A Week of Mountain Hikes

Two weeks ago, on Thursday while at work in the office, I got a phone call from a fellow mountain hiker. For quite a long time he had plans for a trip to the mountains in the north of Romania. Finally the weather report looked good, but he had trouble finding an team mate for the hikes. As it was anyway vacation season in our office, I quickly decided that it would be a good opportunity for me to explore the mountains in this rather remote (relative to our home town Brasov) part of Romania.

32 hours later, at 6AM on Saturday we left Brasov, and during the next 7 days we did 8 mountain hikes in four mountain massifs of the Eastern Carpathians: Rarau-Giumalau, Suhard, Rodnei and Maramuresului. Although a bit too warm, the weather was great for mountain hikes. We had rain only one day on the return way during the easiest of the hikes.

When I look now outside to the rainy and cold (12C) summer day I realize that indeed, it was a good decision and that we were lucky with a week of good weather, as this summer had quite changing and unstable weather in the Romanian Carpathians.

An rather large album of photos can ve found here: Eastern Carpathians

Here are just a few of the photos I took during the week:

Forest on Giumalau Mountain

On top of Giumalau Mountain

On Runcu Ridge, Suhard Mountains, above Vatra Dornei town

Country fair at 1400m altitude above Rotunda pass in Suhard Mountains

Traditional Romanian folkloric dancers. Country fair at 1400m altitude above Rotunda pass in Suhard Mountains.

Rodnei Mountains. The ridge leading to Ineu peak

Alpine Flora.Rodnei Mountains

Alpine Flora.Rodnei Mountains

Changing Weather above Rotunda Pass

Rodnei Mountains, above Borsa resort

Rodnei Mountains: Cascada Cailor

Rodnei Mountains: Sheep on Gargalau peak

Rodnei Mountains: Alpine Lake

Maramuresului Mountains: Going up on Toroiaga Peak

Sunset above Borsa town

On Pietrosul Peak (2303m), Rodnei Mountains. The highest peak in the Eastern Carpathians

Rodnei Mountains. Glacial Lakes

In Borsa, at the foot of Rodnei Mountains