One weekend mid-August, we packed our tent and camping gear in search of some milder temperatures, away from the unbearable summer heat wave in the city. The Făgăraș Mountains are always a convenient option for us, so here are, daughter included, spending a full weekend at high altitudes.

This time we chose Cabana Bârcaciu, a place we haven’t visited in a very long time and never in summer. Our plan was to get to Cabana Bârcaciu on Friday afternoon, after work, Saturday try to get as high towards the mountain ridge as our daughter would feel comfortable and Sunday come back to Sibiu.

Day 1 – Friday – hike to Cabana Bârcaciu – 3h00

We left Sibiu on Friday afternoon, after finishing work and drove to Poiana Neamțului, the furthest you can drive and park your car before starting the actual hike. To get there you drive via Avrig and follow the Valea Avrigului road. The last 7 – 8 kilometers turn into a forest road, but still in a very good condition, so any type of car can use it.

The hike starts from Poiana Neamțului and follows the red cross path up to the Cabana Bârcaciu. On the sign it says 2h20, but it took us about 3 hours to get there, as we were with our 7-year old daughter. The hike is a medium one, for the first 30 minutes following a forest road and then following a beautiful path through the forest. We had plenty of shade and we stopped way too many times to pick blackberries and raspberries, as it was full season.

We reached Cabana Bârcaciu around 7PM, having enough time to set our tent, have dinner and enjoy the sunset. We enjoyed the mild summer temperatures, after all the heat from the city and got ourselves in the sleeping bags as soon as the night came and it was getting a bit chilly.

Cabana Bârcaciu used to host people inside, but they are now only offering the option to tent outside. They also serve some warm food and drinks, but for us the quality was a bit disappointing and we chose to bring our own food.

Day 2 – Saturday – hike to the Avrig Lake and back to Cabana Bârcaciu – ~9h00

On Saturday we woke up after a good night sleep under the stars and after a quick breakfast we started our hike for the day. We decided to do a circuit route towards the Avrig Lake and back to Cabana Bârcaciu. It was a super long day, the whole trip took us about 9 hours in total, but it was very enjoyable. We stopped for raspberries and blueberries all the way, admired the beautiful peaks surrounding us, had a small break at the Avrig Lake and dug our feet in the cold water.

As a hiking path, we chose the red cross trail that starts next to Cabana Bârcaciu, going in the direction of the Făgăraș main ridge trail. We followed this path for about 3 hours, first going through a pine forest and then reaching the alpine plains and starting to spot the high peaks around us.

Reaching the Făgăraș main ridge trail (the red line), we stopped for a lunch with a view and after a well deserved 1 hour break, we continued on this trail to reach the Avrig Lake. After another hour we were already there, relaxing in the sun, digging our feet in the cold water and chasing the small fish. It was a perfect clear sky, allowing us to see all the mountain peaks and making plans for other hikes with our daughter.

From the Avrig Lake we followed the blue circle trail back to Cabana Bârcaciu. It was not the easiest way back, as we were already a bit tired from all the hiking and as the first part of the path was quite steep to go down. Luckily, we had again plenty of blueberries to tempt us and a beautiful landscape showing itself at our feet. It took us about 2 hours and 30 minutes to get back to Cabana Bârcaciu. We were tired but happy and grateful that we reached so high up the mountains, that our daughter enjoyed every part of the trip and she didn’t feel it was too much for her small feet.

Back at Cabana Bârcaciu, we had a well-deserved cold shower (they have one in their backyard, very refreshing after a full day of hiking in the sun), we had dinner and waited for the main constellations to show up on the sky before making ourselves comfortable in our sleeping bags and falling asleep.

Day 3 – Sunday – back to Sibiu

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, we packed our nomad house and started our descent towards Poiana Neamțului where we had left our car on Friday afternoon. It was an easy and relaxed hike (about 2h30), stopping from time to time to pick some berries. As it was still quite hot, after reaching our car, we had a pit-stop at the river nearby and had a very refreshing swim.

On our way back to Sibiu we had a quick stop to Brambura Park in Avrig to check out the upside down house and then in Sibiu to Cabana Valea Aurie, for a filling and well-deserved dinner.