One sunny September morning we got in the car, picked up Bogdan and Rudy, and then drove all the way to Bușteni so we could trek all the way up on Valea Albă.

I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. The blog posts I had read and the pictures I had seen presented a distorted reality. Actually, only when I was at the bottom of the valley and I looked up did I realise that we were going to mostly climb allll the way up on small and big boulders, zigzag between them and occasionally climb a more difficult biiiig boulder.

It was nothing scary nor dangerous. The company was awesome, the trek was challenging and the weather was extraordinary. Looking back, it was one of my favourite outings from this year. It was more difficult than a normal trek, but not that difficult that I ended up in tears, although I almost shitted my pants when we had to descend a bit. Climbing up – no problem! Climbing down – fuck, get me away from here! But in the end all was fine – the boys had immense patience with me, I trusted my boots, held on to those holds for dear life and made it!

When we got up the valley, I was tired but very very happy. It had been a perfect trek! Until we started going down again… The descending route was very boring, but at least the scenery was worth it.

Now I can hardly wait for this lazy winter to go away so we can resume our weekend outings. It’s nice to stay indoors and drink hot tea and translate, but it’s even better to put on your boots, take your backpack and walk and walk and walk…

*Iggy Pop – The Passenger