Last breath of winter at Mălăiești

Dear traveler,

Today we're going on a new adventure. Mamarmot wanted to bring me here for quite a while, at a cabin, about which she says it seems part of a Heidi tale, buried in the heart of her favorite mountains, the Bucegi mountains.

I believe her that this place is beautiful, but she actually had me when she told me that here might be the best brownie in the universe. Now that's a purpose!

It's a warm spring day, which makes me very happy as I feel light, ready to skip on the trails. 

And our friend came along too, with whom I’m chatting a lot and I don’t even realize we started to climb. 

She tells me that back when I was little, we tried to reach this cabin, on a different trail, much longer and difficult, but we could not make it. I don’t remember this too well but when she told me that they all took turns in carrying me on their shoulders and we nearly end up walking through the forest after dusk, I think I recall an image about it.

The forest is full of life and here I don’t see any patch of the snow I saw on the distant crests. 

We reach the crossroad with the path she told me about earlier, the one we walked without success a few years back. 

Today we’ll get there for sure as we already walked a lot and I still have much patience left. 

This thought goes away quickly when I turn my sight towards our walking direction and I see an enormous slope through the forest. 

Forest, you’re very dear to me, but sometimes you exhaust me so much I just want to sit on my butt and roll over down the valley.

We walk, and we stand, and we walk and we stand some more and this path doesn’t stop climbing.

-“Come on, marmot, as we’ll not have any cake left to eat with this pace.”

Seriously? These parents couldn't have motivated me by saying something else?

-“Let’s play a word game”, says Mamarmot.

But I’m really not into this right now. And if I start talking I’ll get tired even more…but okay..it’s better than nothing..

Caught in the game I kind of forget about these slopes and in a while we reach a place where it seems like the world is ending. We go to see how it looks like and a panorama opens up in front of us.

We continue walking and the path seems more even now. We encounter some hikers which are returning from the cabin. I ask if there is still cake left at the cabin and they say yes. Ha! What do you say about that, parents?

On the trail we find more and more snow patches. We climb, we descend a bit and then we get to the final climb before the cabin. At least that's what Mamarmot says and I want to believer her, I really do, but....aaaa...look, the cabiiiin!

I run towards it like the wind! I'm coming, cake, I'm comiiing!

In a matter of minutes, I'm sitting at a table, in front of the well deserved cake.

Mamarmot is not around, she stayed behind to photograph some crocuses that were brave enough to bloom in this valley, where the last breath of winter can still be felt.

And this brownie is truly one of the best I've ever tasted. This climb was really worthwhile.

Mamarmot returns and she points at something on the mountainside. It's a chamois, jumping on the rocks..but I don't see it too good since she's far away. I'm not convinced.

I go to explore the surroundings with dad but the cold chills us to our bones so it's time to return. 

Before leaving it behind, I return to look back at the cabin. This view really resembles a fairytale. I will return here again!

We reach the snow patches again and I'm enjoying them so much right now. I hold onto dad and I let my feet slide down the valley. I want more!

We continue the rest of the walk up to our car with stories about this beautiful place that we've just visited, which my parents wandered far and wide.

I ask Mamarmot

-"Mom, what interesting trails we'll wander next time?"

-"Marmot, how about you choose the next trail?"