Big Rock and the 7 Ladders |
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Without initially intending to make any Snow White references, the truth is the numbers fit together quite nicely.
Since my November trip with Chris and Charlie to the Lake District I have been looking for an opportunity to return the favour and show Chris around my native hiking grounds. Although I was hoping for a higher turnout, in the end, the valiant team was made up of Chris (not me, the English Chris), Elena and Myself. So, we were 2 Chris-es and 1 Elena for a grand total of 3.
We set off at 10 am sharp from the beginning of the forest road at Cioplea in Predeal down into the Timisul Sec valley and up towards the Piatra Mare peak (English: Big Rock). It took us nearly 4 hours to get to the top, with plenty of stops for food and photos. It was a pretty normal hiking trip until this point, with plenty of workout getting through the 900 m altitude difference, amazing scenery all around us and perfect hiking weather. While we were still in the forest we encountered two groups of deer. Unfortunately they sensed us way before we spotted them so the 5-6 seconds they were in our sights before they vanished weren't enough to draw our cameras.
I'd say the trip started to get interesting right after we started our descent from the peak (1844m). Although we were on a west-facing slope, just as I was laughing at the others for struggling to get through the knee deep snow I fell straight through over a meter of snow right into a ditch. This event would be representative for the following 3 hours of our hike.
As we stopped for another round of sandwiches I had a look at the map and realized we were slightly off-trail. After asking the others if they wanted to double-back a few hundred meters to get back on track we all agreed it was an opportunity to make it more interesting and keep going (actually, we were probably just lazy).
Because our next objective was the 7 Ladders Canyon it meant we had to head east maintaining our altitude until we reached one of the valleys leading down into the canyon. That mountain isn't called "big rock" for nothing. There was no trail and we had to keep avoiding various rock formations by either going over or below them. We eventually stumbled upon the footprints of a bear (it was probably mid-sized, weighing under 300 kg) and we figured wherever the bear could pass we'd have a good chance of passing as well. They lead us into a valley we used to lose a couple hundred meters in altitude. Despite the fact we had no gators, we all had summer walking boots, Chris only had shorts on and the valley was facing north and thus still full of snow it proved to be a pretty good choice. That is, until it lead us right to the top of a dry waterfall with a perfectly vertical 10 meter drop.
We found our way around the drop and got onto what looked like a path that lead us into the next valley. Soon after that we were crossing the stream back onto the proper hiking trail we should have headed to a couple of hours earlier. The map, compass and GPS altimeter proved very useful, although the GPS in itself was useless without a GPS map of the mountain. It was actually pretty surprising I had so much gear on me, as we normally go hiking with nothing but our skills and common sense for orientation.
I forgot to mention that seen how it was Vinerea Mare (English: Big Friday - the Friday before Easter) Elena was fasting. This meant she'd eaten something at 5:00 am before getting on the train in Bucharest and had only eaten non-animal products since. You'd think "oh, that's ok then" and you'd be right if only the concept of non-animal products didn't refer to a single 300g bag of jellow. After 6 hours of intense phisical effort and after getting visibly dizzy she was convinced to eat the two protein-rich, meat-filled sandwiches I had provisioned for her. Fasting might have been a bit silly but I have to congratulate her on the feat of phisical endurance.
We were very happy to realize we hit the trail right before the top entrance to the 7 Ladders Canyon (Romanian: 7 Scari). We crossed the canyon pretty quickly, taking lots of pictures. I remember going through the 7 Ladders some 10 years ago after the canyon ladders and ramps had been seriously damaged by winter torrents and rock falls. Everything was in such disrepair it took us a long time to cross as we had to check each piece of metal or wood to make sure it would hold the weight and even look for alternative routes in some places. The canyon was still as impressive as I remembered it, just without the safety risks.
45 minutes after coming out of the canyon and almost 8 hours after starting the hike we met up with Frank and Dad who were waiting to pick us up in Dambu Morii. It was great for the 1st hike of the year and I can only hope for more hiking opportunities, more good weather and more hiking companions as daring as Chris and Elena.
Click for the Piatra Mare - 7 Scari photo gallery album.
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