Where the trail disappears

We decided to spend Easter in the Făgăraș Mountains, and what an incredible adventure it turned out to be! We found a beautiful spot to park our campervan, surrounded by mountains, and I was so happy to be spending a few days there.

Our first plan was to hike towards Valea Sâmbetei Cabin, hoping to photograph the beautiful purple spring crocuses I'd seen in pictures just a week earlier. But the weather had other plans! It had snowed again, and it was actually snowing when we arrived. I even tried looking under the snow for the flowers, and they were there, just completely covered! So instead of colorful spring photographs, I came home with more pictures of snowy mountains. Not quite what I'd imagined, but beautiful nonetheless.

Then came the real adventure. We decided to attempt Șerbota Peak, starting from Negoiu Cabin. Since we couldn't drive the campervan very far along the forest road, we had a long walk just to reach the cabin. We even spotted bear tracks along the way!

But what fascinated me most was what came afterwards. As we climbed higher, we found ourselves on snowy mountain ridges where nobody had walked before us. There were no footprints, no visible trail, just untouched snow stretching ahead. I remember looking at those ridges and genuinely wondering how on earth we were supposed to walk across them!

I trusted Gabriel's experience and followed his lead, and little by little, we found our way. It was both exciting and a little scary, but mostly I was absolutely fascinated. It felt like discovering an entirely new world, one I hadn't even known how to imagine before. Walking through the snowy Făgăraș Mountains, learning to use my crampons more confidently, and finding our way across those untouched slopes was such an incredible feeling!

We were getting closer to the summit, but it was already past 2 PM, we were feeling tired, and we still had a very long way back. So we agreed that turning around was the right decision.

I took some beautiful photographs and returned with so many wonderful memories. More than anything, I felt that I'd gained a little more experience and confidence in the mountains. I was slowly discovering this fascinating world of snowy ridges and winter mountaineering, and I absolutely loved it!

We didn't reach the summit, but I wouldn't change that day for anything.