Făgăraș Mountains - Romania's rooftop

PRIMEVAL · November 5th, 2012, 11:29 AM

As there are lots of pictures of these mountains, and also they're little understood even in Romania, I'm opening a thread only for them.

Făgăraș is the biggest among the ranges in Romanian Carpathians, both by surface (2.400 km², 70 x 40 km) and height: 2,544 m. They're part of Southern or Meridional Carpathians, which in German and English are often called Transsilvanische Alpen / Transylvanian Alps because of their height and majesty.

I said they're missunderstood in Romania because people use to think that Retezat and maybe some other ranges are the wildest in country, when in fact in Făgăraș you get the same thing, but in a quantity ten times larger and more spectacular, as Făgăraș are far more abrupt than Retezat and their rapidly descending slopes are covered by unbelievable wild forests, maybe the finest mountain forests in the world, considering the number of habitats, plant species, rich fauna, the quality of the air, many rivers and waterfalls etc.

And as these mountains are crossed over by Transfăgărășan, there will be lots of pictures of the most beautiful road in the world too.

Map of Făgăraș Mountains

click to enlarge and see the details of the map: names of peaks, crests, valleys etc

PRIMEVAL · November 5th, 2012, 12:13 PM

Sâmbăta Valley

Ionuț Nechita

PRIMEVAL · November 5th, 2012, 12:49 PM

Negoiu Peak

With an altitude of 2,535 metres is the second highest peak in Romania after Moldoveanu Peak (2544m).

Here is the most unstable weather in Romania, raining almost daily.

In pictures appears Negoiu Chalet, situated at 1540 m.

Ionuț Nechita

PRIMEVAL · November 5th, 2012, 01:12 PM

Lake Avrig and Bărcaciu Chalet

Lake Avrig is one of 31 permanent glacial lakes in Făgăraș.

The chalet is situated at 1550 m.

Iakob Csaba

Linguine · November 5th, 2012, 02:14 PM

very nice, great photos...

PRIMEVAL · November 5th, 2012, 04:37 PM

Miscellaneous

image hosted on flickr

High above the clouds in the Făgăraș by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Transfagarasan,ROMANIA by tanghuan, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Arpasu by b0gd4n, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

41/365: "A világ széle..." by Sucuka Photography, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Călţun-tó / Călţun Lake / Lacul Călţun by Sucuka Photography, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

the red dot... by Vlad Axente, on Flickr

M.R.Victor · November 5th, 2012, 04:42 PM

Spectacular, both the scenery and the photographs!

PRIMEVAL · November 5th, 2012, 04:53 PM

Transfăgărășan

Daniel Alex Florea

Cipgallery

livstorm.blogspot.ro

PRIMEVAL · November 5th, 2012, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M.R.Victor

Spectacular, both the scenery and the photographs!

Thank you!

Transfăgărășan

florinC 1 2 3

PRIMEVAL · November 6th, 2012, 10:59 AM

Adina Ioana Popescu

cactusi.com

image hosted on flickr

Looking down on Cabana Podragu by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr

PRIMEVAL · November 6th, 2012, 11:06 AM

transylvaniantracker.blogspot.ro

Răzvan Săftescu

Remus Flavius Pop

The three aggregates of the water on a single Transfăgărășan view

László Dénes

PRIMEVAL · November 14th, 2012, 11:51 AM

Ioan Stoenică

PRIMEVAL · November 14th, 2012, 06:44 PM

Wojciech Półtorak

PRIMEVAL · November 21st, 2012, 08:34 AM

Cseke Csíkszéki

PRIMEVAL · December 8th, 2012, 09:16 PM

Transfăgărășan

image hosted on flickr

On the edge by andrei030, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Balea_Lac_2007 by mares_ionut, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

ROMANIA - Transfagarasan 2012 by ROMANIA 100%, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

P1100960a_Transfagarasan (RO) by giancarlino, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Transfagarasan (7) by mares_ionut, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Untitled by ursu polar, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

TRANSFAGARASAN by elaana, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

DSCN8629 by elaana, on Flickr

PRIMEVAL · December 8th, 2012, 09:19 PM

image hosted on flickr

Fagaras-nov2012-277 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Fagaras-nov2012-270 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Fagaras-nov2012-43 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Fagaras-nov2012-246 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Fagaras-nov2012-30 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Mi: "povestea de deasupra...norilor" by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr

PRIMEVAL · December 9th, 2012, 05:09 PM

Bâlea Chalet

image hosted on flickr

Sin título by andrei030, on Flickr

Sponsor · December 9th, 2012, 09:22 PM

Reminds me of Tatra Mts. I will be there for sure.

hypnotoad · December 10th, 2012, 07:02 AM

It's amazing how vast these forests and mountains are! To be honest,
I always thought the Romanian landscape would be mostly flat, guess
I was wrong! Great pics!

PRIMEVAL · December 10th, 2012, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sponsor

Reminds me of Tatra Mts. I will be there for sure.

Be welcomed. My suggestion is not to take on usual tourist paths that lead to the alpine plateau but to try to cross the mountains through wilderness of the forest. I explain below why.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hypnotoad

It's amazing how vast these forests and mountains are! To be honest,
I always thought the Romanian landscape would be mostly flat, guess
I was wrong! Great pics!

If you look on physical map, Romania's geography is well balanced, the mountains create a giant amphitheatre on the entire territory and they're followed by the hill region and then by the plain one, so that nowhere you're too far from mountain or from plain.

And the forests are continuous in the mountains, except the alpine plateaux.

This septemember I crossed by car the Făgăraș mountains and on the southern slopes, although we were going with ~40 km/h, it took one and a half hour to cross the forests. It seemed that it was never ending.

Few weeks later I got lost in forest in the same area and spent an unplanned night in mountain. There was bear scat every some tens meters and some bear walked around me after the dark fell. It was really like in Man vs wild, very dangerous because of extremely rugged terrain and animals (two days later a man was killed by a bear in the area) but also incredibly beautiful.

I repost here the pictures I made then:

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRIMEVAL

Poenari Castle

Photos I shot yesterday from Albina Mountain near the castle

image hosted on flickr

Poenari Castle by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Poenari Castle by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRIMEVAL

Albina Mountain

Situated near the castle and the hegiht on which it stands, would be a good place to photograph the castle and valley behind it if it wasn't completely covered with forests.

I found a clearance in the vegetation but not as big as to shoot a fine panorama.

The forest covering the mountain as well surrounding areas and even most of Făgăraș Mountains seems old growth (never cut). Perhaps the percent of Romanian forests that are old growth is much higher than is thought (10-15% instead of 3%).

image hosted on flickr

Albina Mountain near Poenari Castle by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Albina Mountain near Poenari Castle by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

Bear dung (containing blackberry). There was full of bear dungs in the forest, indication of the many bears. In Făgăraș live the largest population of bears after Eastern Carpathians, perhaps 1500-2000 bears.

image hosted on flickr

Albina Mountain near Poenari Castle by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Albina Mountain near Poenari Castle by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRIMEVAL

My real Man vs Wild adventure - Limpedea Valley, Făgăraș Mountains

These are photos made when I got lost after making photos of Poenari fortress. The night caught me on mountain, in deep forests. I decided to follow water courses downstream to reach a human settlement and I walked along a brook and then along a river that later I heard is Limpedea. At that moment was completely dark.

Limpedea Valley is in its upper sector an unbelieveble wild gorges, wigh a river bed 3 to 10 m wide and stone walls inclided between 70° and 90° (vertical) and up to 100 m high. There are many waterfalls, some as high as 10 m and huge trees (up to 1 m in diameter and 20-30 m tall) growing from river bed or from surrounding rocks. In river bed there are extremely numerous fallen trees in various stages of putrefaction, together with many rocks, some very big. In the night, the sight of these gorges, rocks and trees was fantastic. Unfortunately, I thought that my flash can't reach a big distance and I didn't made photos in the gorges.

The mountains in these areas are full of bears, lynxes, deers and other animals, as shown by their many footprints in the sand strips of the river bed.

While going along the gorges I had to pass over waterfalls and other dificult sectors. At one point, I entered in the water of a basin 1 m deep, wetting my clothes.

I walked like this 1 or two hours, when I slipped on a rock and my headlamp fell in the water. At that moment, I was without any light source, alone in the forest. It was so dark that I couldn't see anything, except the dark blue sky above the forest.

As I feared animals, I tried to climb a tree but the slopes of the gorges were so abrupt that I had to hardly crawl through mud. Later I climbed up 1-2 m in a tree suspended above abyss where I spent some hours.

Around me, wild animals where searching their food, including one or more bears which I recognized after the sound of their heavy body cracking fallen branches.

Then I went down from tree as I feared that if I would doze, I would fall in the abyss below. I spent more hours on an abrupt slope and then another hours in the river bed, without sleeping in the entire night and being wet in a temperature of ~10°C.

To the morning, before dawn, I saw at 5 m from me the phoshorescent eyes of a bear at which I shout and he went off.

Then, I finished my walk along the gorges and arrived in Arefu village.

These photos are taken while I was still on Albina Mountain and was getting dark.

image hosted on flickr

My real Man vs Wild adventure - Limpedea Valley, Făgăraș Mountains by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

My real Man vs Wild adventure - Limpedea Valley, Făgăraș Mountains by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

Limpedea Valley. The final sector of the gorges, less spectacular.

image hosted on flickr

My real Man vs Wild adventure - Limpedea Valley, Făgăraș Mountains by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

My real Man vs Wild adventure - Limpedea Valley, Făgăraș Mountains by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

Bear and lynx footprints one near another

image hosted on flickr

My real Man vs Wild adventure - Limpedea Valley, Făgăraș Mountains by CARPATHIANLAND, on Flickr

And two videos also by me, one with Transfăgărășan and one before getting lost in forest:

November 5th, 2012, 11:29 AM	#1
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Făgăraș Mountains - Romania's rooftop Făgăraș Mountains - Romania's rooftop As there are lots of pictures of these mountains, and also they're little understood even in Romania, I'm opening a thread only for them. Făgăraș is the biggest among the ranges in Romanian Carpathians, both by surface (2.400 km², 70 x 40 km) and height: 2,544 m. They're part of Southern or Meridional Carpathians, which in German and English are often called Transsilvanische Alpen / Transylvanian Alps because of their height and majesty. I said they're missunderstood in Romania because people use to think that Retezat and maybe some other ranges are the wildest in country, when in fact in Făgăraș you get the same thing, but in a quantity ten times larger and more spectacular, as Făgăraș are far more abrupt than Retezat and their rapidly descending slopes are covered by unbelievable wild forests, maybe the finest mountain forests in the world, considering the number of habitats, plant species, rich fauna, the quality of the air, many rivers and waterfalls etc. And as these mountains are crossed over by Transfăgărășan, there will be lots of pictures of the most beautiful road in the world too. Map of Făgăraș Mountains click to enlarge and see the details of the map: names of peaks, crests, valleys etc __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 5th, 2012, 12:13 PM	#2
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Sâmbăta Valley Ionuț Nechita __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 5th, 2012, 12:49 PM	#3
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Negoiu Peak With an altitude of 2,535 metres is the second highest peak in Romania after Moldoveanu Peak (2544m). Here is the most unstable weather in Romania, raining almost daily. In pictures appears Negoiu Chalet, situated at 1540 m. Ionuț Nechita __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 5th, 2012, 01:12 PM	#4
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Lake Avrig and Bărcaciu Chalet Lake Avrig is one of 31 permanent glacial lakes in Făgăraș. The chalet is situated at 1550 m. Iakob Csaba __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 5th, 2012, 02:14 PM	#5
Linguine leisure cook Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bacolod Uptown East Posts: 10,098 Likes (Received): 1175	very nice, great photos... __________________ *Bacolod:* "Culinary destination par excellence"

November 5th, 2012, 04:37 PM	#6
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Miscellaneous image hosted on flickr High above the clouds in the Făgăraș by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Transfagarasan,ROMANIA by tanghuan, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Arpasu by b0gd4n, on Flickr image hosted on flickr 41/365: "A világ széle..." by Sucuka Photography, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Călţun-tó / Călţun Lake / Lacul Călţun by Sucuka Photography, on Flickr image hosted on flickr the red dot... by Vlad Axente, on Flickr __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 5th, 2012, 04:42 PM	#7
M.R.Victor Registered User Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 30 Likes (Received): 1	Spectacular, both the scenery and the photographs! __________________ Check out my original urban art and photography at victordesign.ca

November 5th, 2012, 04:53 PM	#8
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Transfăgărășan Daniel Alex Florea Cipgallery livstorm.blogspot.ro __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 6th, 2012, 10:59 AM	#10
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Adina Ioana Popescu cactusi.com image hosted on flickr Looking down on Cabana Podragu by Tim R-T-C, on Flickr Phaethon Iulia Dobra Adrian Rădulescu misulica drian21 __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 6th, 2012, 11:06 AM	#11
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	transylvaniantracker.blogspot.ro Răzvan Săftescu Remus Flavius Pop The three aggregates of the water on a single Transfăgărășan view László Dénes __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others Last edited by PRIMEVAL; November 6th, 2012 at 11:11 AM.

November 14th, 2012, 11:51 AM	#12
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Ioan Stoenică __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 14th, 2012, 06:44 PM	#13
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Wojciech Półtorak __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

November 21st, 2012, 08:34 AM	#14
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Cseke Csíkszéki __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

December 8th, 2012, 09:16 PM	#15
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	Transfăgărășan image hosted on flickr On the edge by andrei030, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Balea_Lac_2007 by mares_ionut, on Flickr image hosted on flickr ROMANIA - Transfagarasan 2012 by ROMANIA 100%, on Flickr image hosted on flickr P1100960a_Transfagarasan (RO) by giancarlino, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Transfagarasan (7) by mares_ionut, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Untitled by ursu polar, on Flickr image hosted on flickr TRANSFAGARASAN by elaana, on Flickr image hosted on flickr DSCN8629 by elaana, on Flickr __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

December 8th, 2012, 09:19 PM	#16
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	image hosted on flickr Fagaras-nov2012-277 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Fagaras-nov2012-270 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Fagaras-nov2012-43 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Fagaras-nov2012-246 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Fagaras-nov2012-30 by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr image hosted on flickr Mi: "povestea de deasupra...norilor" by Ciprian Andrei, on Flickr __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

December 9th, 2012, 05:09 PM	#17
PRIMEVAL Registered User Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 10,181 Likes (Received): 2962	sfarsitulumii.ro Florin Mija aganencei Sebastian Nicolae Florin Neagu Zoli Borbely Bâlea Chalet image hosted on flickr Sin título by andrei030, on Flickr __________________ Summary of Romania Photos Bucharest -my photos * Aerials of Romania * Nature of Romania * Danube Delta * Constanța * Brăila & Galați * Brașov __________________________ I support the autonomy of Székely Land. * I denounce the killing of animals for food, hunting, clothing and others

December 9th, 2012, 09:22 PM	#18
Sponsor Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Koło / Poznań Posts: 3,762	Reminds me of Tatra Mts. I will be there for sure. __________________ Zapraszam do mojego wątku autorskiego [Poznań] Znany i nieznany my flickr

December 10th, 2012, 07:02 AM	#19
hypnotoad █ ▇ ▃ ▁ ▄ ▅ █ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Ёνεиτ Ηοrιζōи Posts: 603 Likes (Received): 72	It's amazing how vast these forests and mountains are! To be honest, I always thought the Romanian landscape would be mostly flat, guess I was wrong! Great pics! __________________ MY TRIP TO: MEXICO NOV-DEC/2012

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