There be bears out there

Today we did a beautiful walk off the beaten track in Transylvania, from Magura to Ciocanu (pop 356). We suspect that our luggage may take longer to get here by car than us walking across country.

We started at about 9 am and walked steadily uphill through the village and then skirting the forest for about 3 hours. The horse from day one walked with us for 50 metres but didn't intrude. We reached a windswept pass at about 2,200 metres, fortified ourselves with some trail mix of walnuts , sultanas and dried apricots then started downhill.
There had been a thunderstorm at about 4am but all was dry with scattered cloud now and an icy wind when the sun was gone. There was the promise of coffee with lunch at the Tourist camp at the end of a logging road so we pressed on for another hour down a narrow ravine heavily timbered with Pine Beech and Birch. It was beautiful, isolated forest and easy to walk on a gradual downhill.

The Camp was deserted save some timber workers who asked us if we saw bears. They were trying to scare us and had big beaming smiles and one word of English "bears".  We ate our packed lunches (sans coffee) on a swinging chair at the deserted camp.
Luxury seat but no coffee
This sign was about 50 metres on as we reentered the forest.
Beware the bears
The forest was deep steep and very still. For nearly an hour we climbed with one eye in every direction and more than a little anxious about bears. We saw no living creatures, save birds, but it was beautiful and serene.

At the top of the forest we walked past many farmhouses, opening and shutting makeshift gates as we went and collecting two very loyal dogs who followed us for about a kilometer to our Pension.



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