Running from the rain in Căpățânii mountains

Dear traveler,

It was almost weekend and everywhere you checked the weather report, heavy rains and storms would show up. 

We already started to think about other types of activities, when Mamarmot receives an invite from a friend of hers, in the Căpâțânii mountains. Interesting, I've never heard of these mountains before. 

Checking the weather report, Mamarmot said that it looks a little bit better here, with short showers only in the evening and next day in the afternoon.

Well, let's take our chances then. And let's gather with other friends as well. Among them, it's my best friend, which I really enjoy hiking with. Actually, I like to go anywhere with her, but we always have so much fun when we go hiking.

The road up to Căpâțânii mountains is short, or maybe it seems that way since I'm traveling in the same car with my friend and I don't realize how time passes by. Apparently we will camp next to our car, which works for me, as today I was not in the mood to walk too far. I just want to stay here, play and enjoy the surroundings. 

I go exploring with my friend. we find colored flowers and fluffy grass on which we can roll freely. 

A white horse is grazing peacefully and lets us to get closer. Actually, it seems like he doesn't really care about our presence. The rain clouds are slowly gathering, but just to create a fantastic sight. 

Back to our folks, the tents are already set up and everybody is ready for a short walk. 

We go up on Roman's peak, which is right above us. In the distance, you can see the Buila Vânturarița mountains, bathing in a warm light. 

Hey, but here is a better rolling spot. Shall we? Let's go!

Caught up by the view, a summer rain shower surprises us. It's short, chilly but kind of gets us soaking wet. Let's all take a jog up to our tent. Needless to say, once we reach our tent, the rain is over. I think we got wet mostly under our raincoats.

We have dinner by the sunset light, watching the sky as it passes from one color to another.

Down, in the distance, the sky is streaked from time to time by a lightning, but we only feel the wind and the rain's chill.

I'd like to sleep next to my friend, but we're not old enough to have our own tent, so we still sleep with our parents. But we'll get older and we will wander the mountains freely.

As usual, I'm Mamarmot's assistant in taking pictures with the lit up tent, so I'm on it. One, two, three photographs, and then..

-"Marmot, please move the lantern a little bit. Marmooooot, are you still there?"

I wake up in the morning and Mamarmot, as usually, is not in the tent. She's chasing the sunrise again. I get out to wait for her as it's already too hot to stay inside. After a while, she returns along with my friend's mother, and shows me photographs with the sun rising from behind a ridge and grass full of morning dew.

What a lovely scenery!

Soon, everybody wakes up, and after breakfast we prepare for the hike. Mom's friends say that here is the most rhododendron you'll find, more than in Ciucaș or other mountains. 

Now let's see!

They leave before us as we get ready a little bit slower. This is the way of the marmots, they're fast only when they want to.

The trail is easy, the weather lovely, with white cloud rolls at the horizon.

I run around with my friend on the wide paths that go along a raw green crest.

But still, where are the pink crests mom's friends were talking about?

We soon reach a crossroad and at the right, a path goes directly towards the crest and at the left....aaaa...pink crests.

We start walking a road that slowly climbs towards the ridge. Wherever you look, you see only pink. The path is narrow and we're trying not to step on the flowers, but it's not easy. They're everywheeeere!

At some point, the slope becomes a little steeper and our feet kind of get tired. Our folks are trying to tell us to climb a little more, thinking that we'll reach the Ursu peak, but it's hard to mess with me and my friend when we are together. 

We climb a little bit more and we find something truly special. White rhododendron. I did not knew this actually existed. How cool!

Let's try and reach the peak, who knows what interesting things we have to see there.

We are climbing windingly so our feet won't get too tired. But guess what, the rain clouds are gathering more and more and once we get to the ridge we realize that the rain got quite close to us. 

Oops, I think it's time to move our legs down faster, and avoid climbing some more. We leave the Ursu peak for another time and we start jogging towards the tent. We cross roads with mom's friends that are descending from Ursu peak and we all continue walking with a fast pace. Everything is a game as we descend, we skip and we jump, enjoying the chill of the rain clouds. As we get closer to the car, it starts to rain slowly. Maybe it's because we did the rain dance on our way.

So comes the time to hit the road back home. Gazing at the playful clouds in the distance, I day dream about the next place we will see.

-"Mamarmot, where we'll be wandering next time?"

-"Marmot, I think we'll be traveling a bit more far away from home."