This is one big beast of a lake. it holds one fifth of all the worlds fresh water and is extremely deep, 1637m at its deepest, ,making loch ness look like a puddle with a worm in it!
I was curious as to what to expect from the water, having heard varying reports of water temperatures ranging from 4 to 18c. I was prety sure I would find some cold water and I ifound more than a little. The 60km or so that I covered on foot , I can safely say the water was between 4 and 6c, measured both by my watch and by my traditional mercury themometer. When you are there you will realize that this huge expanse of water will only cool down in the few very shallow areas such as the Maloe more near Olkon Island, everywhere else it is contantly around 5c, even at the Golostnoyoe river delta where I though it might be shallower and possible warmer it was still 6c just 1 km southwest of the delta. As you would expect from a lake it is very flat with few waves although it can get very windy and apparently big waves are possible during storms. The water is amazingly trabsparent and a pleasure to swim in. However the best thing about the water is maybe the taste, it is excellent. Even in Listvyanka where 1 guide book states not of drinkable quality it tastes great and is fine to drink.
I swam 5 times for 10 or 15 minutes, considering I had come from 16c water and a contintental European summer I was happy with this as preparation for the Bering Streait swim.
Incidentally I only saw 1 other person swim in the lake and that was for about 10 seconds.
Lake Baikal has over 300 tributaries but only 1 river drains the lake – the mighty Angara. It really is a beautiful sigt to see the Angara river taking the water of Baikal lake downstream in the direction of Irkutsk. The Angara is as beautiful a river as Baikal is a lake and the water is just as clear and clean. Just a degree or 2 warmer than the lake it was about 6/7c where I swam halfway between Irkutsk and Listvyakna. and was a really enjoyable swim. At one point the river is slow and lazy and then you feel it pull and its faster. At the point where it starts flowing from Baikal its really quick, a speed of 21metres per minute. I don’t know what that is in cubics but it is a fair bit and pretty much sums up the power and vastness of this place.
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