We didn't plan to climb and activate Piatra Secuiului, but as soon as I saw how beautiful it is... I just couldn't resist it. In hind-sight, I'm not sure if I'd would've attempted it, knowing how painful it would be on the way back. We came from the south, on an alternative route between Sebes and Cluj Napoca. After passing throgh some nice vertical cliffs we saw Piatra Secuiului a few kilometers away, on the right. The first village we passed through was Coltesti. I checked the maps on my phone and Andrei did the same on his phone, looking for the best possible route. There seemed to be some trails so we decided to try it. In Coltesti there was no store open, so we couldn't buy bread or anything else. We had a couple of boiled eggs and some sausages with us, luckily. We managed to get closer to the foot of the cliff on a very muddy road. With the sausages and eggs quickly disposed of, we started up the incline. At first, the grassy trail seemed like any other in terms of steepness, but soon enough the climb got more and more vertical. The surface was a mix of grass, moist dirt and rock. Soon enough I overheated and stripped to my t-shirt, despite being the end of October. The climb was great and almost fun. In about a kilometer of walking, we've climbed 500 vertical meters. The trail at the top was on the relatively flat ridge of this little and spectacular mountain. But I had more trouble on that flat, grassy trail than on the actual climb. My ankle (yes, the ORIFed one) started aching badly from walking on that flat, yet irregular surface. After almost a kilometer or so, we got to the summit, which is marked by two concrete pillars. The weather closed in and, as we installed the rig, a few raindrops appeared. We got lucky, though, as rain didn't start. Made 33 QSO's in total, all in 14 MHz. No luck in 2m or 70cm bands. Met two guys who were climbing on the northern trail, from Rimetea. That path is even steeper, but also more spectacular. We turned back and left the summit on the same route we climbed on. The descent was brutal. The slippery dirt and loose rocks posed quite the threat on my bad leg. Thankfully, I got down safely, in great pains, but completely satisfied with the achievement.

Not much to say about this one. It's very easy to activate. Grassy surface, probably grazed extensively in summer (beware of shepherd's dogs). Made contacts in 14 MHz only, 17 stations in total. The 2m and 70cm bands remained silent. We didn't linger for too long on the top because of two other summits scheduled for activation today.

After a well deserved one day break - mostly forced by non-stop rain - we resumed SOTA activities on the 25th, which turned out to be a great, sunny day. The walk to the summit was a little over a kilometer. Up top there are several GSM towers, but plenty of room and actually a nice place. The weather was exceptionally nice. In fact I think this was the longest activation in a while. We used 14 and 18 MHz. We also called in 145 and 433 MHz, but without luck. After we "got bored", we packed up and left. The car was parked next to a farm. When we wanted to turn around and go downhill, the car got suspended and it took us about half an hour to free ourselves. Andrei, the crafty one, jacked the rear wheel up, and with the help of a plank and some rocks, he lifted the car and managed to get us out.

The weather was pretty bad since early morning, but when we got on the top the rain started to pour down even harder. Despite knowing the ugly forecast, we were badly prepared and got soaked. We managed to stick the equipment into the tent sheet and made only a few QSO's in this avant-garde fashion. :P There were many stations calling, but the puddles formed on the sheet started to grow larger and we had to leave. Sorry about that!

Not much to say about this one. The view from the top is quite spectacular. The town of Piatra Neamt is visible below, and the lake, together with Ceahlau mountain in the background, are beautiful.