I will go to distant mountains, to wide plains

How we went to the Crimean Mountains. Hiking "Water and Stones" August 16-20, 2009
So much has already been written and rewritten. But this is our story. It couldn't be any other way!
It was planned that the August vacation would be eventful, with a hike, the sea, and a trip somewhere else... As a result, all plans had to be changed at the last moment. But I decided not to radically change at least what I had originally planned - to go on a hike, even if by myself, with an unfamiliar group! Moreover, the necessary things were collected during the hike and the tent was the culmination of that. Of course, the website and reviews of tourists who had already walked the same “kilometers of pleasure” and a call to Svetlana, who said that almost always 1-2 people go in groups, helped me decide to take such a step.

I left a printout of the route and the instructor’s contact information at home – I’m going on a hike!!! Hooray!

And now, about our group! The guys - Katya, Sasha, Olya, Max, Kolya, Lena, Anya, Zhenya, instructor Taras and me. Geography of participants: Moscow, Minsk, Kyiv, Pervomaisk! 5 on 5 boys-girls! The main fear is that you will have to pull heavy kg of stew, etc. no longer available – thank you very much to our guys!!! We turned out to be a “perfectly matched” group of like-minded people based on various parameters. Many people went on a hike on the recommendation of friends, we knew everything about hikes at least from the website Outdoor Ukraine, we were ready for new challenges, full of pleasant expectations and optimism!

Day 1 - We survived.

Meeting at the station - on the way to the minibus (wow, how can you walk with such a backpack?), Perevalnoe village (last chance to eat fruit - pears from the store) - and to Ishachka! It was a test of the lungs (even in comparison with the following days!)... Subsequently, Taras said that there are cases when even at this stage people leave the group - the heart is missing, something else, maybe just fear. But we survived! And what a joy it was when we found out that we had already gotten out - everyone immediately perked up!

Backpacks are forgotten - we have our first photo shoots! A little more - and we got to the parking lot - the first snack was bread and pate!

Now - we are running to the Marble Cave! Our impressions took gigabytes of photo memory! The Queen on the Baby Mammoth and the Frog Princess (photo by Olya)

In the evening, over buckwheat, we get to know each other better - how different we all are - marketers, designers, engineers, programmers, ecologists!

Day 2 - We were lucky.

Get up, exercise from Katyusha, and milk millet! We are going to the peaks of Chatyr-Dag!!! We were lucky - a few clouds in the sky contributed to our progress. Nature is breathtaking, although already dry by the end of summer - there is Crimean edelweiss, and juniper, and mixed different colors, foreshadowing autumn...

But after climbing Hangar-Burun, we simply “took off” to Eklizi-Burun (1527m) without backpacks (leaving them a little lower with the instructor)!

At night we went down into the beech forest - an amazing feature of Crimea. Well, very beautiful - light and transparent!

In the evening we played “Crocodile” - and Sashko was irresistible when the word “maternity hospital” was shown.

Day 3 - We were stunned.

From the forest through the Angarsk pass we went to Demerdzhi. Dreams of (Pervomaiskaya) condensed milk...

Charming views, cliffs, heights - breathtaking!

So, we were on northern Demerdzhi, and of course we wanted to go to southern Demerdzhi. Having climbed to the top, we thought it was her, sat and looked - and went to camp. How stunned we were when we accidentally mentioned the pine tree we had seen, and found out that we had not even reached halfway to the cliff from which we could see the Valley of Ghosts! The decision has been made - we are going there at dawn! In the evening they promised a lake and swimming - for the first time in 3 days!!! Unfortunately, upon arrival the lake turned out to be very small and cold...

Day 4 - It was wonderful.

It was wonderful - we all got up around 5 am and trudged up the mountain in the dusk! And so, having passed the pine tree, we went further and further, realizing that yesterday it was not even halfway!!! And here it is, we were almost late! How quickly it rises!!! Kolya's dream No. 1 has come true!

Now - to the top and look at the Valley of Ghosts, in which the ghosts have already managed to disappear at dawn

Back along the road, hungry, we dreamed of potatoes with cracklings... We arrived just in time for breakfast - and lay down for a while. We have so much ahead of us - Dzhurla and Dzhur-Dzhur (In fact, those places because of which I went on a hike, remembering my friend’s stories about these beauties!), but where is the strength?! Of course, the waterfall season in Crimea is clearly not in August... Dzhurla Waterfall is almost dry...

How difficult this long descent to Jur-Jur turned out to be! Give us more lifts!!! For fun, we remembered Ukrainian. poems and taught from Katrusya and Sashko. “Jeezhak-zhachok, tailoring your jacket from head to tail…” And here he is!

At lunchtime, almost everyone slept... And then the rise! The only thing that gave me strength was swimming in “ice” baths (although not everyone decided to do so)!

This day turned out to be the longest, full of both impressions and workload, and the sea in the distance seemed even more attractive and alluring, so we began to think that it was time to go to the sea! Taras didn’t mind either, so they decided – tomorrow we’ll go to Generalskoye and to the sea.

Day 5 - Sea and watermelon.

We went down to Generalskoye, took a UAZ - and drove off to Solnechnogorskoye!

“Let’s buy fruit, watermelon (I’ve been dreaming about it for more than a week!), and make a whole cauldron of salad!” Kolya’s dream No. 2 has come true over the past 5 years - he’s at sea!!!

That evening we finally played mafia. Before that, we didn’t play it because we didn’t want to spoil the relationship in the group, considering this game to be vile and immoral (!). But now, when more than one km has been covered and more than one porridge has been eaten from one cauldron, everything is possible ;).

In the morning we were not sorry to leave - we will be in touch! Thank you all for your support, smiles, understanding and great time together. I would go hiking with our group again!

PS: Surprisingly, no one remembered all the days about the Internet! That's how you need to rest.

Vlada Martsinkevich

I will go to distant mountains, to wide plains
And I will ask the wind for the wind, even if I haven’t slept until the day.
Let's fly on free wings on the kichera and in Dibrova
And I learned that my dear - brown eyes, black eyebrows.

My dear, my beloved, the light is a clear color.
I bring all the bright light in my eyes to you.
I bring love, I dream young,
And let the garden bloom for me, as I come to you.

And if the wind doesn’t want to fly from the meadow,
I can still find the girl - black eyebrows, brown eyes.
I will cross the bistra rivers, and the Beskids, and the forests
And the way to show me brown eyes, black eyebrows.