Children of nature

Carpathian trek through the Wild Gorgans in September 2009

- Well, why the hell did you forget there? I thought I was already crazy... Isn’t close contact with nature once a year enough for you? After all, I was in the Crimea in the summer on this trip, at the end of June, I think?...you’ll get a breath of oxygen, so you know... Don’t forget, baby, we are now more likely Homo Urbanus than children of nature... Well, why are you silent? Don't make me angry!
- Leave me alone, I'm going... If you get in the way, I'll forget something again, what if it turns out to be a strategically important thing, and then what should I do? It will be your fault...

After all, mountains are made for...
to show a person what a dream could look like.
Yu. Vizbor

- Well, why the hell did you forget there? I thought I was already crazy... Isn’t close contact with nature once a year enough for you? After all, I was in the Crimea in the summer on this trip, at the end of June, I think?... You’ll get a breath of oxygen, so you know... Don’t forget, baby, we are now more likely Homo Urbanus than children of nature... Well, why are you silent? Don't make me angry!

- Leave me alone, I'm going... If you interfere, I'll forget something again, what if it turns out to be all strategically important, and then what should I do? It will be your fault...

- No, it's unbearably simple! They also make me feel guilty, shameless! But tell me, did I have to do my nails last week in vain, we seemed to be planning to go to the sea?...mmm, okay, you’re right, of course, I was the one who was planning to, but still...maybe you’ll change your mind again?

- I’ll bring you a cone, okay?
- Very nice of you. Haha...I’ll do ikebana later on New Year’s Eve...
- and I’ll also bring a little mountain wind, the twinkling of stars in the velvet blue sky, the captivating aroma of late grasses, the piercing blue of some unknown flowers that look like bells, the smell of a fire permeating your hair... How do you like the prospect? Not beckoning? Or maybe it’s still with me?
- Well, well (ironically) ... and I’ll fight off bears and badgers with my nails, right?
- Poor bears...

No, this is not a conversation between two friends, quite different in worldview and interests... This is a small internal monologue that arises in the head of almost every novice tourist, the process of turning into a “chronicle tourist” has begun, and this process is quite irreversible...

It is characterized by the appearance in the vocabulary of the infected person of specific words - karimat (aka foam), kettle, “chpok”, traverse, radial... the development of conditioned reflexes to the commands “firewood”, “get water”, “halt”, “drag the raisins”, “army stew” (caresss the ear)... the appearance in the wardrobe of “breathable socks” (I came across decent socks, at night snored, did not disappear anywhere), fleece and red poncho raincoats (the latter are distinguished by their bad character, because at a fairly high cost they never served their owner)... In general, the process has begun...

But now, after an impressive victory over the sluggishly resisting mind, the backpack was packed decisively and irrevocably, everything necessary was taken, the most necessary things were stuffed in at the last moment, and weight No. 1 - the spoon - was safely forgotten at home (unreliable traitor). As a true chocolate addict, I didn’t forget to stock up on my favorite ROSHENO for the trip, although I must admit, there was no shortage of chocolate, which couldn’t help but rejoice... (thanks to Slava for that too)

Ivano-Frankovsk...station...group meeting...incredulous identification of our pioneer leader, whom the photo sent by Kirill disguised beyond recognition...And after an hour-long trip, drinking some exotic, very tasty wine along the way (thank you Olyam!), eating German chocolate, getting to know each other for the first time, looking at the landscapes from the minibus window, children of nature (we) are finally arrived where we should have arrived - the village of Zelenoe...

During the distribution of products, Fate in the person of Slava decreed that I became the Keeper of a Strategically Important Product - the national Ukrainian drug - Sal (Ordinary Sal, Sal with Red Pepper, Green Suspicious Sal, which was destroyed first). Thus, I automatically became a valuable member of the group...

And then there was the hike itself...

The first blackberry found, then another and another, everyone’s tongues are blue like a chow-chow’s, except we don’t wag our tails with delight...

…the greenery of the meadows and mountains, so piercingly emerald that you feel like some kind of leprechaun in the very center of Ireland, looking for hidden treasures, but no, this is all “Made in Ukraine”, and these treasures are around you and inside you, you just need to see them….

...in the delicious transparency of the autumn air...

...in the drops of dew on the spruce paws, in the whitish silkiness of the autumn grass, in which amazing cobalt-blue flowers live, and it seems that they bloom here all year round, even in winter...

...in the carelessness of the wild, furry Urra-Forest (three times cheers for Slava for dragging us there) ... there is moss, moss, the softness of which any Persian cat would envy, you want to stroke and caress it ... but it is insidious ...

... in the cool fogs of the Carpathian meadows and the quiet neighing of local semi-wild mustangs, casually shaking their silky manes... handsome men

...in the transparent pastel colors of the pre-dawn sky over the Peklo tract, so beautiful that your heart aches and you think: “Why is it so beautiful, Lord...”

In practical terms, the conclusion was made that you shouldn’t bother and still take spare shoes with you, as smart people advise... because... It was very unpleasant for children of nature to walk around in wet sneakers... yes, and more socks... and “mountain tea”

Also, you shouldn’t particularly trust unfamiliar wolverines, since they have an unpleasant habit of approaching a potential victim from behind and eating out the brain without asking, which is not very polite on her part...

And a gastronomic discovery awaited me during the hike! although at first the brain denied even the theoretical possibility of the existence of such a miracle - rice porridge with raisins and various oriental seasonings, salty... This whole thing went under the code name “Uzbek pilaf” (for a complete picture of the world, the only thing missing was the wild barberry growing on the slopes of the Carpathians). In general, Slava was engaged in expanding our consciousness and quite successfully...

So it was beautiful, fun, interesting, tasty, good and pleasant... As Artem would say, “just mega-hard”... Soul and body demand the continuation of the Marlezon ballet... See you soon...

ZY I would like to sincerely thank all the guys for the good atmosphere, mutual support and pleasant company. Thank you, Olya + Olya (our Moscow couple), Andrey, Artem, Volkmar and Dorothea, Anka and Svetka, Family. Special respect to Slava...

Svetlana Prishchenko, Odessa 2009.