Welcome to the mountains

Detailed diary of the "Scarlet Sails" hike July 19, 2009
We all came from different cities, strangers to each other, escaped from this noise and dust. Everyone wanted romance, other sensations (walking among nature, telling jokes to each other, singing songs with a guitar, seeing beautiful views). But that was not the case!

"Mountains build character and give a Spartan education
and, of course, they teach you to understand people."
Yu. Moiseev

Towards the mountains! Welcome to the mountains! This is how our first day began. And only our instructor Kirill was already making some plans. We all came from different CITIES, strangers to each other, escaped from this noise and dust. Everyone wanted romance, other sensations (walking among nature, telling jokes to each other, singing songs with a guitar, seeing beautiful views). But that was not the case!!!!

1 day. It's very hot.

12.00 meeting point at the train station in Feodosia under the Lenin monument. Everyone enthusiastically put food into their backpacks, which Kirill distributed among us. Then we also had fun trying on the backpack on our backs (making sure it didn’t weigh out in any direction). And we set off happily on our way...

At 13.40 we left Feodosia for the village of Podgornoye. At 14.00 we arrived at the Podgornoye stop and again began to redistribute backpacks, as Yulia and Vadim joined us. Cheerful guys from Kyiv. They had a guitar...

At 14.30 we left the stop and the climb immediately began. After some time, the backpack on my shoulders made itself felt. He became heavier and heavier, and we all rose and rose. At 15.00 we climbed Mount Uzun Syrt.

We passed by the Glider Launch Center and finally, at 15.30, the first stop. How long everyone had been waiting for him. The sun is beating down. After getting up, my legs felt weak. The backpack puts pressure on my shoulders, my back hurts. But the smile still remained on our lips. This is how our first baptism of fire in the mountains began!

Photo 2 our first stop

At 16.20 we passed the airfield for paratroopers. At 16.55 we went to the Gazebo “Starfall of Memories” on Mount Koklyuk. Here we stopped and started taking the first beautiful photographs. Yes, first we went up, looked at the beautiful views, and then we had to go down and then we learned all the “charm” of mountain thorns. By the end of the first day, my legs were pretty scratched and punctured. But this was just fun... We don’t need to go to discos!!! You can go like this for a week!!!

At 18.00 we stopped near a spring and set up camp. Here again I had to learn... how to set up tents. Kirill told everyone how to prepare the place, how to lay out the tent, where to put the backpack. Then we went to collect the first firewood. At first, carefully so as not to get ragged. Still urban...

At 20.00 we had our first dinner (pasta with stew). They were simply incredibly tasty. We got to know each other over tea, counted the scratches on our legs, and at 10 p.m. we all went to bed. We haven’t sung songs with a guitar yet, we just started to realize where we got to and what we need to do next...

Day 2. Hot.

The instructor wakes up at 7.30. We also need to get up, but we don’t feel like it. We get up, collect firewood, bring water. At 9.00 breakfast is ready (rice with raisins). We clumsily assemble our tents, pack our backpacks more confidently, and hit the road again.

At 10.20 we leave the camp. At 11.20 we stopped on some hill. It had a view of the vineyards. Then we wandered between the vineyards, when suddenly a woman came out to meet us. She warned us not to walk here. The territory is guarded by Caucasian dogs (they are very angry and attack people). She took us through the vineyards and peach orchard. I, Olya and Sveta couldn’t resist, and while no one saw them, we picked a little of the peaches. True, our instructor does not know about this.

At 12.00 we came across a private lake. It was fresh, they grow fish there. Without thinking twice, we all went swimming. And imagine our surprise when we got stuck in mud up to our waists on the very shore. However, we were not afraid and ran into the water! This is such an extreme way of getting in and out of the water on your stomach. But how nice it is to swim in a fresh lake in the heat. At 12.30 we left the lake and moved on.

At 13.10 we made a stop on the Green trail (6 km left to the spring). The backpack still puts pressure on my shoulders. The sun is beating down on my head. We are constantly going up. We count every meter. At 14.20 lunch. At 15.10 departure to the resting place.

Each climb becomes harder. My legs don't obey me. All scratched, wet with sweat. Moreover, the backpack puts terrible pressure on my shoulders. Everyone begins to feel the feeling: Why do we need all this? Here Kirill also says that you can take a minibus to Simferopol nearby. After some hesitation, it was decided to move on and reach the end.

At 16.10 we entered the paratroopers' clearing. A view of Old Crimea opened up right in front of us. The weather began to deteriorate. At 16.20 we stopped at the Spring (3.8 km left to the monastery). The spring was almost dry and it took a very long time to collect water, drop by drop. I really wanted milk. Along the way we met many grazing goats and cows, but there was no milk... At 17.00, we finally left the spring.

At 19.00 we reached the road to the monastery. It started to rain. We all put on rain gear and were inspired, since there were 500 meters left to our overnight stop. Oh, how close our rest is. At 19.20 arrival at the Surb Khach monastery. They helped us find a place to stay for the night a little higher than the monastery. A group of tourists also settled near us. At 19.50 we set up camp on the territory of the monastery.

Before dinner we decided to go swimming. Oh, this is the most fun thing to do. Darkness. The water and I go somewhere under a tree. We move the flashlights away from ourselves so that no one sees! And we start pouring ice water on each other. I really want to scream, but there are people around me who can’t.

While we are swimming, Kirill, a skilled cook, who is also an instructor, who is also a mother in the evening and a strict father in the morning, is preparing dinner. And after dinner, singing with a guitar begins and already tired, but happy after dinner and hot tea, we go to bed. And at night it began to rain and thunder.

Day 3. Cloudy.

The instructor will wake up at 7.00. It's chilly and cold. At 8.40 we have breakfast. Looking at the faces of the guys, I want to feel sorry for everyone. But we must go further. At 10.30 we left our overnight stay. At 11.35 we stopped at the ruins of the Surb Stepanos monastery. And suddenly a miracle happened. You no longer feel the backpack on your back. He sits there like a glove, no discomfort. You begin to notice all the beauty of mountain nature. At 12.10 we went further. Even the mood lifted. There is no more fatigue.

At 13.15 we reached the top of Mount Frank Meser. It was something. Such beauty!!! This is definitely worth going to the mountains for. Despite the very strong wind, many beautiful photographs were taken. At 14.00 we went further, along the way we came across a monument to the partisans and a Taurus box.

Then, after 45 minutes, we stopped at a stream and had lunch there. At this time, two locals approached us; they were walking to the Kizil Tash monastery (that’s what our instructor called it). We'll go there too. There, not far from the monastery, you can spend the night. We arrived at the monastery at 15.40. We found a place to stay for the night. The spring near the monastery is 600 meters away. You cannot stay on the territory of the monastery. I felt tired in my legs.

Next we decided to do a radial trek (climbing Mount Sandyk without backpacks). Two people from our group remained in the camp; their legs hurt very much. The rest were not happy either, but they endured it in order to sit on the top for half an hour and look at everything around from above.

At 16.12 we started climbing to the monastery, caves, and Mount Sandyk. The climb lasted 3 hours, it was steep, through the forest. It was already starting to seem like this would last forever. There was no clearing visible, it was getting more and more difficult to walk. But soon we saw a gap among the trees and climbed out to checkpoint 1 at a cliff 15 meters away, and an hour later we climbed Mount Sandyk 700m above sea level.

Oh how beautiful it is. Sit on the edge of a cliff and look down on everything. You can call your friends, the connection is excellent. And what’s most amazing is that while we were climbing it was hard, but when we saw such beauty everything disappeared somewhere. And I wanted to go somewhere else...

At 19.00 we began our descent. He was not cool, and an hour later we returned to camp. Then we made another forced march to the spring to swim. And when we arrived, our wonderful instructor had already prepared dinner. And only at dinner we all realized how tired we were. Even the songs with a guitar weren't suitable. The eyes closed on their own. And soon we all went to our tents.

Day 4 Everything hurts, the weather is great.

This morning we got up later than usual, since in the evening we decided that this day would be a fasting day. We got up at 8 am. Already at 9.30 breakfast was ready. We left the camp slowly (at 12.10), as every muscle was felt, but still we wanted to go further... We walked that day mainly through the forest, and there was no need to rest our muscles, since there were a lot of climbs.

At 12.50 we came out to a clearing with a bench overlooking the mountains and took a break. Further we came across a sanitary zone and a gate with machine gun nests. We walked a little along the road and entered the forest again. The ascent began. We went to the ridge of Manjil Haya at 15.30 and had lunch there.

We rested at rest on this day longer than usual. But everyone was very friendly. No one thought about returning home, about the heavy backpack, about the pain in the muscles. Now everyone wanted to climb somewhere else and no one was afraid of the kilometers, the forest and the climbs. It even became funny.

At 17.20 we went to the gas pipeline and at 17.30 we arrived at our overnight stop (Sudak forestry). A very beautiful landscape overlooking the sea opened up. It's getting closer!!! At 20.00 everyone had dinner.

In such a short time we have become a great team. Everyone decided for themselves what they liked best to do. Everyone collected firewood. Someone was filling the pot with water, someone was making sure that the fire did not go out, someone was brewing tea (by the way, our tea was herbal and we collected it along the hike), everyone was busy with work.

There was no guitar that day, the conversations were on very deep, philosophical topics. And as usual, at 23.30 everyone went to their tents to sleep. Tomorrow I have to get up at 6 am. We have a long distance to cover. Each of us set an alarm clock so as not to oversleep.

Day 5 The last push.

Everyone got up at 6 am, as if on an alarm clock. In a businesslike manner, they lit a fire, put a pot of water, someone was already assembling the tent, and someone was helping to prepare breakfast. And at 8.35 we left the camp. At 9.20 we reached the asphalt road, as planned. We were so happy when we saw the cars and people around. But after 20 minutes we entered the forest again and the ascent began.

At 10.30 we left the forest, and a viewpoint to Meganom opened in front of us. An hour later we approached the foot of Mount Kokush Kaya (Bird Rock) and climbed to the top without backpacks. This is why it’s worth going to the mountains!!! I didn’t want to go down, but I had to go further.

The weather is beautiful, the mood is great. And then we climbed the Dark Mountain and another nearby mountain. We were approaching the sea. At 13.30 we stopped for lunch. There are 2700 m left to the spring. And as it turned out, the spring is just below us, if we go down the mountain.

At 15.00 we began our descent from the mountain. He turned out to be very cool and extreme. It seems that when we descended, even the air helped. Backpacks are pulled forward, the ground disappears from under our feet. The main thing is not to fall. But everyone did great!!! It took an hour and a half to descend.

And when we got down, it turned out to be just a stone’s throw away from the sea. And as it turned out, hippies and nudists come to this place to relax. They have their own fashion and it was a little embarrassing. But this is one spring for everyone, so we placed our camp above the spring and flew to the sea. Now our instructor was surprised at our energy and desire to move. After all, you have to go down to the sea and go back up (about 2 km). Within 30 minutes we were swimming in the sea and were happy. However, we soon had to return. We stayed in a group and didn’t go anywhere alone.

By 20.00 we returned to camp, wet with sweat, out of breath, but happy. Therefore, we also had to swim in the cold water of the spring. After dinner we talked about the stars and the moon. We laughed and joked a lot. Everyone understood that this was the last night, and no one wanted to go to the tent to sleep. But the ascents and descents did their job, and still at 23.30 everyone went to bed.

Day 6 To the sea!

All the hardest things are behind us, only the sea lies ahead. The instructor got up early, at 6.40. The rest arrived at 7:00. The last breakfast seemed incredibly tasty (millet with raisins). It was a little sad and exciting at the same time. It’s sad that it’s all over, but the joy is that soon you will see all your close and dear people. At 10.05 we left the camp and began to go down to the sea. At 10.55 we stopped by the sea for swimming. And then all the time we walked along the shore to the village of Kurortnoye. And from the village of Kurortnoye we went to Koktebel by boat through Karadag.

And at 13.45 we arrived in Koktebel and this was the end of our fascinating acquaintance with the mountains. In Koktebel, we couldn’t part ways for a long time; we exchanged addresses, phone numbers, and emails.

In such a short time we have become one friendly team. One complemented the other. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for their courage, for their help and support to each other. Thanks to Vlad and Yulia for singing and playing the guitar, Sveta for the jokes, Olka for the cheerful laughter and support, and instructor Kirill for the great hike.

Olga Andrushkevich, Donetsk 2009.