Carpathian Adventures

Well, that sounds much more challenging than what I really did. I was fortunate enough to have good friends on vacation when I arrived in Romania and so I went on a few hikes with them.
To be honest both Pepe and I were eager to go hiking and enjoy some more days outdoors. Not to mention that we both missed the bike. Pepe was pushing and so we went :-)

Piatra Craiului is located nearby Brasov, my hometown, and is a jewel among the Romanian mountains. It is also the one that reminds me most of the Alps. The white rock, the big vertical walls, the jagged ridge with superb towers and spires - I find it simply fascinating.

The flora is also very pretty with a few delicate endemic flowers and the rare edelweiss.

Spotting mountain goats is almost "unavoidable". Over 2 days we scrambled up to the ridge, slept crammed ( 10 in a shelter for 7 - I slept under the sleeping platform) in one of the fiberglass shelters high on the ridge (above 2000m) and then descended to the valley after a spectacular ridge walk. The descent itself was steep and very tough on our knees.

I paid the toll for this treat: on a second trip there I had to bail out of a challenging scramble. My knees simply hurt too much.

Hasmasu Mare is a "softer" massiv and less popular. There's still a lot of forest, and vertical rocks are towering over vast pastures. Traditional shepherding - you can still encounter that effortless around here. Peaceful and picturesque, the mountain offers beautiful views of the countryside and hills and the distant mountains around.


Piatra Mare is a smaller mountain very close to Brasov. It is terribly busy on the weekends but still has a lot of charm. It is great for a dayhike and the plateau perfect for a picnic. And that's exactly what we did.

Further North from Brasov the Caliman Mountains are not very popular. Apart from the terrible scar in the shape of a semi-abandoned sulphur mine they are more pristine and peaceful. Lots of juniper trees and rhododendron still grow in this national park. I had not been here before and a bike tour through and around the national park sounded like a great idea. It was an awesome trip.