Diary of a hike in Crimea, May 7-14

7.05.06. The group gathered at the Simferopol station near the fountain at 8:40. There were only three of us - Katya (Moscow), me (St. Petersburg), Alek (Kyiv), and + the organizer Kirill. We took a trolleybus to Yalta (~ 2 hours), from where we transferred to a minibus and after another 15 minutes we were in Polyana Skazok. From Polyana Skazok, a little to the right, an asphalt road goes up and up, from which our hike began. The asphalt soon turned into a dirt road leading past a recreation center and some other fences, and then into the well-trodden Botkin Trail.

Another hour later, under drizzling rain, we arrived at the KSS (Okhotniche settlement). Here we were met by a very hospitable hostess - she dried our things and put us to bed. In warmth and comfort, having finally had dinner, we fell asleep without our hind legs!

8.05.06.

The guy and the girl from Moscow turned out to be completely unprepared for such traveling conditions. After 1.5 hours, getting wet and freezing, they went down by taxi to the forester’s house near the town of Orliny Vzlyot. There Kirill agreed to meet with them every other day.

9.05.06.

Rise at 6:00...No rain! Oh, how nice it is to climb out of a warm sleeping bag into cold and wet pants in the morning. J. We left at 7:30. It turned out that in the fog we had drilled somewhere in the wrong direction, so we needed to go back a little and cross the stream.

We passed by the t/s "Boyka" and further along the marked path (route 2-52) we climbed to the right bank of the B. Canyon of the Auzun-Uzen River. Yes.. the canyon was probably very beautiful, especially in the fog and rain... On the trail every 100m there are signs “KS-100”. Somewhere around 15 o'clock we went down to the foresters' house, crossing the bridge over the river. Kokozka and an asphalt road leading from Ai-Petri to the village of Sokolinoe.. There is a camp site, cafes, and stalls. At the entrance to the reserve there are posters - entrance fee - 7 UAH. The guys left Moscow for home, leaving us with their entire part of the layout, as well as a sleeping bag and a tent. We spent the night in the foresters' house, lit the stove and dried our things.

10.05.06.

In the morning, Katya and I finally washed our hair in the Kokozka River, good! Sun! J From the foresters’ house we headed a little to the right and up along a well-equipped path leading past the “Apple Ford” parking lot to the “Silver Streams” waterfall (Almachuk River). On the map there is route 39-41. The waterfall is amazing! Below it there is a grotto that you can climb into (preferably in dry weather). Having forded to the right bank of the stream, we came out onto a forest road that led up to the “Tea House” (Maly Babulgan urn).

On the right hand, the Yusupov Pond (a nice swimming pool, also known as a dam) was left behind. Further, a very picturesque road, opening a panoramic view of the valley and mountains, gradually turned into a long serpentine through the forest. The "Tea House" (formerly Khrushchev's dacha) now consists of private houses and a cordon of foresters around a small pond. We visited some kind of partisan cave with a memorial plaque about the events of 41-42. Then we went down to the “Ai-Dimitri” cordon along the path marked with “tridents”. There is a board with a map of the area and a pointer to the village. Kolkhoznoye (left fork in the road). A washed-out forest road crossed the Uzundzha River (ford) and led us into a valley of gorgeous peonies that grew there in red heaps everywhere. Together with free-standing trees of bizarre shapes, lush grass and bright colors of flowers and shrubs, all this created the feeling of a paradise! Alec, like a child, rejoiced in the scents of flowers, lying in the meadow. And most importantly, the sun is shining almost all day today!!! J The road, accompanied by peonies, smoothly led us to the top of the Uzundzha gorge. Then we descend again to the Uzundzha river, and opposite the village of Kolkhoznoye (formerly Gorny village) we set up a camp (not far from the Uzundzha camp). Hooray! There was a fire and optional swimming in the river! And also the moon and stars!

11.05.06.

It was sunny in the morning, I didn’t even know when we came out. We forded the river and soon found ourselves on a paved road leading to the village of Rodnikovskoye. Before reaching it, we turned left to the Skelskaya cave (markt 5). Excursions are available here, the road is paved. Meticulous foresters also live here, demanding a route sheet and a fee for spending the night in a tent on the territory of the reserve - 8g/person-night. You can also get away with it. Entrance to the cave – 15gr. for a group of 5 people. The cave is beautiful, large, over 2 million years old. years, opened in 1904, the name translates as “Spring” from other Greek. It is 3-level (halls, gallery and lake). The underground lake is about 70m long, 4m wide and 30m deep and is connected to the Chernorechensky Reservoir. Next year, speleologists promised to include boating on this lake in the excursion route. To the left of the cave began a path upward, which led us to an ancient Roman road, lined with the remains of stones and connecting Ai-Petri with the Foros fortress (?). The road has a constant rise and leads to the Karadag Forest camp. There are 3 marshy ponds, a well and a monument to partisan heroes. From the well at the fork we went to the right and, through some washed-out forest zigzag roads, reached the lane in the evening. Shaitan-Merdven (the Devil's Staircase begins here). At the same time, they walked around Mount Byuzyuk on the left. We collected water from a stream and stopped for the night a little further along the road to Foros. There is a beautiful mowing field there. At the edge of the field there was a cypress tree, under which there was a well with technical water. Oh, yes, it started to rain again in the afternoon.

12.05.06.

It's getting colder. It rained at night. In the morning, the sun shone on the field, then clouds flew in, bringing with them wet coolness. And also... on the cypress tree that grows above the well, a whole ambush of ticks was discovered! They guard their prey there. Everyone who went to the well to wash in the morning caught ticks. Today we are going to walk to the sea in the area of ​​Laspi village (mint 8). We reached the ridge of the Foros Wall in the drizzling rain L. The sea, you say, is on the left? Mountains, you say, to the right? You can’t see anything, the fog is like fresh milk... But there are flowers all around – a sea! Everything is bright, multi-colored, but at least you can always see them. Flowers accompany us all the way under our feet! Soon we descended onto the road leading to Foros. Foros Church is located down the highway ~ 500m. The view is cool, everything is clean and well maintained. Up the highway ~ 300m there is the Baydar Gate (nothing special). Right behind them (behind the restaurant) a wide path begins to the village of Kizilova (red arrow and markers). From the village the path goes slightly upward. Then the fog overtook us again. Under the cries of a deer guarding its possessions, and in the fog, we lost our way. Looks like we've gone too left. GPS is indispensable in such conditions. After getting lost a little, Kirill led us across the ridge onto the path. Along the path we came out onto a dirt road, turned right and reached asf. roads. Eh, it’s a pity we couldn’t see where we were going. That’s why it’s difficult to describe – where did you come? In general, asf. the road ran into the Sevastopol highway. We turned left and saw the sign “Laspi → 3 km” fork to the right. We went down to the Laspi camp, walked around it, leaving it on the left hand. Here a stream flows through the camp - it seems to be the only source of water on this coast. Finally we got to the sea! There are a whole bunch of parking lots on the coast that stretch all the way to the part beyond Cape Aya. The further you go, the more picturesque the places become. Beautiful slopes, a winding path along a steep coast, mountains behind, the rustling of waves, the cries of seagulls, dolphins on the horizon... eh! Fog and rain remained somewhere above. But the availability of firewood here is not so good; it’s all salty and smelly. The shore, too, had not been cleared since the winter - garbage, mud, dead birds, discarded dolphins, fish, and the smell of it all.. The shore was rocky - large stones and pebbles. But the water is clean (albeit ~10^оС), and Katya and I swam. At night there was a full moon, in some places there were stars, a moonlit path... Beauty! Only the wind is cool. Then there was a party with wine by the fire, some conversations about something lofty, about books, about hikes and difficulties, mutual compliments... etc.

And that’s it, we went to bed... tomorrow everyone will go to different cities.

13.05.06.

I'm staying until tomorrow, or maybe a little longer. And the rest are leaving. Katya and Alek go to Kyiv, Kirill goes to Simferopol to meet the next group. From here the climb to the highway takes 50 minutes. This is the 27th km of the Yalta Highway. Minibuses to Sevastopol leave every half hour, take 40 minutes and cost 6g. We said goodbye.

And now I am alone, completely alone! Finally, you can calmly look around the surroundings without a load on your shoulders, admire the scenery without rushing anywhere... I walked along the coast beyond Cape Aya to the fence of the military unit. What a beautiful trail that runs along the entire coast, amazing! Like in a garden, here and there someone has decorated it with a border of stones. What cool places, parking, views... Oh, it’s a pity, only 1 day at sea, how little that is! How I miss all this! I want to remember every turn, every tree, flower, to hold this entire landscape within me. The sea and mountains, the aroma of flowers and junipers, birdsong, the breeze, the sunset... All this fills the soul with something joyful and bright, gives new strength, even tears well up in the eyes. I don't want to go back. But the shorter the moment, the more valuable it is. Yes, of course I will return, but my heart will still remain here..