Relax in the Carpathians
It was a very busy May holidays. At first we traveled through France, then we captured a piece of Switzerland. We flew to Kyiv, rested for a day, the next day I went to work, completed it until the evening, and we boarded the train. Vzhuh and we are in Ivano-Frankivsk. Another one and a half hour vzhuh and we are in Yaremche! Here we had our first stop. We arrived so early in the morning that the hostess of the hotel, waking up, could not understand who and what wanted from her. It was raining outside! We went into the common kitchen, where a group of tourists with sad faces were going on a mountain hike. Arriving during such wild weather is half the trouble, but going on a hike with backpacks is completely melancholy, so they also planned a quest on a hike. Well, we passed Norway, which means we’ll break through here too! Mentally gathered and forward for adventure! But the waterfall should be full-flowing. I didn’t have to look for adventures for a long time, sewer manholes were torn off by the pressure of water on the street, my summer sneakers quickly gave up. The whole trip was, to put it mildly, a fiasco. In any case, it seemed so to us at 9 am on the first day. But no matter what the weather is, half of the trip to the Carpathians is haute cuisine, no one will take it away.
But we need to urgently solve the issue with shoes. Fortunately, there was a store with all kinds of shoes nearby, unfortunately, there were only summer sneakers. Okay, okay, let's go to the market and see. In the first pavilion, the woman took out boots with inner felt boots and terry socks. I had only to insert my foot into a dry sock, wrap it in felt boots and lower it all into a warm boot... I said that I would never get out of my boots again. Now no weather will disrupt the ascent to the mountains!!! ! I will go up in boots!
O! And wet sneakers can be left on the market until the evening so as not to return to the room. We went to a restaurant and life finally improved. Carpathian cuisine. . . That's why they can't cook like that, for example, in Kyiv? We even have establishments with Carpathian food, but both in taste and in prices they lose a hundredfold.
From the fact that they even ate, the downpour was replaced by rain. Let's start our journey with a waterfall. The waterfall looked like a natural disaster. It was scary to look at him even from the bridge. This restless water literally inspired horror. Effectively!
But what, did we train in vain before the trip? A few weeks ago, we were drinking morning tea, we had to figure out what we would do, I suggested repeating our old challenge - to walk the whole of Kyiv on foot, but this time with Misha! Our route took 7 hours and 15 minutes, we covered about 23 kilometers!! ! We moved from the very edge of Obolon, to the very end of the DVRZ, which is located beyond Darnitsa. Misha had a great motivation - unlimited ice cream during the trip! For Dasha and I, it was also a joy - a very cool restaurant at the end of our route. Thus, Misha showed that he was ready to conquer more serious peaks of the Carpathians. So rain is no problem! Forward to the mountain "Makovitsa".
The ascent took place in quite comfortable conditions, Mishka found cones and launched them into the distance. Perhaps he wanted to collect all the cones in the forest, I had not even thought before about how many cones there are in the world. The closer we got to the top, the stronger the wind blew. At the very top, a beautiful clearing was waiting for us, but the wind on it was so raging that our climb could only be equated with a fight with a tiger!
Needless to say, we broke three umbrellas during the trip? They did not last even five minutes in the clearing, it was a complete trash. We walked back through the “Dovbush Rocks”. After the rain, the forest was very "juicy", small droplets gently hung from the spruce needles.
Well, there are boulders! I hope that when Dovbush dragged them the weather was more loyal. We got down from the mountains and went to eat again. Tired, wet and full, we crawled into the hotel, but I'm in dry boots! Misha, before the trip, we bought a cool plane that needed to be urgently tested.
And remember, as I wrote in the story about the trip to Annecy, that the weather appreciated our desire to see everything and was the opposite of a harsh forecast? So, apparently, we climbed the mountain so stubbornly during bad weather that we got an indulgence here. The clouds have parted!! ! Blue sky and sun! Everything is fine, everything is great! ! It’s just that the plane flew into someone else’s territory (Thanks to the plane, in one evening we visited half the gardens of local houses. There was always a fear that there was no dog behind the fence. Once I really did not notice the dog and went confidently to pick up the plane when I noticed dog, then the dog sat in a stupor with pronounced surprise. She apparently got used to being ferocious when people are behind the fence, and when someone goes straight to her and already on her territory, the dog did not know what to do in such a situation. So she silently , not moving and sat until I left. Apparently she was afraid that I was not after the plane, but after her. Despite my fatigue, I had to go for a walk around Yaremche for the second round, you also need to take a walk under the sun. We had a great evening walk under rays of the evening sun.
Verkhovyna
From the very morning we refreshed ourselves with dumplings and went to our beloved Verkhovyna. In Verkhovyna we always stop at Oksana's. She is almost like a relative to us. Oksana knew us even when Dasha and I were just a couple. Sometime 7 years ago we came to Oksana pregnant. A couple of years later, Oksana and her mother were having fun with Mishka when he was sitting in the kitchen in a high chair. A couple of years ahead, Oksana received us already enough with the adult Misha. Moreover, I remember one of the last times we came to Oksana as a surprise. They came, knocked on the door and said something like “here we are! ”. For several years in a row we have not been able to get to Verkhovyna, and finally we have arrived. Oksana and her mother received us joyfully. She really did not plan to open the tourist season so early, but for our sake she made an exception without hesitation. This familiar smell of her home, the aromas of Carpathian herbal tea and her signature forty-five-degree "Korinchik". What a joy it is to be back in such a home! The weather whispered to us - climb into the mountains, the sun is with you! We have traditionally started the route from the mountain, which is located near the museum "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors".
True, I had to go with stops, since Misha had a goal to launch all the cones into the distance from the mountain. This time we have made a slight improvement to the route. If in previous times we passed some part and returned, now we, as lovers of trekking, at least reached the neighboring village through the forests and mountains and returned by a completely different path. Moreover, even a village in a certain number of kilometers could not be the limit of the route, we walked until we dropped in the truest sense of the word. At one point, I slipped and made such a fall into a puddle that I literally scooped up water with my camera. Who reads the stories of the last year of travel, could notice that our camera had a hard fate. But this time, oddly enough, it didn't even stop working. True, my clothes now looked as if I had lain on the ground in the mountains for a week. Fortunately, there is a washing machine in the house, and I have a second pair of jeans.
Every evening, Misha and I had an obligatory outing to the stadium, where we launched the plane without fear that it would fly away somewhere again. True, while we found the stadium, we had to visit half of the Verkhovinsk residents, taking the plane from their territories.
On the second day, the weather continued to spoil us, although according to the forecast it is clear that all the rains that have not begun are going to one mega-shower tomorrow at 11:00. Today we set a course for distant mountain distances. Far, far behind the cell tower, which is already seemingly unattainable. We were joined by a shaggy friend "Polonynskaya dog" - this is such a breed they have in the mountains.
This is probably our favorite with Dasha, when dogs join us on a hike. Although here I doubted a little - was it not a bear that followed us. It was similar in size. Despite the five-hour length of our route, it was very easy. After all, at any time you can lie on the sunny meadows. Misha could not understand why the dog was coming with us and why she needed it. Perhaps the dog asked himself the same question at the fifth hour of the route, but he could not leave us alone. Also, for what I love the Carpathians, if drinking water runs out, then you just need to knock on any of the houses and they will fill a bottle for you.
True, how they themselves live so high is a mystery to us. In general, it was fun, at some point we even had extreme sports, at first Misha grabbed the fence with his hand, which was under a little tension. And then, when we were crossing the pasture, one cow with big horns did not like our shaggy friend and she resolutely walked in my direction. I shouted to Dasha and Misha to urgently run over the fence and I myself also slipped over the nearest fence. We have reached a very picturesque place. It was the foothills of two joining mountains, a wooded area and a shallow mountain river.
Misha switched from cones to cobblestones. It was such a cozy place that during the halt I just passed out. My friend was sleeping next to us. We returned traditionally by a different route. It is interesting that we have never done such long routes before. Apparently, the more you go on trips, the more your legs train. And much more, for example, this route was definitely 4 times longer than we used to pass, even 10 years ago without Misha. When we finally returned to the city, our friend was waiting for a reward in the form of a juicy chicken leg.
We had lunch at home, slept for an hour, what do we do next? Of course, in the mountains! Misha was not very pleased with this prospect, but he knew perfectly well that for every mountain he took, he was entitled to ice cream! So that at times Misha even ran ahead. Along the route, we passed memorable places for us, for example, in those bushes over there, we hid the stroller and continued the route with Misha in our arms. But in that house, we asked to leave the stroller for a while in order to continue the route, and on this stone we have a mandatory photo. The second route was not so long, but on the top of the mountain we had a view of the snow-capped peaks of the “two-thousanders”. From the peaks it was clear that the campaign against Hoverla now was a dangerous undertaking. We will not risk it, we will have to come again in the middle of the summer. We need to find some alternative, but lower. Oksana advised us to climb the White Mare. The weather told us: “You do as you wish, and from 11:00 all the rains, taken together for the missed days, will begin. ” The problem is that the top of the mountain is about 8 kilometers from our hotel and the chance that transport will pick us up is extremely small, since the village is almost empty, and the route is almost roadless.
With all the optimal calculations, we could not have time to leave and return before the rains. But worth a try. The road turned out to be not that difficult, it was almost an analogue of Goverla. It was raining at night and almost all 8 kilometers you have to go uphill, through mud with puddles. At 10:30 we were only half way up the mountain. It began to rain, the weather began to rapidly change not in our favor. Dry logic and common sense said - come back before it's too late. After discussing plans thirty times, we made the difficult decision to turn around and go back. I had only one argument in favor of continuing the route “What if now it will blow over like a week earlier in Annecy or like in the evening in Yaremche? ” But here it was even ridiculous to assume that luck with the weather would smile at us for the umpteenth time.
We walked about 10 minutes on the way back and a mobile connection appeared on the phone. I update the forecast and. . . It's not that unbelievable, but the showers have been delayed 2 hours ahead. We carefully rechecked the forecast. How are we so lucky with the weather on these May days?? ? Thank you! We continue the route! The rain has stopped and the sun is shining! At an altitude of 1500 meters, a reward was waiting for us - a panorama of all high-altitude mountains, including Hoverla! Misha dreamed of seeing Hoverla and here it is, a childhood dream come true! By the way, the last hundred meters up were, well, with a very large slope.
It’s a pity we didn’t take gloves, we could make a snowman. The views are amazing! This is the most beautiful mountain in the vicinity of Verkhovyna! Mission accomplished, summit conquered, Mishin's new record! There was no time to take a breath, a rainy cloud was approaching from the side of the mountains, which enveloped everything in its path. We're going down soon!!!
Literally run down! We also did something nice for nature, on the way from the mountains we picked up someone's garbage. The rain overtook us when less than half of the route was left to Verkhovyna, and what a difference, we are great, we have already done it anyway! At the seventh hour of the route it was already quite wet and I began to have cyclical slips and falls. Moreover, one fall was on a long-suffering camera, I tried to cover it, as a result, I pushed off and flew even further with a somersault. It's good that we washed my first jeans the day before yesterday. I descended from the mountains with a look as if I had worked in the mines for a week. This was our final route on this trip, it took 18 km, lasted 7 hours and 15 minutes, we climbed 623 meters and conquered a height of 1.5 km. We are great!! ! I tried to find out for how many ice creams Misha is ready to climb another mountain, and to my horror Misha thought about it and agreed to make another climb after dinner for two ice creams. Little troll! I had to admit that for us it would be too much. It was one of our best May holidays.
It’s a pity that they didn’t bake pastries, next time this year we will celebrate Easter on the calendar. The next day was foggy and sleepy, and then the road to Kyiv. By tradition, I came straight to the office from the train, a cucumber! Dasha and Misha went home. According to the plan, this was the end of our May travels, then different concerts and theaters. But as it turned out, travel had slightly different plans for us. For the past six months, Misha has been on fire with the idea of going to Odessa. But there is a problem, the price of a coupe to Odessa coincides with the price of tickets to Istanbul from UIA, so we postponed Odessa for an indefinite period. But Odessa did not put us off. Before the Carpathians, Misha was covered with allergies on his hands, Dasha went with Misha to get a certificate for the school and drew the doctor's attention to allergies. The nurse said that she had heard that in the next room there was a canceled tour to a sanatorium for a mother and a child with allergies. Dasha went to the next office to find out if it was possible to go on this tour... A couple of days later I saw them off on the train, they were given a ticket to a sanatorium for 24 days in Odessa at the expense of the state!
