By the fireplace in Cozia

Dear traveler,

We haven't seen the mountains for some weeks and Mamarmot said that this weekend travelling is a must.
My parents say that we'll be hiking a more difficult trail, but they believe I'm prepared for it. It seems that we'll be spending the night in a mountain cabin. It's called Cozia. Truth is, I kind of missed tucking in my sleeping bag. Marmot, this is my sleeping bag's name and this is how I ended up with my nickname, is very cozy and it feels like I'm sleeping in a cloud. I did not get the chance to do this since last year, when we slept at Suru cabin.

Now we'll see if my parents will be tricking me again, but to be honest, they already told me it will be hard and we can take as many breaks as I want. I tend to believe them, as they've been here before, but not during winter. During winter it's much more difficult.

Today however is a beautiful day and as we start walking it does not feel like winter. From here I can see the peak we must reach. It does not seem such a big deal.
There is a monastery here and we need to follow the blue stripe waymarking. I'm in charge to look after the waymarkings.

Are we already starting to climb?? I was hoping we will start with an even path. All this mud is not letting me move forward easily and my folks bundled me up like an onion. I'm already starting to remove my sheets. After all, when the sun caresses you, it's quite warm.
Mamarmot shows me some chamois trails in the snow. No, not those kind of trails..these are just hooves trails, the snow is still white.
We put on our ice spikes, so we can climb better, but for me it's even harder, even though I'm not sliding anymore.
We climb some more, we stop for a while, Mamarmot tempts me with some chocolate and so time passes by. But the lingering question is : "Have we at least reached the first half of the trail?", "Well, marmot, the watch says we barely walked 500 meters...we still have to walk until we reach the half..". Ooook. My back and butt hurt and I'm starting to lose patience. My folks are calling me to take some pictures at a vantage point..I don't even know what a vantage point is but I'm going. Indeed, we have a nice view from here.

After we climb some time that feels like forever, we start to...descend?! Wait a minute, I'm climbing this much to descend? But hey, at least it's fun! I hold on to Mamarmot's backpack and let my feet slide on the snow. Luckily I took off my ice spikes earlier, otherwise I could not have this much fun.
Hey Mamarmot, you have to do it like I do it: pizza slice! This is how you break, rememeber? My folks are ski noobs, but I'll teach them.

We finally reach the cable segment Mamarmot kept telling me about. It seems a bit difficult but dad helps me so we pass it quickly.

On our way we see many kinds of waterfalls, frozen in different shapes.

It's time to reach the last cable segment and here I'm quite struggling. There is a lot of snow and I'm sinking in it, but I pull the cable with all my strength, exactly the way I do it during our rock climbing lessons and I manage to climb, all this while some stubborn snow finds its way directly in my underpants, Winter is cool.. 

But wait, another cable? This is never ending! I manage to climb but my patience cup is quite empty now. Mamarmot says that we have to walk around one kilometer, but I don't believe her anymore. Everything hurts now and I don't want to talk anymore. I just want to reach the cabin.

We finally reach the outskirts of the woods and my folks tell me to look at the landscape that just opened before our eyes. But I don't really care about this right now.

The only thing I see is a big ridge before me. I hardly climb it and we reach an even path. Dad wants to help me so he carries me on his shoulders.

We finally reach the cabin! I find myself the best spot, next to the fireplace and the cabin keeper treats us with a lovely hot sour soup.
Now we're talking!

The cabin keeper leads us to our room for the night, where the fire is already burning, and he gives us firewood that should be enough for the whole night.
The fire may be burning but I can see steam when I talk. I'm tucking in my marmot bag to get warm.
Mamarmot asks me to join her to enjoy the sunset together but I'll skip it this time. Outside the wind started to blow and it's freezing-cold, so I will settle with the pictures.

It's better to stay tucked-in, it's not necessary to go out...unless, oh no, I forgot that the toilet is outside. I'm bundling up as an onion and I go. It's quite an adventure..it's dark and from these holes in the ground the wind is blowing. I feel like in a horror story I read once.

We go to dinner and I return on my spot next to the fireplace. On a full stomach, I need nothing more. Now I just want to beat my folks in a few playing card games and enjoy the folk music that echoes around the cabin. A few hikers share stories and hum from time to time.This place reminds me a bit of Curmătura cabin. The music is good there as well and my parents also got beaten in a game of Macao!

Back in our room, even though steam is still in the air, the bed next to the fireplace is warm.

We wake up at first light and Mamarmot goes out to photograph the sunrise.

The cabin keeper treats us with blues this morning. I ask him if he likes Bonamassa, because I like him very much and he tells us about a blues festival from Brezoi, which we must not miss. I would go too if Bonamassa comes.

Some good food, tea and coffee for my folks and I already feel energized. And outside seems quite a nice weather!

We hit the road from where we came from, but as soon as we left the cabin the wind runs us down. Where did this one came from? However, now I can see better around me the beautiful landscapes that my parents told me about yesterday.
The wind sculpted snow looks amazing.

My folks show me the Parâng mountains in the distance and soon we reach an amazing view towards Făgăraș mountains. There's so much beauty around us that I'm not even sure which way to look first.

The descent is easy, I feel like running and skipping in the snow like a chamois. Nothing bothers me anymore!

At one point Mamarmot notices her left ice spike is missing, How did this happen, no one knows. Dad climbs back up to the viewpoint where Mamarmot is sure she had it, but he can't find anything. As we later see in the pictures, Mamarmot did not have her ice spike at the viewpoint. I don't want to tell her, but maybe her memory is fading a bit.

As we descend, winter turns into autumn, the air warms up and I start running along the path, enjoying the blue skies and the silence of the woods.

Reaching our car, we still have half a day to enjoy and we slowly get going towards home, thinking about something delicious to eat promised by my folks.

I'm asking Mamarmot: "Mom, what will be our next adventure?"
-"We'll visit a place we've been before, to see how it looks like during winter. It's that beautiful, red mountain refuge you wanted to sleep in for your birthday."