Breaking trail (with a smile)

This morning we’ve come to a decision. After 171 days of following E8, we have chosen to change trails and follow the Via Transilvanica for the Romanian part of our journey to Istanbul.

The reason being that with the information that is available to us (komoot, gpx viewer pro, Mapy, meteoblue and a discription from the era website), we cannot guarantee our safety due to poor markings, track conditions and (false or lack of) warnings and time frames.

This, combined with the start of autumn and the fact that this trail in good conditions already is as demanding as we can take, makes this decision necessary.

The decision was not taken lightly but since I promissed Jolanda’s father to get her home alive this is the only right thing to do.

As hikers we see a lot of chances for improvement in this trail. On one hand you see big signs in the national parks warning you to stay on the track due to bears. On the other hand that’s impossible, because quite a few of the tracks are poorly marked or overgrown, forcing hikers into dence forest to find their way.

The infrastructure for hikers is there at some places (water sources, shelters) but it is not on the maps. This makes planning based on existing information hard/impossible. We’ve had to guess or keep our fingers crossed that there would be a spring along the way for a few times now, and many times we had to guess the right trail, because there was only one on the map, but a lot more in real life. Or the trail that was on the map no longer exist.

Planning a section and navigating became hard for me. I like a puzzle, but this is no longer fun to do. Along the way the last 10 days, the navigation became harder and sometimes frustrating. The many beautiful places we hiked through made up for that, but yesterday was a turning point. Losing our way in a ridgeline like this wasn’t just annoying. It was dangerous. The risk of getting lost, falling or stumbling on wildlife was real. And although I didn’t promise Marks mum to bring him home alive, we did promise her to look after each other…

The via transilvanica is a newly marked (2024) route that regularly crosses paths with the E8 following a slightly longer but lower route through Romania.

Since the days are ony getting shorter, the weather is getting colder and we both have felt uneasy with the choosen route of the E8, the Via Transilvanica is the way to go.

In the next week or so, we’ll make our way to a point to pick it up.

While we have to let go of the plan to document the first thru hike of the E8, this does not in any way changes our goal of reaching Istanbul while hiking every single step. Actually, it made us both more determined to get there…🙂

Letting go also gives a sense of space. Space to find our own way again, to rethink what we value on trail. What did we set out to do? Why?

While we found the peace and quiet in the mountains that we both love, the moments that stay with us the most are the ones where we connect with other people. Via Transylvanica is called ‘the trail that unites’. We hope to find this slogan true for us.

So onwards we go. with a smile on our faces since this trip has given us so much already. Ready for what’s to come.