Apuseni Natural Park

On Saturday morning (August 19, 2017), I'm up relatively early. Unlike the past few days at the reservoir, the first rays of sunlight reach our tent on the mountain in good time. The nights have become quite cool and getting out of the warm sleeping bag takes some effort. After breakfast, I pack up our stuff and store it under a tree right at the campsite. Today, the plan is to descend to Stâna de Vale to replenish our food supplies in town. Afterwards, I want to set off on a multi-day ridge hike. After a good hour, we reach Stâna and take a walk through the small village. Apart from a few hotels and a handful of bungalows, the place seems pretty deserted. At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any grocery store or something similar nearby. A supposed kiosk owner waves me off when our language barrier becomes apparent. I approach a woman in front of one of the hotels, but unfortunately she doesn't speak English. Nevertheless, we manage to communicate roughly and she confirms my initial impression that there seems to be no "minimarket" or anything similar nearby. The hotel staff doesn't offer much comfort either. I treat myself to a coffee and an ice cream at the hotel bar. After a chat with the bartender, it seems that the next shopping options are located in Beiuş or Padiş, both about a day's hike away. When leaving the hotel, I run into Ioanna again, her husband Gelu has joined her by now. We start talking again (this time with the help of my language app) and I join them for a while. After a beer, they convince me to stay for a shared lunch. The next few hours pass by quickly until we say goodbye around 4:00 p.m. They give me some caraway crackers and a small bottle of schnapps for the road, and I start the ascent back to the last campsite with Rango. I have decided to walk a bit towards Padiş in the afternoon. The village is located south of Stâna, pretty much in the center of the Apuseni Natural Park. Since my backpack is still untouched in its place after several hours and despite the busy crowd on the mountain, I could actually start. But two Romanians who have been combing the blueberries in the area manage to engage me in another conversation. They advise me to spend the night with one of them in a permanent accommodation that seems to be located on the way to Padiş. It's already past six and I agree. Together, we walk about a kilometer cross-country up the mountain until we finally reach a kind of mountain pasture. The accommodation consists of 3 small rooms adjoining a cow shelter. There's a small kitchen with a wood stove, a storage room, and a room with a bed and a sofa, where I'm allowed to spend the night. I'm offered a coffee and we chat for a while. Then my host gathers some groceries, gives me some rough instructions on how to prepare them, and then leaves the 'cabana' to round up his livestock. A bit uncertain about what to cook, I decide to make a stew. So for the next two hours, I keep the wood fire going, keep the stew warm, and chop some wood. After the cows are fenced in and a few of them milked, we have dinner together and I get to try some fresh milk. The stew seems to taste good and after a shot of schnapps, we go to bed around ten, satisfied. I dress warmly, as my host warned me about a cold night. However, during the first few hours, he keeps adding wood to the stove constantly, so I can't fall asleep. As the morning hours pass, the room slowly cools down and I manage to doze off for a few more hours.
Sunday starts around half past seven. We have coffee together on the 'terrace' overlooking the herd of cows. I have some cookies with it and we chat for another good hour. When asked if he likes his life on the mountain pasture, he answers 'Yes, especially because of the fresh air,' while smoking another cigarette from me (it's the only thing he gladly accepts from me). I buy some cheese from him before I set off with Rango shortly before nine for the ascent. Around half past nine, we reach the summit of Vf. Polenii at around 1600m altitude. Time for a leisurely break with a magnificent view, while I enjoy plenty of blueberries and lingonberries. Then we continue along the mountain ridge until we reach Vf. Cârligatele. There, we treat ourselves to a lunch break, sharing noodles with canned meat. In the afternoon, we start the steady descent towards Padiş. When we arrive in the small village, I immediately spot several shopping options - one less worry. The first attempt to check in at a campsite fails because of Rango, we are rather rudely told to leave the premises. Large black dogs seem to cause discomfort here. With the help of two young men who translate from English to Romanian, I have more luck on the next try. I can't stay in a wooden hut with a dog, but I'm allowed to set up my tent on the property and use the shower. After spending over 2 weeks in the 'wilderness', I'm looking forward to warm water. After setting up the tent and taking a fresh shower, it starts to rain. I treat myself to a warm dinner at the pub and then go to bed early.
On Monday (August 21, 2017), the weather is still rainy. I decide to extend my stay by one day and use the time to write a few travel reports. In the afternoon, the weather clears up a bit and I organize various groceries in different small shops. Not much else happens on that day. I enjoy the atmosphere during sunset and then go to my sleeping quarters again, rather early.