Today the plan was simple, climb to the summit of a mountain called Muntele Mic, then descend to the village of Poiana Marului on the other side. The total ascent today was 1500 metres with several especially steep sections. On these I initially felt somewhat light headed. I put this down to the huge breakfast that had been set before me at the Gasthaus. Too much for me to eat although I did my best with the eggs, little sausages, bacon, tomatoes, cucumber, ham, cheese, blueberries and home made jam. Consequently I am sure my body was simultaneously trying to supply my digestive system with blood to deal with the excessive amount of food, and my legs as they pushed me upwards, leaving my brain a little short.
Much of the height was gained through conifer forest on stoney tracks that forked and converged. Although mostly quiet there was localised forestry work, one of the workers tried to engage me in conversation, as did a cowherd later on, unfortunately lacking a common language we did not get far. Sweating heavily, my progress was slow. Above the tree line there was open heath and a Ski Resort. While I was hoping for a café or similar at the Complex what I expected was abandoned hotels and unfriendly dogs, as I had experienced at Semenic on my last trip. I was right about the dogs and a windowless appartment building, however there were a few functioning hotels. At one two men were drinking coffee on the terrace, so I went in and bought a large mint lemonade in a large empty restaurant with neatly laid tables. The waiter also topped up my water bottle as the heat and strenuous climb were making me thirsty. Probably, they would have liked me to order lunch so they had something to do, but I was still digesting breakfast. In addition I discovered while drinking my lemonade that I had another 250 metres to climb to reach the summit. I climbed this slowly, passing ski lifts and resting briefly at a place with benches, a large white cross and a covered shrine, which was being brushed clean.
In the summit area the track on my GPS no longer corresponded to any path, which made me nervous about the existence of a viable route down through the trees. However after skirting a large flock of sheep, hoping the distant sheepdog did not notice me, I joined a track marked with occasional bright orange paint blobs and pieces of red and white plastic caution tape attached to sticks. It appeared to follow the route of the E3. On reaching the conifers, blue and white waymarks also appeared. There followed a long stretch of path mainly under trees, following a ridge, heading north.
All morning low cloud had obscured any scenery beyond the surrounding trees, wrapped in mist, however after the summit, the sun broke through. At times I could see down into the valley where I am staying tonight, and the steep wooded mountains beyond that I will toil up tomorrow. The path was muddy after recent rain and I was glad of my trekking poles, needing them to stop me sliding onto my bottom as I negotiated steep descents with exposed rocks.
Eventually the path dropped down off the ridge into a valley. The path was steep, rocky and seemingly endless. My left knee was struggling and progress was slow as I was tired, but finally I reached the scattered village of Poiana Marului.
The next problem was finding the lodging I had booked. For the second night in succession it was again not at the location indicated by booking.com. I only found it after asking a local lad who spoke English. At this new location there was no sign naming the accommodation, however on pestering the lady at the nearby shop (who did not speak English) she pointed to the building opposite and later produced the owner, who let me in. I am now at the restaurant of the Hotel Oxygen (or maybe Hotel H2O), where I have eaten a meal on the terrace beside the river, a delightful setting.
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