Caraiman (long way to...)

A holiday in Rumania gave us the chance to dedicate a day to hiking. For various reasons we ended up choosing the Bucegi area, a plateau around 2.000m elevation with a number of peaks eventually reaching the 2.507m of Omu. We had no specific other target for the day than reaching just any summit

Our starting point was at the parking area just beneath the Cota 1400 Hotel resort (a comfortable paved road gets here directly from Sinaia). A cable car and a cable cabin get here too and further continue to the upper stations, right on the edge of the plateau. We kicked off around 08 :15, right when the loudspeakers of the various retaurant facilities started boosting with full power some devastating techno music ; a very good incentive to quickly move away! The path is actually a track that any 4x4 can quite engage, but it is occasionally rather steep. Up and about, in an hour we got to the eastern slopes of Vf. Furnica, contoured it and, via the Saua Calugarului, stepped on the plateau. The sight is absolutely stunning; at a glance you can see most of the Bucegi peaks. The path descends to the Piatra Arsa complex, where we hit a much less pleasing sight: as it happens, there is a paved road, also climbing from Sinaia, to the Piatra Arsa area and, being it August 15th (a holiday) an immense array of vehicles was already lying there, scattered in each and every corner. A crowd of many, many hundreds was walking on the paths leading to the Babele area. That made us immediately choose an alternative route which, fortunately, prooved to be almost ignored by the mass: an unmarked path skipping aside Jepii Mari and Jepii Mici and bringing, with a final short dive, to Cabana Caraiman. A wonderful place, at the head of the deep and wild-looking gorge descending to Busteni and facing the beautiful hanging rocks of Caraiman’s southern flank. We stopped just the time for a sandwich and then went on the wonderful path making it’s way through the rocks. At some point there are fixed ropes and chains to assist the less experienced. Soon the large (very, very large) cross dedicated to the heroes of the 1st World War is reached. Quite some crowd here. From the cross area you get to see what is left to summit Vf. Caraiman, very little, actually. The path was pretty much busy with people going around with the most unappropriate gear. The summit is a broad area from which guessing the highest point is not immediate. The close Vf. Costila, with it’s immense antenna, is very close. Dark clouds had started to approach, so after a few minutes we started descending towards the Babele area. The path is free from any error possibility, the Babele area is always in sight. Getting there we were caught amidst a yelling crowd, making the contemplation of the Babele and Spinx unique rock formations certainly impossible. Engaging the Cabana Babele for a coffee was out of question too, with queues of 50+ people and only one bar-tender pretty close to a nervous breakdown. So we fled away and took for the fields to the Piatra Arsa complex. By then Mad’s feet were in a bad shape, so, after making it again to Saua Calugarului, we went up an unmarked path leading to the cable upper stations facilities atop Vf. Furnica; with some final effort across the steep unpathed flank we got just in time for one of the last cabins descending to the Cota 1400 area. One final emotion: leaving the parking area, after the very first turn, a consistently shaped bear crossed the road at not more than three meters in front of us and quickly headed right up the wood. Wow, what a blasting surprise. Pity our both cameras weren’t at hand.

The place is overall a beauty. The sad thing is the total unconsciousness of people, which ends up converting large areas of the Bucegi plateau in a substantial dump. What a pity. What a shame.

We may recommend this hike on uncrowded days. The hike is no doubt "T2", with the only exception of the leg between Cabana Caraiman and the "Cross of the Heroes" which we may rather consider "T3". 

A brief comment on Vf. Furnica: the report by gabiavram indicates this summit to be 2.302m high. The map in our possession, MN01 – Bucegi, indicates 2.103m. Having the cross-reference of Jepii Mari and Jepii Mici, we can certainly confirm that the MN01 map has got it wrong.