Happy Independence Day! Nothing like celebrating the birth of the Unites States by waking up to the barking of dogs, in a mountain hut, surrounded by Czechs, next to a dead donkey. Needless to say there was no general revelry. I ate a cold breakfast of protein bars to save time, I had 30 Km to cover before I reached Cabana Plaiul Foii, ideally before dark.

This portion of the hike was easy, only about 4 hours through the mountains to refugiul Comisul. I met many sheep, dogs, beautiful views, and polite but lighter pilfering shepherds. Once I reached the refugiul I had to decide whether to stay or push on to Plaiul Foii. I poked my head in the refugiul and immediately decided to push on. There were excessive amounts of trash not only around, but also in the hut, and I was still feeling spry.

Refugiul Comisul

Comisul is Trashed

After the refugiul the route really started going downhill, in a good way, the trail only descends. Not long after the refugiul a sign post poked out of the hillside indicating that Plaiul Foii was only 4 to 5 hours away. I plunged down the hill and below the tree line. This was the first time in 5 days I had been shaded by something other than a mountain. Walking through the pines was nice but presented new challenges. The trail was not marked well. At one point I began following horizontal red marks on trees down a steep embankment. It turned out these were not trail markers but marks indicating which trees were to be cut down. After a futile grumble and more than a bit of sighing I turned around, and stomped back up the embankment. Returning to the red vertical stripe on a white background marker I should have been following.

Finally the treeline

Eventually the path met up with a dirt road used for forestry operations. The road ran along a beautiful mountain stream cascading over rocks, and occasionally over the washed out road. The road was level and surrounded by general mountain beauty. This made the last leg of the days long and grueling trekk pass very pleasantly.

Country Road

After a few hours on this road I finally reached Plaiul Foii Cabana and Restaurant. I bought a room, took my first shower in 5 days, changed into some ever so slightly cleaner clothes, and settled down for a hot meal on the porch. Technically I had reached the end of the hike but I had a short walk planned for the next day. I still had to walk about 4 hours to the town of Zarnesti to catch a regional train to Brasov. After dinner I sat enjoying a beer looking up at the majestic Piatra Craiului mountains thinking back on my adventure over the past week and forward to the adventures to come.

Plaiul Foii Cabana

Bucegi Beer, tastes like a mountain

Piatra Craiului Mountains