Week of May 29-June 4, 1997
Question: I'm heading to Eastern Europe in June and would like any information you have on hiking trails in Romania (Carpathian or Transylvanian Mountains), Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. I was thinking of a few two- or three-day trips into the wilds of these countries.
Guy Neill
Vancouver, BC
鈥
国产吃瓜黑料 Adviser: In Romania, head to the winter ski resort of Sinaia in the Bucegi Mountains. From here you can take a cable car up the mountain and hike three and a half hours northwest to Cabana Babele, a little mountain hut. Here you can catch a cable car down or keep hiking to Bran Castle. The trail to Bran Castle consists of yellow markings, which will take you to Cabana Omul, a hut where you can sleep for about $4 on a platform with a mattress.
If you don't feel the need to stop, keep following the yellow triangles across Mount Scara, where you'll find an empty hut. This is about five hours from Cabana Omul 鈥 you'll definitely need a warm sleeping bag if you spend the night there. From the refuge, begin the long descent down to Ciubotea Gorge. You'll come to a logging road beside a river; this will take you to Bran Castle. You can camp in the forest or head to Bran for a place to stay.
In the Czech Republic, serious hikers head to the Mal谩 Fatra Mountains that stretch for miles across northwestern Slovakia. At 5,605 feet, Vel'k麓y Kriv谩n is the highest peak. In the center of the park is Vr谩tna, a gorgeous mountain valley enclosed by forested slopes. For more detailed information, find a copy of the Guide to Czechoslovakia, by Simon Hayman (Bradt Publications, England).