Transcarpathian Tourist Route (200 km)

 With the support of the public organization "Tourist Society 'Carpathian Trails'," which marks the Carpathians, promotes tourism in Ukraine, and advocates for the preservation of nature in the Ukrainian Carpathians, we ran a section of the "Transcarpathian Tourist Route" from the village of Dilove to Mizhhirya over four days, covering more than 200 kilometers... We photographed and marked on the map the condition of 46 poles. We passed the current information to our friend from the organization, who further formulates a plan for the replacement or restoration of poles and signs... At the same time, we were glad to help and delve deeper into the "kitchen" of marking and restoring Carpathian trails...

  In the Ukrainian Carpathians, there are two main routes: the Transcarpathian Tourist Route (TTR), approximately 400 kilometers long, and the Eastern Carpathian Tourist Route, almost 200 kilometers long. These are the foundations... These routes are marked with a red marker, while all others are secondary and sometimes connect with the main ones. The part of the TTR we chose included its highest mountainous half.

  Interactive map of our route...

 The format of our running trips includes maximum contact with the local population... We try not to stay overnight in hotels, hostels, etc... Communication with locals who are not influenced by monetary relationships is important to us... Thus, this time, in the village of Dilove, we stayed overnight with an old man, Grandpa Fedir, who is already 86 years old. He lives alone, his wife passed away a few years ago... His children work abroad and visit occasionally...

The grandfather was sitting in his yard on a bench, looking lonely as another day of life stretched on... We approached him and asked if we could stay in his house for the night... We said we only needed a place on the floor and the ability to cook our own food. Seeing that the old man could use some money, we offered 100 UAH... The grandfather agreed...

Inside the house, there was cleanliness and order, and the surrounding area was also very neatly maintained. Even the toilet and shower were inside the house, not outside like in most places. Our greatest surprise was that sulfur water flowed from the tap in his "kitchen"... Perhaps this is the secret of the old man's longevity...

Before coming across his homestead, we passed about ten houses, but no one wanted to shelter us. But the lonely old man did not regret it... As soon as we unpacked the ukulele in his garden and played a few songs, the neighbors from across the street also came to listen... Grandpa Fedir became livelier seeing such interest... A smile, albeit briefly, lit up his face... After the garden concert, the neighbors themselves offered us to stay with them, but we stayed with the grandfather, had dinner together, and listened to his stories... As the grandfather says, everyone here calls him "the Hungarian" because he goes to the Greek Catholic church, not the Orthodox one... And he eagerly adds that he is actually "Czech"... Such interesting Transcarpathia...  

 The next morning we ran up the Maramuresh ridge, catching the Maramuresh in the fog...

 From Pop Ivan Maramuresh to its Chornohora namesake, we were already accompanied by the sun...   

  So, in one day, starting from the village of Dilove, we climbed to the top of Pop Ivan Maramuresh, ran along the border with Romania, and, covering 53 kilometers, stayed overnight at the top of Pop Ivan Chornohora in the "White Elephant" observatory...

  Here we met a rescuer and at the same time the main member of the "Carpathian Trails" organization - Vasyl Fitsak. He is the initiator of marking the TTR and, in his off-duty time, actively engages in restoring marked routes... He told us about the passports for each of them, that the markings need to be renewed every 3-4 years, and that currently, it is necessary to restore over 1,000 kilometers of marked trails... Restoration involves clearing the trail from debris and applying fresh markings... Regarding the observatory, at that time, the rescuers were carrying out repair work to insulate the premises for more comfortable staying at the summit... For the night, we comfortably settled on the floor by the "kitchen" window. Thick sheets of polystyrene were laid on the concrete floor, and additional blankets were provided. We are sincerely grateful to the guys for their work, interesting information, and hospitality.

  In the morning, we ran along the Chornohora ridge to the ruins of a tourist base near the village of Kvasy, where this year a tent camp of scouts - the Kraiovy Wandering Training Camp "Hoverlya" was located, where we were invited to tell Ukrainian scouts about our project and share our experience in organizing long-term trips...

  The main reward, as always, was the beautiful scenery and mountain silence...

  Our backpacks at the summit of Hoverla...

  In the evening, we were guests at the Ukrainian scouts' camp... They treated us to their dinner, after which we gave them a small motivational lecture dedicated to travel, told them about our 1000 kilometer run along the Camio del Norte pilgrimage route, and also played a few of our songs on the ukulele... In the morning, Svydovets awaited us...    

 On the third day, we ran along the Svydovets ridge and stopped for the night in the unique village of Ruska Mokra. The name justifies the village's climate... Due to its close location between the mountains and frequent precipitation, there is constantly high humidity, and snow lies on average 162 days a year...

  We were hosted by the rescuer Ivan Kuzmich. From him, we learned that there are 66 rescuers in the Zakarpattia region and that almost every year they gather for training... He told us about the consequences of the floods in 1998 and 2001... When the village was completely cut off from communication, and bread delivery was carried out by helicopter... About the tragic case when during the flood at night a whole building was swept away and flooded, burying alive the entire family - a husband, wife, and two children, whose bodies were dug out from the silt one by one...

  The next day, we ran along the Krasna ridge and Pishkonya, covered 60 kilometers in a day, and stayed overnight at the Synevyr Pass, 8 kilometers from Mizhhirya... Behind us were over 200 kilometers of the route and 4 eventful days...

  The Krasna ridge...

  The village of Kolochava...

  The Pishkonya ridge...

 We all hope to see a marker indicating which direction to go and how many kilometers to the desired peak... Not to mention that this kind of information can sometimes save lives... For example, the poles have the rescue service's phone number, which, according to the rescuers themselves, is actively used by our and foreign tourists to call for help... Given that almost no one registers with the rescue service when going into the mountains, the value of information increases significantly... Also, the markings allow orientation in zero visibility conditions, as it is the weather conditions that turn the friendly Carpathians into a harsh "beast"...

  So, the poles with information and markings deteriorate every year due to weather and "inhuman" phenomena... Hurricane winds, ice formation, vandalism - our compatriots shooting at the signs with rifles...

 Therefore, the poles constantly need to be restored, and new ways of installation and materials need to be found, which is one of the main directions the members of the non-profit and non-governmental organization "Tourist Society 'Carpathian Trails'" are engaged in... Almost everything relies on the initiative and care of people for our mountains...