A great, misty panorama of mountains fills the horizon. All around are forests and more forests, green and dense. Along the streams, blackberries and bright blueberries are underfoot. So many berries in one place! You can even smell their cool juice in the air‚ harsh and pungent like the aroma of the Carpathians itself. As you climb, the hill becomes steeper and your heart begins to pound. You stop, breathe out, and breathe in lungs full of fresh air. And to your surprise, a single glance at the high mountaintops is enough to give you a second wind. No, it’s not the view of the blue mountains that inspires you‚ it’s the Carpathian air and the healing effect of the beech forests.
Evergreen forests, mountaintops and ridges, madly racing torrents and rivers… Could you ever forget all this after even one visit to the Carpathians? The history of this region, its ancient style of architecture, local traditions and folk customs – not to mention the way of life there – are no less amazing. Here and there one still finds a Roman coin, evidence that the ancient inhabitants traded with the world. Indeed, the settlements of Stupnytsya, Stare Misto, Spas and Stara Sil existed here back in the times of the Kyiv Rus. The names of natural boundaries prove that they were once part of the old Rus state. Think of Halycha Hora, Knyazha Hora and Boyarske Pasovyshche. Maybe the names of the Gutsull settlements – Kohiv, Pystyn, Utropy and Pechenizhyn – were also known at that time. How ancient the land of the Carpathians is!
Ten kilometers to the South of Rakhiv on the right bank of the Tysa River stands a new silver, shining monument by a local artist. A tablet close to it reads: “The center of Europe.” No doubt the center might be in some other place, depending on how one defines Europe’s boundaries, but that neither adds nor detracts from the monument. This declaration was made after careful measurements by the Kaiser and the Royal Military Geographic Institute, performed during the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
One of the most magnificent places in the Carpathian is Narcissus Valley, near the city of Khust, for it contains almost 100 hectares of delicate, aromatic flowers. Small, flat mountainsides rise on both sides of the Narcissus kingdom, and Khustytsya River, a tributary of the spectacular Tysa, flows through the valley.
Carpathian rivers are a subject all to themselves. There are over 28,000 rivers there. In olden days, logs were rafted down these rivers, but now all that remains of this are the museums dedicated to wood rafting on nearby Synevyr Lake. The major Carpathian rivers are Dnister and Tysa minor – their left and right inflows. Carpathian rivers are not deep, but they have a violent temper. They begin high up in the mountains and rush down, fed by rain land groundwater. They rush crazily among the stones, cascade from the rocks, seething gustily as they wash out a path for themselves. Even a narrow quiet stream becomes a restless river a short ways downstream, rushing through ravines and over waterfalls.
The Carpathians here aren’t as high as the permanent snow line, but this fact doesn’t diminish their natural beauty. The top Carpathian peaks are Chornohorka, the Marmaros Crystalline Core Area, Svydovets and Horhan. The strong, hard stone of the Marmaros Crystalline Core Area beckons you with its canyons, sharp ridges and peaks. Chornohora, Svydovtsi and Marmaros attract you with their rocks, glacial hollows, valleys and moraines. And mighty Strimchaki rises between the so-called Outer Carpathians and the bend in the Zakarpatsky. Meanwhile, the Strymchack region you find lots of mines, caves and grottos. If s a romantic, mysterious place, but also a dangerous one for inexperienced adventurers.
Following your first encounter with the Carpathians, you’ll fall in love with the emerald colors of its forests and the flame-bright carpets of the mountain valleys. It may be said without exaggeration that this is an authentic mountain wonderland. When the spring sunbeams wake the blue crocuses and the creamy white “fair-maids of February,” beech forests on the mountainsides are still dreaming their winter dream, and the mountaintops beckon skiing enthusiasts into their cold embraces. For the mountain valleys are still carpeted with snow. Somewhere on the warm sides of the volcanic Carpathians, golden pheasants savor sour rose pips at the end of winter. And in the wilderness of Montenegro, the brown bear, Tsar of Beasts of the Carpathians, is dozing in his winter dwelling. Higher still in the rough mountain tundra, if you’re lucky you can hear the song of the wood grouse.
Surrounding Rakhiv, tall larches charm travelers at all times of the year. At 140 years of age, they reach sixty meters in height. Not far from here, however, on the mountainsides of Pip Ivan Marmaros, at an altitude of 1,500 meters, Brachytic fir trees the same age barely grow eight to ten meters tall.
Close to Rakhiv, in the heights off the Svydovetsk Mountains, is Blyznytsya. On its limestone rocks you can see genuine specimens of northern tundra. In the Zakarpatsky foothills near Vynohradiv and Yulivtsi are typical Mediterranean and Balkan species, such as Burundian Oak and white-hued ash trees. You can go along – and across – the green sides of Beskydy and not encounter a single mountain pine. The climate is too swarm for them here. And starting at Horhany, if you don’t know the mountain paths, don’t wander into the forests of crooked pines. Otherwise you’ll remain a long time in their captivity. The only way you’ll get out will be with a lot of effort and a hustulsky axe.
The canopy-shaped peaks and wide ridges of the main Carpathian spine are covered with meadows – wild lands that are called polonyny (mountain valleys) in the local dialect. The ancient mountains are covered with tangles of crooked pine and forests of fir. Below are various kinds of forests. At first, one encounters a wide belt of fir trees. Closer to the valley bottoms the steep slopes of the mid-mountain are covered with mighty beech forests. From the borders of the forest to the foot of the mountains, the forest is broken up by meadows – pryluky or tsarynky. Farther down the foothills are covered with gardens and fields, ploughed lands and vineyards.
It’s hard to live in the mountains because of the severe alpine climate and the poor soil. That’s why the hutsuls mainly support themselves by caring for livestock. Wealth here is measured by head of cattle and by hay. In some villages people still live a totally natural lifestyle. But the humble economic reality is fully compensated by the poetic way of life, by bright colorful ceremonies – which are still preserved and respected here – and traditions that have been handed down from a great-great-grandfather’s times. Almost each domestic item is a work of art. Almost every phrase is a poem worthy of national publication. A colorful ceremony is performed before the beginning of every season’s work, both to honor traditions and as a celebration. It’s impossible for it to be otherwise in the Carpathians, since nature itself inspires you with a lyrical mood and each day whispers romantic thoughts to you.
Here they are, the wonderful blue Carpathian Mountains: picturesque, divinely beautiful, changing with the seasons, benevolent and dangerous. Rich minerals lurk in their depths – oil, natural gas, sodium and potassium salts, sulfur, marble and coal. And certainly, there is healthful mineral water. Here are a million sources of healing for all kinds of illnesses. Actually, this is the main feature attracting scores of tourists to the Carpathians today. Add to this the oxygen-and ozone-rich air, the wonderful unique climate and the extraordinary beauty of its nature. And all these are far from everything with which the majestic blue mountains can tempt you.