Back in Galway

I'm back in Galway for a few weeks. Weather as expected for this time of the year: wet, dark and windy. After a hot summer back in Romania, I can't say I mind the weather here too much...

Back in the saddle

Now that the summer holidays madness is over, traffic on Transfăgărășan road is slowly returning to normal, virtually non-existent that is. Time to put this road to some good use before the first snow closes it down.

 So, I took the bike out for a ride today. The plan was to climb all the way to Bâlea Lac. Cârțișoara village to Bâlea Lac is a 30km long climb, starting at an altitude of 450m and reaching the top at 2042m.

Weather was excellent, temperatures in the low twenties (centigrade), no wind whatsoever at high altitudes. Even so, it took me almost 4 hours to reach the top. My right knee has been acting up recently, forcing me to keep the speed down for most of the climb.

Exploring

With summer holidays in full swing I decided to stay off the Transfăgărășan Road. It is simply too crowded this time of the year, especially during weekends. There's really no point in fighting the crowds when I can have this road almost to myself every year from October to June while it sits unused, closed to the public.

So I went exploring some unmarked trails I've had my eyes on for a while. The plan was to reach the Valley of Avrig, descend into the town of Avrig and return home on the busy DN1 road. The trails were awesome, steady climbs through the forest, followed by smooth, fun descents. Spectacular views over the Făgăraș Mountains opened up in places.

I left the forest descending through a stream bed probably having missed a turn higher up somewhere. Return trip was uneventful, however in the future I'll look for an alternative route to avoid traffic on DN1.
For anyone interested, the GPS track is available for download from bikemap.net

Training ride

I'm quite happy with this morning's training ride: climbed from Bâlea Waterfall (1234m) to Bâlea Lake (2040m) in 92mins. A total distance of 13km, average speed of 8.5kph, a personal best for this particular stretch.

Panoramic view over Fundul Caprei Valley

Ferns

Photos shot today during a relatively short walk through the forest. Luxuriant ferns in Doamnei Valley, Făgăraș Mountains.

R&R

Had a couple of days off work recently so I planed an overnight trip into the mountains. The old cabin that we found a few months ago seemed like the perfect place to spend the night in. Up there time passed quickly. First day flew by between roaming the alpine tundra, cutting wood for the fire, fixing bits and pieces in and around the cabin. Miercuri was in charge of our touristic activities on the second day, which meant we had to inspect every single marmot burrow in the area. Kind of super fun for her, a lot less for me so I got busy with my camera. Below are a few pictures from that trip.

No fun on leash!

Preparing for the night

Getting the fire going

Cozy

Reading

Early morning

Crocuses

Insolation

Training ride

Took the bike out for a spin this morning. The plan was to try and climb up 25km on Transfăgărăsan road, then turn around and enjoy the descent. Left quite early to take advantage of cooler temperatures and get back home in time for work.

Snow still covers the road in places at higher altitudes but it is melting rapidly. Road should officially open in about a week, right now two huge concrete beams are blocking vehicle access beyond Bâlea Cascadă. Not a problem to get through by foot, bike or ski.

Turned around shortly after passing the 25km mark, about 5km before Bâlea Lake. Descent was a joy, having the road to myself I didn't have to worry about incoming traffic. Average speed going up: 11km/h. Average speed going down: a bit over 50km/h.

Initiation

My cousin B has been eager to leave behind the comfort of ski lifts and taste the thrills of backcountry skiing. We headed for Bâlea Lake early on Sunday morning to introduce him to skiing unmarked and ungroomed pistes.

Long climb

Weather wasn't great. We started our ascent through thick fog. By the time we reached the top, the mountain opened up a bit but overcast clouds made the surface definition of the snow to disappear. This was not a complete whiteout but still made reading the slope extremely difficult.

First turns

We commenced our descent into Doamnei Valley as soon as the sun made it through the clouds. Took B some time to adapt to the new conditions. As expected he found steering a lot more difficult than on groomed runs. Eventually he gained enough confidence to let the skis slide through more than a couple of turns at a time.

I've made it!

B made it through the most difficult spots in one piece. Scary to him were the big boulders we had to avoid. He was constantly under the impression that hitting one of those was imminent and unavoidable.

Posing

Having reached the place where snow became insufficient to continue on skis, we changed into hiking boots, strapped skis on our backs and slowly made our way home through the forest. Starting a bit dull, this turned out to be a great day in the end. Will B stick to backcountry skiing? That I don't know for sure...

Heading home

Bike trip through lush green forest

We took a quick 30km bike trip early this morning. Fresh air and a beautiful dirt road through the forest make for a perfect start of the day. So far I've been unable to stop Miercuri from chasing wildlife. She does become deaf to my commands whenever she spots something in the forest. Not a big deal most of the time, she's chasing small game and she's not doing any harm, returning quite quickly. This morning it was a deer, two days ago it was a brown hare. I'm only worrying about the brown bear. Chasing it is a bad, bad idea. I could keep Miercuri permanently on leash but that takes the fun out of going downhill. If anyone knows of a good way to train a dog to not chase wildlife please let me know.

Diving the Bills Rocks

I found this picture of me on the net recently. It was taken by Tom Moore before diving the Bills Rocks in Ireland, July of 2009. Roughly eight miles from Purteen Harbour, the Bills Rocks are famous for their spectacular underwater drop offs, crystal clear water and abundant sea life. I remember that weather was changing for the worst, the swell was already quite big. We dived the northern wall as it was more sheltered. Followed the almost vertical wall down to 40 meters and then headed mostly west for the duration of the dive. The water was very clear, the impressive wall covered in anemones was teeming with life. The only worry was avoiding being sucked into the gully visible at the top of the image, where the underwater current was extremely strong. The bumpy ride back to Purteen Harbour seemed to take forever, mainly for being stuck in a cold wetsuit for almost an hour. The Bills is a great dive site and I'm lucky to have dived it!

In search of snow

To reach the place pictured above around mid March less than five years ago meant fighting your way up through deep snow, painfully advancing meter by meter. These days however you need to focus on keeping your skis out of rocks and tree roots. I went up there today for a few hours and it felt like beginning of June, virtually no snow below 1650m...

Burning the midnight oil

A bug in an old C library ruined my week. At least I can start looking at solutions now that I know what the problem is...

Old cabin

One of the last usable cabins in the Făgăraș Mountains. Most of the others have been vandalized, burned down or otherwise rendered uninhabitable. This one seems to have survived somehow. A small supply of tools is available, including axe and saw. A pile of firewood sits by the stove, ready to be used, split by whoever used the cabin last. A nice and thoughtful gesture, almost forgotten these days, here in these mountains.