Should I continue higher?

Yesterday started with a cold, dark and gray morning. Nothing unusual for a late October day, but for sure, the weather was not inviting for a run. The mountains were all covered by thick clouds so the plans I made the day before for running all the way up to Postavarul peak did not make much sense. I usually avoid running up the mountains if the tops are covered in clouds and fog, especially on cold and windy days.

Later during the morning the clouds seem to get thinner so I eventually ventured out for a run. The plan was to run from home towards Poiana Brasov, and continue higher up the Postavarul mountain if the clouds would clear away. When I arrived in Poiana, the clouds started to get thinner, and I could catch a glimpse of the trees up on the mountain... they were white, covered in frost!

So I decided to go further. Half way up the mountain, the wind started to blow. Not hard, but just enough to make me feel cold in the frosty temperatures.

The clouds were melting fast and the peaks were all visible now. On one hand I felt cold and wanted to return, on the other hand, the white heights were calling me... I could not resist...

 

So I went a bit higher... 

 

then a little bit higher... 

I accelerated to get warmer... and step by step I reached the top of the mountain. The views from here were amazing!

 

White mountain tops towering above autumn colored forests, with the colors muted by by a soft light filtered through a thin dreamy mist.

 

I could not stay for too long up there. The wind was freezing and my running clothes were too thin. I started to run downhill, noticing that all ski slopes seem to be prepared for the winter season.

 

Hopefully this season we will have winter. Last winter season we had a long autumn, followed by a very early spring and only two weeks of proper winter in between! If the current cold and quite humid weather will persist over the next months, we should have a good winter.

I left the ski slopes behind and continued my run back to Brasov along Crucur ridge, through the thick and beautiful forest. For a while the trees were covered in frost creating an almost surreal landscape.

Lower down the mountain I started to feel warm again. No more frost on the trees below 1400m. Just the intense and warm autumnal colors.

It was one of my best runs of the year. Full of amazing surprising views. I did not start with high expectations, but I kept an open mind and insisted going up step by step until I reached the top.

Here is the GPS track recorded yesterday:


After I returned home, I saw on the news that a tourist was attacked by a bear very close from the trail I used to go up to Poiana. Even though all the news channels were reporting this news, none of them gave the important news. How and where exactly it happened. I have a feeling that this folk did not realize how dangerous a bear can be and probably wanted a selfie with it...  Was it on a main trail? I doubt it, as during the weekend the area is full of hikers and you never hear about bears. The bears know which are the trails used by humans and avoid them.

Full Autumn Colors!

After a week with quite a few long runs, today I slowed down to enjoy the beautiful autumn colors in the forests around Brasov. The autumn colors are at their maximum, just perfect for taking photos!

The Autumn is back...

After a very warm first week of October, that felt like a late summer, the temperatures suddenly dropped by almost 20 C degrees. The high mountains received their first snow of the season, while the forests in the valleys, started to turn the green into autumnal colors.

Here are a few photos with first autumn colors of this year, taken this weekend on my trail running "playground" around Brasov.