Contents
This report is about the tour: Highest mountains
Hiking “The Highest Peaks of Ukraine” from June 20 to June 25, 2010.
The group consists of 3 tourists plus guide Alexander Kushnarev. We were caught in severe bad weather, we spent two days in a small hut (locally called a kolyba), so Petros and Goverlu managed to do little of what was planned.
The hike left a strong impression; it had everything - heat, cold, beautiful nature, and the descent from Petros in the fog and rain. Instead of an interesting but predictable route, it turned out to be an extreme tour full of surprises. I was very pleased.
Choosing a route.
In April of this year, I had a clear desire to go hiking. I didn’t have any special requirements for the route; I wanted to get out of the way and get some good physical exercise - so that my head would clear.
I already had experience hiking with OutdoorUkraine. The impressions were the most positive. Therefore, the question of finding a new travel company did not arise. In terms of timing - the second half of June - a couple of routes in Crimea and one in the Carpathians suited me. I’ve walked around Crimea quite a bit, and it’s hot there at that time, but I’ve never been to the Carpathians. Therefore, “The Highest Peaks of Ukraine” were chosen almost immediately.
Physical training.
Somewhere in mid-May, I started going out for small cross-country races - in order to gain some kind of physical shape before the start of the hike. As further showed, this decision turned out to be one hundred percent correct.
Equipment.
Since I go hiking, although not often, but for a long time, I already had almost all the equipment. As it turned out later, the only puncture was the lack of rubber boots.
In this hike, the raincoat, which covers a person along with a backpack, showed its best side. Waterproof jackets and trousers also turned out to be in demand.
For the first time I bought special tourist clothing - instead of old jeans and T-shirts. And I was very pleased. Modern fabrics are very good. Durable, lightweight, dry quickly.
Trekking poles are a must have – they significantly increase comfort when moving. You get tired less, safety increases, and you have a pleasant opportunity to look around more.
An ordinary Chinese LED flashlight for a hundred rubles turned out to be very practical; a set of spare batteries remained unused, although the flashlight was suspended from the ceiling of the hut and shone for several hours in the evenings.
Group.
The group consisted of only four people: guide Sasha, designer Valya from Kyiv, me and my thirteen-year-old son Yegor from Moscow. As the guide later told us, three more canceled at the last minute due to the weather. In some ways they can be understood. :)
Conductor.
Our guide was Alexander Kushnarev. He is a sociable person, an avid traveler, at different times he was fond of parkour, rock climbing, and even break dancing. Being a zoologist (or biologist?) by training, he showered me with a lot of interesting information about animals and plants. I wanted to re-read the zoology textbook. :) I would be happy to go hiking with him again.
The actual hike.
The beginning of the hike was traditional - gathering at the railway station, moving to the starting point, a short trek on the first day, overnight.
On the second day the ascent to Petros began. It was hot before lunch. After lunch it began to rain and the rain stopped. Then the sun came out again, shone for a short time and hid. Now it’s final, for two and a half days. The fog descended, the rain began to pour, and we continued to climb. By the top of Petros, the sneakers were completely wet; everything else was more or less successfully protected by the raincoat. A strong cold wind was blowing at the top; there was no desire to linger there, so after taking a couple of photographs, we began to descend. The fog was such that the path to descend was found only after ten minutes. We went down. Below is the same fog, wind, rain. It was obvious that there weren't enough tents here. We started looking for the shepherds' houses. About forty minutes later they found him. We took over an empty one. A plank hut about three by four meters, no windows, the stove does not work, there is a couch near one wall, and a table near the other. Somehow we settled down, plugged up the cracks, took boiling water from the shepherds, and cooked dinner on the burner. Life began to get better. We went to bed - three on the bed, one on the table.
Day three. The weather did not improve. We moved to a new cradle, larger in size. The transition took about an hour. Again all my feet are wet. In the new place we settled down almost comfortably - we lit the stove and, with grief, hung our clothes out to dry. The day passed unnoticed in conversations, playing “the fool,” collecting firewood, preparing and eating lunch and dinner. It feels like the air temperature outside is about twelve degrees.
Day four. Same as yesterday. Sometimes the sky brightens and the rain subsides, but after a quarter of an hour everything resumes. The very thought of leaving the cradle gives goosebumps to the skin.
Day five. At night the rain stopped and the weather began to clear up. We go to Hoverla. The closer the mountain, the better the weather. Once at the top, we have a snack and look with interest at a large group of tourists of retirement age from Slovenia, who climbed at the same time as us. Before evening we manage to walk along the ridge to one more peak (I don’t remember the name), go down and reach the outskirts of the village of Goverla. We talked with the locals. Having learned that we had descended from above, they asked: “Was it snowing there? It’s really, really cold...” Tents, dinner, sleep.
Day six. Transfer to Ivano-Frankivsk, farewell.
Impressions.
I don’t know if I would have gone on this hike if I had known in advance that everything would work out this way, but now, after finishing it, I can say absolutely definitely - I liked it. Quite unexpectedly for myself, I found myself in conditions that required the full exertion of all my strength - both physical and moral. And it was great. Thoughts and feelings are cleared at once. During these five days I was able to relax as in a normal two weeks.
Very beautiful nature, beautiful and peaceful. There was a desire to come back here again, rent a house in the village and take a walk, carefully looking at everything around.
Maxim Kiba, Moscow.