As I walked through Bigăr this morning I spotted a swallow stationary on a telegraph wire, near enough to see the red mark on its neck and its long tails, usually they are swooping around so fast I cannot spot such details. This sighting put my mind in a pleasant place as I quickly covered the first six, easy kilometres of my walk today. Good tracks through woodland apart from some muddy puddles, and two curious shrines just after the village added interest. My happy reveries ended when I reached a steep descent on a eroded path of crumbling rock and slippery mud into a valley. At the bottom there were a few grass meadows to cross and more concerning a few rivers to ford, or rather the same river several times. Not that the water was deep, my concern was the dressing on my enormous blister. I did not want it to get wet and fall off as I only had a few of the extra large dressings required, and I did not know how long I would need them for. Consequently I kept my boots on and tried to cross the river via shallower parts, balancing on stones. As the stones were wet, slippery and unstable, it was a risky strategy. My trekking poles helped to keep me on the rocks and there was only one mishap which partially wetted my sock above the dressing.
The route then went up a valley on what was a good track perhaps a century ago, with a cutting and a wall to support it, but it was now overgrown, frequently obstructed by fallen trees, and partially landslipped into the river. Although I was faithfully following the red and white stripes plus my GPS, my impression was a better path had been made on the other side of the valley, which I joined when it crossed to my side. There was then a horribly steep path up the side of the valley to the ridge. Water had eroded it exposing the rocks in places and making deep channels. After gaining 300 metres in height it levelled out somewhat to follow a ridge, a ridge with several summits so there was still plenty of up and down. The trees prevented me from seeing much beyond my immediate surroundings, although in places where I could see any distance the panorama was of forest covered hills, cut by deep valleys. Closer to me were numerous red and black beetles, called firebugs according to Google. Many were joined back end to back end, I assumed having sex.
On the trail I was following there were the marks of a motorbike with fat tyres, maybe a scrambling bike using low tyre pressure to gain a grip, necessary as there were slip marks on steeper sections. In places I spotted an old footprint and the holes made by a trekking pole. These were my only signs of people being around. I saw no-one today after leaving Bigăr, the area really is sparsely populated.
There was another steep drop into a valley, and, after a short walk on the valley floor, another steep climb. This final mountain has a few grass covered areas and I decided to camp high up on one of these, where I can admire the surrounding, wooded hills.
No comments:
Post a Comment