Nettle and wild strawberry paths in Buila

Dear traveler,

For some time, the name Buila has been echoing in the talks of my folks.

They heard these mountains are a bit more wild and they kept saying they would go explore them first and only afterwards I could tag along.

A nice and warm weekend was showing at the horizon everywhere you looked and on Friday night we decided we'll be going to a place they already knew, at the Țigănești refuge. But when I woke up, the plan was already detoured to Buila. This is how my folks do it, while they have their coffee on Saturday morning, before I wake up, new ideas pop into their minds..

All good, we hit the road. I was sort of ready after the hike from this winter in the Cozia mountains, my folks saying that this trail is quite similar with that one, but I did not wanted to think about that climb. 

Reaching the destination, we start walking on a loooong forest road, that climbs slowly and descends from time to time. If the entire trail will be like this, it's very nice!

We find dense and dark forests, mud paths and wood bridges, but walking and walking, we end up in a clearing filled with flowers of all colors and scents. Butterflies and bees are roaming freely through them and from the grass you can hear cricket songs.

We find a very beautiful butterfly, which is photographed a lot by Mamarmot. The butterfly does not get scared, on the contrary, at some point it turns towards the camera.

-"Mamarmot, this butterfly wants to be part of the marmot's tales for sure!"

These places covered in flowers are apparently called meadows. One, two, three meadows and the fourth one is full of..

-"What are these, Mamarmot?"

-"Ferns, marmot."

Wow, these ferns are so tall. I did not knew ferns like these exist. 

But dad shows me something next to the ferns and hands me a small red fruit that looks like a tiny strawberry. 

Maybe I ate this before, but I did not remember it. It tastes delicious! Now I keep an eye open for wild strawberries as I walk.

With our tummies full, we continue forward, with small stops to gather a handful of wild strawberries.

From time to time we get astray from our path, maybe because we are looking after wild strawberries or this waymarking doesn't appear too often. It's ok, Mamarmot's got an eye on the map and we return fast to our path that shows us many interesting places. 

Îmi place foarte mult drumul și alerg și zburd precum un iepure. Mamarmot îmi spune să-mi păstrez energia pentru urcare. Ce urcare? Am și uitat. Las că mă descurc eu…aaaa..urcarea asta?

My steps are starting to feel heavier and I must stop often. It did not seem this steep from below. I barely reach the forest I saw earlier. From here, the path seems a bit more even. We walk along a cliff, through weeds and scree and what are these..ooh no..nettles. Grrrr. I can't take it anymore, I want back to wild strawberry paths.

-"Come on, Marmot, the sting will pass in a few minutes." 

It may pass, but until then it burns and everything annoys me and everything annoyed me anyway from this climb. 

-"Are we theeeere yeeet?"

The path through the forest descends a bit but it mostly ascends and by walking and walking, we reach a green clearing with purple flowers. We stop for a break and Mamarmot tells me that there's not much left to climb and we'll get there. I'd like to believe her but everything hurts now. 

I hardly climb up to our destination. Oh, we arrived..now I only want to lay down here for a while. I sit randomly on the grass and admire the view. 

Some volunteers that came up here to repair the refuge are preparing to leave. A boy and a girl are singing at a flute and a calming song echoes in the entire valley. I share my sandwich with the sheepfold dogs. At our feet, a corner of a rainbow appears. It's actually beautiful. The climb and nettle sting was worth it.

My folks tell me to climb a bit. I'm not really in the mood anymore but I'm still a bit curios about what is beyond this ridge. We find our way through two big rocky walls, that create something like a tunnel through the mountain.

Beyond the tunnel, we find an enormous plateau covered in all sorts of flowers. Horses that seem wild are quietly grazing and I'm curious at every step. Mamarmot stops me and shows me how the mountain suddenly stops at our feet. Wow, what a ravine and wow, what a sunset.

The sun lights up all the crests in front of us now and it wraps them as a blanket.

The light starts to easily change its color and the sheep are gathering at the sheepfold, from where they wandered. They invaded the entire saddle and now they are gathering around our tent. I want to go there and play with them.

Baby goats, sheep, lambs, buck goats, with twisted horns are chewing our tent, our trekking poles, my pants..aaaa.

Wait your turn and each one of you will be petted.

As night falls, it gets colder. We gather by the fire and a talk with a bunch of people that will sleep here in the refuge, but I soon get sleepy. I help Mamarmot to photograph the lit up tent under million of stars and then I beat my folks at some card games.

Mamarmot goes out again in search of stars and I tuck in my sleeping bag. My eyelids are getting heavier...and heavier..and I hear something rustling outside when suddenly..it's morning! Wow, I slept like a baby.

Mamarmot is not inside the tent, she probably left to find the sunrise. Dad is still snoring.

Soon, I can hear noise at the tent's entrance and Mamarmot appears with her hair full of morning dew and her friend, the sheepfold dog. 

-"Marmot, you won't believe what happened last night..."

She tells me about the donkey that tried to enter our tent a couple of times. Did I even slept here since I recall nothing about this?

I get outside, and see the donkey at the entrance, waiting. He is very friendly, fluffy and much interested on sniffing around our plates.

We manage to have breakfast quietly, fooling him with an apple, which he chews on happily.

We decide to return on the same path we climbed on, as my feet hurt from yesterday and I don't want to climb anymore. My folks decide that it's better like this and they will return to explore the rest of Buila next time.

But until we leave, we take some time just to enjoy the wonders around us.

When the time comes to leave, I start walking lively on the trail. You can't even compare it with the previous day, but for me, the descend always seems easier. My folks say that for them it's the other way around. Creepy parents..

We enjoy the trail, the colorful meadows, the wild strawberries that are still left from yesterday's foraging. 

Buila, we enjoyed you very much!

Chatting about random things, I ask Mamarmot:

-"Mom, what crests we'll be seeing next time?"

-"Marmot, I think we're going to stick to our plan with Țigănești refuge. I want to show you a fairytale castle in the heights of Bucegi."