We were at the Telecabina around 9:30 in the morning; they’d had to clear ice of the cables in the morning, so we were glad we didn’t get there earlier. The next gondola left at 10:00 am; we went to get a coffee nearby for the wait.
The gondola ride from Bușteni to Babele was exciting through snow-laden trees and clouds leaving no visibility but white walls of fog at times, then beautiful views of mountain peaks and clouds below us. The gondola operator told my friend that he saw a mountain goat the day before, and another time, he saw a couple of goats slip on ice hidden below the fresh snow and fall to their death.
At the Babele gondola station, we waited for the next telecabina down to Peștera Ialomiței, the Ialomița Cave. When we reached the bottom, we walked through snowy roads and paths further down the hill and then up again to reach the cave. We encountered big dogs on the way; one of them accompanied us for a while like a friendly guardian. The snow was untouched in stretches of the way, and it made that crunchy sound fresh snow makes under boots. The air was fresh, the sun was trying to push through the clouds, a creek was gurgling beside the path and steps… it was a wonderful day.
We walked past the Ialomița Monastery on the way, and right in the entrance of the cave is a church. Hard hats are offered at the entrance, and my friend insisted that I take one to avoid hitting my head. The way through the cave was built as a steel structure with grating and guardrails all the way through the cave. The steps are uneven, sometimes shallow and other times tall, unlike what I know from the Canadian building code… In some spots, we had to duck down quite low to get through narrow and low passages, and I realized that the hard hat was a good idea after all.
Eventually, we got to the Spring of Living Water, locally called The Dacians’ Holy Water. The sign told me that the bacterial load and the amount of nitrates in this water is zero, and that it is believed that the water reaches its highest point of purity either because it flows over massive silver deposits, or as a result of some geomagnetic anomalies. Of course, we had to try the water, so I climbed over the guardrail onto a rock and filled my friend’s water bottle with this living water, and we try it. It’s good water.
The next highlight was the Bear Cave or Grand Hall, a large cavity that is 70m long, 35m wide, and 25m high, and I climbed up the steps to a platform with a funnily shaped rock that reminded me of a fish… my friend said it looks like a wild boar’s head… what do you think what it looks like? The bear cave got its name from bear skeleton remains found here when the cave was discovered. The path continues through another narrow passage, the Water Way, and ends in The Shrine, which is considered holy. I could see coins in the water, and I assumed they are small sacrifices for wishes. So, I took a few coins myself and threw them in, one by one, with a wish for each in mind. Let’s see what the future brings.
The photos of the cave are quite underwhelming compared to the real thing, but I wanted to post a few here anyway. The Shrine is a dead end, and the only thing left was to walk all the way back, many uneven steps up and down, through low and narrow passages and large cavities. Then, back to the gondola. The snow was not untouched anymore; other people had followed in our steps. But the air was still fresh and the scenery stunning. The gondola brought us back up to the Babele station.
Now, we were up on the mountain, snow all around us, and it was a little foggy. The gondola operator pointed us into the direction of the Babele and Sfinx, and we followed his advice, at first, until we noticed that the way wasn’t plowed and the snow was deep and untouched. We couldn’t see very far in that weather, so we weren’t sure which way to go. My friend decided that she didn’t want to climb up the slope, so I went out by myself, following footsteps on a way that someone else had taken before. Some of them were deep, and I sank in up to almost my knee in some areas, but I was determined to reach my destination. More footsteps joined from other paths, so I had a guide in the snow. It took only about fifteen minutes to hike up the mountain and through deep fresh snow, but because I couldn’t see very far, it was an adventure. In some patches, the fog lifted and I had a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and snowfields. Now I understand why people go hiking in the mountains: it’s immensely rewarding and gratifying, beautiful, miraculous.
We were in the Bucegi Nature Park up in the mountains, and the Babele and Sfinxul are natural rock formations surrounded by old Romanian legends. The sphinx has a resemblance to a human head from a certain angle, and the Babele (Old Women) looked like mushrooms to me. Here is a link to a post that describes the legends from the Romanian Carpathians. On my way back to the gondola station, there was a moment when I was completely surrounded by cloudy fog, but as long as I could see the footprints in the snow, I felt safe. This little hike was the highlight of my day. My friend ended up paying a guy to take her to the Sfinx with a snow mobile, so she had her own adventure.
This was a magical day.
Boy big difference from the previous spring like conditions! Very nice though! Looks like a fish to me too! Ya looks like a Roman legionaires head.
C