Weekends at the Suru Chalet are for sure becoming a tradition for us. We keep saying that for us it’s the perfect mountain escape, especially when we travel with our daughter. 2021 had quite a good kick off for us – we are in the mood for being active and enjoying nature and since snow refused to show its face in the city, it left us no choice but to head towards the mountains for some proper winter scenery.
Winter this year took a longer time than expected to show its face in the city and at lower altitudes in general in Romania, so it left us no choice but to put our hiking boots on, gather warm clothes in a backpack and head towards the mountains, in search of some proper snow.
As lots of our traveling plans got cancelled this year and considering the social distancing, we ended up to spend one week at one of our favorite chalets in the Făgăraș Mountains, Cabana Suru. It was something we were thinking of doing for a long time, to go there and spend more than one weekend, like we usually do. So here we are, world pandemic giving us the chance to finally do it.
In an attempt to spend more time outdoors with our daughter and driven by a personal childhood dream, this summer we spent 3 nights in a remote, yet easy to reach by car, sort of wooden tree cottage, with noting else around, but trees, pastures and all the attractions that nature provides: fresh air, beautiful views, lots of plants, insects and mushrooms to observe and discover.
Cabana Urlea was, until it got so deteriorated, one of the most important access points to the Făgăraș Mountains Ridge, when hiking from East to West. Now it’s just a ruin, but hiking there is still a pleasure, so we planned a day trip beginning of June. It was just after the COVID state of emergency was over, so we were desperately looking forward for some proper hiking.
Spring in our part of the world officially starts when the first snowdrop flowers come out of the last layer of the winter snow and show off their beauty and perfection. When I was a child, the appearance of snowdrops in March was definitely a moment of joy, as I knew that the warmer days are coming and summer was also around the corner.
Here we are in the last day of our trip, traveling from Alma Vii to Mihăileni for just a couple of hours and waiting for our ride back home, to city life.
We are slowly getting to the end of our trip, here we are in our 6th day of trekking, going from Richiş to Alma Vii, through the forests and over the pastures, for about 15 kilometers and 5 hours in total.
We left Mălâncrav early in the morning aiming to get to Richiș by the afternoon. We walked almost 30 kilometres in total for the day and an elevation of 793 meters, so a lot of hills going up and down.
The 4th day of our Saxon Trek was the longest one and marked passing from the Hârtibaciu Valley to the Târnavelor Plateau which is also known as the „Weinland”. Villages like Biertan, Richiș and Saroș were famous for the terraced vineyards they had and for the local wine they produced called “Neuburger”. We walked 26 kilometers from Dealu Frumos to Mălâncrav.
