Great May hike

From Simferopol the group moves to the beginning of the route to Maly Mayak. From here, past the quarry and Mount Paragilmen, we will begin our climb to the Babugan plateau. We will spend the night in the forest near the Talma spring.

A few more hours through the forest and we will reach the open space of the plateau. We have to completely cross Babugan in order to reach the highest point of Crimea - the peak of Roman-Kosh - by evening. We will spend the night nearby, just below the Gurzuf Saddle pass. 

Early in the morning we will pass the Gazebo of the Winds, perched on the very edge of the cliff, high above Ayu-Dag and Artek. The mountains stretch like a solid wall, only the names of the plateau change - Gurzufskaya, Nikitskaya, Yalta yayla. We will look at Yalta especially well, from different angles, and at different times of the day. In the evening we will descend along the northern slope of the ridge to the old partisan camp Kosh, where we will spend the night.

Since we have descended from the ridge, we need to take advantage of this to make a small detour and visit the Grand Canyon of Crimea. We will approach it from the east, past the Eagle Zalet rock and the Boyka site. We will first survey the canyon from above, from its northern side, and then we will descend to the very bottom and go to the Bath of Youth.

It's time to climb the plateau again. We will go there through the Silver Streams waterfall. Nearby there is an artificial lake, the water from which fills a wide network of pearl cascades. Even higher will be the forester's cordon, the Tea House, which is already several centuries old. A little more forest and we are back on the Plateau. This time it's Ai-Petri. On the left, the “space eggs” of Bedene-Kyr sparkle with whiteness. Somewhere ahead there is a cable car. And we will go to the right, to the picturesque Besh-Tekne basin, where we will camp for the night. 

Continuing our way to the west, we will walk along the same plateau as yesterday. But it looks completely different. The path winds through dense thickets of thorns and dogwoods, and a whole garden of wild apple and pear trees. The mountains are gradually becoming lower, and the endless sea is getting closer. The ancient path Shaitan-Merdven (Devil's Staircase) leads to the sea. The Romans walked along it, but we... won’t go. It's still too early for us to go to the sea :)

Along the famous battlements of the Foros-Kastropol wall (rock wall) we will approach the beautiful Foros Church. It’s not hard to guess that Foros is somewhere nearby.  And there he is, far below! And we're up again. Through the Baydar Gate pass we climb another mountain range.  Be patient a little. Behind it awaits us Laspi Bay and an overnight stay on the seashore.

Let's plunge into the sea one more time and go storm the rocks again. Today we are going to cross Cape Aya. Below us is the so-called Lost World, a military base is a little higher on the rock, and in the distance on the horizon Cape Fiolent and Sevastopol are already visible. The goal is close! We spend the night again by the sea - among the relict pines of the Inzhir tract.

Along the sea through the Zolotoy and Serebryanny beaches we will approach the Genoese fortress of Chembalo, which controls the entrance to Balaklava Bay. There, on the embankment of Balaklava, our hike will end. From here you can get to Sevastopol in half an hour. Or you can take your time and go to the opposite shore of the bay for an excursion to the underground submarine base.