Mount Heryshaska

Mount Heryshaska (1762 m) is a summit on the main ridge of the Svydovets range in Rakhiv district, Zakarpattia Oblast. It stands in the central part of the massif, between Trojaska (1702 m) to the west and Vorozheska (about 1731 m) to the east. A long side ridge, the Hlaskulova Plaika, runs south from Heryshaska for some 40 km towards the Tysa. Its highest point is neighbouring Dogyaska (1761 m), only 700 m to the south. The two almost equally high tops are separated by a shallow saddle, the Dohiaska Pass (1725 m), which is why many descriptions and some maps also call the northern, main-ridge summit Dohiaska. OpenStreetMap and Polish Wikipedia treat them as two separate tops: Heryshaska on the main ridge, Dohiaska on the southern spur.

According to Polish Wikipedia (citing PeakVisor), Heryshaska has a prominence of about 110 m, and the nearest higher summit is Tatulska, 3.1 km away.

How to get there / routes

The red-marked Transcarpathian Tourist Trail follows the main Svydovets ridge directly over the summit. Most classic Svydovets traverses — from Yasinia or Chorna Tysa to Kvasy or the other way round — therefore cross Heryshaska. Our catalogue has several routes that pass over the summit or within a few dozen metres of it, including:

• Chorna Tysa village, via Mount Dohiaska, Mount Velykyi Kotel and Mount Blyznytsia to Kvasy village;
• Yasinia, via Mount Tataruka, Mount Dohiaska, Mount Stih and Mount Blyznytsia to Kvasy village;
• Kvasy village, via Mount Blyznytsia, Mount Velykyi Kotel and Mount Dohiaska to the Yablunytsia Pass;
• Mount Berliaska, via Mount Unhariaska and Mount Troiaska to Lake Dohiaska — a route that ends at the lake below the summit.

The nearest villages in our directory, Chorna Tysa and Yasinya, are both about 13 km away as the crow flies, so expect at least a full day's walk, and a night in a tent on a Svydovets traverse. From the south, along the Hlaskulova Plaika, the "Stezhkamy Opryshkiv" cycling route climbs to the summit and turns east there. Water is available from springs on the slopes; the nearest in our directory are Spring below Mount Dohiaska (13) (about 280 m from the top) and Spring below Mount Dohiaska (19). Their condition has not been checked, so carry a reserve.

The view from the summit

Heryshaska is open and treeless, and the panorama is very wide. To the north-west you can see the Borzhava (Stii, Zhyd-Mahura, Kuk) and Krasna (Syhlanskyi, Topas, Menchul) ridges; to the north and north-east most of the Gorgany, including Strymba, Nehrovets, Popadia, Moloda, Hrofa, Ihrovets, Syvulia, Bratkivska and Dovbushanka. To the south-east rises Chornohora with Hoverla, Petros, Brebeneskul and Pip Ivan, and to the south the Marmarosh massif — on a clear day even the Rodna and Țibleș mountains in Romania. In the foreground are the neighbouring Svydovets summits: Unhariaska, Troiaska, Tataruka, Vorozheska, Tatulska, the Zhandarmy, Blyznytsia and Dohiaska.

Nature and history

The northern slopes drain into the Apshynets stream, which flows out of the lake of the same name between Heryshaska and Troiaska. South of the main ridge lie two valleys separated by the Hlaskulova Plaika: the Serednia Rika to the west and the Kosivska to the east. The Kosivska rises in Lake Herashaska (also called Dohiaska or Hereshavske), which sits on the floor of a glacial cirque at 1577 m. The cirque walls below Heryshaska and Dohiaska drop in cliffs more than 150 m high. The lake is about 125 m long and 110 m wide, shallow (up to 1.2 m deep) and fed mainly by snowmelt; since 1984 it has been protected as a local hydrological natural monument.

The summit area holds the only documented site in Ukraine of the rare plant Bupleurum ranunculoides (buttercup-leaved hare's-ear). Even so, the summit itself is not part of any protected area: the boundary of the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve lies about 3 km away, and in the 2010s scientists proposed creating a "Central Svydovets" landscape reserve here.

The name is not standardised: the forms Gheryshaska, Ghereshaska, Heryshaska, Hereshaska and Herashaska (the last mostly for the lake) all occur. Its origin is uncertain; one suggestion links it to "Herash", a local Transcarpathian form of the name Herasym (Gerasimus).

Safety, season and rules

The best time to go is from late June to early October. The Svydovets crest is treeless, so there is no shelter from storms, wind or fog; summer thunderstorms often build in the afternoon, so aim to be on the ridge in the morning. In fog it is easy to confuse Heryshaska with Dohiaska and drop off the main ridge onto the southern spur — stay with the red waymarks and a map. In winter the slopes above the cirque are prone to avalanches, and the ridge is only for experienced, well-equipped parties.

The summit lies outside the reserve, but protected areas are close by: do not pitch tents or light fires on the lake shores, and take your rubbish home. In an emergency call 112 or 101 (State Emergency Service); mountain rescue contacts are listed under mountain rescue.

Interesting facts

• Heryshaska is just 1 m higher than neighbouring Dohiaska — 1762 m against 1761 m.
• The Hlaskulova Plaika, a side ridge about 40 km long, begins at the summit.
• Lake Herashaska below the summit lies in a glacial cirque dammed by a moraine.

Photos: Wikimapia user major_hawk (Вольдемар Медведченко), CC BY-SA 3.0; Zysko serhii, CC BY-SA 4.0; Nata Mostova, CC BY-SA 4.0; Borys Viktjuk, CC BY-SA 4.0; Тарас Лесів, CC BY-SA 4.0; Daniel Baránek, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons.