There are many streams everywhere, with lots of litter in the bigger ones.
Litter in a mountain stream. Kolochava, Carpathians, Ukraine
If you are interested in what is there to do in Kolochava, here is the answer: just go to the mountains. When you are tired, you can descend back and listen to what you body says to you, whether it is «borsch» or «riplyanka», or a sauna. I won't be explaining borsch or sauna. As for the riplyanka — it is a local meal which is mashed potatoes mixed with sweet corn flour. I am sorry, but it is not to my taste, so I do not recommend it.
One may try visiting military fortifications from the second world war — these can be found at t eh beginning of the road to Mereshor, just by the river.
I'd like to repeat it again: do not waste your time. Climb the mountains, this is a way better activity.
There are many streams everywhere, with lots of litter in the bigger ones.
Echoes of war near the road that goes to Mereshor. These are closed; a mobile phone number is provided in case a tourist wants to summon a guide.
Carpathians are the kingdom of water. It is flowing, rushing, falling, resting as snow, hanging as fog and clouds, standing in puddles of various forms, sizes and depths.
Streams of varying sizes are flowing between houses, through the farmland, parallel to the road, perpendicular to the road and sometimes simply using roads as waterways.
A footbridge to a heavily littered water spring is dangling over Tereblya halfway between Kolochava and Mereshor.
Commuting on bicycles in -15°C (5°F) is not uncommon here.
I decided it was time to leave the narrow stripe of flatland and see how far up can I get in the direction of the highest local mountain, which is called Strymba and has 1719 meters (5640 feet) over the sea, of which 1100 meters () is prominence to be climbed from the Tereblya river level. Need spoilers? I failed to climb it this time.
Here is the Sukhar stream, as seen on my way to the start of the climb. This photo of Sukhar was made not far from its confluence with the Tereblya river.
One of Kolochava's post offices.
The start of the steep climb to the Strymba peak. It was real steep, hard to believe the fact it is one of the official marked paths; I had to crawl on all my limbs to overcome some stretches.
Every step up changes the view. This is beautiful. I got hooked. This is my second favorite activity from now on (after cycling).
Here is a random view of Kolochava.
The ridge on the other side of the valley is the location of Krasna polonyna and the Topas peak.
A lovely-looking barn some 300 meters above the village. It is a mystery how the materials and tools have been lifted up here. The road to this place requires a heavy-duty specialized vehicle, as per my opinion. This is just a simple barn, but there are more serious electrified houses nearby. My only version is that people have been using tractors like «Prykarpatets» during dry season to build here.
I've said that every step up this climb changes the view. Here is why I aborted my badly-prepared mission. This is just 100 meters above the barn. A radical change, ain't it. Visibility inside this cloud was not greater than 10 meters.
You can imagine that I've been left with a classic hard choice between red and blue pills:
proceed for further 700 meters of elevation gain, survive hours of climbing and descending through the thick snow cap, do it fast enough to avoid the night, while having only the boots (good ones, but without ice hooks) and only one liter of tea of food, in zero visibility (had a GPS-navigator). Receive awe and praise from non-hikers afterwards; or...
drink all the tea at once, enjoy the views just under the cloudline, use another trail to descend and call it a day. Eat borsch and have a sauna with my non-hiker friends.
I succumbed to gravity, letting my self-preservation instinct take control. This was one third of the complete elevation gain. I seriously doubt that I'd made it that day. Leaving Strymba unchecked on my bucket list.
I did one more attempt of climbing something in the vicinity, choosing the lower peak of Darvayka as the target. I have managed to bring the non-hikers with me, including an 10-month-old child. We climbed 200 meters and they changed their mind. This was for good, since the route already presented significant danger for the child. We had some adventures along the way, such as extremely steep section of muddy cow trails and an enormous, deep puddle of snow water way above the strengths of everyone's footwear except mine.
I think I have learned some lessons about hiking during this stay in Kolochava. First is «do not waste time talking friends into climbing mountains. Going alone is faster and more realistic.». I hope life will let me try again sometimes.