- The Remains of Observatory on the Mountain Pip Ivan (2028m)
Pip Ivan, Black Mount, Popivan. There is no other such an interesting, enigmatic, so well-known abroad and so away from roads mountain as this one. Its height is 2028m. This is the third highest mountain in the Ukrainian Carpathians, after such mountains as Goverla (2061m) and one more mount which belongs to the Chornogora Mountain Range and has a specific Romanian name Brebeneskul (2036m). The building of an old Polish meteorological observatory which is situated on Black Mount attracts tourists for decades.
A point of view exists that the name Pip Ivan that is marked on most official maps is wrong. It appeared after the Soviets came to Western Ukraine. A legend says that a long time ago the priest named Ivan lived in these lands and each year on the Midsummer holiday he organized the marches of local people to the mount to gather healthful mountain herbs. Another variant of the name explanation is that the shape of the mount resembles a priest in a cassock. But the most ancient and logically the most right name is Popivan, with the stress on the second syllable. It is explained by the fact that this area is always very windy, the winds always howl here and local people say that they “pospivuiut”, “popivaiut”.
There is one more variant of a name – Black Mount, which people sometimes take for Chornogora – a big mountain range, where 6 Carpathian mountains with the height more that 2 thousand meters are. There is one more mount Pip Ivan Marmarosky – the highest peak of Rakhiv range. Its height is 1941m.
Hutsuls say that many years ago there was a huge rock on the peak of Black Mount and Dovbush – a legendary leader of opryshky, killed “black evil” here. And because of this the rock became black and the mount was named Black.
But the main peculiarity of Popivan is that there is a grand stone building on the top of it. In winter that building is so covered with snow and ice, that Polish people called it “White Elephant”. There exists one more variant to explain this name. Some officials looked at the observatory with skepticism. They considered it to be a “white elephant” – bizarre and useless idea.
Today the only use of the observatory is to hide while it is raining. People make fire inside the halls and corridors. Local people used to take the elements of inner decorations of the observatory that is why now there remains almost nothing.
It is possible to start a trip to the remains of observatory from different locations.
Most often tourists start their trip from the village Dzembronya (Berestechko). There is a bus Ivano-Frankivsk – Verkhovyna. A turn to Dzembronya from the road Ivano-Frankivsk – Verkhovyna is near a village Iltsi, near a grocery shop and a big wooden pointer. A paved road ends here.
From the village bus station we start our way to the polonyna (plain) Smotrych. Nearly half an hour later there will be a shepherds’ hut, where you can buy milk and cheese. Here you will have to choose between two ways. The first one is to climb the mount Smotrych. This is the shortest way but it may be quite difficult especially for the first day of the trip. And another way is to go around the mountain, across the forest and near the waterfall.
From a scientific point of view, polonyna Pozhyzhevska is considered to be the windiest place in the Carpathians. A weather station is situated there. But the weather on Smotrych is almost the same and the wind is very strong there. It even seems that you can fly with the help of that wind (but you’d better not try because the mount is very high and it would be dangerous).
The way through Vukhati kameni, “sidlo” and to the mount Smotrych is so often crossed by the tourists that it is almost impossible to get lost. From mount Smotrych there are two ways: to the left – Pip Ivan Chornogirsky, to the right – the whole Chornogirsky Range.
When the weather is fine and you have a map and a compass, you’ll never get lost on the Chornogirsky Range because you can see everything on many kilometers around. But when the weather is bad, you must be very careful because you can easily fall from the cliff. The west side of the range is flat, but the east side is not.
From mount Smotrych (border pillar number18) to the observatory there is an hour and a half of walk. The closer to the observatory you come, the colder it becomes. There is always fog on that part of the route. Step after step and you come to the peak of Pip Ivan.
It is difficult to find here a place for a camp that is why it is better to plan where you will stay for the night and have enough time to get there from the peak of Pip Ivan.
You’ll need to get back to the crossroads and go by the path to the east of the range, to the other remains of some building. You’ll see them from the peak. This is a nice place to make a camp – there is some water and you’ll be protected from wind here. It is required to take a gas or petrol burner if you are going to make a trip across the Chornogirsky Range because you will not be able to find firewood there. The range belongs to the National Park – to cut the trees and to make a fire is forbidden there.
If you are not planning to continue your trip across the range, you can get down by another way to Lake Maricheika, a very beautiful and legendary mountain lake, and then continue your way to Ust – Shybene, which is situated near the village Zelene, to pass borderland check, to wait for the only bus and to go home.
But if you decide to see the whole Chornogirsky Range, then a lot of peaks are waiting for you, such as Dzembronya, Menzul, Brebeneskul, Rebra, Shpytsi, Turkul, Pozhyzhevska, Breskul, Goverla, Petros and others, Lakes Brebeneskul and Nesamovyte, the sun, fog, precipices and rain and of course fresh mountain air, unforgettable views and the feeling that you are somewhere above the earth.
Based on the Ukrainian tourist magazine “The Carpathians”
'
