One sunny morning I decided to take a trip to the mountains, which would end up taking me to the Malaiesti Hut. There were 3 of us that day on the road: 2 adults and a dog 🙂 So, later I will share with you some details about how it is to hike with your dog ? Hiking with a Collie to Cabana Malaiesti.
To get from Bucharest to “Gura Diham” – the starting point of our hiking, you have to take a drive of around 150km. Once there, you can park your car at Complex Turistic Gura Diham.
This 150km you can cover either in 2 hours or in 5 hours, depending on the traffic. So, my advice is to leave as early in the morning as possible and try to avoid Friday evenings as a lot of people are traveling from Bucharest to the mountains. Also, returning to Bucharest try to avoid Sunday afternoon.
Years ago, the last 3km of the road where without asphalt. Now everything is fine and the road is perfectly good and enjoyable. Gura Diham is situated at around 900m above sea level. In order to enter the area, you have to pay a 10 RON (2,5 EUR) entrance fee.
Our hike starts off with a steep path, but not for long. 1 hour into the hike through the green woods, we arrive at Poiana Izvoarelor. There is a small private hut but since we didn’t stop to visit I don’t know if is allowed or not.
From Gura Diham we started our journey following the red dash sign.
In Romania, mountain paths are having signs and not numbers. The signs can be dashes, triangles and usually, you can find several signs having some info: directions, approximative time for completing the path till a specific point and also the sign allocated to that specific path.
From Poiana Izvoarelor, the path turns somehow narrower and full of vegetation and alternating going up and going down.
The Malaiesti Hut is situated 1720m above sea level. The view is really amazing, this place sits at the end of the forest and the beginning of the alpine zone.
They have a huge outside terrace and a pretty decent restaurant inside. Prices are very good and usually, they are cooking daily, so, you can enjoy several dishes cooked there. They also have accommodation but my advice would be to check the conditions available before renting a room.
Being situated at the beginning of the alpine zone, the weather is usually tricky, alternating clouds, sun, and rain so be prepared with a jacket or so.
Useful note: This path from Gura Diham to Malaiesti is forbidden in the winter because there are some specific points having big avalanche risk.
Hiking with your dog
The path is sometimes rocky so you can travel with your dog only under two conditions: if he is a big dog and in shape enough to be able to jump on the rocks or, you if you are open from time to time to carry him.
Ther is not many water sources on the way up. The only one I saw is at the beginning of the trail, so be prepared with some water for him as well. And for yourself of course. At Malaiesti, don’t worry about the dogs around, they are friendly and will not hurt your puppy.
During our adventure, we also met with some other dog owners and their furry companions. I must say, my Ralph was more than happy to stop and play with them which made for a well-deserved unexpected break for us as well.
