Retazat Backpacking Trip

Last week was the Retazat Backpacking trip in which our class/group trailed on through the Romanian mountain range called Retazat National Park. There were 9 of us total including us 5 students, our 2 American leaders, Alice and Kadie, and our Romanian leaders/guides as well, Ilie and Florine. Straight off from the get go there was a familiar “Lord of the Rings” ring to it, for example at the start of our journey our leaders stopped to pick mushrooms. And then some black riders came riding by... ok so it didn't go that far, but did I mention there were 9 of us, ya. Each of us carried approximately 60ish pounds of backpack which consisted of tents, cooking equip, sleeping bags, clothes etc. To start off this weight felt quite heavy, but as the days went on it felt easier and easier to carry, perhaps because our food was disappearing or perhaps because we were getting stronger, anyway the weight of the backpack wasn't a big deal after a bit. After quite a few hours of hiking (can't remember exactly how long it was), we stopped to make camp outside of an emergency cabana (Romanian for cabin).

Next day was a shorter but steeper hike which led us up and down and back up again to reach our main base camp for the week. At the peak of the hike we stopped to eat at, yet another place which probably fell right out of middle earth, specifically Peter Jackson's rendition of it, particularly his scene of when the warg/wolf/buffalo (Kadie thought they looked like buffalo) thingys fought the Rohanian's as they marched towards Helms Deep. Anywho, the day ended with us being at our base camp, which I was a little disappointed to find that it was able to be reached via car, oh well. Ilie and Florine got special permission to build fires, so we were roasty toasty every night before bedtime. I forgot to mention that I'm too tall for the tent, so nights didn't like me very well, neither did naps.

3^rd day we hiked to the peak of the Retazat Mt. Range which is the 3^rd highest pt in Romania which is just meters short of the highest pt. This hike did not require us to lug our heavy backpacks around so the hike was leisurely and much less strenuous. Discussions occurred, specifically among us students, throughout the hike, which sort of bonded the group without the help of the nightly “Tell us your story” time which was part of the curriculum for the trip. The hike was stocked full of beautiful scenery, including streams, lakes, rock formations, cool little pathways and of course the mountains themselves. At the top of the mountain we spent a wee little time goofing off and trying to make a promotional video for the Romania program, don't really know if we succeeded but hey. This personally was my favorite day.

4^th day was personal day in which each of us students had to find a spot and stay there for 6 hours, oh boy. Ya this day was pretty tough, leastways for me anyhow. I spent the time trying to nap, eating, reading and thinking, as well as viewing some of God's nature of course, including some nature that was quite awkward to see but is probably inappropriate to post in a blog of sorts. If you want the whole story concerning this issue ask me personally some time. The day was long, but it was also peaceful and somewhat relaxing as well, I find it kind of hard to relax when forced into a relaxful position but it wasn't bad. Day ended as every other day does, with the sun going down.

5^th day was the start of our journey home, which was very similar to day 2 of our trip, probably because it was the same path we took on day 2, only backwards this time. We all took a nap at the peak of the hike, which is where wargs, goblins, horses and men probably died in an epic cinematic battle. We hiked back to the same place we camped night 1 and then spent some time at a nearby lake which was really cold but still beautiful. No we didn't go swimming, just dipped our feet and hands in. That night after fire and story time the wind was a howlin and a bustling and everyone hurried to get warm inside a tent. However the mountain rescue team thought that they would be drunk by a fire and sing songs, out of tune and off key, which was hilarious and quite pleasant to listen to. Also that night the tent ate me because the wind told it to and I was really cold and really tired but the tent told me I couldn't sleep, so I didn't, at least for a while.

Last day was a short hike down after we were all packed up. Me and Bryent discussed war and peace as well as leadership the whole way down. Once again our leaders wandered off to gather mushrooms but unfortunately us Americans weren't so lucky this time in partaking of that deliciousness. The day ended with a ride back to Lupeni and some PIZZA!

The end. -Zach