Our Siberian taiga forests are mostly coniferous, surrounding the lake on all sides. If you hike along the shoreline on a spring day you can take it all in. You might start by taking a hike through one of our Siberian cedar pine forests, or an ancient grove of poplar trees. Then, when you step out of the forest, you might walk barefoot through some alpine meadows, with primroses and globeflowers at your feet, with snow-clad mountains towering above.
The next open field might offer a wide vista of local lilac-pink flowers that belong to the rhododendron family—and just beyond that, you might come across fields of edelweiss and wild iris. Sometimes you'll stumble across a landscape that resembles a carpet of flowers, a true dreamscape for photographers and other lovers of nature. Whatever you do, when you plan a hike at Baikal, be sure to give yourself several hours of extra time, so that you can stop and gawk at all the flowers. You might find it impossible to tear yourself away from all those curly yellow lilies and drooping columbines.
By the time August rolls around you should get ready to go out berry-hunting — the best kind of hunting in our forests. Russians will spend entire weekends in the late summer and early fall, picking wild lingonberries, currants, strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, etc. Or the fruit of the honeysuckle, which is edible here in Siberia. Don't be surprised on a Sunday afternoon if you spot lots of local Russians with blue lips and hands, stained almost black with berry juice! Also don't be surprised if you are served a bonanza of berries for breakfast every morning (as well as for lunch and dinner!). No need to take vitamin C supplement pills here!
Russians also love picking wild mushrooms around Baikal. Every mushroom here has its own flavour with a special name, ranging from the "saffron milk cap" and "boletus" mushrooms, to the stubby "aspen" mushrooms. If your tour guide is a local Russian, they likely will have extra butter and potatoes in their backpack, along with a frying pan—always ready to cook up a wonderful mix of mushrooms over a campfire.
*If you are traveling on your own, and you don't know the name of all the plants and mushrooms by sight, you can always use the following apps to determine what you are looking at: PictureThis; PlantNet; PlantSnap; iNaturalist
*As you might guess, it's not always a great idea to taste anything that you might find in nature, unless you are 100% sure that its edible and non-poisonous.
*Although it's always tempting, it's really better if you don't pick the local flowers. Some of them might be rare or endangered plants, and under special protection. Plus…....a meadow full of flowers is always more attractive and memorable than one where the flowers have been picked or trampled on!