When we first conceive an idea, we often fail to account for all the difficulties that its fruition will require.
Wouldn’t it be nice to renovate the house? Perhaps it’s time to find the leak in the roof? Or the time has truly come to find the hole where the mice have been getting into the pantry…
When we get our initial burst of inspiration, the end goal appears as a gleaming beacon of hope, the object of our desire. As we strike out on our quest, be it small or big, we rarely foresee the difficulties we are to encounter on our way.
Clearing on ridge, Făgăraș. Pentax MX, Kodak Portra 160, June 2023.
When I made my plans clear to my friends and family in Hungary that I intended to traverse the Făgăraș Mountains in Transylvania, their immediate response was concern and an attempt to sway me to find another way to spend my free time. My brother’s response was perhaps the most succinct and memorable.
’Bro, don’t go to Romania. Either the gypsies will steal all your stuff, or the bears will eat you.’
I refused to believe him.
Open deciduous forest. Făgăraș. Pentax MX, Kodak Portra 160, June 2023.
The more people I chatted to in Budapest in the lead up to my trip however, the more I heard about recent bear attacks in Transylvania. Apparently the population of brown bears have multiplied and a lot of the mountainous villages were experiencing regular rogue bears coming in for a visit, their main interest being sheep and other edibles. Some villages had implemented bear sirens, that would go off if someone sighted a roaming bear near the village, so then everyone would know to stay indoors or at least take caution.
After hearing these stories I did a quick google search for news articles on bear attacks in Transylvania. About two or three popped up from this year. There was one in particular about a shepherd trying to protect his animals from a bear with an axe and getting severely hurt in the process. The article didn’t list the injuries the bear sustained but it sounded like the bear had won the fight. I made a mental note to avoid a scenario where I was fighting a bear with an axe.
I told myself it would be fine. Besides, I really wanted to see a bear in the wild.
The opening of the view. Făgăraș. Pentax MX, Kodak Portra 160, June 2023.
The second immediate response of most people upon telling them of my intentions to traverse the Făgăraș was: ‘And you are going alone?’, complimented by a face that clearly stated that they thought that was a very bad idea.
It wasn’t that I wanted to go alone; it was simply that no one was available and keen to do the trip with me that I knew. So my choice was to do the trip alone, or not at all. When faced with that decision, the answer was clear. I would go alone.
Flowering wild garlic. Făgăraș. Pentax MX, Kodak Portra 160, June 2023.
‘The traverse is not recommended. There is too much snow.’
Music to my ears.
I was in the only hiking shop in Sibiu, Romania. The lady working there was trying to talk me out of doing the traverse. I told her I was doing the traverse and I was there to acquire the equipment I needed in order to get across the backbone of the range. If I needed an ice axe and crampons to do so, then so be it.
She called her husband and he showed up within half an hour and gave me all the beta. He said I would need an ice axe to do the traverse. I took his advice and borrowed one from him; a nice long straight piolet that reached just past my ankle bone when I held the head of it in in my hand. I could tell it was a well loved piece of equipment and he hesitated before lending it to me. I gave him my word that I would return it at the end of my trip. We shook hands and that was that.
With the piolet added to kit, I felt ready. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to use it to defend myself from a hungry brown bear.
The transition zone. Făgăraș. Pentax MX, Kodak Portra 160, June 2023.