We hiked to Bagy (pronounces Bahj). It is the highest point in this valley, about 840 meters high. We drive by this all the time and see the cell/internet tower on top. James has wanted to hike here the whole time and here we went.
We walked through a dried up marshy area near the dairy, not very nice. I would never walk through here in the summer when snakes are around! We made it through and crossed a creek to a grassy meadow. The sun was out and it was feeling warm enough to take off some of our layers. We walked uphill seeing the village of Bagy in the distance with the spire of the church in the horizon. The kids were doing a great job so far. We are hoping to make it to the village and find some castle ruins. We arrive at the top of the first hill and stop for lunch. The village is even closer.
After some tofu vegetable sandwiches and water we start on the trail again. We reach the village pretty tired. I am ready to turn around. I do not want to get stuck in the dark. The terrain looks too similar. We would get lost. We wander in and follow the road. The village is quiet and different form ours. Ours is flat along a main road. This one is nestled in some hills with windy dirt roads. It reminds me much of the Berkeley hills in an odd sort of way. Maybe if the Berkeley hills were on a dirt road will all village cottages and horses and carts. It is so quaint. Full of trees. It must be beautiful in summer.
Where is this castle? Nothing. James finds a path to follow. We see some rock at the top of the mountain outside of the village. James wants to go there. Another hill, only steeper. Okay we can do it. The kids are excited and we make it up to the foothill. The sun is moving down. We are tired. We stop, take a breath and James jumps into action. “Everyone, drop all of our stuff here and follow me. We are going to climb a very steep hill but we have to go one at a time and you have to listen very carefully. Who wants to go first?” I am exhausted but welcome the challenge. I want the exercise. I need it. We go. I look down at the rocks I walk, listening intently at the kids committed to looking up only at the top. We make it to our goal elated and breathless. We can see much more of the valley. Our coat pile is just a small dot below us. We see several villages with their church steeples lined up. We see the entire route we take to Udvarhely, all the villages. The horizon is gorgeous.
Looking up, the very top is close to us. We could almost make it up with some work. This hill is even steeper, almost vertical. We talk about it. We want to do it but are tired and know it will be harder than the last. Yet we may never do this again. We see this peak from the road all the time. James, Byron and I make an executive decision, “Let’s do it!” Liam goes first and runs up the first third. He yells down to us enthusiastically, “That was hard but we can do it. Come on!” We follow. I set the goal to make it to where he was. I do it. It was hard but I am thrilled to have the intense exercise. I could touch the ground with my hands while walking it was so steep. I look up and Liam is almost to the top. I stop at the next third, breathe and go. I see Liam at the top with Byron, James and Luna. I stop to look back at my progress. Wow. I am almost there. Liam comes back down and tells me to hurry up with a big smile. He is excited at the view. “Mom, we can see Udvarhely!” Liam is my inspiration. I go up to the top as fast as I can. It is indeed beautiful. We are standing next to the cell/internet tower. We see everything including Udvarhely.
It is really time to head back. We go down the big hill and see a shepherd sittingnearby watching his sheep. He was young. He reminded me of Todd, my friend, Cathy’s husband. Interestingly, James thought the same thing. The kids took another path and were close to him. They were loud. James and I are afraid they are disrupting the sheep and bothering the shepherd. We corral the kids to our path. We hear some four wheelrs in the background. They make it here and ride up the big hill with difficulty. I couold hear the engines choke going up such a vertical path. James and I laugh proudly, “yeah poor ones on the bikes. We walked that path with our own legs. Ha!”
We follow our path down and through the village of Bagy. It is no longer quiet. Everyone is out and very curious about us. We meet an older woman in black. She is so sweet. She is trying to talk with me and all I can say is “yo napot. Angolul.” Good afternoon and English. Oh that’s bad. James has a conversation with her. She wants to know where we are from and why we are here. He tells her San Paul and we are Americans. She tells us something and goes on. She and I make eye contact and she looks at me lovingly. I return the gaze, shake her hand and stroke her arm. She smiles. We meet some children with the same questions. It is great. A very boisterous and curious group here. We pass through and realize that Byron is way ahead of us. We can not see him. We trust he can find his way back. He has an excellent sense of direction and hikes the hills here alone sometimes.
It is getting dark as we pass our lunch spot. We have a long way to go. We see the lights of San Paul and decide to go in the direction of the lights as it gets dark. Deciding to not go through the marshy area by the dairy we go around it to the other side of the creek. We need to cross the creek. We are at the edge of the village. But we still have to cross this creek in the dark. This is a problem. We can not cross. So we either backtrack in the dark and pass through the marsh or cut across a very muddy plowed field and hope we are not in someone’s backyard. All the houses have gates so we would end up in their backyard and hope their gate door is unlocked or we would have to ask them to let us out. Awkward! We decide to follow the field. After a few steps we make it to a road! And after only a few feet on that road we make it to the main road. Hooray we made it. We walk home and find Byron there. He tells us he also had to struggle with the dark. He did end up in someone’s backyard and just climbed over the gate. What a wonderful adventure!
Now every time we pass that peak we smile proudly seeing the tiny cell/internet tower way off in the distance.
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