Two Romanian scouts walk the Carpathian ridges in 52 days to find most common problems in the mountains

It took two 18-year old Romanians 52 days to walk the Carpathian mountain ridges and check whether mountain paths and marks are in order. Adrian Marton and Gabriel Gălbează, both recent high school graduates and members of the Romanian Scouts branch in Dej in Transylvania, walked 900 kilometers on this journey. Their expedition was called “Save the mountain – Romania’s last resource”, according to Agerpres, and will result in a well document data package for local authorities in the regions adjacent to the expedition track. The two found that mountain walkers are often attacked by sheepdogs when passing by sheepfolds, and have called for better training for shepherds in welcoming tourists. The sheepdog problem is old in Romania, and one of a kind in Europe, said the president of Romanian Scouts, Daniel Onofrei. However, such problems usually appear in very remote areas, and less so in popular tourists areas up the mountain, where Mountain Gendarmes are doing their job properly, Onofrei added. The two scouts, who embarked on this journey between July 26 and September 15, have found missing marks or badly placed marks, especially in less traveled to areas, as well as missing GPS signal. They also met some potentially dangerous animals, including vipers and wild boars, but they did not pose any real danger. They knew about the possibility of meeting such animals thanks to warning signs placed in those areas. “We’ve met vipers in two different massifs, and when we knew we could meet them, we were clattering as the vipers feel vibrations and run. The viper only attacks when it feels danger, or when being stepped on, but we had information about each area,” said Gabriel Gălbează. Bad weather was also an impediment in the mountains, but the duo was constantly monitored by mountain rescuers and by gendarmes, who knew their location at all times. The two received food, water and other supplies every two days from other scout teams on their route which crossed the Occidental, Meridional and Oriental Carpathians. Following the expedition, Romanian Scouts want to start an awareness campaign about proper trash management on the mountain. Pictures from their expedition in Romania's mountains are here. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Save the mountain on Facebook)