Photos : Brasov City Fagaras Mountain Region Hiking
Brass What?
The bus ride from Vlad’s place to Brasov took a few hours along the main roads that were either in a state of disrepair or construction…you take your pick. They’re not that bad but the bus was bouncing its way to Brasov thus making any chance of sleeping relatively slim. That is of course unless you’ve barely slept the night before and tired. Yours truly bowed his head and let it flop about like a baby giraffe’s broken neck. My head almost did a 360 but was saved by the limits of the human body and more importantly the bus seat. My head bounced from my chest to the window the into the aisle and back to my chest via the seat head rest. The broken sleep was welcomed but not as much as the B&B bed.
The first thing that sticks in my mind about Brasov is Tampa Mountain but not because of its size, is formation, its history but because of the Hollywood-esque sign. Never asked why it was there or when it was constructed but I’ll grant you that it is distinctive. We spent 1-2 hours wandering around the city checking out the Black Church, the Brasov Council Square, and the Orthodox Church.
For dinner we were treated to a proper meal, in both taste and sustenance. The local restaurant had huge wine barrels in the cellar and we were given a tour before being seated for authentic Romanian/Hungarian cuisine. I enjoyed an extra helping or two (thanks to Yokey and much to Mitch’s disgust) of the cabbage and mince rolls, sort of like a Romanian version of dolmades.
Having little sleep the previous night, I was relishing a decent night’s sleep and luckily the basic accommodation in Brasov fitted the bill.
Misty Mountain Tops
Bidding farewell to Brasov and the B&B we headed via bus for roughly 2 hours to the start of our 3 day hike in the Fagaras Mountain region. Mother nature decided to treat us to a wet welcome so before we’d even packed our bags with rations the rain started. We donned wet weather gear and pack condoms aka pack covers and set off. Unlike the previous 2 day hike, we didn’t get a cable car to the start top of the mountain but used our natural gifts. The initial climb was relatively steep over rocks and a consistent gradient. Slow and steady was our approach (well for most of us) and this proved to be true over the course of the hike.
The view from the top of the initial ascent is beautiful, apparently, but all we could see was clouds. This proved to be the theme for the entire day. Luckily the rain abated to an occasional drizzle but the micro climate wouldn’t let go of the clouds and they seemed to follow us everywhere. Like a tantalising beacon in the distance we could see some blue sky and some sun breaking through. No matter what elevation or what ridge we walked, the clear skies were not above us but on the horizon.
The max elevation of the peaks may be under 2500m but the constant up and down coupled with the cold weather with some rain, made for labouring breaths on certain sections. The name of the trip is Transylvanian Traverse with the latter being the operative word. Most of the paths we followed were along ridges with varying drop offs. Careful footing was paramount to ensure you didn’t fall down either side or indeed backwards into other members of the group (as Yokey found out with a face full of Mitch’s maximum gluteus). In most places the fall wouldn’t have been too far however there were some places where you could do some serious damage. Is it possible for the scenery is rugged and jagged whilst being tranquil? If you answer yes, then it was. 🙂 Maybe it’s just that we’re out of the office and ‘enjoying’ the strain of hiking. We even got to walk over a glacier…the thing was so big it took us 5-10 seconds to get across!
We had started this journey around midday and by 3pm we were curious how much further. Our leader, Razvan, would answer in number of ridges/hill tops rather than hours or distance so we were never sure when we’d arrive or exactly what pace.
The clouds add to the mystique as does the panoramic ridge lines. The temperature was changing as much as our clothing layers and finally at almost 1900 hours we reached the turn off to the overnight stay which would take another 30 mins to reach. Yours truly had an altercation with the flat ground when I turned to see where my walking partners were my knee hyper extended making a popping sound. Gingerly I made the last 3 mins to the cabin and as I write this can feel it tightening and worried how I’m going to do the 10 hour hike tomorrow to the highest peak. Time will tell.
Our dinner consisted of dried peas left in water for 110 hours served cold with some other vegetables that we could not discern. The modest affair of soup starter (vaguely nice) and then thick pea soup stodge for a main (not so nice) was not on our list of top 10 culinary delights but it would have to do. Was it good? No. Would I want to have it again? No. Did it fill us up? No….. so in a vote the No’s have it. Luckily I still had enough left over snacks and bad food to have a nice dessert 🙂
Finally this lodge had a more sensible sleeping arrangement. Instead of being crammed like 100,000 goldfish into a teapot, we had separate bunk beds! The one downside was the heating was optional..to be more precise an option that was never used. The mattresses may be thin, the frames may be old, the pillows may have seen more traffic than Shibuya Crossing in Japan, there might not be any heating but compared to the last hut it felt like the Hilton to me.
The Nuptse jacket rocked! Whilst some suffered from the low temperatures I had the warmth of the jacket and was roasting/toasting. A healthy sleep was just what the doctor ordered.
Let’s Get High
This was the longest day of the hike so we had an earlyish start to the day with a few of us setting off around 0740. The estimated time for today’s hike was 10-12 hours during which we would reach the highest peak in Romania at 2544 m. Our room finally allowed most of us to sleep.
The day was long and the constant up and down plus the pitch of the terrain, proved to be gruelling on the legs. The quads were burning, the calves were sore and the lungs were struggling to keep up with requirements. The calves felt like they had golf balls for the entire trek and no matter what you did they weren’t getting any better.
Around midday we were at the highest point in Romania. To get from the main trail to the highest peak, Moldoveanu peak, you ditch you packs and scramble for about 10-15 mins (image on right). In at least 2 sections you cling to the wall like a rock spider and for anyone scared of a 10 foot fall, don’t look down. From Moldoveanu peak, looking back to the trail you actually think the trail is at a higher point to Moldoveanu peak however we’re assured this is an optical illusion and Moldoveanu peak is in fact marginally higher. Luckily for us the sun graced us with its presence and we got great panoramic views. We’ve quickly learnt that in this part of the world a shower of sunlight was just that….short and sweet. One minute you’re bathed in sunshine and the next you find yourself dappled 
in sunlight. I’m so smart that I took a picture of Rob and Ray at the highest peak and missed the sunlight to get a picture of my ugly mug.
From Moldoveanu peak there is only one way to go….down. The gradient is steep from the summit and the going slow and painful (well for me at least). At the base of the ridge is a survival hut where we found 4 hikers who can be described as stupid or stupid or stupid. No wait….I could call them stupid, in fact I will. They’re stupid! They had street sneakers, no gloves, no food. The previous night a member of the embryonic mutants, an Aussie, had his hands become so cold on one of the passes they started to turn blue. Luckily for him he found some wool lying on the ground and created a makeshift pair of gloves. If stupidity can keep you warm, they must have been roasting in the survival hut! They were in good spirits and seemed in charge of their faculties, as much as they ever will be anyway, readying themselves for the walk out. We were kind enough to chat to them about their predicament and eat a snack or 3 in their presence. I know, I know…that may have been insensitive to eat and not offer them food but hey…they’re stupid! We watched with vague concern and harsh judgement at their stupidity (have I mentioned the stupidity thing before?), as they set off on their 7 hour downward trek with 2 litres of water.
Are We There Yet?
When we asked how far it was to our overnight stay we were told (and I’m not being flippant) “you go up, you down, you go up, you down, you go up, you down, you go up, you down”. So according to Razvan we had 4 peaks to climb then should see a turn off to the hut. From that point it’s another hour. We didn’t know the distance of each peak from each other (hell we can’t even see the last 3 from where he told us) so decided to get walking. By the time we reached the turn off my legs were more sore than at the start of the day. I rested enough to chat with Ray and Julie about whether we were at the right turn off and we decided it ‘should be’…nothing ventured nothing gained so off we went. It’s all down hill to the hut so after an hour or so of descent, the quads wanted to be on holiday in a jacuzzi not the mountains.
Hark! Who Goes There?
Finally a hut! As we arrived we were met by Kurt (I actually can’t remember his name) who spoke several languages including German and Romanian but not English. We asked if we were to stay at his hut and he smiled but indicated otherwise. Lexi and myself continued a further 3 minutes to discover an empty hut. We ventured inside to find what appeared to be a scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre namely deserted, unkempt, broken windows, plastic window coverings flapping in the wind, hikers sitting outside glaring at you as though you could be the next meal, no electricity, dark/stark interior, but it did have some plastic table cloths on the dining tables that didn’t look too old. The adjoining ‘wing’ lead to the bedrooms however with many of the windows broken and dust an inch think, we figured either KE Expeditions was on an extremely tight budget or we were at the wrong hut, dubbed by myself as ‘Slayer Hut’.
Retreating to Kurt’s rescue hut we were happy to have Ray turn up. His High School command of the German language may not have got him a seat at the U.N. as a translator but it was 1000% better than mine (I can only order beer) and he was able to confirm that we were indeed staying there tonight and not Slayer Hut. Phew!
Dinner was served by our hosts in the local rescue hut. For the first time in 3 days the food was hot and tasty. Soup was plentiful and even some leftovers. The accommodation was similar to the other days in that it was dorm style however the room was very clean and each sleeping area had sufficient room for each of us to sleep without hitting the person next to you.