To understand the little hills around Hurez, you have to go back to the winter of 101. The emperor Trajan marched into Dacia with legions, and the king, Decebalus, resisted fiercely from his mountain strongholds in the south, until the Romans broke through in 102 and again in 105 and 106. Trajan's column in Rome shows the soldiers building roads, bridges and forts. The new province brought gold and salt to the empire, and in the north, a line of watch posts and forts along the Meses hills defended its edge against the free Dacians and others beyond.
Dealul Prislop, one of the hills in the Hurez area, is one of the points that stood in that line. The number 7 in the name looks like a survey label for one of a series of similar spots, which gives a sense of the density of the system, a tower every few kilometres, each in sight of the next.
The ride pairs the hill with a church dedicated to the Holy Archangels, one of the wooden churches typical of this region. Salaj has many of them, with tall slender spires and shingled walls, built by village carpenters in the eighteenth century and after, and some hold painted interiors. The roads between are small and often rough, and it is easy to find yourself on a farm track with a view across the hills and not a person in sight. Be ready for mud, loose gravel, free-ranging dogs and the occasional cow standing in the road. Spring and autumn mornings bring mist, and summer afternoons bring brief, violent thunderstorms.
Crasna, about fifteen kilometres away, is the nearest town with a fuel station and a shop, and Zalau, farther east, has the full range of services. In between, you may find a village shop that sells bread, cheese and cold drinks. Take water, because the hills are hot in July, and a rain layer is always sensible. The farmers here make hay in June and plum brandy in autumn, and if you come at the right time, the smell of cut grass or boiling plums will tell you where you are.