Trekking and caving in Transylvania
Spherical concretions
The spherical concretions from Feleac are sedimentary rock materialsthat were cemented together to form a hard structure. The surroundingsediments slowly erode away, exposing the concretion. They were formedwhen calcium carbonate and other cementing minerals precipitated fromthe ground water around an organic nucleus, like a shell. Near Feleacwe can find sphere-, and cannonball-shaped concretions.
The Rock with a Hole
Likasko, The Rock with a Hole, is in Hargita county, not far away from Kalonda Pass, 3 km away from Corund. On the right side of the road from Odorheiu Secuiesc to Sovata, you can see a huge rock with a large hole in it. The legend of this rock tells us about the quarrel of two fairies; Tartod, a very cruel and warlike fairy and Firtos, a very kind, sweet-hearted and good fairy. Tartod was jealous of Firtos, and wanted to destroy the Firtos castle. The only way to do it was to remove the base stone from the entrance of the castle. With the help of devils, Tartod managed to made a huge hole through the rock, inserted an enormous metallic bar through it, and carried it away. But just when they reached the river above Corund, they were struck by lightning; the metallic bar melted, and the rock fell down to the place where it is today.
Strange landscape of mud volcanoes
Mud volcanoes have nothing to do with proper volcanoes. They are developed by gas deposits that manage to seep to the surface from an oilfield, transporting salted water mixed with oil and some mud. They are not hot at all, but on the contrary.This rare phenomenon can be observed in a geological preserve located near the Berca village, Buzau county, Romania. There are three separate places, Paclele Mari, Paclele Mici and a third one, north from Beciu village. Here you can find small, only a few meters high, mud volcanoes. Vegetation is scarce, only the plant Nitraria Schöberi can grow in this saline, sandy soil. Several of the volcanoes are active, the gas pressure pushing thick mud to the surface, rising mud bubbles and creating small mud flows.These mud volcanoes are a beautiful sight to see, and well worth a visit.
Varasoaia 2007 Caving Camp
In the first part of August, I took part at the Varasoaia 2007 caving camp, organised by the Z Caving Club, in the Bihor Mountains, Varasoaia Glade, north from Padis Plateau. During the seven days spent here, I have visited the deepest Romanian cave, took photos in one of Romania's most beautiful caves, hiked through the deep Warm Somes Canyon, ate raspberries in Barsa Pit, and the last day I have visited the underground river of the Fortress of Ponor cave.The V5 pothole with its -653 m depth and more than 10 km development, is the deepest Romanian cave. V5 has the second largest underground room in Romania, the Paul Matos room with 1,200,000 m3 and a length of 415 m. In some areas of the cave you can find clusters of aragonite crystals, some of them reaching more than 25 cm.The Valea Rea Cave, the largest Romanian cave entirely developed in dolomites, is considered Romania's greatest underground mineralogical museum. Over 35 different minerals described as components of some speleological formations place this cave among the World's top 10. The cave has the greatest vertical underground waterfall in the country, the Ventilator Fall. 82 m height and 10 m diameter.
Romania Trip Log, Day 10, June 19
Got 4 “wiener-wursts” for breakfast this a.m. plus the usual milk/sugared coffee. Paid the room, asked the young lady to inspect the room to see if I’d left it OK, she said yes. Peter arrived and we loaded up for the trip to Sibiu Airport. We arrived at the airport around 10am, Peter stayed and talked until about noon, then we said our goodbyes and he headed back home. The flight back to Munich, Germany left in mid-afternoon, I arrived in Munich at 5pm and was picked up by my brother-in-law for the trip back to his home, where I would spend the next several days (until June 29) before returning to the US from Munich. Postlogue: So many wonderful experiences and impressions, it will take months to process them all fully. However, this I can attest to: Peter is one serious hiker; he is also learning “caving” and is into “geocaching” with the most caches in his area of Romania. From his email to me today (July 16, 2007) he had just completed holding his own first hiking/caving clinic for which he had 7 participants; he hopes to do this annually and extend the number of days. Please visit Peter at this website: www.trekkingklub.com and also visit some of his links. To see the photos Peter took of our trip together use the website: www.trekkingklub.com/ed.php The photos are arranged by dates which should correspond to my narrative above. You can correspond with Peter and I highly recommend travel to Romania, the hiking opportunities are numerous and challenging, the people I encountered warm and friendly, the food hearty and filling, and since Romania was just ac- cepted into the EU this year (2007) prices are very reasonable compared to western Europe. Go and enjoy!!! Ed Kindley, Wildwood, MO (I’m 70+ and not the world’s best hiker but if I can do it so can you.)
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