Parâng - 3 Days Travel

Twisted route: Cotul Jiețului - Valea Jiețului - Refugiul Agățat - Roșiile sheepfold - Lacul Mândra - Șaua Gruiu (PR) - Vf. Parângul Mare - Vf. Gemănarea (BR) - Vf. Slivei - Muchia Slivei - Stâna Roșiile - Muchia Slivei - Val Slivei (unmarked path) - Green Lake - Plaiul lui Dăncilă - Cotul Jiețului (CG)

At the end of June we were going to have a free Friday from the office, so we thought of going somewhere for two nights with the tent. We didn't have a concrete plan, and when there were only about 2 days left, the weather forecast with accentuated atmospheric instability for almost the whole country hit us.

This forecast constrains us, but does not keep us at home, as a result we decided to go to Parang and sleep 2 nights at the lakes in the northern cauldrons. The plan would be to sleep the first night at Lake Mândra, but if the weather is too difficult then we will stay overnight at the Agățat refuge, and the second night we will reach Lake Verde.

Very relaxed, I left Cluj late on Friday morning and I did very well. When I was in Hațeg, nature erupted and it rained torrentially with thunder and lightning. It rained continuously until we reached Cotul Jiețului, where we stayed for about 20 minutes to eat and wait for the rain to stop.

On the way it was over 30 degrees in the atmosphere, but here, in the middle of the mountains, it was below 15. Ideal time to climb!

It was already afternoon when we entered the route, but now the weather was with us, and the sky was variable: sometimes cloudy, sometimes clear. We also caught 2-3 drops of rain, but the sun came out and dried us immediately.

The area of ​​the former Roșiile sheepfold

We find the lake almost frozen, surrounded by plenty of snow. We put the tent in a beautifully arranged place and then I look at the thermometer: 2 degrees Celsius! We'll sleep in the fridge.

In the northern caldera of Lake Mândra, the snow lasts even after the summer solstice

We make hot tea and plan for tomorrow: we will wake up early and try to avoid the rain forecast for noon.

The next day I almost exaggerated :-) At 7:00 we were eaten with backpacks on our backs, and at 8:00 we were already on the top of Parâng, peak. Parângul Mare (2519 m). Here we take a longer break, admire the landscape at 360 degrees and follow a mouse that hides from us among the rocks. But the clouds that are already threatening over Retezat remind us of today's weather forecast, so we rush to the edge of Sliva.

The ascent from Mândra Lake to Gruiu Saddle

To the edge of Sliva

After the peak. Slivei we start the descent on the homonymous edge, using a shepherd's path marked with bait and we reach an area from where we can already see the Green Lake, the final destination of today. The distance is not very long, but the path is missing, we should go down on stone slabs. The weather is still acceptable, even if it has already become quite cloudy, so we decided to use the shepherd's paths, for comfort and safety.

Black goats cool on a patch of snow

On the edge of Sliva

As a result, we descend again to the Roșiile sheepfold and try to draw the path that crosses the peak from which we just descended. The shepherd's path is not very clear, we are still fighting with 2-3 junipers, the rain starts, so very fun :-) We take shelter for 20 minutes under a rock, fortunately this rain is short and without electric discharges. But threatening thunder can already be heard in the distance.

We reach the summit and draw the descent path to the Sliva valley, it is clearer and takes us to the valley, where we intersect with the yellow cross marking, somewhere under the Green Lake.

The thunder intensifies and we don't know what to do: put the tent here or hurry to get to Green Lake. Looking in all directions to find a suitable place for the tent, we still choose to climb and, panting, we reach the junipers in the lake area.

We are very close to the lake, the path is not so clear, we are in a grassy area between the waters, various streams flow among the junipers. In addition, it begins to drip. Completely unexpected, from the junipers 2-3 meters high I hear someone whistling. I try to whistle too, but it's not easy to gasp and whistle at the same time. I take a few steps and find two young people having lunch in peace. Well, they were even calmer now that they saw that the rustling they heard was not produced by bears.

I immediately recognize Alexandra and we get to know her outside the virtual world. We actually only exchange 2-3 words and ... each in his own job, because the ploicica is getting stronger. They take it down, and we set up the tent at the speed of light. Arriving in the tent, we realize that maybe it was nice to invite them to stay in our vast apartment of 2 square meters, at least until the rain passed.

Camping place among junipers, near Green Lake

We calm down and start cooking. We kept cooking, we ate, we took a nap, and in the end, the sun came out, so we went outside to admire the lake, the rhododendrons and the chirping birds.
After sunset, countless pinching mosquitoes sent us to the tent to sleep. This time, I no longer had refrigerator temperatures, but a little below 10 degrees Celsius.

On the third day we didn't wake up with a watch, we lingered quite a while in the camp until we took it slightly downhill. No adventure on the descent, maybe small emotions because we passed some pretty big fresh shit and we didn't want to face the producer.

Source : Adi Pitigoi