Hiking in Bucegi Mountains

Bucegi Mountains, Romania

August 2007

In August I manage to escape two days in the mountains. After some reflection on the itinerary I choose the beloved Bucegi Mountains.
So Monday, Ausust, 20, 2007 I head thru the mountains. fortunately, Irina, my sister is going to Brasov with the same train. Fortunetely because I realise in the train station that I forgot the money at home :(. Irina gives me some 50 Euro, that I'll have to exchange in Busteni.
I step down the train in Busteni, spend some time waiting for the bank to open, change the money and by 8:30 here I am heading for Gura Diham Chalet (the chalet, despite the crowds around it during the week-end is a good place to eat some ciorba (a romanian dish similar with soup) and a starting point for the hikes in Bucegi Massif.

I spot two big Ravens (corvus corax) on the peak of a fir-tree (I have to mention that I was coming after a birdwatching tour in Danube Delta). By the time I get my camera from the backpack they fly away, but I manage to shoot some images of them.

After some pictures with Caraiman Massif I continue to Gura Diham, the weather is good but some clouds are showing up.

From Gura Diham I am still not decided where to go, at the end I cilmb the steep slope thru Poiana Izvoarelor Hut. After the initial slope, where I stoped for a first braek the walk to Poiana Izvoarelor is really relaxing. I reach the hut by 10:20 , the sun is still up and I don't worry about the clouds that come over Costila Massif. There are two guys that arrived in the same time with me, some people working on the new hut and a lot of quiet. I see another big ravens, this time I don't manage to take any pictures of them :(.

I eat something, drink some water, admire the landscape and ...well I am still not decided where to go. I don't need a map, but the problem is I wouldn't like to hike an alpine unsigned valley alone (the clouds showing up made me decide not to do this) but the touristic pathes are somehow too common. Well, at the end I decide to go to Malaiesti Hut. I know a new hut has been built, but I haven't seen it yet. So I head to Pichetul Rosu, from where the path takes you directly to Malaiesti. On the way to Pichetul Rosu two guys with some market bags and street shoes ask be about the path to Omu hut and Omu Peak. I tell them meantime strongly advice them not the go because the weather, now good, will probably change in a couple of hours.
I reach Pichetul Rosu soon, take a short break (I am still thinking on going to Malaiesti passing by Glajarie, a narrow, wild path that I've done 9 years ago. But the problem there is you have to descend a lot and then climb back all that hill, on the other side of a small spring. So I made up my mind: directly to Malaiesi Hut. I meat a group of four Germans from Râsnov (two elders and them doughter with her German husband). I was singing when we meet, so I think this amused them a lot. My "singing" was not for testing my abilities, but to keep away the wild animals, mailny the brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos). It starts raining, but I don't really mind too much, as I have the brand new raining coat and pants. The rain stops soon, I continue alone as the group of four hikes really slow, so we say good-bye and we'll knwo we'll meet again in the hut. The landscape opens over Postavaru Mountains, Piatra Mare Mountains, Diham hut, and the area between Bucegi and Postavaru.

The "nice" moment is when I reach an area with a lot of berry and I know the bear loves this areas. So I am expecting to see it, even if not desiring this as much as in other hikes. Well, it didn't came so I continue to Malaiesti. I see the hut at 13:15, and soon it starts raining again. I stop to get my rain coat from the backpack again, but anyway I reach the hut in a matter of minutes. The view of Malaiesti Hut, near the Salvamont Refuge, at the foothills of Padina Crucii Ridge surely deserves a photo, so I really don't mind about the slow raining. One can easily see Padica Crucii Ridge, Tiganesti Mountains with it's ridge heading North, the Malaiesti Glaciar caldera.

The people is really nice here in the hut, I meet the hut-keeper, his wife and them son, a girl that I guess is about 13 years old, some mountain lovers from Galatzi. I take a "ciorba", a beer and something to eat. Anyway the real rain starts in about 40 minutes since my arrival in the hut. The mountain walls are full of water, ad-hoc waterfall ; in the first moment I didn't realise the waterfall will only exist for a few minutes so I wonder how I didn't notice them on my other hikes in the area. I found out that Malaiesti is the oldest mountain hut in Romania, there is a picture on the wall with Caragiale, romanian XIXth century writer.

When the storm stops and the weater gets calm again, I decide to spend the evening in the hut (I was also prepared camping, I have my tent with me). As there still is a lot of time till the sunset I take a hike to Tiganesti Lake, that I haven't seen before.

Following the hike on Tiganesti Ridge here