First Hike of 2014: Szekler’s Stone

The first official weekend with awesome weather was in the weekend of 21-23rd of March. I have been waiting for such good weather since last October, because I’m not much of a winter-hiker (yet!), so I couldn’t wait for the clouds to disappear and the rain to stop at least for a little bit  (because it’s raining..again 🙂 ) and for the weather to get a bit warmer. As soon as it did, we put our trekking boots on and headed for one of the nearest mountains: the Trascau (in Romanian) or Torockoi hegyseg (in Hungarian). We were here 5 months ago with the parents but they weren’t in the mood for trekking so we had to skip the adventure then, but these mountains remained in my memory and on my wish list ever since. I couldn’t wait to get to Rimetea (the village from where the trek starts).

the beginning..

We arrived at about 11 am, and although the guide we read the day before didn’t advise starting your trek at noon (because the sun was way too hot and there was no shade upwards), we figured hey, it’s only March, it couldn’t be that bad!

rocky path ahead!

..but it’s worth the effort

We started searching for the blue cross, but because we were lazy and kind of out of shape we decided to follow a group instead of guiding ourselves. After a good 15-minutes off our original path we noticed they weren’t going trekking, but rock-climbing, opposite of where we were supposed to go. We looked at each other ashamed that we didn’t follow our own route, and probably learned our LESSON for a while at least!

After another 15-20 minutes of fumbling around we managed to find the correct path and it was all uphill from there! I have to say I felt the burn the minute we ran against the (not so steep – but steep for someone out of training) stone wall, realizing that the sun was burning way too hot for a weather fit for March, and we were way too out of shape. But ambition conquered muscle fever and we were on a roll and felt great! 🙂

hiking trails are pretty obvious 🙂

and the rocks are stunning 🙂

The road upward was a bit steep, filled with teeny-tiny rocks in order for you to slip on them (coming down was a real challenge), but I have to say that it is an easy path and anyone with any willingness to climb a mountain could easily pull Szekler’s stone off their bucket lists. I loved every bit of it, even though once we were on top we wanted to have a little romantic picnic but suddenly all the clouds appeared and there was a strong wind, so we had to gear up with our raincoats (but still had a delicious meal – sticking to the plan no matter what the weather dictates! 🙂 ). I’m gonna go ahead and say that my dear boyfriend, Arpi, was a bit too brave when he decided to conquer the mountain in his shorts, leaving his longjohns in the car..He regretted it the minute the wind started blowing..

picnic gone wrong :))

As you can see, the view from the top is amazing, although it is not a high mountain (1128 meters), but seeing the humble little village at its feet is worth the climb! I’ll probably do another post in the future about the village, because it’s a special one with unique architecture and a very coherent community, living a traditional and recluse life.

Szekler’s stone

say cheese with the village in the background 🙂

and finally, the lovely view from the top

As we witnessed last time also, there are many para-gliders in the air. This is probably due to the current that goes through the valley in between Szekler’s stone and the mountain on the other side of the village, in parallel with the Trascau. We were staring at them for quite some time. The view must be awesome from up there, and the feeling has to have some adrenalin too – hope I can try it soon!

Until then, I wish all of you a lovely & happy weekend! 🙂

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