I've been to Retezat Mountains so many times that I don't even know the count anymore. I've seen them green during the summer and white during winters, I've felt the cold and I got sun burned. Sometimes I feel that I know them really well, but other times I feel that I still have so much to discover.
Last weekend we chose to do a track that we already knew. We wanted to show our friends Lumi and Tito the best they have. And I had a secret plan: to make them fall in love.
The ten of us met on Friday night, close to the national park's entrance. Some of us already knew each other, other didn't. When we got to the starting point of our track it was late already. But we were determined to get to Bucura Lake that night. We knew that it meant 2 hours of trekking by night, but it wasn't really a big deal. Maybe some people could get scared by the bear warnings, but not us. Nothing can stop us to enjoy the sunrise near a mountain lake in the morning.
Seriously now, there are bears all over Carpathians but we've never seen one. And it's not like we go only on marked trails, or only during the day.
On Saturday morning, after a few hours of sleep we got up as fast as if it was Christmas morning and we were about to receive a gift. And it was one of those gifts that you remember for a long time. Everything was exactly as I remembered: just perfect.
Later we were all ready to leave towards our first peak: Judele. And two hours later, we were there. Suddenly this felt like the top of the world and I could actually taste the freedom. This was it. For a while we just stayed there and enjoyed the stunning view.
But then it was time to go. We still had a long way ahead. So we took our group photo and went back. Next stop: Zanoaga Lake, the deepest glacier lake in Romania (29m).
This time, not all of us made it. If there is something really specific to Retezat, there are two things: lakes and rocks. While the lakes create the most amazing views, the rocks make it difficult to advance on the trails. And if you are a beginner they can become a real obstacle. This is why we were only five left. It was because of them.
At Zanoaga, after we had our late lunch, we were about to leave, when suddenly something happened: a donkey attacked us! It was small, black and looked like a plush toy, but it was dangerous. At least that's what Rares thought when he saw it running towards him. Apparently he had no choice, but to run also!
On Sunday the plan was simple: go to Peleaga Peak, the highest one on this area and after that back to the cars. It took us two hours to get there, even though we had our tents and sleeping bags with us this time. And once we were there, we saw it: one of the most amazing views here.
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| Peleaga Peak - 2509m |
The lunch break was near Peleaga lake and after that it felt that nothing could happen anymore. We only had the last descent estimated at another two hours. But something did happen: it started to rain. And what a rain. It only took half an hour to get completely wet. When we finally got to the cars, it didn't matter anymore.
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| after the rain, on our way home |
Did I tell you that these are my favourite mountains in Romania? Now that you've seen the landscape there, you know why...
| Technical corner | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| route | Cluj-Napoca - Barajul Gura Apei - Poiana Pelegii | ||
| peaks | day 1: Vf. Judele - 2398 m day 2: Vf. Peleaga - 2509m |
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| track - day 1 | "Poiana Pelegii" - Bucura Lake time: ~2h total ascent: 435m distance: 3,3km | ||
| track - day 2 | Bucura Lake - Judele Peak - Zanoaga Lake - "Crucea Trasnitului" - Bucura Lake time: ~10h total ascent: 1150m distance: 18,8km | ||
| track - day 3 | Bucura Lake - Peleaga Peak - Peleaga Lake - "Poiana Pelegii" time: ~5h35minh total ascent: 400m distance: 8,3km | ||
| Note: You can find water in Poiana Pelegii near the salvamont hut, at Bucura Lake (again near the salvamont) and at Zanoaga Lake. | |||
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| day 1 elevation gain |
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| day 2 elevation gain |
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| day 3 elevation gain |
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| day 1 -pink, day 2 - yellow, day 3 - blue |
