Hike around the beautiful Demerdzhi

Hiking along the route "Around Demerdzhi" on the Constitution Day of Ukraine (June 2010).
Hiking is a rare place where you can feel like a human being©
I’ll say right away, don’t go hiking, because it’s addictive. It's like a “drug” :) Once you try it, you can’t stop. I wanted to go to Crimea in the summer and see wild nature far from civilization and multi-storey panel buildings. For a long time I couldn’t decide whether to take time off from work, get tickets, etc. But I decided and I don’t regret anything.

1st day of acquaintance and discoveries

The meeting of the whole group took place at the station in Simferopol. Where we were met by the leader Viktor Semenovich Telny. We all got to know each other and it turned out that in our group there was Natasha from Odessa, Ira and Alexey from Kharkov, Irina, originally from Simferopol and Nikolay from Kyiv, Nastya and Natasha from Penza, and Seryoga and I. This is how original, where and how you can bring together people from such different cities and with such different types of activities, because among us there were mathematical physicists, economists, marketers, specialists in information and measurement systems, and even a landscape designer. As it turned out later, all participants took the most important and necessary thing for the hike - a good mood. So we joked and laughed the whole trip.

Our hike began from the Angarsk Pass, whose height is 752 meters. The first stop was at the monument to the builders of the Crimean roads. Already at the very beginning, the first joke was made: “Why were the builders of the Crimean roads killed?” ;) To which our instructor replied that this monument was erected in gratitude to the builders for redesigning the roads in such a way that they managed to reduce the number of turns. And then we went through the forest, deep into civilization. On the way to our destination, we even managed to pick up mushrooms: porcini and chanterelles. While picking mushrooms in the Carpathians, I had no idea that they were in Crimea. Now I know that here on the peninsula you can find not only the sea, mountains and beautiful nature, but also mushrooms. Since I am an avid mushroom picker, I will say that along the way we also encountered milk mushrooms, russula and fly agarics.

We also collected “herbal tea”: thyme, St. John’s wort, yarrow, etc. So our dinner was very original and refined: pasta with homemade stew (which Nikolay kindly offered) and herbal tea with Turkish delight brought from Penza.

As they say, each person is a separate unknown world, which I was once again convinced of during this hike. On the first evening, I was very surprised that one of the participants in our hike took a camping hammock instead of a tent, and the other took a blanket due to the lack of a sleeping bag :)

Day 2 The beauty of Crimean nature

It rained all night. And in the morning, as Viktor Semenovich promised, we woke up to the beautiful singing of birds. But to be honest, I didn’t want to leave the tent into the “wet reality of the wild.” I thought that we wouldn’t have breakfast at all, because it’s impossible to light a fire from damp wood in such wet weather. But our instructor with many years of tourist experience turned out to be a magician, because... When we decided to leave the tent, breakfast was already ready, and water for tea was being heated on the fire.

The further destination of our route was a beautiful mountain lake with its original flora and fauna. Here we also met other travelers, although they were on horses, motorcycles and jeeps. Then our route went along the top of the Demerdzhi yayla. What beautiful nature is here, it’s simply beyond words. Various herbs and flowers. We saw Crimean edelweiss, wild garlic, hummocks of thyme and many other mountain vegetation. I really love such rare moments when I have the opportunity to walk through an unmown field, listening to the singing of grasshoppers and the wonderful smell of wildflowers.

The main goal of this day, as it turned out, was to climb to a beautiful peak from which an unforgettable view of the entire valley and all the nearby peaks of the beautiful mountains opened up. This feeling of standing between the clouds, as between heaven and earth, will remain unforgettable. And being at the top, looking around, you catch yourself thinking that this is true, pure beauty that nature created.

The path led us into the forest. It was drizzling and the damp forest was not very comfortable. But the nature here is fabulous in its own way, but it seemed to everyone that there were hardly any elves here. Rather, the forest seemed a little scary and gloomy. Therefore, we asked Viktor Semenovich to go further and stopped near a beautiful clearing. There was a clean equipped source nearby. The monument to the Crimean partisans turned out to be an attraction.

The rain began to get heavier and the instructor advised us all to put up tents as quickly as possible, which is what we did. Then, putting on raincoats, we went to collect firewood, little believing that in such weather it was possible to light a fire. But surprisingly, Viktor Semenovich succeeded and we first warmed up with warm tea, and then waited for buckwheat porridge. It would seem like a miracle, but it was what it was.

Day 3 The greatness of the Jur-Jur waterfall

The rain never stopped, so everyone fell asleep to its music that evening. In the morning, getting up quite late, around 9.00, we realized that we had survived the cold night and that life is wonderful if the morning begins with warm herbal tea. Despite the bad weather, we had a buffet: sandwiches with sausage, pate, sprats, sausage cheese, cookies, crackers, Chocolate, dried fruits. Apparently the sun became interested, and it finally came to us at breakfast. The rain has stopped.

After breakfast, we moved at a fairly brisk pace towards the Drur-Dzhur waterfall. On the way we passed the Ai-Alexiy spring (St. Alexey). As Viktor Semenovich said, this source has been preserved almost in its original form. Having collected some “healing water”, we set off further on our journey. The road was not easy, and we made few stops, since I, like some other participants in the hike, needed to catch the 19.00 train to Simferopol. Thanks to all the guys for keeping up the pace and being, despite everything, in an optimistic and high spirits.

Having passed through the forest, a broken road, a loose road, a road “made of mud” and getting caught in another rain, we finally came out to the Druzh-Dzhur waterfall. This waterfall is considered the deepest and one of the most beautiful in Ukraine. Everyone was delighted with what they saw. The spray reached the people standing on the bridge. Both the music and the sight of falling water were simply extraordinary. Some of the most beautiful photos of our hike were taken here.

Then we went down to the village of Generalskoye. Here civilization awaited us, from which we had lost the habit in 3 days and freshly baked pies.

P.S. I would like to thank all the participants in the hike; let’s be honest, without you there would not have been such an original story.

Special thanks to Viktor Semenovich and the outdoorukraine company for the excellent organization of the trip.

As they say, a Team is a community of people who, through a common destiny, acquire a single character (c), so I will miss all of you guys.

Irishki with her cheerful and romantic character and genuine interest in mushrooms. Nicholas with his wonderful, original stories from life. Ira, who expertly knows how to prepare sandwiches and more, will continue to create her own signature herbal teas after this trip. Alexei, who is able to notice the most beautiful landscapes of nature. Natasha and Anastasia, who went on their first hike and quickly learned how to set up a tent and showed everyone their original sleeping bag, coat, blanket :). Nastya’s original boots will remain in my memory for a long time. Natalie from Odessa with her genuine optimism and sense of humor.

P.P.S. Perhaps there are some inaccuracies, typos and typos in this story. I apologize in advance to everyone who read this report.

Natalia Rekovets