Summer is definitely for high altitudes. And the Făgăraș Mountains are so close by, that for us, a few days off from work, a good weather forecast and a couple of friends easily turn into a nice hike up on the ridge.
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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.
Back to the Buila-Vânturarița National Park for the third time in the last years, this time with a quite heavy backpack and on a quite long and not so easy trail.
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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.
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.
The Suru Chalet is definitely our favorite chalet in the Făgăraș Mountains and with good reason: very nice hosts, always friendly and smiling, excellent accommodation, clean and comfy, delicious food, kids friendly place, a perfect view, and small enough to feel like you’re actually visiting your family. We’re visiting this place at least once a year because of all the reasons above, but also because it’s quite close to Sibiu and easy to reach for us. This year we went up there again to spend a sunny and warm September weekend with friends, while helping in preparing a dinner with ingredients found mainly in the mountains area.
Since I wrote about our 2018 travels outside of Romania, it seemed legit to offer Romania its 15 minutes of fame and have a summary of the places we checked out in the country last year. We’re mostly traveling around the country during the weekend, except for a more extended seaside trip and a 4 – 5 days hiking trip.
So, we’re in Sibiu for the weekend, planning to stay indoors for two days, and after being some lazy cats on Saturday, on Sunday morning we wake up with way to much energy and decide that only some hiking and fresh air could chill us down.
We started 2018 up on the mountain, in our beloved Făgăraș Mountains and it was sooooo perfect, that the moment we had a day off with a good weather forecast we took our hiking boots and up we went back to Făgăraș. This time we chose a new trail that we have never done before, up to the Valea Sâmbetei Hut.
I think autumn was the season we never got the chance to go hiking and after this trip, I’m still deciding which season I like more for hiking – spring with everything turning green and so many flowers, summer with its clear skies and mild weather, autumn with the forest full of burgundy tones or winter with its never ending snow.
The Chocolates Of Life 