cover several tributaries at once. It is safe to say that sailing on a river like the Vitim is more interesting than on many other rivers that have large specific falls.
According to its physical and geographical characteristics, Vitim can be divided into the following areas:

• origins: the village of Romanovka (the mouth of the Kholoy River) (501 km);
• upper reaches: Romanovka village - mouth of the Karenga River (411 km);
• middle course: the mouth of Karenga - the city of Bodaibo (776 km);
• lower reaches: Bodaibo - mouth (290 km).

The main interest for water tourists is the upper and middle reaches of the Vitim. For a more detailed acquaintance with the river and establishing the boundaries where changes in its character occur, the river can be divided, depending on the water situation and navigation conditions, into several sections:
Upstream: 1) the village of Romanovka - the mouth of the Ingur River; 2) the mouth of the Ingura - the mouth of the Karenga River; middle course: 1) the mouth of the Karenga - the mouth of the Bambuika River; 2) the mouth of Bambuika - Paramsky threshold; 3) Paramsky threshold - Delyun-Oronsky threshold; 4) Delyun-Oronsky threshold - the city of Bodaibo.
As for the section from the source to the village of Romanovka, Vitim here has a small character mountain river, the regime of which entirely depends on summer-autumn rains. The total fall on the site is 835 m, which gives an average slope of about 2 m/km. The river is very narrow and low-water. The riverbed is constrained by steep mountain slopes, often completely covered with scree. Lots of pressure cliffs. The rock ridges crossing the river form rapids, and the scatterings of stones in the riverbed form small riffles and rifts.
From the confluence of the Vitimkan and the Chyna in Vitim there is enough water to sail in kayaks or inflatable vessels. But using this entire area for tourist travel is very problematic due to the difficulties of getting into the upper reaches of the river and the high probability of prolonged low water.
Near the village of Romanovka, Vitim, approaching the spurs of the Yablonovy Ridge, turns to the northeast and becomes calmer. From here it is already a reliable river for rafting on any tourist boats.
Here and further, the numbers in brackets after the name of the tributary indicate the approximate kilometers from the mouth of the main river.
The village of Romanovka - the mouth of the Ingur River (left tributary - 1359 km) - 118.
For the first 35 km, tourists encounter only small rocky rifts and small rifts. The banks slope steeply to the water. There are many picturesque rock cliffs. The river flows in one channel, without islands. Width 80 - 100 m. You must swim along the main stream all the time.
Over the next 25 km, the saturation of rifts increases. The passages among the stones become narrower, and in some places it is completely impossible to understand their labyrinth. Such shivers are dangerous for kayaks, catamarans and inflatable boats; there is no threat to people here. You can always conduct wiring along the shore. For rafts, this area is impassable at low water (low water here refers to flows at horizons lying 1.5 m or more below the level at which rafting of carbaz begins).
In deep water, with horizons close to raftable, the river is transformed. Small and simple shivers become stormy and dangerous. Their speeds reach 15 - 17 km/h.
Next come the 25 most difficult kilometers of this section of Vitim. There are 4 relatively complex shivers located here.
The first of them is Zhiktondinskaya (sh-1), about 2 km long. Consists of two ridges of stones. They are spaced freely, and the passage is easy to determine. Following it, after 4 km, comes the Marektinskaya Shivera (sh-2), which occupies a total of about 5 km. It is formed by three ridges of stones crossing the riverbed from bank to bank. IN low water waves no more than 0.5 m. 5 km from the last ridge, behind a sharp left turn of the river, there is a third, perhaps the most unpleasant because of the many stones, Kurluktinskaya Shiver (sh-3). Chaotically cluttering the riverbed, they form real labyrinths, movement through which requires constant attention and caution. The site ends with several ridges of the Ingur Shiver (sh-4), lying right in the area of ​​​​the mouth of the Ingur.
This entire series is overcome mainly along the main stream. To sail through the Kurlukta Shivera, preliminary reconnaissance is necessary. In addition to those listed, in this area there are many more small rifts ranging from 100 to 1000 m in length, which can be climbed immediately, although impacts and landings on rocks are possible. All rifts, as a rule, are separated from each other by deep, motionless reaches, where swimming slows down sharply.
For the described section of Vitim, it is practically impossible to give a recipe for passing natural obstacles. All of them are so sensitive to horizon fluctuations that the water situation on the rifts can change within a few hours.
Each group will have to outline options and tactics for overcoming site obstacles independently, depending on specific conditions. We only note that when big water, with horizons close to the raftable one, and even more so exceeding it, the difficulty of navigation increases, and the rifts along the main stream become impassable.
There are a total of 32 shivers on the site of different denominations and 11 rolls.
The mouth of the Ingura - the mouth of the Karenga River (right tributary - 1066 km) - 293 km.
Below the mouth of the Ingur there is a sharp decrease in the fall of the river bottom. Vitim becomes deeper and calmer. For the first 35 km the coastline is still very picturesque and wild.
The river has only rapids and a few small shifts and riffles that do not need a special description.
Then there is almost 25 km of continuous stretch, which has a smooth, calm current with speeds of up to 5 km/h. Its surface is only rippled with small rapids in a few places. Plyos ends with the first island robbery. In the main right channel, which stretches for almost 4 km, there is the longest Purikonsky riffle. It is easy to walk along the main stream, despite the abundance of protruding stones.
Below the riffle the stretch begins again, stretching for 25 km. There are islands twice in the channel. Further on for about 50 km there are only small rifts and small riffles in the river.
Approximately 15 km before the mouth of the right tributary of the Khulugli, a 50-kilometer section of the river begins, occupied by a series of 6 shivers under the general name "Shipishki" ("Shipishka" - in local - rose hips; according to another version, this name arose from the comparison - "hiss like cats"). The first 5 are Small (w-5-9), and the 6th is Big Shipishka (w-10). All 5 small rifts at low horizons are rocky and stormy, but more abundant in water than the previous ones. The flow speed is insignificant, and therefore the main danger is posed by surface and underwater stones scattered along the pebble bed. To pass the Small Spikes, it is enough to inspect them from the water to outline the path.
The last of this series - the Bolshaya Shipishka shiver is located immediately after the left turn of the river in front of former mine Spikes. It is about 1 km long and is formed by two ridges of stones. The second one is the most difficult to pass. Here, due to the local increase in the fall and, as a consequence, the increase in speeds, there is very strong excitement. The standing waves, although gentle, reach a height of 1 m. The Shivera is overcome along the main stream, which runs under the right bank. It is well defined. Most of the stones, even at low horizons, are filled with water, which makes swimming easier.
Below the mine, for several kilometers there are rifts formed from dredge workings.
The last 100 km, up to the mouth of Karenga, Vitim has no serious obstacles. There are only rifts along the way. In total there are 14 rifts and 32 rifts in this section.
The section of the upper reaches of the river ends here. Vitim rushes to the north.
The mouth of Karenga - the mouth of the Bambuika River (left tributary - 804 km) - 262 km.
Just past the mouth of the Karenga, the banks rise. However, the mountains reach the water only after 30 km. From here, along the river, sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left, there are steep cliffs, as if cut off by the river at the turns. Some cliffs stretch for kilometers. The opposite shore in such places is flat and pebbly. There are many islands in the channel, which, as a rule, are scattered in groups. They are low, covered with forest, with large boulder headboards, less often bare - pebble. On the islands, the width of the river increases from 200 - 250 m to 400 m. At low waters, small side channels dry up in the upper part, and long and deep backwaters, called kuryas on Vitim, form along the islands.
There are no difficult obstacles on this section of the river. You can swim through it all while scouting from the water. Complications arise only when mooring to the shore. This cannot be done everywhere. Coastal bushes, rocky cliffs, and isolated stones get in the way. The islands are most convenient for short stops and bivouacs.
When the water is very low, rafting is complicated by rocks that “grow” on rifts and rifts, as well as coastal bullheads and sharp turns that produce a reflected wave.
At high horizons, the river is a continuous rapid flow with speeds from 15 to 18 km/h. In the channels near the islands to which the concentrated fall is confined, strong waves arise with risers of up to 0.75.
It is important to note that if up to the mouth of the Karenga there were frequent riffles and riffles and the main danger was the possibility of “pushing through” on the rocks or sitting on one of the half-submerged stone “huts”, then lower down on the river standing shafts begin to dominate. The river acquires unusual power. A characteristic phenomenon of the middle reaches of the Vitim are catches - water cycles with reverse flow in places of deep concavities of the banks or after rifts and rifts on the sides of their drains.
Sailing along the Middle Vitim requires constant vigilance, as the rapid current and cold water Any, even the smallest, accident can turn into an incident with very serious consequences.
At this point, the Vitim takes part in its largest tributaries: the right - Kalakan (941 km), Kalar (885 km) and the left - Tsipu (851 km from the mouth).
25 km below the mouth of Tsipa, the mountains retreat from the river, the valley expands and Vitim opens into the Bambui Basin. Now, on both sides, low swampy banks with a ledge of 1.5 - 2 m break off to the water. The river, maintaining a fast flow, acquires a calm character. Walking around the pebble spits, she makes smooth, wide curves. Many low forested islands. Almost each of them develops a small roll.
Another 22 km - and the wide (up to 4 km) Bambuika valley approaches on the left. Not far from its mouth is the village of Bambuika.
In total there are 15 rifts and 42 rifts in this section.
The mouth of Bambuika - Paramsky threshold (655 km) - 149 km.
Below the mouth of the Bambuika, the Vitim flows through the basin for about l12 km. The river is wide, with a vigorous but calm current. The banks are low and forested. Many islands.
Then the mountains closing the basin from the north again come close to the water: Vitim enters the boundaries of the South Muya Range. Rocks squeeze a powerful, high-water river up to 150 - 200 m. The valley takes on the appearance of a dark, deep gorge, the steep, steep banks of which are completely covered with screes of destroyed rocks. Vitim boils and foams on the stones, which in many places have blocked the riverbed. The river has this character throughout the entire 50-kilometer section of the ridge crossing.
This is the most difficult part of Vitim for swimming, where tourists will have to overcome 8 of the most stormy and dangerous rifts. The nature of the water situation there depends entirely on the water level in the river and can change dramatically even within a day. Due to its structure and conditions of passage, each of the shivers requires a special approach. But they all have one common quality - the higher the water level, the easier it is to bypass the main waves in the main stream, through which there is no passage for tourist ships. At low water, when the mass of stones composing the riverbed is exposed and the waves increase, some of the rifts must be enclosed.
8 km after Vitim enters the Yuzhno-Muysky ridge, the first rift on the river is the Big Spit (sh-11), about 600 m long. Here a huge pebble-boulder spit juts into the riverbed, bending around which the river makes a large loop to the right. The shiver is located at the very apex of the turn. It has a clear passage from stones in the middle of the stream even in low water. At high levels the rift turns into a rapid.
After 2 km, the second rift is the Shirokaya River (sh-12), 200 - 250 m long. It is located at the very end of the right-bank pebble spit before narrowing. In deep water it is almost invisible. Shivera Bolshaya Spit and Shirokaya Rechka are the easiest in this section.
After 5 km, the next rift is Bolshaya, or Verkhnyaya Tuzalinskaya (sh-13). It belongs to the six most powerful Vitim shivers, which have gained sad fame among rafters and the local population.
Shivera is located on a small left bend in the river. In middle water, Vitim here is about 150 m wide. On the right side there is a steep, high bank. The stream, reflected from the rocky ledges, creates strong excitement along it. It gradually rolls in damping shafts across the entire width of the river. The left bank is a large pebble-boulder spit, on which the stream strongly pushes. When the water recedes, many stones - “huts” - are exposed in the riverbed. They cut through the flow, creating high, up to 0.5 m, oblique standing waves and making swimming conditions even more difficult.
The length of a particularly dangerous section is about 1 km. When passing the rift, you must try to cling to the left bank, being careful, however, of the pile-up on the coastal stones. The higher the water level, the fewer stones sticking out of it, the further it is possible to move away from the channel “huts” and the excitement caused by the rocks of the right bank, the easier it is to pass the rift.
After 4 km of relatively calm sailing there is the Malaya or Nizhnyaya Tuzalinskaya rift (sh-14). By nature she is exact copy her “big sister”, only in a mirror image. Here there is a slight turn to the right, a steep rocky bank is on the left, and a pebble spit on the right. In low water, the spit, jutting into the river, squeezes it up to 100 m. In the riverbed, many randomly scattered stone blocks protrude from the water. The waves are weaker than on Bolshaya Tuzalinskaya. The length of the rift is 600 m. It must be passed along the pebble spit of the right bank. To do this, after leaving the previous shiver, you need to cross Vitim in advance. It is impossible to completely avoid anxiety. Already at the exit you will have to overcome several low standing waves running from the shore to the middle.
Over the next 6 km, the speed of the Vitim current is 10 - 12 km/h. The entire surface of the river, like pockmarks, is strewn with water “outbursts”. From these mounds, a quarter of a meter high and 2 to 3 m in diameter, you can get an idea of ​​the enormous power lurking behind the apparent calm of the river. The mosaic of “outbursts” is changing all the time. The rising water with irresistible force throws the tourist boat to the right and then to the left.
It is hopeless to fight its influence on the course, and there is nothing else left to do but act in accordance with the will of the flow, taking it as an ally.
The river is sandwiched on both sides by steep mountain slopes. The width is only 100 - 120 m. A strong wind almost always blows here. If it is oncoming, then swimming becomes very difficult, especially for inflatable vessels. Even on kayaks it is difficult to maintain the desired course.
The “calm” water ends at the mouth of the Tuldun River (left tributary), which flows into Vitim in two branches immediately after a sharp turn to the right. 0.5 km below, opposite the old mine of the Promising Spit, the Tuldunskaya shaver (sh-15) thunders. Its length is about 1.5 km.
The right bank along the entire length of the rift is continuous rocky cliffs. Under them, occupying about a third of the river, the bulk of the water flows and strong waves are formed with large foamy standing waves up to 1.5 m high. The waves are caused by several bottom ridges of bedrock, protruding into the river almost to the middle. There is no passage for any tourist boats on the right side of the river.
On the other side, a huge pebble-boulder spit protrudes far into the channel, the half-submerged and underwater stones of which create a complex water situation on the left side of the stream. But it is much less dangerous than on the right. At low and medium water levels, the rift passes close to the left bank, along the edge of the pebble spit. To determine this path, reconnaissance is required. For this purpose, you need to land on the left bank immediately beyond the mouth of Tulduni, at the beginning of the boulder spit.
As water horizons rise, the picture changes somewhat. While the elements continue to rage under the right bank, in the center of the channel the protruding and half-submerged stones protruding from the water go under the water, and the flow levels out here. But near the left bank spit the excitement intensifies. The flow begins to be reflected from the boulders, forming large, up to 0.5 - 0.7 m, oblique standing shafts.
In addition, if the flood also flows along Tulduni, then the swollen river, flowing into Vitim, cuts it with a powerful directed flow by almost a third of its width, which complicates the approach and mooring to the beginning of the spit. Therefore, with high water levels, it is preferable to pass the Tuldun Shivera in the middle of the river, although you will have to jump over the waves.
After 5 km, on a sharp right turn, the most dangerous, according to local standards, rift is located - Sivak (sh-16). Such fame was created for it by rafters who lost their cargo and sometimes their lives here for many decades. From the point of view of piloting large ships and rafts, this is indeed true. The Sivak shivera is the shallowest (depth up to 1 m) and clogged with stones.
The fairway is winding. Speeds during floods reach 18 - 20 km/h. Its length is about 1.5 km. For tourist ships that allow a roundabout maneuver past the main waves, passing the Sivak rift is no more difficult than the Tuldun rift.
The left bank of Vitim in this place is rocky and steep, the right bank is a low pebble spit, flooded as the water level rises. The main flow goes through the center, where the main excitement is concentrated.
Already into the middle water, a wide passage opens on the right side, calm, but shallow and heavily clogged with stones. The only way here is through the rift. To get to it, you need to immediately cross the river after Tulduni and walk along the right bank. The higher the water horizons, the further you can move away from the disturbances of the main jet going in the middle, the easier it is to pass the rift. But it is not possible to completely avoid it, since the terminal shafts occupy the entire river bed from bank to bank.
After 3 km, Vitim makes a sharp, almost 90º, turn to the right. Its waters reflecting from sheer cliff high char on the left bank, rush to the next rift - Blagodatnaya, or Taksimskaya (sh-17), located 1.5 km around the bend. In front of her, Vitim widens somewhat, then rushes forward in a frantic dance of waves.
The left bank of the river is rocky, steep, with several “spurs” - projections of bedrock into the river, from which a whole series of obliquely running standing shafts are formed. Exactly the same shafts extend from the right bank, where huge slabs of bedrock emerge to the surface.
Shivera is deceptive. At the entrance, the middle is completely clear and calm. But after just 800 m, the oblique swells, reflected from the banks, converge, colliding with their manes, raising fountains of spray and foam. In this chaos of waves, the height of which reaches 1 - 1.5 m, it is easy for a kayak to capsize.
In deep water, the rift is overcome under the right bank above the flooded spit. Swimming is relatively easy, despite the abundance of rocks. At low horizons, you need to go in the same place, but the head part of the rift - 5 ridges of boulders - will have to be enclosed. The carryover is only 350 - 400 m. However, the path on wet and slippery stones is difficult, and this operation takes 3 - 4 hours.
Shivera Blagodatnaya requires mandatory reconnaissance. The river flows restlessly for 2.5 km, and then tourists are greeted by the last one at the section where Vitim crosses the South Muisky ridge, the Ivanovskaya Shive (sh-18).
The right bank here is high and steep, the left bank is low and pebbly. The main stream flows under the right bank. It's pretty quiet on the left. The length of the beam is 600 m. In low water it is walked, like all the previous ones, along a pebble spit. In the big one, all the stones are flooded, and the rift turns into a rapid. It is not folded for swimming, and an experienced group can navigate it on the move.
After 3 km, the surrounding mountains, having reached their greatest height, suddenly break off, and Vitim from a narrow canyon-like gorge spills out into the expanse of the Muya Basin. After the constant darkness that reigned over the roaring river, a sea of ​​light and silence amazes the traveler.
For 9 km the river flows in one gradually widening channel, then breaks into three large independent branches. The main - navigable - is the middle channel. Its width is 1200 m.
The left one, up to 0.5 km wide, is called Stary Vitim and stretches parallel to the main one for almost 20 km, broken up by numerous islands. A third channel, about 10 km long, branches off to the right of the main channel. It's shallow. The total flood of Vitim in the lowland reaches 5000 m.
The Muya Basin is relatively densely populated. There are several villages here. The main ones are: Tolmachevakiy - a base for rafters and logging workers, Muya - a collective farm and airfield, Nelyaty - a former warehouse for delivering goods to Chara. The first two are located on the left bank of the Vitim, near the mouth of the Muya, the last - on the right, 20 km down the river. The remaining villages - Spitsyno, Dagobchan, Bargalino and Paramskoye - are small, with only a few houses. In the Muya Basin you see with your own eyes what the border of time zones is, which here passes through Vitim. On the right bank of the river it is always an hour later than on the left. If you are late for the cinema in Nelyaty, then you may well be in time for the same show in Muya.
From the mouth of the Muya (left tributary - 716 km) Vitim makes a huge, more than 20 km, swim-out loop to the right. The flow slows down completely and becomes invisible. The river widens, in some places up to 1.5 km. The village of Nelyaty is located at the exit from this loop on a high sandbank, overgrown with young pine trees, and is clearly visible from afar. The villages of Muya and Tolmachevsky are not visible from the main channel, as they are located somewhat away from the river. The entire Muya extension of the river valley is a section of backwater from the Paramsky threshold. It is like the narrow neck of a huge “bottle”, which is filled with three rivers - Vidim, Muya and Kuanda (Konda). During floods this happens very quickly. And the water leaves much more slowly, flowing out only into a narrow gap in the threshold. This causes frequent floods in the Muya Basin with a large rise in water levels.

Hiking plan by day:

1. Bus Chara - village. Conda, catamaran collection
2. Konda River, rafting to the mouth of the Kumka River
3. rafting to the mouth of the Zhipkosh River
4. rafting to the Vitim River
5. rafting to the mouth of the Talaya River
6. rafting to the mouth of the Iskhan River
7. day
8. rafting to the mouth of the Yantala River
9. rafting to the mouth of the Khulugli River
10. rafting to the mouth of the Kharitonovka River
11. rafting to the mouth of the Bereya River
12. rafting to the mouth of the Karenga River
13. rafting to the mouth of the Kalakan River
14. rafting to the mouth of the Kalar River
15. rafting to the mouth of the Bambuika River
16. rafting to the mouth of the Taksimo River
17. rafting to the BAM track
18. spare day in case of rain, flood, unfavorable conditions for rafting
19. departure from Vitim station by local train to Taksimo/Hani station

Terms and prices excluding travel: 12.08.2014

VITIM ALLOYING: A RISK JUSTIFIED BY EMOTIONS

Autonomous sailing along Vitim for a group of Krasnokamensk tourists became a step in the experience. The seven-hundred-kilometer section of the river on the border of the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Republic of Buryatia holds a lot of difficulties for beginners. But the experience of other rafting helped us cope with rapids, overcome rifts, and navigate real water labyrinths without loss. The presence of a woman on board did not help the capricious body of water either.

Zab-active: Irina, how did you get involved in tourism in general?

I.N.: In 2005, at a local history conference, I met with Krasnokamensk tourists. They showed a film about rafting along the Shilka River. I began to keep in touch with them, and then, one might say, I asked to take part in the next journey on the water. Since then we have been together on all trips.

Zab-active: Of all your alloys, why was the one on Vitim especially memorable?

I.N.: Firstly, it was quite a long rafting. We were on the road for almost a month. The start was on the seventh of July. It took two days to get to Romanovka (150 kilometers from Chita), then 20 days of rafting along the river (we covered 750 kilometers by water), and on August 4th we returned home by train.

Secondly, it was a very extreme trip. Vitim is a complex, categorical river. Quite serious guys with a lot of experience raft on it. The dangers are serious: rapids, rifts. The first three days we were thrown very hard. In the last days of the journey there were terrible rapids. The wave rose about two meters. On Vitim, by the way, a lot of people on catamarans capsize and even die.

Zab-active: Wasn't it scary?

I.N.: It was scary, of course. Even in the last days before the start of the rafting, I thought: it’s worth it - it’s not worth it, to refuse - not to refuse. And I don’t regret the decision I made in the end.

Zab-active: What helped you cope with the feeling of fear?

I.N.: I was surrounded by reliable people. There were ten of us: me and three men - adults, two students and four schoolchildren. For all of us, including children, this was not the first rafting. For example, I have a third one. The men knew how to pass the rapids: they read on the Internet, talked with a man who rafted along the Vitim in the 90s.

And on our team there is Sergei Vasilyevich Savelyev, from whom calmness literally emanates. He said: “We can’t capsize our catamaran.” And somehow I believed and calmed down.

Zab-active: What preparation, what qualities are needed to participate in such trips?

I.N.: Nothing special. For example, I can’t swim at all! But everyone, naturally, floats on in life jackets. The most important physical quality is endurance. Therefore, hiking is mandatory.

Of course, there must also be purely human qualities: caring, respect for comrades. When hiking, first of all, you need to think not about yourself, but about the team. You must fulfill your responsibilities; if you don’t do something, others will suffer.

Zab-active: What was your ship?

I.N.: We made a raft from a catamaran. In general, a catamaran should look like this: two gondolas connected by metal tubes (people sit on the gondolas). We took the poles, tied them and made a raft so that we had somewhere to put our things and it was more comfortable for us to sit. This, of course, is also more reliable: the raft is more massive, heavier, plus it is slow to turn. But ordinary catamarans are light, maneuverable, and will be carried away instantly.

Zab-active: Have there been any accidents on the way?

I.N.: I will not say that this was a serious accident. They hit rocks and damaged the gondola. Nothing - they sewed it up, taped it up.

Zab-active: Was there any panic on board?

I.N.: Where will you go? Why panic? We had to cope with the situation - we had no other options...

Zab-active: What did you eat during the rafting?

I.N.: Food, as the only woman on board, was my concern. I didn’t row like men, 12 hours a day, but only cooked. I got up at 6 o'clock in the morning and lit a fire. The most basic products were stewed meat, cereals and horns (it is clear that they took with them a minimum of products and only those that would not spoil). We fished a little, fried and boiled fish. Towards the end of the journey, fishermen began to meet. Once they treated us to a bucket of perch. We ate fully (if we can apply this word to a dish in which there are only two cans of stew for ten people) only twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. For lunch we had two crackers, three sweets and tea.

Zab-active: How did you spend the night?

I.N.: The banks of Vitim are very high, 2-3 meters high, you can’t climb it just like that. That's why we slept right next to the river - on the rocks. We encountered winter huts several times, and only then the overnight stay was more or less bearable.

Zab-active: Did anything surprise you on this journey?

I.N.: I was delighted with nature. All around is wild taiga... Words cannot describe the feeling, you have to see everything with your own eyes, especially after our Krasnokamensk steppe it seems like a fairy tale. We saw bears. The bear walked into the forest through the bushes, a loud crash was heard, and the bear cub jumped out onto the shore. He stood up on his hind legs (probably greeted us), looked at us in surprise and ran back. The roe deer jumped out once.

What was unusual was that along the entire length of our journey there was practically no settlements. Only two villages met: one was located on the river bank, the other one and a half kilometers from the reservoir. You're amazed how people live there. In one of the villages there are only 57 people, there are 2 students in the school, the rest of the children go to study in another locality.

Zab-active: Did you meet anyone else on the way, besides the fishermen?

I.N.: Seven catamarans sailed past us on the last night. About 40 children from Moscow rafted together with their leaders. “Palace of Pioneers” - I think they shouted to us. We were on the shore and invited them to dock and chat, but they had bought tickets for the return trip in advance and were in a hurry.

Zab-active: What do extreme travel like this mean to you?

I.N.: This is a vacation. But, of course, specific, very difficult. Not everyone understands that this is how you can relax.

Text: Polina Sergeeva