Mount Menchul (Mizhhiria)

Menchul is a 1,247 m summit in the south-eastern part of the Polonyna Borzhava massif in Zakarpattia Oblast. The nearest village is Sopky (about 2.8 km); Mizhhiria is about 4.8 km away, Zaperedillia about 5.9 km and Soimy about 6.2 km. For most hikers it is the first (or last) high summit on the Borzhava crest when walking from Mizhhiria. Do not confuse it with the mountain of the same name in Chornohora.

About 1.3 km north-west of Menchul stands Olenovala (931 m), and 2.2 km to the south-east Pohar (1,118 m). To the west the ridge leads to Polonyna Kuk (1,189 m, about 3.5 km) and on to Kuk (1,361 m), which rises about 4 km to the south-west; about 3.9 km to the west stands Kaminna (1,127 m).

How to get there

Seven of our routes cross Menchul or pass within 35 m of the summit; almost all of them start or finish in Mizhhiria:

• Pylypets – Shypit Waterfall – Mount Hemba – Mount Zhyd-Mahura – Mizhhiria, 38.1 km, the shortest crossing of Borzhava to Mizhhiria;
• Vovchyi – Mount Stii – Mount Hemba – Mount Zhyd-Mahura – Pryslip pass – Mizhhiria, 45.1 km, about 2,350 m of ascent;
• Mizhhiria – Mount Zhyd-Mahura – Mount Hemba – Mount Velykyi Verkh – Volovets, 55.2 km, for those starting in Mizhhiria.

The Transcarpathian Tourist Trail also crosses the summit.

Water, shelter and safety

On our map the nearest spring is about 650 m west of the summit, at roughly 990 m; another is about 1.7 km to the south-west (condition of both unknown). Closer to Mizhhiria, about 2.8 km to the east, a spring with drinking water is marked (about 770 m), and 3.1 km away a hut at about 620 m. The climb from Mizhhiria is long and the ridge is exposed to wind and storms, so allow enough time and water. The nearest summit with our forecast is the weather on Mount Stii, about 22 km away. In an emergency call 112 or 101 — mountain rescue works around the clock.

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