At the table with clouds

Almost a year has passed since I went on an amazing hike through the Gorgans, and now I’m standing in Odessa at the station, and again buying tickets to Ivano-Frankivsk to again go into the forest and mountains and see the highest peaks of Ukraine. All year there was bustle, worries, work, but the thought that summer would soon come, and I would again go on a visit to the mighty nature, once again testing my strength, gave me optimism to continue working and lifted my spirits.

...And so...the station, the platform, the conductor, the train whistles and we set off towards new unknown adventures and impressions (at this moment a very trembling and alluring feeling takes over).

The next day, a group of 11 people gathered at the station, met instructor Roman, and after distributing food and equipment, we set off to our first destination, the Lozishchina checkpoint.

Having walked a little from there, getting used to the heavy backpacks, we decided to get closer to the foot of Mount Petros (2,000), which we were supposed to storm the next day, but seeing the impending rain or downpour, we decided to stay in a clearing nearby and prepare well for the next difficult day.

In the evening, the whole group gathered around the fire, where everyone got to know each other well, everyone talked about themselves, joked and laughed a lot. In general, by the next difficult day, we were already one friendly, well-coordinated team.

But the next day turned out to be very difficult. We woke up, had breakfast, and quickly got ready, since we had a lot to walk. There was a rather long climb right up to the foot of Petros, where there were several houses of local residents grazing sheep and horses. The weather pleased us, it was clear and the road was not wet.

Leaving our backpacks behind, we decided to storm Petros lightly. And I’ll tell you, even climbing lightly was quite difficult for an unprepared person. But now, step by step, we conquered the first 2,000-meter peak of this hike, Mount Petros.

There was joy on all faces. We took unforgettable shots of the view that opened up to us for kilometers ahead, looked at our next destination (Mount Goverla), and began our descent. The descent was also not easy, but it was more fun and we went down faster.

We spent the night in wooden houses not far from the reserve, near the beginning of the rise of Goverlu. We had a good rest, shared our impressions and got ready for the next milestone: the highest peak of Ukraine, Mount Hoverla.

Waking up the next day, we were again glad that the weather was favorable to us, and we moved upward, towards the wind and sun. A few hours later we were already enjoying the views from the highest place in Ukraine. There were few tourists at the top at that time and we were able to thoroughly enjoy the beauty of what surrounded us. It was unforgettable.

Next we had a difficult descent down to the Zaroslyak base. But, again, the weather pleased us, the ground was dry under our feet, and we walked, simply enjoying the sun, mountains, wind and just the views around us. Along the way, we greeted numerous tourists conquering the peak. Below, near the village of Zaroslyak, we set up camp. Part of our group finished the hike, as we only planned to conquer these peaks. We said goodbye and were left with five of us.

We still had a lot more to see. The next day the weather also pleased us, and after having breakfast as usual, we began to go to conquer several more 2 thousand peaks. At first, the road seemed generally uncomplicated, there were no steep ascents or descents, and on the sides there were only amazing views, it’s difficult to put into words, it’s a must see. So we reached Lake Nesamovytoye, in which, according to legend, if you swim, you will find your soulmate this year.

Some of us already had halves, but others were simply too cold to “dive for half” , so we just sat down to dinner and found ourselves at a table with clouds. It was quite high, and it seemed like we were floating through the clouds, which were either rolling towards us or retreating, pushed aside by the wind.

Then we walked along rather gentle mountains to climb Mount Gutin Tomnatik through Mount Rebra (both 2 thousand meters). Before we reached Mount Rebra, we saw snow and even had time to play snowballs. The clouds again rolled over us and then retreated, revealing amazing views. There was not a single person nearby, there was only a feeling that you were in some magical and enchanted place.

And then a view of the highest lake in Ukraine, Lake Berebeneskul, was added to the basket of impressions. We looked at it from the height of the flight of mountain birds or an airplane; it felt like we had it in the palm of our hands. It was located in a valley among the mountains...

This day probably impressed me most of all with its views. It felt like I was in a fairy tale or, as it seemed to me, in the movie Avatar. The same mysterious feeling persisted at the lake where we spent the night. It rained all night, and by morning we were just in a cloud, and visibility was only 15-20 meters. It's also an incredible feeling. Then there was a lot of interesting things, but for some reason it is with these vivid impressions that I want to complete my review of the hike along the highest peaks of Ukraine.

I would like to note the high level of our instructor Roman. He showed professionalism and listened to every participant in the hike. Always cheerful, with a smile and a sense of humor, we never got bored with him.

P.S. In a short period of time for myself, I received probably one of the most important things in life - emotions and impressions. Things are erased, money comes and goes, but emotions remain and help us move on, rejoice and remember. Always find time for yourself to have unforgettable experiences!

Timofey Muravenko, 2015.