Retezat National Park

Covering an area larger than the Alps, the Carpathians is the last remaining stronghold in Europe for rare animals and also vital as bridge between the northern European forest and those to the south and west.Eva Vancurova visited the wild heart of this beautiful region and a new member of the PAN Parks network - Retezat National Park.

I was always lured by Retezat. The stories I have heard from my more courageous friends arouse my curiosity, and this summer together with my friend we undertook a more than 900 km long journey to the heart of South Carpathians - Retezat National Park.

From the small hill above Hateg we could catch the first sight of Retezat. The sight was indeed marvellous: more than 2,500 m high peaks soaring above Hateg plain and endless mountain ridges fading into the distant horizon. The bumpy roads led us to Riu Mare Valley and finally, in the pitch dark we parked nearby the small Motel Dumravica. Wilderness took hold of us: we had lost mobile signal and for the next five days we could find only 3 “secret” spots where we could call our families and friends.

Next morning the weather was sunny, warm but with a clear feeling of the coming autumn. Our destination was the hot spot of this newly appearing  hiking destination in the South Carpathians - Lake Bucura, the largest lake in Retezat. A surprisingly good gravel road led us up to the Lapusnicul Mare Valley. The view from the valley fascinated us: on the right side the steep limestone ridges of the Small Retezat and on the left the huge slope covered with the wild, evergreen forests. After another hour of walking, we reached the tree line: slim spruce is dominant here but we also passed many huge cembra pines - the queen of these mountains - and dwarf pines growing above the tree line. Another two hours of easy hiking and we could see Lake Bucura lying at our feet in its awesome beauty - huge, dark colored and nobody around! Tired as we were, we decided to hike up to the highest point - Vilfur Peleaga (2,508 m). The view was breathtaking: sharp peaks and emerald-like lakes in every valley around us. On the way down a group of 8 chamois passed the tourist trail just 150 metre aside. But the great adventure was still to come. We were driving back to the motel in the dark when we were suddenly confronted with the intensive gaze of two curious, green-sparkling eyes. Intermission. It took us some minutes to realise that we had bumped into a brown bear. Blinded by the car-lights, he was staring at us for a while but then apparently recovered and escaped from the road. We could not believe our eyes. We read in the brochure that we were supposed to be in “bear country” but can we really be so lucky? A careful tracking with flash light revealed nice footprints in the mud with a diameter of 13 cm accompanied by several smaller ones. It was a mother bear with at least 1-2 cubs.

In the following days we accomplished a 2-day hike to Small Retezat and Masiv Godeanu and we explored the northern part of the park. We fell so much in love with the place that we decided to return in the spring. There are so many more things we want to see there!

by Eva Vancurova