6 trips in Fagaras (interest point: Refugiul Caltun):
(see here a complete description of the marked trails in the Fagaras range as well as an interactive map)

SUMMER 2007

• July 14th: Fagaras. After a two-year pause here I am again going in the mountains with my (former) wife; unfortunately the itinerary chosen by me (with only some 500m elevation difference when going up - an easy trail as I considered) was considered to be too difficult by the girls which stated that they no more saw the beauty of the mountain because of the leg pain :-( . From the southern end of the Transfagarasan tunnel (2035m) we climbed to the main ridge trail at Fereastra Balei (2300m) then continued westwards to Saua Paltinu, Laitel peak up to Caltun refuge ; from here we descended some 200m down to elevation 1967m ; where these two trails split: I continued alone to the tunnel in order to retrieve the car while the other four, more tired, continued down towards Piscu Negru . People: Adriana Feraru, Nicoleta Puscasu, one more person.

• September 17th: Fagaras. Felix invited me to a two-day trip that definitely had to include a certain part of the Main Ridge called Custura Saratii. After leaving our car at the Balea Lac chalet we walked the tunnel and from its south entrance we took the trail which crosses thru the Paltinu upper valley until we reached Caltun Lake . From here we continued on the main ridget itself through Strunga Dracului, Negoiu Peak and Custura Saratii (this one partially during darkness) until Serbota Peak which was reached at 9pm. The descent to the Negoiu Chalet took us two more hours. Next day, under some cloudy skies and with some rain periods we climbed Piatra Pranzului and Strunga Ciobanului back to the Caltun Lake then we continued on the main ridge until the Paltinu saddle from where we finally descended to Balea Lake and our car. People: Felix Stanculet, Radu Antonescu, one more person.

• October 24th: Fagaras. I took advantage of an unexpected nice weather period and the moon nearly full for a last day/night trip during my favourite mountains for this autumn. I climbed the path from the southern entrance of the Transfagarasan tunnel until the main ridge , which I took westwards for 4 hours up to the Negoiu Peak . When returning it took me 6 hours due to night fall and the three diversions: First I used the avoiding version through Strunga Doamnei ; from Caltun, after the night fell, I continued thru Caldarea Paltinului , from where I went up again to the main ridge ; finally the descent from Paltinu Saddle directly to the Balea Lake . Unexpectedly warm for this period; again I had luck seeing four ibexes next to Caltun. During the four hours of night walk the moon was enough for orientation. Alone.

• August 31st: Fagaras. Magnificent night-time trip on the itinerary Cabana Capra (23h45) - Capra Lake (02h00) - Capra Saddle (02h30) - Laitel Peak - Caltun Refuge (05h30) - upper Paltinu glacial valley (07h00-08h30 + 90min of sleep up to 10h00) - southern entrance of Transfagarasan Tunnel (10h40) - Capra Chalet (11h45) . Even as the was a heavy rain in that evening until 7pm I had the luck to get an absolutely cloudless sky so I had to use the flashlight only in places the moon was covered by mountains. As from the similar night-time trip of June 2003 I have unforgettable memories from it. Alone.

• May 29th: Fagaras. Again we've left the car at Piscu Negru; the intial plan called for us to reach Caltun Lake then on the main ridge until Capra Saddle then descent towards Capra Chalet. The nightfall was supposed to get us somewhere ardound the middle of the itinerary. The first part of the trek, up to Caltun Lake was uneventful; we did not realise that we should turn back due to abundant snow so we continued towards Capra . Somewhere in the middle of the main ridge trail, between Laita and Paltinu peaks, we finally realised that we cannot go on so we decided to turn back. It was already 3am and the moon disappeared so we took a 2 hour break, until 5am, on absolute darkness. Even after resuming the march we've had probles; we decided to descend thru Paltinu Valley ; here the abundant snow caused us futher problems. Finally, after lots of adventures, we've reached the car the second day around 1.30pm (the initial plan called for us to reach it just after midnight - so we were late by more than 12 hours!) People: Marian Feticu, Irina Gligor, one more person.

• May 25th: Fagaras. Circular trip from Piscu Negru - Caltun Lake - main ridge - Strunga Doamnei - Negoiu Peak - Caldarea Berbecilor - Lespezi valley . One of the two dangerous trips of 2003; I lost the path when returning (even having map and GPS!) so I had to go/climb some boulders and for the final part I got half an hour of heavy rain. Alone.

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