Romania, Retizat and the Transalpina (Take 2) Day 3

[clivehorridge]

Day 3 – Saturday 17 August 2013

Hi all,

I'm attempting to finish this post with a final edit, using photobucket this time. Here goes!

At last, this was to be "my day", the day had come to do some off-road. This was easy stuff but good fun nevertheless. We asked the locals if there was a good run without going too far and they described a track that the Pajero in the car park had difficulty doing a few days before. What that meant, I had no idea, so we all piled into the 80 (that’s one of the reasons why I’ve kept my third row of seats) and took a track which started not far from our Cabana and led us some 30km into a forested valley to another Cabana called “Cabana Buta” deep in the forest and a good 1,000 meters climb from our “base camp”. The track was fantastic, closed-in forest all the way, with mountain streams and waterfalls all the way. There was nothing to speak of that may have given the Pajero a hard time, maybe the rock steps on the steeper inclines, especially if it was wet. Who knows. The 80 romped up them with ease. There were steep rocky ascents and some small stream crossings, all quite tame but very enjoyable. We didn’t take many photos on the way there but here's some of a waterfall we stopped at.

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The next pictures we took when we got there, after a short walk (slog) up the very steep hill and into the forest. It was one of those many occasions when the fun was in the going, not what you found when you got there!
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Cabana Buta, a bit of a shack really, but dedicated to hardened mountain hikers and not intended for "townies" like us!

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It was very steep going, pausing for breath on VERY regular occasions!

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We were passed by a group of serious hikers, all carrying their camping gear, full kit! They were making their way to the glacial lakes, 10 hours they planned to be hiking to get there! Sorry guys, I did my share of that in my youth, there's no way I could do that now!

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Florin surveying the scene...

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After soaking up some of the scenery we decided enough was enough! On the way back down the hill, my 5 year old daughter Ana let out a yell. “Daddy,I’ve been stung on my ankle!” We attended to her with some antiseptic cooling gel which eased the sting and debated whether it was a wood ant, a fly, or a wasp. We concluded it was probably a wasp because we’d seen quite a few of them in the forest. Ana soon stopped complaining about her wasp sting, although it had swollen into quite a sore sting. She's quite a brave kid, thank goodness! We then made the return journey back down the track.

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Most of these pictures were taken through the windscreen on the dash-mounted iPad, on the return leg. Apologies for the windscreen reflections and the glare from the sun.



























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http://s1006.photobucket.com/user/c...3 Offroad track/IMG_2020_zpsdca744ee.jpg.html

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On the way, Aura suddenly said “I’ve just seen something red in the forest. Can we stop and have a look?” We stopped and I grabbed the iPhone to use as a camera. We climbed up the trackside bank into the forest and there was a fungus about 20 cm in diameter bright red/orange.

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While I was trying to get a half decent photo, she then said “there’s a white one over here, can you get a shot of that?” I looked across in her direction and sure enough there was a white fungus about 20 cm tall with a stem about 10 cm in diameter and an inverted umbrella on top. As I positioned myself to take a shot, I felt a sting on my right elbow. Thinking it was a nettle, I moved my arm away only to feel another and then another sting in rapid succession. As I looked down towards my elbow, I saw what must have been about 100 wasps all about to have a go at my extremities! By this time I was in full flight!

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They were in my tee shirt and as I ran I pulled the shirt off over my head getting more stings on the joint of my thumb! They stung me on my back and on my chest and those that got out of my shirt up through the neck, stung me on my neck and under my chin!

The climb up from the road was quite tricky, but I was back down onto the track in the blink of an eye!

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I would have loved a video of it all because I haven’t moved so fast in a long time! It must have been like a Tom & Jerry cartoon, me running and a swarm of wasps in hot pursuit all eager to have a go at me! I shook my shirt out and jumped into the car, winding up all the windows and closing the sunroof, as fast as they would close. I counted about 25 stings, not very comfortable, I must admit.

Anyway, we continued to enjoy the drive back to our Cabana for supper, a few more beers and another early night after all the excitement.

Sorry for all the duplicate pics and the mess I got into on this thread.. I'll try DAY 4 now...

 

[SpinDrift]

Great postings Clive.

We sometimes have glare and reflection when we take pics through the windscreen as well. One trick we have to reduce the reflections is to lay a black towel on the dash.

 

[clivehorridge]

Great postings Clive.

We sometimes have glare and reflection when we take pics through the windscreen as well. One trick we have to reduce the reflections is to lay a black towel on the dash.

That's a good tip Reinhard. Not only, I was having problems with the position of the iPad as well. I suppose I should abandon trying to use it, but it's quite handy for me because i use it as a satnav, camera and video (that has a screen big enough for me to read without my close-up glasses) and I'd like to get the thing physically stable.

I've got a screen sucker mount with a single flexi stem which has a click positioned rotating mount to an iPad 3 point cradle. So far so good, but the flexi stem isn't stiff enough to maintain a position for long periods, especially when being bounced around offroad. I need a second fixing point nearer the cradle end of the flexi, like miniature machine-gun stabilizers. Can't find anything useful on the market that fits and I've bought 3 or 4 mounts in an attempt to mix and match the best features.

Anyway, thanks for appreciating the post. I had troubles again posting, I'm only half way through day 3 and it won't accept anymore pictures.... Very frustrating. I have poor Crispin on the case again! He must be sick and tired of me!

 

[Gav Peter]

Love the photos Clive - maybe I can persuade my lot to tour on lanes like that

 

[AndyCook]

nice trails and scenery - thanks

 

[clivehorridge]

Love the photos Clive - maybe I can persuade my lot to tour on lanes like that

Thanks Gav, one day maybe, come and pay us a visit! Sure I can find some interesting offroad!

 

[clivehorridge]

nice trails and scenery - thanks

Thanks Andy, makes the frustration of posting icon-evil worthwhile.

 

[Chas]

Thoroughly enjoying this thread Clive , the scenery reminds me a lot of Croatia,

 

[clivehorridge]

Thoroughly enjoying this thread Clive , the scenery reminds me a lot of Croatia,

Good to hear you're enjoying it Chas, posting it is doing my head in!

I think I've spent more time posting than we spent on the trip!

More than that, I'm green with envy that you guys got the chance to go to Lincomb. all I see are posts about how much fun everyone had. Bah, humbug! That's what I say!

Cheers!

 

[Chas]

More than that, I'm green with envy that you guys got the chance to go to Lincomb. all I see are posts about how much fun everyone had. Bah, humbug! That's what I say!

Cheers!

Nah, you wouldn't have enjoyed it at all, it was the most miserable experience I've had for ages.

 

[clivehorridge]

Glad you all enjoyed. One day I'll surprise myself and turn up to one of these weekends!

 

[clivehorridge]

If anyone is interested, I've managed to edit Day 3 into some shape, sorry for all the duplicate photos.

day 4 will be next, I'm using photobucket now, so maybe I'll have more luck!