Yasinia. An Easy Short Route to Heredzhivka (818 m)

The village of Yasinia lies at the crossroads of tourist routes between the Svydovets and Chornohora ranges. The Yasinia railway station is the terminus for trains from Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Kharkiv, and travellers from various regions of Ukraine choose this distinctive Hutsul village to master mountaineering skills. When, on long hikes with significant elevation changes, the wisdom of the trail has been absorbed, the backpacks are packed and there are 2-3 hours left before the train departs, an unhurried ascent of Mount Heredzhivka near the station will be the farewell chord of a Transcarpathian holiday.

 

Yasinia, Mount Heredzhivka. View of the Chornohora range

The technically simple trek does not require much strength or time; the climb needs no equipment or careful preparation. From the railway station you have to cross the track and head uphill in an easterly direction with a slight deviation to the south. The scattered homesteads of the mountain folk give way to alpine virgin land, while a fresh spring breeze roams wherever it pleases and whistles the song of a free wanderer.

Individual plots are fenced off with horizontal poles and serve for grazing sheep. When needed, the poles are removed and then put back in place. Wooden barns have been built on the farmland, and the harvest sheaves resemble the Carpathian peaks. A large armful of hay, stacked using a special technique, preserves its nutrients for a long time.

Pasture on the slope of Heredzhivka

Among the Hutsuls, sheep farming has always been a folk craft passed down from generation to generation. Sheep fed and clothed the mountain folk. The festive driving of the domestic animals out to the high mountain pasture is expected later, and for now it is simply a stroll along the slopes of Heredzhivka by a merry, as-yet-unshorn flock.

 

Sheep farming on the slope of Heredzhivka

Scattered across the hillside are the concrete structures of the Árpád Line, built by Hungarian soldiers in 1939-1944 to defend against the advance of the Red Army. Defensive fortifications were erected over about 600 km from the Dukla Pass to the Yablunytsia Pass, and the most heavily reinforced rifle positions were created in the area of the village of Yasinia.

 

Yasinia. Defensive fortifications on the slope of Heredzhivka

On the Kőrösmező direction (Yasinia in Hungarian), over 50 pillboxes and a large number of single-man firing positions were built, but this did not help the defenders hold the lines and heights. Soviet troops captured the fortified area with a flanking manoeuvre across the Svydovets range. In memory of the events of September 1944, a memorial marker of stone blocks was erected on the summit of Mount Heredzhivka. Later the plaque on the statue was lost, and now the idol serves as a landmark for the start of the climb to Petros from Yasinia via the Shessa (Shesha) high pasture.

 

Yasinia. The monument on the summit of Heredzhivka

From the top of the ridge a panorama opens onto the intermontane valley, the Chorna Tysa, the high-altitude ski resort of Yasinia, as well as the Svydovets mountain massif, popular among lovers of skiing and snowboarding.

Yasinia. View of Svydovets

On the southern side rises the highest massif of the Ukrainian Carpathians, with the highest peaks, Petros and Hoverla.

Yasinia. View of the Chornohora range

In the northerly direction you can follow the ridge to Mount Kostyrivka and the centre of Yasinia, while a path on the eastern slope leads to Lazeshchyna.

 

View of Lazeshchyna from Mount Heredzhivka

At the very crown of Heredzhivka there is a cemetery where the residents of remote mountain settlements have found their rest.

Cemetery on Mount Heredzhivka

In spring the mountain is covered with a blanket of primroses, which symbolise hope, renewal and purity, and some populations lie outside protected areas, so the question of conserving these heralds of spring is very acute.

 

Gentian on the mountain slope

On the way back I met a freckle-faced girl walking home from school. The friendly 12-year-old pupil pointed me to a path so I could quickly descend the steep slopes to the station and avoid ending up in the bed of a mountain stream. In Carpathian villages the children are well-mannered, friendly and polite, and they always greet you first. We got to know Anita, a resident of a high-mountain hamlet. The beautiful and kind mountain flower with a long braid sincerely told me that it is no trouble for her to cover the distance to school and back every day, and that her homestead offers a fairy-tale view of the mountain peaks. The sixth-grader does dancing and needlework, takes part in contests and dreams of becoming a confectioner.

 

Yasinia. A remote mountain settlement and a view of the Chornohora range

The two-hour captivating outing ended with a pleasant acquaintance, and I made it in good time for the Rakhiv-Kolomyia diesel train. Finally, at the station's point of invincibility, those who wish can rest around the clock, charge their gadgets and drink hot tea.