The warm north 2013 ( Karelia & Kola peninsula )

Hello. I`m reading this forum several years , and now I want to try to post my ride report here. It is my first experience of writing ride reports in English. Anyway, I hope that it will be interesting for you.

Well , some words about me. My name is Andrew. I`m living in Moscow. Now I ride my third motorcycle - KTM 990 Adventure - great bike for long-distance rides with offroad parts. This(2013) summer I planned to go to Nordkapp, but my girlfriend got some problems at her work and unfortunately as a result we canceled this trip.

A couple days later, my friends called me to the Rybachiy(it is means “fishing”) peninsula - the most northen point of the european part of Russia.

Day 1. Moscow - Ladoga lake(“Long coast” camping).

At 7 my KTM was on BP gas statian where I was supposed to meet my friend Dmitry. Highway beetween Moscow and St. Petersburg is not interesting - it is full of trucks, with lot of jams on cities.

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Somewhere in Novgorod area(about 500 km from Moscow) we were in thunderstorm - there was lot of water wall from trucks - and little time later we were stopped at the gas station. There was two problems - my tanks was almost empty and there was no electricity on the station because of the storm. So we was not able to move forward. But the good news was that there we met with several motorcyclists.

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After some time we continued driving. On the road around St. Petersburg we got to Karelia and began to move along the coast of Ladoga Lake. Summer the white nights there, so there was perfect lake views through the twiligt

Day 2. Ladoga Lake - Yudozero Lake.

Karelia Republic is an area in north of European part of Russia between Leningrad region in south, Murmansk region in north, Finland in west and the White sea in east. In Russia it also known as “Country of a thousand rivers and lakes” and if you will look at map - you will understand that it is a correct name. :) I was on Karelia many times and think that most intersting places located along Finland border: there is a lot of gravel roads(more than 1000 km if you are moving from south to north) , lakes, rivers and forest, of course.
Of course you can move on the M-18 highway - it`s a good road, but this way is not so interesting.

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So we woke up on the camping. That day we were supposed to meet with our friends who drove from St. Petersburg to go together to the north. We met after the breakfast. Our company consisted of: two 990 Adv, F800GS , Transalp and XT600Z.

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The start was late. After about twenty kilometres asphalt ended but i don`t immediately understand it - gravel was very good and also TKC80 were a good choice for those roads. Anyway our group lost a speed - I went ahead , got about 100 km/h and drove alone most of time, waited my friends on the crotches. But sometimes I was riding together with XT600Z or 990 Adv.

It was a great day - every return to Karelia is like a holiday for me. My KTM raced on gravel roads through beatiful places. We lucked with pavent - it was wet(but not too watery) - the sand did not create problems for us , and a small amount of water on the road allowed us to ride fast.

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We got small distance that day because some of us were riding in early morning and in the evening they was tired. Fortunately, in those places there is no problem to find a camp place. We stopped in one of many Karilan lakes, which called Yudozero.

Great story and pictures. Will we see some more of your adventure?

Very interesting. Waiting for more..

Many thanks! Here is a video from first part of report: https://vimeo.com/82048891 . I will try to post next part as soon as possible , but my English is not too good, so i will need some time. :)

Great story looking forward to read more

Day 3. Yudozero Lake - Onda river.
After the breakfast we talked about our route plan and concluded that we have not enough time for visit the national park “Paanajarvi”(offtopic: I was there in 2009 and I highly recommend this park).

And again gravel roads but now there are many puddles. When I crossed one of it at about 80 km/h - I got small loose of control , but situation was normalized by the throttle. My friends were less fortunate - Alexey(Transalp) fell when his bike collided with rock after crossing a puddle. He is ok, but a little injured his leg. We took him to a doctor at nearest township.

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On the next stop Dmitry told that he also fell(I did not saw that because I rode first) - at the speed about 80 km/h he skidded in the sand. He was not injured and his bike was apparently very strong - only small problems with plastic and some problems with Touratech parts.

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We decided to go to the asphalt highway - *at the Muezerskiy we went out to A-134 road. It was a little sad - I planned to go on the gravel road to Tungozero(it`s about 450 km to the north).

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We camped at coast of Onda river after several attepts to find a place. A little beer, mosquitoes and life was getting better. :)

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Video from there: https://vimeo.com/82079339

Day 4. Onda river - Hybiny.
Some words about Hybiny. Hybiny is mountains in the middle of Kola Peninsula. It`s not very high - about 1200 m at the highest point and another important detail - it is flat. If you will climb on one of this mountains - you will see a plateau. So, for climbing in summer time you don't need anything except your legs.
There is a small hotel in the center of Hybiny, where you can get a bed, a shower, a food or just park you bike and to camp nearby. And there is a gravel road between nearest city(Kirovsk) - road has few difficult places such as quite big rocks and several big puddles.

But at that time we were still in Karelia. Breakfast was short - we were planning to eat in a nearest gas station. Riding on M-18 (Kola highway) was boring - I rode here many times before.

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Near the Kem` the tail of our group lagged behind. We(me and Evgeniy on KTM 990) stopped and waited for them. It turned out that XT600Z had problems with carburetor - bike lost power and was moving on speed about 60-70 km/h.

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On the next gas station Alexey showed us how to quickly(in one hour) disassemble bike, remove carburetor, clean it and assemble it all back. Unfortunately it did not help.

About 450 km to the planned camp point. Alexey now rides first, I`m next - speed steel about 60-70 km/h. And suddenly Tenere begins to speed up. 80...100...120...on about 140 i closed the throttle and pretty fast lost sight of him.

We met after about 100 km , when Alexey says that it was not a miracle - he just accelerated by the clutch. And now the clutch is over. We called the people from the help list of moto-travels.ru - a man from Kandalaksha agreed to help us. Just one problem - it`s about 170 km, but maximum speed of Tenere - about 30 km/h.

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My KTM 990 shows less then 5 litres per 100 km. It took a few hours. But we did it. There we said goodbye to Alexey.

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About three hours letter we were at the beginning of next gravel road. Just watch the video: https://vimeo.com/71317911 .About four o'clock in the morning( it was the midnight sun). Water is very cold . After that there was many snow(there was an avalanche in May) - we met two motorcyclists on cross bikes there - they said that they had problems with a ride through the snow. We looked this place and decided that even if we will pass - it will require a lot of time and a lot of effort.

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In addition Alexey(Transalp) was fell and hurt his injured leg. As result we have agreed that Alexey and Evgeniy will go to a hotel on nearest city(Kirovsk) and we(me and Dmitriy) will camp at the lake. And the next day we were to met.

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After the water crossing(again) and riding through the hills we found a great place for our tents. When I was drinking my tea - sun was rising from behind the mountains over the water.

Your report is very enjoyable to read! Thank you for giving us your time to post it here! And your video was great -- that was more like riding up a river than it was a road crossing a river. I am looking forward to your next episode. Thanks again!

Hi. The third part.

Day 5. Hybiny - Murmansk.
We woke up late(about 2 pm) because we were driving all last night. It was a rest day, so we had much time. We called to Evgeniy and Alexey - they stopped in Murmansk(about 220 km).

About two hours later we were ready for start , but there was one problem: forest rangers came and said that we must pay a fine. Usually , there is no problems to camp in that places, but in those days there was a fire hazard situation. We could not know it. Fine was small(about 10$), but it took a lot of time.

I have never been in north of Hybiny. Road(again M-18) is beautiful - north landscapes - hills, stones, a moss, fast cold rivers and small trees.

In Murmansk we stayed in hotel “Parallel 69”. It is ok.

Here my another friends come in my story. They(Pavel and Svetlana) started few days after us from Moscow on their Transalp. Friends of Pavel from small motorcycle club(not MC, but I don't know how to call it correctly in English) “Los Murmanchanos” invited us to their garage. It was very pleasant meeting - so we decided to stay in Murmansk for one more day.

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Also in Murmansk I began to afraid that my rear tire might ends before I get back home. I wrote the e-mail man who often sold me tires and we agreed that my new rear K60 Scout will wait for me in Petrozavodsk in a few days.

Day 6. Murmansk

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It was just rest day before the next offroad part of our route. For example, we were in Murmansk oceanarium. The evening was spent in bar. Evgeniy and Alexey did not join us - next morning we had to start separately - they wanted to go early morning, but we(Dmitry, Pavel and me) did not want to hurry.

Day 7. Murmansk - "MotoBuhta"

In the morning we saw three another bikes instead of bikes of our friends(they had already gone). There was 990 Adv and R1200GS with foreign number plates and the third was 990 Adv of man who's name was Dmytry. He was riding together with his friend and his young son on TLC(Toyota Land Cruiser). We will see their later.

So , about Ribachiy Peninsula. There is something about 180 km between Murmansk and the lighthouse placed on the northernmost point of Rybachiy Peninsula. Last 70 km of route - offroad part - gravel roads, pass, rocks, sand, water.
The First - there is no petrol stations after Murmansk - i highly recommend to take a fuel for 500 km(you can hide it somewhere near road to use on return way). For example my KTM 990 Adv ate about 35 litres and I had empty tanks on first station when I returned to Murmansk.
Second you should know - usually there is a lot of water. And there is nothing easier than to get water into engine. Take an oil filter and oil. And read some texts about removing water out of oil.

In previous parts I forgot to tell about one important thing. The last few years in the first weekend of July there is the small motorcycle event called “MotoBuhta” (“The Motorcycle Bay”) which is located on the coast of Motovsky Bay. This is on the way to Rybachiy(about 45 km to the lighthouse).

So. The asphalt part between Murmansk and Rybachiy is good. There is a border guard`s post near the turn to the gravel road. There I met with one of my LiveJournal friends - he is from Moscow too, but it was our first meeting. :)

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Gravel road was not so good(because of holes and sand), but at speed about 60 km/h and with TKC80 it was ok. On the “drunk” brook we drank one can of beer for four - it is a tradition of that place(for good luck).

Then there was the pass. But before it i stopped my engine and waited for my friends. The silence - I heard only the wind. It was very strange to be there.
The way through pass was quite easy - the only problem was stones on the way down. After this I lost my tent - others motorcyclists return it to me. And while I was tying it to my KTM, someone said me “Hi”. It was Alexey on his XT600 - he repaired it!

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One hour later our tents were placed in “MotoBuhta”. There was no Evgeniy and Alexey(Transalp), but their tents were in place - apparently they went to the lighthouse.

Alexey(XT600Z) offered us to go to the Rybachiy and I agreed. It was the start of the main part of our trip.

Thanks! Unfortunatenly I don`t speak English as well as Russian, but I`m trying to make my report interesting. :)

About water in video - local people call it "brooks". Rivers in those places are much bigger and faster :)

Hello! Video for this part: https://vimeo.com/84628395

After several km from our camp, I got SMS from Evgeniy. It was the short message "I dropped my KTM into water. We can`t start engine." It happened near the lighthouse. Bad news.

There is something about 40 km between "MotoBuhta" and the lighthouse. First part is gravel road. Lot of pits, but in case of riding at 60-80 km/h - it is not so bad. After the crossroad road goes along bay. Here we met with man on Kawasaki Versys - he got problems with his rear wheel - large hole in the tire - I think that it should had to be replaced about 2000-3000 km earlier.

Next - stones. Many parts of the road(about 100-200 m each) where the road consist of stones. You got two choices in that places: to ride standing up at 40-50 km/h or to ride slow with feets on the ground. In the stone climb to the small hill I fell. It was scary to pickup motorcycle because I excepted to see hole in the engine. But it was ok - just scratches on my crash bars.

Look at the video. Every time when you will stop on Ribachiy - you will se something like that. Unreal place.
We forgot our water near our tents and there was small problem to find fresh water there so we was drinking from small streams and pure puddles.

The lighthouse








Vaida-Guba

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After part of road through low tide line and small watercrossing we came to the lighthouse. I stood near my motorcycle, looked at the sea and there was one simple idea - there is only a water and nothing else further from this place. There was many motorcyclists near -they came from "MotoBuhta" too.

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After half hour we found Evgeniy, Alexey and about ten other motorcyclists near them. It was near abandoned buildings of Vayda-Guba village. At that moment our friends were there about six hours.

We tried to start engine with battery from Tenere , but it did not give any result - water was flowing from the spark plug hole - it looked like we needed new oil and battery. Also we tried to get help from the lighthouse keepers but they could not help us.

Our friends stayed overnight near lighthouse and we went back to "MotoBuhta" to find help there. We came to the camp at 6 am.

Hello Mixermsk,
I'm a french traveller and I enjoyed our ride report in Murmansk area where I have discover Ribachiy peninsula.

Then, i searched some informations to visit this place in August. I learn that a permission from FSB is needed for foreigners, but I don' t know exactly where begin the limits of the controlled zone. Away from the main road A138 ? At the first Isthmus of Musta Tunturi ? At the second Isthmus of Ribachiy Peninsula ?
Is a foreigner allowed to visit alone ? With any russian guy ? With official guide ?
Thanks for your answer.

Hello. Unfortunately I have no full information to answer your question. Customs checkpoint(the first of several from Murmansk to Norway) placed on the E-105 road , near(about 50m) turn to Rybachiy: http://maps.yandex.ru/-/CVfVi24w (point "1" on the map) . As I know, you will need permission from FSB - without it you will be not allowed to be outside main roads in the area near border(because it is special territory) and Ribachiy - too.

You can ask here: http://motomurmansk.0pk.ru/ (it is the forum of Murmansk motorcyclists). I think that you can use English there

Thanks for your quick answer.

Hi!
Not exactly.
Formally, foreigners should not go off the highway to the border with Norway.
Virtually nobody is watching, and anyone can visit the peninsula Rybachyi.
Few information here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=864014

Forgot to say - the local government is planning to reserve peninsulas Srednyi & Rybachyi, the rules may change.

Anyone riding a motorcycle to Murmansk probably knows that the must-be point during that trip is Sergey's Moto-hotel in Kola. Recently came second important take-a-rest point of north of Russia, Guest House in Suoyarvi with Katerina and Sergei . It is situated 140km from boring Murman road M18, so driving through the wild forests of Karelia near the lake Suojarwi certainly is a great stepping stone in the asphalt trip. Karelian forests have good gravels so no worries about passability throughout the whole year- roads are cleared also in winter.
website: http://www.motohostel.ru
and info from Katerina:

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Почувствуйте и Вы этот дух свободы , сделайте новые открытия вместе с нами !
Мы находимся Россия , республика Карелия , 10 км . от города Суоярви . Смотрите схему проезда !
Наши координаты : N62 ° 10.342 ' E 32 ° 24.944 '
Наш телефон : +7.921.457.61.20




Means that for about 15$ we have bed, garage tools and welder, access to the lake, fenced area, help in dealing with other bikers and advice on the rides and attractions from a very obliging owners.
Contact language is Russian and German although it will extend to English .
We were there by accident and highly recommend it. Our tracks: http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/work...f89fupvvefsfjn and fotos with gps coordinates : https://picasaweb.google.com/1154255...hibinyRibaczij

Russians encountered by us were always friendly, open and welcoming, as all people are everywhere. Media world is the world of politics , heavily distorted . It should go to Russia to find out for yourself!

Thanks, great report, what is the best time to go there? august or september?

I do not know what he thinks the author, but I advise July :)))) Warm, white nights. In August too well; cold in September, is the Arctic.

Hi Mixermsk,

inspiring report + very helpful for me regarding Rybachiy Peninsula.

Have you been to the Motobutha rally? Can you give me a rough idea of the size of the rally (a few dozen guys, some hundred?).

Cheers

Panny

Panny, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation :)
- In 2016 Motobuhta will take place July 8-10 on the peninsula Rybachiy.
The road to the complex for some motorcycles, people will think to 100.



Last year the meeting was about the village Varzuga there a simple way, there were a lot of people:



Here the camp in 2013 on the peninsula Sredniy:



Welcome!

Hi IvanRUS,

thanks for the information and the pictures.
Sounds tempting, but I did some calculations on our route meanwhile: no chance to be there at that date.
Most likely we´ll be in Murmansk in the last week of June - that is, if there´s time enough left to go there after exploring the southern/middle part of Karelia.

Greetings to Murmansk, Ivan!

Panny