I worked in the mountains for nine summers when my kids were young. What I remember most fondly is simply the act of breathing. It is the Plaza Hotel of air, compared to the Motel 6 miasma of NYC.
I was 16, spending my summer holiday at my grandparents, like every single school holiday of my life. I loved that place, all my childhood and teen friends were there.
We decided to make a few days trip in the mountains, which put my grandma in such a worried mode... what if you fall, what if you meet a bear, what if you get lost, what if you run out of food and so on.
The amazing part is that we didn't have to drive or take a train, the mountain was THERE. All we had to do was to wake up early, walk a few km on a forestry road and start climbing.
We were about 14 kids aged 15 to 17. It was fantastic! The whole trip! Just laughs, sharing food and clothes. Oh, and the best sleep I had so far in my life. The first night we stopped at a cabin, had a hot soup and went straight to bed. I don't know what was about that bed, I mean honestly, an old bed with an old mattress in the mountains... but I traveled so far deep inside me that night. Yeah, best sleep ever!
Next day the climbing was increasingly more difficult as we were aiming to reach the peak at 2544m altitude.
The weather changed so abruptly that we had to stop at the next cabin. It took 5 minutes for the temperature to drop from 25 C to 5 or something. Then icy rain. Then half an hour later an incredibly thick fog. I was thinking at my grandma with all her worries. If she'd see me now she wouldn't allow me to go again in the mountains.
But yeah, overall, the trip was amazing. Friendship is great at that age, those few days brought us so close together that it almost felt painful when we had to go back home.
I'm trying to picture this trip now. 14 grown ups aged 40 or so...
I worked in the mountains for nine summers when my kids were young. What I remember most fondly is simply the act of breathing. It is the Plaza Hotel of air, compared to the Motel 6 miasma of NYC.
July 2001, Carpathians, Transylvania
I was 16, spending my summer holiday at my grandparents, like every single school holiday of my life. I loved that place, all my childhood and teen friends were there.
We decided to make a few days trip in the mountains, which put my grandma in such a worried mode... what if you fall, what if you meet a bear, what if you get lost, what if you run out of food and so on.
The amazing part is that we didn't have to drive or take a train, the mountain was THERE. All we had to do was to wake up early, walk a few km on a forestry road and start climbing.
We were about 14 kids aged 15 to 17. It was fantastic! The whole trip! Just laughs, sharing food and clothes. Oh, and the best sleep I had so far in my life. The first night we stopped at a cabin, had a hot soup and went straight to bed. I don't know what was about that bed, I mean honestly, an old bed with an old mattress in the mountains... but I traveled so far deep inside me that night. Yeah, best sleep ever!
Next day the climbing was increasingly more difficult as we were aiming to reach the peak at 2544m altitude.
The weather changed so abruptly that we had to stop at the next cabin. It took 5 minutes for the temperature to drop from 25 C to 5 or something. Then icy rain. Then half an hour later an incredibly thick fog. I was thinking at my grandma with all her worries. If she'd see me now she wouldn't allow me to go again in the mountains.
But yeah, overall, the trip was amazing. Friendship is great at that age, those few days brought us so close together that it almost felt painful when we had to go back home.
I'm trying to picture this trip now. 14 grown ups aged 40 or so...