Polonina Borzhava on Constitution Day

This 3-day hike went by quite quickly, although when I returned to Kyiv, it seemed like at least a week had passed)) And, it seems to me, it’s better to go for more days in order to have time to adapt, get tired, get used to it and get a second wind. Time passes quickly in the mountains, and simply in such unusual surroundings.

The hike itself turned out to be quite difficult for me. And the sun, and the wind, and it seemed hot, and at the same time it was blowing away)) I think everyone was preparing for rain during the hike, since the day before it rained half of Ukraine. But, as usual, according to the law of meanness, we got burned)) By and large, the whole group got burned in places)) The raincoat was not useful, and the sun cream was lost somewhere in the backpack and was found only on the third day))

There were many climbs, some steep and some not so steep. Another difficulty is that the meadow is an open area. The wind blows endlessly and strongly all the time. It turns out that if it rains on the way, you will get wet all the way, if the sun is shining, you will also get hot all the way. That is, there are no trees and I will save them too, it turns out, no)))

There are also no abundant sources of water on this route, such as a lake or stream, or even a normal stream of water to cool off thoroughly. The sources were located far from the sites. You don't go much for water. Therefore, it was necessary to save water and not pour it aimlessly. The two main difficulties are open terrain and lack of water.

But the rest is great!! The views are excellent, the slopes seem to be velvety, terry)) The entire valley is dotted with blueberry bushes. We even walked straight down the slope through the blueberry bushes. It was unusual and funny)) Although the berries were not everywhere (and maybe this was for the best, otherwise our pants would have been stained with blueberries), we found a couple of slopes where we picked several cups of blueberries. Very tasty! This is, so to speak, a softening pleasantness among the difficult climbs)) So come here for blueberries. You can see it in the photo.

We went on a radial hike to Mount Temnatik in the evening. We got to the very top. This is my first radial trip to the mountain, because I appreciated all the charm of hiking a similar mountain, but without a backpack. It's much easier)) It seems like you can go on forever)). And with a heavy backpack, of course, you won’t be able to run up the hill very much)) Without backpacks we reached Mount Stand, which also helped us enjoy the views. And they were on Gimba)) There were also somewhere else, but I don’t remember the names))

It’s a pity that we didn’t get to the Shipot waterfall... We didn’t have time. Although I don’t particularly like waterfalls, since I haven’t really seen a beautiful waterfall, I don’t despair and still wanted to look at it. Shipot is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Carpathians; it’s a given to be there. But, apparently, it is destined to return to this region again and see the waterfall.

Special thanks to the guide Nikita)) An interesting person and a very nice guy, which is also important on a hike))) And what food he provided for us!! Restaurant menu)) This hike dispelled my ideas about camp food. In fact, I always thought that on a hike the food was modest and meager, and not very tasty. And we ate very well - a lot, and tasty, and even with chocolates)) So I advise everyone to go with him and rejoice when he is appointed as your guide)))

In a word, as for the hike to Borzhava itself, you can go, but I would not mark this route as something special. Personally, I like it when there are some lakes or reservoirs and a forest along the way. And here there is open area everywhere without water. Therefore, for me the route is not particularly remarkable. But overall you can go. It’s worth gaining experience on different routes and understanding what you like, what you don’t, where it’s beautiful, where it’s difficult, etc.