This trip, although it had been planned for a long time, happened completely by accident. Getting ready took only 2 days, and this despite the fact that the New Year was just around the corner and there were also plenty of other concerns. The initially planned route: Maly Mayak - Paragilmen - Babugan - Yalta Yayla - Ai-Petri. In reality, we walked like this...
Day 1 of the hike - January 2.
From Simferopol by minibus to the Small Lighthouse. Ascent up past the Sharkha quarry. On the way we met tourists celebrating the New Year on the yaila. They slightly scared us with a blizzard and snow and wished us good luck. We stopped for the night at the Talma spring. The temperature is around zero. Starting from a height of 600 meters, the ground is covered with shallow snow (5-10 centimeters).
Day 2 of the hike - January 3.
Rise at 6 am. At 8 after breakfast we continue moving up the dirt road. At 10:23 we are already on the Babugan plateau. There are clouds on the plateau with us, thereby depriving us of the panorama of Alushta. We walk along the road towards the gas pipeline. Gradually the clouds rise, and the snow, on the contrary, becomes deeper. In fact, it’s real winter all around. Except for the almost zero temperature. We cross Babugan-yayla at a brisk pace. After lunch at 14:00 we make a radial ascent to Roman-Kosh - the highest peak of Crimea. Before sunset (16:30) we manage to reach the Gazebo of the Winds. Apparently the name was given to it by knowledgeable people, because there really was wind there. Moreover, for the night we decided to hide under the snow-covered pines. We had fun all evening melting snow for dinner and breakfast. Went to bed around 9.
Day 3 of the hike - January 4.
Overnight the weather completely deteriorated. The wind increased, the clouds thickened, and the temperature dropped. The tents were frozen over and opened with great difficulty. While we were getting ready, a real snowstorm began. Visibility is zero. In such conditions, I did not dare to continue moving along the ridge and decided to go down along the Romanovskoe Highway. The highway, however, was constantly hidden from us under deep snow drifts and only lonely kilometer markers assured us that the chosen path was correct. at 12:30 we passed the Nikitsky pass, marked with a sign in the form of a blue globe. Immediately after the pass, the road disappeared in an unknown direction and I spent the next half hour in intuitive fermentation. Then the road, thank God, returned and never disappeared again. We passed the Red Stone cordon and at about 16:00 we stopped for the night near the Uch-Kosh gorge.
Day 4 of the hike - January 5.
It would be boring to walk further along the road, so we decided to go down the gorge. Its streams, snowdrifts and wet stones greatly enlivened the journey. I must say that the gorge turned out to be very picturesque, especially its lower part. It’s strange that so little attention is paid to it in guidebooks to Crimea. After all, it’s a stone’s throw from here to Yalta, and the views are no worse than in the Grand Canyon. As far as I understand, water flowed from local streams to the palace of Alexander 3 in Massandra. Numerous wells and pipes went to the left, we followed them and ended up in the village of Sovetsky (also known as the Dolossy sanatorium). From there by minibus to Yalta and then by trolleybus to the turn to Lavrovoye. For what? I was going to discover Ayu-Dag (Bear Mountain). We had to open it late in the evening and in the rain. In 2 hours we climbed to the top of the holy mountain and set up camp in the middle of the forest.
Day 5 of the hike - January 6.
I hoped to see the mountains from Ayu-Dag. But the clouds never cleared. Moreover, they dropped even lower - to 600 meters. But I had no time for sadness, I had to explore the area. It turned out that the mountain was surprisingly clean, that there were practically no observation platforms and everything was covered with forest, that in the forest there were many remains of medieval buildings and fortress walls. Having walked around the entire Ayu-Dag, we descended into Partenit. More precisely, to the sanatorium of the Ministry of Defense. A very beautiful sanatorium - with palm trees, bamboo and other exotic plants in a well-kept park. After sitting by the sea for a while, we set off on our way back. To Kyiv. 