Enjoying the last snow of the season: Buscat - Muntele Mare short hike

Last March was a pretty snowy month especially considering it should have been spring but I try to enjoy nature no matter how quirky it decides to be. So I grabbed my winter gear and went for a short hike in the mountains near Cluj-Napoca.

I manage to convince a friend to join me on my little adventure and we decided to drive to Buscat ski slope and start from there.

Cluj-Napoca's location on the map and the road to Buscat Ski Resort

The weather at first was very windy and cloudy but we had to go ahead and make the most of it.

The restaurant and parking lot at the base of the ski slope

A must was checking the view from the top of the ski slope ( which is called Buscat peak) because even though is quite a popular destination in the winter, I've never visited it before because I don't ski - I love my knees to much :) .

The view from Buscat peak ( 1676 m in altitude )

After taking in the scenery and trying to recognize some familiar places I've previously visited, it was time to let the inner child manifest itself: the ski slopes where in good shape so we decided to pull out our raincoats and use them to slide to the bottom.

I must admit I took some convincing until I finally said "I guess it would be a shame if I wasted a perfectly good slope without sliding down it".

The dog was even more excited than I was :)

After we got back to the base of the ski slope we decided to hike over to the next prominent peak - Muntele Mare - 1826 m ( translated it means: the big mountain - because it is the biggest mountain in the region - kind of a captain obvious move by the locals :P )

The approximate route we took along the main forest road - blue arrow; the main access road is in red

The weather started to improve and the sun had periods when it came out of the clouds and it started to feel quite warm, only to get really chilly after it went back into the clouds.

The plateau around Muntele Mare peak is home to a communist-era military base which is semi-abandoned except for the poor guy in the watchtower and the local dogs which were not the most friendly type.

After enjoying the awesome views :

it was time to find a nice, sheltered place, to get out of the wind and enjoy a well earned traditional meal.

And with our bellies full and souls reinvigorated we started heading back to the car, walking slowly in the still deep snow.

My name is Adrian a.k.a "The nearsighted traveler". I'm a running enthusiast who loves to spend time enjoying nature. I write mostly about running, the places I explore and the interesting stuff I learn here on steemit.
If you are new to this platform you might want to check out these posts:

5 Easy Rules for Navigating The Steem Ecosystem
The 6th Easy Rule for Navigating the Steem Ecosystem

And if you want a good laugh you can visit my other account @cmmemes where I fail at being funny but persevere anyway :)