My first hike in the mountains. Part One

Hi friends! Finally, I decided to tell you in detail about my hiking in the mountains. I have previously shared photos of this hike, but now there will be more photos (though they are not very high quality, since it happened back in 2007, when mid-range digital cameras made worse photos than modern-priced smartphones). I will also tell you why I have grown to love the mountains ever since, why the majestic peaks of the Carpathians have always captured my heart, although it is very difficult for a newcomer to the mountains.

So let me tell you everything in order. I got into my first hike by accident. Once a friend came to visit me, we talked about different things. Suddenly he was called by his friends and offered to go on a mountain hike (by the way my friend was not in the mountains at the time). My friend couldn't do it for reasons I don't remember and offered to go instead. I agreed because I found this proposal interesting.

As I did not have the necessary equipment - a backpack, a karimat, a sleeping bag, a tent, I had to borrow everything. More or less appropriate clothes I picked myself. We bought the food in advance and distributed it evenly among all participants in the hike.

Our journey began in Lviv, from where we traveled to Ivano-Frankivsk. From there, we drove a few dozen kilometers by bus, I no longer remember exactly to which town. Then we just hired a truck on the road and a fun crowd went to the place where our hike began.

As our initial purpose was to ascend to the mountain range of Chornogora, along which runs the administrative border of the Ivano-Frankivsk and Transcarpathian regions of Ukraine, we chose Dzembronya, the highest mountain village of Ukraine, which is located at an altitude of about 900 meters above sea level as the starting point of our trek. This fact can explain the fact that only an hour after the start of the hike, it became very difficult for me, an unprepared beginner, to breathe, because at a considerable height the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere is very low, so your lungs have to work more intensively. However, after a while, I adapted and my breathing became more normal. I began to pay attention to the places our route was passing.

And it was worth paying attention to. At the beginning we saw snow-capped mountain peaks that we had to climb. The Carpathians do not belong to the type of mountains whose peaks are covered with snow all year, but in May, when our hike took place, there was still enough snow in the mountains. Combined with the fact that summer is almost at the foot of the mountains, it looks exciting.

There were many interesting things to do during the climb, in addition to the beautiful mountain scenery. The crocuses started to bloom, the purple flowers of which looked very beautiful against the background of dry grass last year. We also met a traveler who climbed to the top with his dog, a German shepherd. Most interesting was that this dog had a special harness to which the bags containing the food were attached. The traveler himself walked almost empty-handed.

I will finish today's post at the site of the first serious halt when we rested after climbing the Montenegrin ridge. We then had lunch, admired the panorama of the mountains, and walked in the direction of Mount Pip Ivan, but I'll tell you about it next time.

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