Dreaming Mountain
Our last evening in beautiful Dzembronia we spent outside, making pictures.
Hiding in grass
Last bursts of sunlight were immersing the entire scene into magic.
Setting sun
The mist, the grass, the trees, even the posts - suddenly, everything was preparing for a summer night in the mountains.
Sunday evening
Views on the way to peak Stepanskyi during our first warm-up ascent.
Monday evening
From Kosaryshche, on the way home. Our second warm-up ascent the next day after visiting peak Stepanskyi.
Monday evening
Very beginning of our ascent to peak Kosaryshche.
Hills and skies
Clouds, as a great beauty of nature photography. They can be soft, they can be jagged, just can not get enough of them.
Clouds
Way up north
This tree was located at the northern side of a ridge, no idea how could this tender being survive the winters, being covered with snow.
Most mezmerizing
Most mezmerizing but also most calm moment during the entire trip.
Warm-up ascent to peak Stepanskyi
We arrived to Dzembronia on Saturday.
This, and the next day, we spent mostly getting accustomed to the surrounding air, wind, sunshine, and the lack of people.
On Sunday midday we began our search for an easy warm-up hike in the evening.
Peak Stepanskyi, 300m above us, at the altitude of 1115m above the sea level, seemed a perfect choice.
With basic gear - water, GPS, camera, rain jackets - we headed out at around 18:00.
During the warm-up ascent we were getting used to the the weight of the shoes, backpacks, and experiencing our new surroundings.
At approximately 19:00 we heard thunder.
The Chornohora range, that lies on the opposite side of the village, was quickly accumulating dark clouds above the Pip Ivan and Smotrych peaks.
Two days later, a lightning strike killed a father and his daughter, during descend from Hoverla, 15km away.
The accident was recorded live, and later uploaded to youtube.
Blissfully unaware of the dangers posed by lightnings back then, we continued our climb.
We reached the summit and started the descend at 19:40, hearing thunder after thunder.
Luckily, the entire ridge of Stepanskyi is below the tree line, and is densely covered with forests.
GPX log: