Mount Kychera (Mizhhiria)

Kychera is a 1,257 m summit (other sources give 1,241 m; it is also described as Kichera-Kruhlan) on the main crest of Polonyna Borzhava in Zakarpattia Oblast. It lies between Mizhhiria and the highest part of the massif. The nearest villages are Potik (about 2.7 km) and Richka (about 3.8 km), with Tiushka a little farther. Do not confuse it with the many other Kycheras — the name is very common in the Carpathians.

From Kychera the crest branches out: about 1.2 km to the south stands Kruhla (1,208 m), 1.4 km to the north Shyrokyi Verkh (1,257 m), and about 2.9 km to the north-west rises Hrab (1,374 m), beyond which the ridge leads to Zhyd-Mahura (1,517 m). Some 2 km to the south-west you can see Velykyi Ozhyniatets (1,142 m).

How to get there

Fifteen of our routes cross Kychera or pass within 150 m of the summit. A few different options:

• Vovchyi – Mount Stii – Mount Hemba – Mount Zhyd-Mahura – Pryslip pass – Mizhhiria, 45.1 km, along the crest from the highest peak of Borzhava;
• Kushnytsia – Polonyna Kuk – Mount Shyrokyi Verkh – Mount Zhyd-Mahura – Mount Velykyi Verkh – Mount Plai – Volovets, 47.1 km, about 2,770 m of ascent;
• Vovchyi – Mount Stii – Mount Zhyd-Mahura – Pryslip pass – Polonyna Kuk – Mount Korytyshche – Shyroke – Nyzhnii Bystryi, 60.7 km.

The Transcarpathian Tourist Trail also passes over Kychera.

Water, shelter and safety

On our map the nearest spring is about 500 m south of the summit, at roughly 1,180 m (condition unknown); the next one is 1.7 km away to the south-east. About 3 km to the north-west, below Zhyd-Mahura, a weak spring with drinking water is marked, and nearby, below Hrab, a hut at about 1,120 m. The crest is exposed to wind, storms and fog, so watch the forecast: the nearest summit with our forecast is the weather on Mount Stii, about 11 km away. In an emergency call 112 or 101 — mountain rescue works around the clock.

Photos: Jiří Komárek, CC BY-SA 4.0; Петро Малофій, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.