Snowdrop Hike

Sometimes we walked under budding trees, other years trudged uphill in knee-deep virgin snow, but we could never miss the snowdrop hike to the top of the Bodoc Mountains. The view of the hillside, almost mow-worthy white, makes up for everything, and taking a photo in front of the stone marking the 1993-metre level is an achievable task even for elderly civilians. 

There is also an easier possibility to climb, but it is an important test of human endurance in winter to climb the steep side from the village of Malnaș. A slightly tricky climb, guaranteed to give less experienced hikers muscle strains, but the ruins of Herecz Castle are well worth the effort. 

According to the legend, the castle, built and inhabited by giants, could not have belonged to anyone other than the Mikó family, who owned the area. After the snow melts, the brownish monotony of last year’s leafmould is broken by another harbinger of spring, the blotches of anemones. Even without stones, the rounded shape of the early medieval castle is still nicely outlined, and most of the material can allegedly be found in the castle walls of Count Miklós Mikó from Olteni. In any case, the green mossy remnants of the ridges are the perfect place to contemplate the past. 

Samu Csinta