Just like how every human being has its own rules, so does nature and the mountains have. Rules that can be broken only once, because you get to be forgiven just one time, while the next wrong step made might turn into your last one.
Every new journey starts with the same amount of excitement and happiness that you are going to visit something new, learn some new lessons and listen to new stories while you conquer a little bit more of the world.
But what many people don't know about, especially those which are travelling in their home country and they literally want to discover the beauties of their country (so me!), it's the difficulty level of that path, or what challenges it hides, what dark stories are behind its name, or just what lessons you are going to learn on that day.
And if you follow me for a while already, you should know that I'm that kind of person - I never inform myself about the story of the place I am going to visit, nor about its difficulty or anything else about that location.
Knowing the direction to it is pretty much everything I need to know, then I let myself get lost into the mountains while I'm embraced by nature and get to experience everything just like it is the first time because once you already know the stages of that circuit and what is coming up next, you can't have a proper feeling, you can't be really surprised, and so you can't call yourself a storyteller anymore.
And when I write about my journeys out there, I want them to be as genuine as possible, so people who read my posts don't get a fake impression about that place or how the trip was.
And while my previous post was about how some people were forced to see their own life be destroyed by the corruption of Government and losing everything they have built in their entire life, now it's about us and about the most impactful trip we ever had.
The day started pretty early since we had in plan to visit Cascada Evantai (EN: Fan Waterfall) and Cetatile Ponorului and we already knew that we will spend some good hours hiking the mountains until we discover both of the places. Four hours? Maybe 6 considering that we are stopping pretty often to take pictures and record videos? Well, these were just our thoughts, but we weren't even close to reality and prepared somehow by what it was coming up. So we decided to hit the road and let ourselves get lost into the beautiful mood of being on the road again and conquering new mountains and places.
We drove all the way up to where we were informed from the internet that the route starts, and as soon as we stopped the engine we noticed there were 2 more groups with tourists, one of them with two adults and many kids, maybe like ten, and the other one composed from three families.
But there was something more - two old men with some 4x4 cars who were offering more information about the circuit to the people.
That's when we actually found out we are talking about a circuit and not two different touristic attractions located more or less closer to each other.
Both of the groups wanted to visit just Cetatile Ponorului while we were there for more than that.
The two old men wanted to help all of us with their cars to go through some more of the road since it was the middle of the summer and the weather wasn't in our favour and there was a long valley until we would reach the forest and protect ourselves from the sun rays.
The problem is that the road was very bad and it was impossible to go there with your own car, that's why we needed to take advantage of the help offered by the old man.
We were also informed that this is going to be a very long circuit and we won't have any signal as soon as we enter the forest, but since we were used with lots of adventures and challenging paths into the mountains, we assumed this journey. But a thing that we didn't find any information on the internet is about the difficulty level of the circuit we were about to start, because at that time when we travelled the internet had very few information about this place but only beautiful words about how amazing nature is on this part of the world and that is a must-visit by anyone. The old man also didn't offer any information about that.
The whole circuit is located in the Apuseni Natural Park, some mountains very known for their unique touristic attractions and plenty of gems hidden either as amazing waterfalls, uncommon rock formations, catch eye natural disasters, unique lakes, mysterious places, and so on.
But a thing that we really wouldn't expect to see is the disaster from the fortress. Lots of trees being cut down and helplessly resting on the ground while the nature killers are staying hidden and destroy the world in silence. This is a huge problem Romania is confronting with and which makes me get so angry and lose my whole trust in humanity and hope for seeing the world finally go to the right direction.
We had to walk maybe like an hour until we managed to find a house and ask for some more information while there were no indicators but only some red markers painted on the trees from time to time which we have followed so far, but as soon as we reached the house we noticed it was a chalet named the same way as our first stop - Cetatile Ponorului Chalet, so we were on the right way to it!
We had to walk 200m more until we finally found some indicators but where we had the surprise to see that Cetatile Ponorului and Cheile Galbenei (EN: The Yellow Gorges) are starting to have different paths and markers to be followed.
So we literally needed to go to one of them first and then return to the same place and take the other way for the rest of the circuit.
That didn't scare us since we already knew that the waterfall and spring are located on the gorges so we have to first visit Cetatile Ponorului and then simply return a part of the track and continue it into a different direction.
But the thing we didn't know about is that from this place it was also the beginning of our biggest challenge since we roam the mountains, and I'm not talking about physical effort but most likely a mental one.
Despite the thing that the place is called Cetatile Ponorului and cetati in Romanian means citadels we expected to discover some forgotten fortress in the middle of the mountains, but just as I said at the beginning of this post, I like being surprised by what I discover and don't know anything about that place, if possible don't see any pictures of it.
After 2 more hours of walking we ended up discovering one of the biggest karst complexes from Romania, which is also called the Everest of the Romanian Speleology that has been discovered back in 1886 and it has a length of 4km while if you enter the cave you can go down to 300m.
The contrary happens if you reach the top of it and get an amazing landscape over the mountains from 950m altitude.
The cave has 3 different entrances but the most spectacular one is the one that measures 70m height and 30m width which is known as the portal, because you literally get into a different world.
Once you pass the portal there is hidden the biggest and most powerful underground river from Romania which is flowing through various galleries and smaller caves forming 14 lakes of different sizes, as well as waterfalls.
A little part of the cave is naturally illuminated by the cracks from the stone walls, while some galleries have been arranged by people with different sources of light, but people who want to discover the huge portal are still advised to bring with themselves some lanterns as well as rubber boots because they will need to cross the water for a few times, and to also protect themselves from the slippery rocks because the humidity level is very increased.
The place that is also known as one of the 7 natural wonders of Romania, is highly recommended to be visited only by experimental alpinists, but even so, the access is open to everyone who wants to visit the huge portal which turns out into a great risk for some of us.
The whole exploration of Cetatile Ponorului ends with two huge stone balconies located on an altitude of over 150m, where the temptation for tourists is also very big, because let's be honest, who wouldn't enjoy a picture with that amazing landscape that makes you feel like being on top of the world?
A thing less funny is that the balconies have been realized back in the 19th century and so their structure is very weak.
When we started the road down to Cetatile Ponorului, there was a car. A car with lots of mountain rescuers hurrying to take all the resources needed to save a life. While we were making our way to the huge portal we were passed by more and more people who were running with lots of scary equipment that was more than clear the things are pretty serious. We ended up discovering that a guy who reached one of the balconies and tried to take a picture just like I said, fell after a piece of the shaky balcony has spun off. There were more and more people gathering to try and save his life but he was already in an area very hard to be reached even by mountain rescuers, that was requiring lots of time to manage to get down to him.
Since the people were already in shock and many of them were gathering to see what's going on, we decided that is better to go back to where we started and take the other way to the rest of the circuit to avoid seeing something that is going to traumatize us for life, even though our moral was pretty down even without seeing the victim.
But there was a long way that it was waiting for us and there was no time to stay especially that we had in plan more things to visit on that day.
After we returned from that place everything we could hear was just the silence of nature, while no one of us was talking anymore. We all were already pretty scared thinking how is going to be the rest of the track and how long do we have until we will finish the trip and go to the camping base and appreciate more of what we have while everything can end in just a second.
There were already 5 hours that passed since we were roaming the mountains and according to the indicators we've seen, another 3,5 hours were about to be added on our trail until we reach Cheile Galbenei (EN: The Yellow Gorges).
Even though our mood was changed radically after that event we didn't want to give up and return because there were just 3,5 hours until we reach the gorges and finish the circuit, at least this was what we thought.
So we continued our journey even though there were very few people going the same way we did, making us think that maybe there is something wrong or the trail itself is going to be a huge challenge, but we ended up encouraging ourselves that the two groups we came with wanted to see only Cetatile Ponorului and it's normal to not find anyone else on the track.
So for around 3 hours, we've been up and down, climbing the stones and carefully going down, passing from a forest to another, from glades to different lookout points and so on.
The track was literally seemed like it's never going to end or actually lead somewhere even though we did continue to meet indicators and markers showing that we are on the right way.
The trail became more and more tiring and we were already very exhausted mentally because during this whole time we didn't really focus on anything we were passing over, our souls remaining on Cetatile Ponorului wondering if that guy has already been saved and if everyone is safe.
We also didn't have any food with us and the single meal we had was breakfast. The water also started to be close to the end and the hours that were passing made our energy get lower and lower until... we did meet a group.
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But not a group of tourists.
It was a group of mountains rescuers of no less than 25 people who were talking about the event happened before - the guy didn't survive and he was found dead by the people when they reached his body. It turned out he tried to look down from the balcony and admire the landscape but his backpack was very heavy and wasn't tied up the right way so it has passed over him making him lose his balance and fall over.
So just try and think how we reacted after we heard the news, since our moral was already pretty down thinking of that guy and refusing the idea that it can be found dead.
In plus, the mountain rescuers told us not to dare and follow the way to the spring because the track is very risky especially that it was raining in the last couple of days and there were many areas where you could slip over, but having our minds already pretty lost and bodies drained of energy, we also couldn't think about being needed to follow the way back to where we left the car which was around 8-9 hours already.
The sun was settling down so everything we could think about is that it's a circuit, we already passed the big part of it, how long could have been left?
And we were already passing lots of challenging paths, we also travelled to more places with circuits and we have experience in this kind of trails, so we need to keep going, but just like we all know, the shorter way is not always the best choice you could make.
So we ended up continuing our adventure with our downcast eyes thinking only to the tent that is waiting for us and the food we wanted so badly after so much effort out there.
Our mother was the most affected person from our group thinking if that guy has ever thought in the morning that it's the last time when he opens his eyes. It was a traumatic experience we assisted to without even seeing the accident, so I don't even want to think about how we would react to seeing his body.
We walked 2 more mins until we reached another panel with indicators showing that we need to start going down the forest to reach the spring called Izbucul Galbenei - a pretty good sign!, we thought. Because it was just 5 minutes away and then all it was left from the circuit was the waterfall.
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Izbucul Galbenei is a small natural lake which measures only around 6-8m diameter that is very representative for its colour and for being placed right before the storm - because yeah, the rest of the circuit is literally going to be the most challenging part and we all need to delight our eyes with the tiny lake that is placed in the right spot to give you a little more energy. Even though it might seem like a little oasis of silence we all have craved for, right under the fascinating blue of the water is one of the most powerful rivers from the country with a very considerable flow.
The colour of the spring is either blue or green depending on the season and weather and it also represents the place from where the river found in Cetatile Ponorului comes from. The spring comes right from the heart of the stones that are surrounding it and the water is incredibly cold no matter what the temperature is outside.
The whole canyon has stone walls with a height of at least 100m and the spring is the single element that created its shape and all the way down to the end of the circuit, which finishes with the waterfall we've been waiting for so long to get to see.
Being such a wild place where the single touch of human are the chains, cables, and hooks we need to pass over, Cheile Galbenei turn out to be one of the most challenging experience someone can have.
Even from the spring (Izbucul Galbenei) we are welcomed with the first row of cables being fixed in the walls without any space left to put your feet on - you literally have just a cable that you need to hold very tight in order not to slip into the water, which is definitely something you would rather not do talking about a spring.
Being already very exhausted and with our moral pretty down, the whole experience became even more challenging because we needed to stop thinking to the news we just received about that guy and focus more on the rest of the trail.
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No matter how beautiful the surroundings were, we had no time to look around and stand and stare due to our panic level which was increasing very fast. There are very few pictures taken and most of them are very shaky because they were shot while we were moving, so we don't risk anything while sitting in a single place for more than a few seconds.
Being the one who was leading the group there was an extra pressure felt on my shoulders because the area was very inclined and the wet soil after the rains from the past days didn't represent a safety. So here I am trying to find the right path my parents and sister should follow when I get to the wrong one and I feel my legs being suddenly for nothing because the whole soil was moving with me.
It was a freaking scary moment. By far one of the scariest ones from our travels.
The most painful thing it was that none of us didn't know how to swim.
It might sound funny that we travel to so many places, most of them with water and we still don't know how to swim, but I never liked water.
I do love lakes, waterfalls and anything water-related but I will never be that kind of person who will go swimming, so seeing how I slowly go down the rock it was a traumatic experience.
The most unexpected thing was that while we didn't really find any other tourists on the trail, we were almost sure we won't get to find anyone else now when the mountain rescuers were restricting the access to the rest of the circuit, but somehow there came from the back another group of two men, a woman and a kid who already knew the circuit pretty well because they were already doing it for a few times before and they were trying to beat their score. There wasn't any better moment to find some other people than at that time, and that's how they also helped me to get back on the track and keep going. They actually have been there for us for a part of the trail which made the things seem a little bit more easier but knowing they are doing the circuit with the thought of scoring a new record it was more than clear that we can't force them to take care of us for the rest of the circuit, so they got in front of us and left us behind.
Of course, this turned out into another scary moment thinking that we just left the very people we found to go ahead while we will most probably end up with some injuries due to the difficulty of the circuit.
We've been up and we've been down.
We were climbing the stones with the help of the cables and hooks being needed afterwards to descend in rappelling on cables and chains.
There was no sign showing us that we are even close to the end and the difficulty was higher and higher.
We even met some foreign tourists coming from the other direction being pretty scared and saying that the rest of the trail is really not safe.
That's funny, like from where we are coming is safer!
But we had to keep moving, we needed to.
It was really not the right moment to stop for a break while the sun was slowly disappearing and we had no idea how much of the circuit is left.
The thing is that since we were mostly using our hands to hang on the rocks there being very few places where we could actually walk, it turned out into a huge effort for us since we don't have that much strength in our arms, and hanging on hocks, cables and chains for already a few hours, it was incredibly hard to keep going.
It was a hard game with us playing the main roles, where as soon as we were touching again the soils and thinking that it's finally the end of the circuit, we were welcomed with another series of climbing walls, another descend in rappelling, another moment when everything you see under your feet is water or chasm, everything over and over again.
We completely forgot about enjoying the moment, taking memorable pictures and enjoy everything we were seeing, and while we like calling ourselves having pretty big experience in this kind of adventures since we already do it for some years now, nature proved us that there are always going to be new things that bring a little spark into your journey that might have a happy end or not.
The whole way of thinking about this adventure ended when we finally met the waterfall we've been waiting for since we have hit the road in the morning.
There we finally got a real moment of break listening to the water sound, breathing in and out the fresh air of the mountains and thinking that the end of this circuit is pretty close so it's time to appreciate more what we get to see because who knows if we ever get to see it again.
Cascada Evantai (EN: Fan Waterfall) comes from the spring we visited before which is the visual proof how powerful the river from the depths of Izbucul Galbenei is.
The water flow comes from a height of 10m and you will notice how well it's being representative for the name it has, emanating only elegance and refinement through every single water drop.
The waterfall comes from the main gutter of the spring but there is also another cave hidden in the backside of it, measuring 50m long that shows you how the river draws Cascada Evantai.
To reach the cave you have to either swim until you get closer to the waterfall or get on the top of it. Either way, I find that very risky especially that the rocks are very slippery, so we had to be content only by checking out the waterfall.
As soon as we (tried to) charge out batteries, we decided to continue the road with the hope that it will soon come to an end, but we always forget that nature and the mountains themselves are the single ones who decide when we reach the end of the path.
And this is how the mountains wanted to put to the test again every single centimeter from our bodies and our existence with some more series similar to Via Feratta Activities, bringing together just your body to 20-100 meters long cables you need to use in order to climb either a stone wall, or to make your way up into a cave.
Via Feratta is known as the most difficult area in the mountains that can be crossed, because it often gets over the water or it's forcing you to hang on the rocks that are very slippery without any security in your feet, which in this case are pretty useless.
Unfortunately, as the hours were passing, so our very few energy left was coming to an end.
The sky started going darker, and our panic level was pretty big especially that we got on a trail we had no idea about. And imagine seeing your parents who are 60 years old already, hanging on the rocks or being needed to cross the water on a tiny chain.
We love adrenaline and mountains, we always did and we will always do, but the mountains have some important rules that we almost forgot about.
It's often said that mountains are forgiving you only once, so you literally have only one chance to escape from an incident that might turn a passion into a terrifying moment in just a couple of seconds.
And most likely the guy who died has already been forgiven once and there was no chance for him to enjoy the experience again.
There were lots of ups and downs, lots of powerful emotions, lots of scary moments, lots of new firsts since we never went on a chain before, nor descending in rappelling... lots of times when we thought we might have the last picture together, lots of moments losing our minds and crying, which in the end turned into a great lesson that our power and strength is passing in front of the mountains and nature, which are making the rules.
After more hours we finally reached the end of the trail counting 12 hours hiking the mountains since we first left our car, on a circuit of 24km long with a high difficulty level and +1286/-1450 meters level difference.
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A less funny thing it was when we found the indicator with the information of the circuit at the end of it (because it can be also passed from the other side we did), but which was also announcing another 17 km until we reach the village where we left the car.
The news was devastating because the only thing that was making us keep walking was the adrenaline, while our feet were almost crawling on the dust of the forest road.
There was no hope for us to be able to make the rest of the road since it was already 9 PM and the night it was coming by.
We still had no signal on our phones, no water or food, not even the tent we usually sleep into because we left it to the camping base we had to return into. The mountains and night were finally catching us with no resources and without being prepared for such an experience in the middle of nature.
But if you remember about the group of four people that helped us on a part of the circuit, as well as the old man who drove us with his car closer to where the circuit starts, everything was finally making a connection helping me regain my trust into humanity.
Going on the forest road became harder and harder, we started stopping every meter without any hope that we will manage to find someone to help us. Until.. suddenly, the fresh air of the mountains turned into the smell of fuel. That was the first moment when I was sure there was a car pretty close and we need to keep moving until we find it and can ask for help, but right after the corner, we met the old man who was waiting for us next to his car.
He didn't say a thing until he made sure there are all of us coming and everybody is safe, and as soon as we got into his car he told us about the group of four persons we met on the circuit that they got in front of us and started going faster just to reach civilization and send the old man after us.
Even though they were also very tired they refused to get into the car saying there is another group (us) coming which is very tired and who needs his help more than them, so they kept on walking the 17km long forest road until the old man found us.
It was an incredible experience, an experience that seems like a movie or a story but which left markers on our bodies with the hard lesson we have learned. And I personally regained my trust in humanity, because I'm pretty strict when it comes to meet someone new being disappointed by people for so many times and now seeing how many people are destroying the world cutting down the trees and killing animals for no reason.
We ended up by reaching our camping base in silence without wanting to eat or drink anything but only be thankful that we are still together and can go to sleep, while we took the next day off so we can think more about everything it happened and recharge our batteries before going to explore a new place.
It was a rough lesson we had to experience ourselves in order to properly learn it and very emotionally charged, which made me come to a conclusion since I always say that everything happens for a reason and nothing is random. I'm a religious person, I've been blessed to be born into a family very faithful that made me see the things differently, and I do believe that on that day we managed to meet our angels and God. Each one of that group who called for help was one of our angels since we were also four persons, and the old man was God himself. God always send messages through people, and I have no doubt that was our moment.
The whole experience was very traumatic and I personally refused to open the folder with pictures and videos from that day a few months, because in the videos it can be heard all our prayers and desperation from the voices, things that will be cut on montage presenting the whole circuit how it is supposed to. 😅
To reach the circuit there are two ways since you can begin it from any side, but after I went through it I personally think it's easier if you come from the opposite we did because you need the most out of your energy where the waterfall is, so the best route of it is to start from Padiș where the circuit leads - Padiș Chalet - Camping Glăvoi - Avenul Borțig - Cascada Evantai - Izbucul Galbenei - Cetatile Ponorului, but if you prefer to have the same track we followed, you can drive the car until you reach Arieseni and the tiny village called Cobles where you will start finding indicators to the circuit as well as (maybe) the old man who is still saving tourists and taking care of them. 😊
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾
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