Essential info for activatorsTarget summit: 6 pointer YO/EC-030 "La toante" - www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-030 Our Route: From Ciumîrna we found a forest road that we followed for about half a kilometer before entering the forest (through a creek), and then climbing on a shoulder until we reached the top. Medium steep, extra muddy conditions, overall not too bad. GPS Track: www.wandermap.net/en/route/3518009-la-toante-sota-yoec-030-ver2/ (download the track by clicking on "Export GPS data"). GSM coverage: Fair. Summit conditions: Mostly open, with some trees scattered around. Some wooden fence serves as a good support for the antenna. Activity reportIn this trip we were accompanied by our friend Cosmin, who turned out to be a pretty good "stoker" and cook. We've left Suceava at around 10:30 local and reached the top a little past 13:30 local, later than initially planned. It was muddy and wet, but not raining. The other summit teams from our group - YO8SDF & YO8SSH from YO/EC-380 and YO8SST, YO8SFF & YO8AZQ from YO/EC-585 - were already up and running. We made contacts with our local group in 433.500 MHz and 145.500 MHz, then switched to 14 MHz. Andrei managed one QSO in 18 MHz with the 14 MHz antenna. The propagation was pretty OK, a lot better compared to our few past activations. The weather was pretty good, after all, not too hot and not too cold, even if a bit cloudy. Cosmin built the fire and cooked the food he brought (me and my brother forgot to take any food). At some point we were joined by a homing pigeon. It flew about for a short while and then decided to land near us, on a fence. It stood there for some 10 minutes, preening and resting, until Andrei tried to approach it. When he got too close, the pigeon set off on its journey, who knows where? It had two rings, a green one on its left leg and a yellow one on its right leg. I watched it fly with my binoculars for quite a while until the dot vanished somewhere far. I wonder where was it from and where is it now... Thanks to all who chased us and 73!
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Essential info for activatorsTarget summit: YO/EC-201 "Bitca Nedeii" - www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-201 Our Route: From the road nearing the Puzdra pass, we took a left on a medium steep forested hill. There's also a sort of a trail used by loggers or shepherds, but it was too rocky and unstable, so we didn't use it. In a short while (500 meters or so) we got to the meadows above and followed to ridge to the summit. GPS Track: www.wandermap.net/en/route/3517062-bitca-nedeii-sota-yoec-201-gps/ (download the track by clicking on "Export GPS data"). GSM coverage: So and so, mostly at the top. Summit conditions: Open, exposed, nice views. Plenty of shepherd's shacks, not recommended during shepherding season. Plenty of bears too. Activity reportSurprisingly, this is one of the easiest 8 pointers in the county, surpassed in accessibility only by Rarau and Cota 1576. Put in another way, it's easier than many 6 pointers. The total length of the trail from the car to the summit and back is only 4 kilometers, with an altitude gain of about 300 meters (in the 2 kilometer climb). The mountain itself has a long ridge (calling by the locals "The Long Mountain") which is nice hike in its entirety. Beautiful sights at the top, with many SOTA summits visible: Rarau, Pietrosu Bistritei, Giumalau, Ostrei, Botusan, Alunisul, Toaca (Ceahlau), etc. Radio-wise we started in VHF, UHF, then switched to 14MHz. Because of our poor results in the 17m band (low propagation and chaser presence) we skipped it completely. Andrei managed to get the most contacts in his SOTA history to date. The weather was crummy at first, the sun punching a hole in the ceiling, eventually. Cold nonetheless. On our way back Andrei spotted a bear crap in the trail which seemed only a few days old. I remained some 50 meters behind, studying some rocks, when I heard Andrei screaming: "Bogdan, where are you?" There was a hint of urgency in his voice. He spotted a bear and told me to keep right. I asked him if he was in any danger, said no. Pulled my dog spray and regrouped with him. They spotted each other at 20 meters, when Andrei decided to climb out of a ditch and heard a stick break nearby. Surprised by the presence, the medium sized bear froze for a second and then ran away. It was good that it hadn't ran towards me. (video later) Essential info for activatorsTarget summit: YO/EC-566 "Muncelul Mic" - www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-566 Our Route: In the village of Ostra we made a right turn on a dirt road and drove for about 5 km until we reached a "ranger" cabin (cabin on the right, stream on the left of the road). After we parked the car, we started to climb next to the cabin on something that resembled a trail. A pretty steep climb all the way to the top. GPS Track: a) The access road - www.wandermap.net/en/route/3514613-muncelul-mic-drum-acces-1 b) The actual climb (only the southern trail section - ends at the top; the northern trail was drawn just in case) - www.wandermap.net/en/route/3514615-muncelul-mic-ec566-aproximativ (download the tracks by clicking on "Export GPS data"). GSM coverage: Scarce, only at the top. Summit conditions: Open, but with the tree line about 20 meters away from the highest point. Quite windy. Activity reportA hard climb from bottom to top, but very short (around 1km). Despite the sunny day, the air was cold and the wind made it worse. We scheduled S2S contacts with two other summits. One group went on Magura Sarata. It consisted of YO8SST, YO8AZQ and YO8SFF. The other group, formed by YO8SDF and YO8SSH, climbed Alunisul. We were all pretty close together, the summits being somewhat rectilinear and accessible from the same valley and road. Andrei and myself were in the middle, at about 10 kilometers south from Magura Sarata and 8 km north of Alunisul. The propagation on shortwaves, as usual lately, was very limited. The 18MHz was almost completely dead (we managed to get 3 contacts in about half an hour of constant calling), while the 14MHz was better, but not exceptional either. As a result we packed up earlier than planned and used the spare time to wander around the woods for a bit. A nice day, all in all. (video later) Essential info for activatorsTarget summit: YO/EC-527 "Cota 1576" - www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-527 - and YO/EC-017 "Rarau" - www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-017 Our Route: For the first summit, Cota 1576, we went straight up from the wooden scene. For Rarau, we followed the road that goes to the TV station. GPS Track: None available. GSM coverage (on both summits): Full signal on multiple networks, no problems whatsoever. 1st Summit conditions: Grass on one side, trees on the other. Careful, the north-eastern side of the ridge is quite steep. 2nd Summit conditions: Open, next to a concrete shack and an old radio tower. Windy at times. Activity reportProbably the easiest 8 pointers in the whole county, easily doable in the same day, maybe even in winter. There's not much to say about this activation. We started with "Cota 1576" in VHF and UHV, then switched to 18Mhz. Skipped the 14MHz entirely. Then we moved to Rarau and activated it in VHF and UHF only, thanks to our trusty local chasers. The weather was pretty cold and gloomy, but we managed OK. (Pics and video later.) Essential info (for activators)Target summit: YO/EC-585 "Alunișului" - http://www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-585 Our Route: One of the shortest routes for a 6 pointer out there. The climb is medium steep but only one and a half kilometers long . It starts on a dirt trail on a grassy hill which then goes up into the forest. Soil tends to be quite sticky when wet. GPS Track: http://www.wandermap.net/en/route/3512634-alunisului-gps-sota-yoec-585/ (download by clicking on "Export GPS data"). Summit conditions: Wooded, but not too thick that you can't find a place to set up your rig. A ridge trail passes right on the top. Max altitude just under 1000m, mostly beech trees. Activity reportWe decided to activate the summit the same morning because I (YO8SBR) got a cold and didn't know it sooner if I would be able to drag myself out of the den. The summit picked was one that we considered before for its apparent simplicity. The weather was shifty, one minute sunny, the other blizzardy. Marian joined us in this trip, despite the weather and the short notice. The tarmac road took us right at the base of the summit, 1.5 kilometers away. At the base the snow was gone, but only 100 vertical meters above seemed as the winter was still in full force. The wind blew quite strongly, but the forest alleviated its effects. It seems that radio contacts are ever harder to make, be it because propagation (the lack of) or contests. Essential summit info (for activators)Target summit: YO/EC-550 "Botușan" - www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-550 Our Route: A pretty nice and easy route, with some steep sections. It is advisable to hike it during the cold season because of the multitude of sheepfolds in the area (which are unused during the cold season, starting in november and ending in march-april). The route starts at the bottom of a huge tailings dam and climbs on the dirt road on the right side of the dam. At the top of the tailings reservoir the road takes a right, straight up the forest. After about 1km of steep climb, the trail reaches the grassy meadow and snakes up to the ridge. After another kilometer of fairly easy incline, the last bit of the ascent begins. It's medium-steep but it's very short. The top is barren, all grass, with a wooden cross (that might fall over soon) marking it. On a clear day you can see all the other mountains around, including Rarău (YO/EC-017) with it's big rocks. Check the GPS track here - www.wandermap.net/en/route/3510858-botusan-sota-yoec-550-gps/ . Summit conditions: Open, grassy, with a large wooden cross marking the top. Activity reportWe've decided to tackle Botușan (wrongly noted in the SOTA database as Batușan) for its seemingly easy approach. We've left quite late, but Andrei managed to get us at the base of the mountain just in time. Our buddy Marian came along and he was in charge of the food supply and building a fire. The area was heavily industrialized back in the day, mining of all sorts of materials - including uranium - being the main occupation for many of its people. In the past few years the mines closed down one after the other and the installations were torn apart. Another thing you can see right on the summit are some of the trenches made in the war (visible as a jagged line on the satellite view a few meters north west from the summit). The climb wasn't that easy, after all, but not too hard either. Luckily it was short enough and, despite some steep gradients, we reached the top in good time. Up on the meadow we've found a stag's horn stuck into the ground. As Marian read later, when one of the horns falls (stags shed them from time to time), the remaining one annoys the stag and so it wants to get rid of it. Unfortunately, it was a bad day for short wave SSB SOTA. The propagation was horrid, allowing for only a few contacts in 17m (more precisely 5 QSOs between us!). The 20m, on the other hand, while still pretty bad, was massively overrun with contest stations. The entire band was full of them contest calls! When we've finally found a free spot and started calling (with strong QRM nonetheless), we could only hold if for a few minutes. before being pushed out of the way by powerful contest stations. It sucked, but that's life, I guess. We reminded ourself that this is a fun activity and simply hiking is sufficiently rewarding on its own. Essential summit info (for activators)Target summit: YO/EC-537 "Bîtca Neagră" - www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-537 Our Route: Easy route in the summer, medium in the winters. Track length 5km total (both ways), on and off trails. GPS track here: www.wandermap.net/en/route/3509790-bitca-neagra-sota-yoec-537-gps/ (or directly from the links below, in GPX or KML format). Summit conditions: Forested, thicket, with a narrow trail on top. Still, there's enough room to set up.
Activity reportWe've left town at around 9:35 AM and got to Rarău at around 11:15 AM, where we've met with Adi, Tatiana, Cătălin, Ghiță and Silviu. Adi YO8AZQ and Tatiana YO8SST were coming with us, so we picked them up and drove to our trail's starting place, while Ghiță YO8SFS and Cătălin YO8SFF went on to activate Rarău (YO/EC-017). The trail seemed easy at first, but the snow was very deep and we had no snowshoes. Sometimes I'd go up to my butt in snow. It wasn't powder either, so each new step meant breaking the crust, which, on half of the cases, wasn't strong enough to hold us. Whenever we encountered this type of conditions we struggled badly, sweat dripping all over us. Luckily there were about three sections with the stuff, while the rest of the way had easier medium-deep snow. Adi and Tatiana started later, to allow us to gain some distance, so they could chase us from the trail below once we reached the top. We used the snow to convey messages to them, such as the direction and time. Later they would call us and tell us how far behind they were. Once at the top, after a final stretch of deep snow and steep gradient, we broken the crust and laid the tent sheet. Setting up took a bit longer, the space was crammed. We started in 70cm and made the S2S contacts with the guys from Rarău, then switched to 2m where we talked to Sebi YO8SSH and Corneliu YO8SCV. After we could not hear any more stations we started working in 17m and 20m. Adi and Tatiana left first, while we stayed behind and called for another 30 minutes or so. The cold and the apparent bad radio conditions made us pack up after about 1 hour. Compared to last time, only a fraction of contacts could be made today. The hike on the way back was much easier since the path was already trodden. Thank you for reading & chasing us! Essential summit info (for activators)Target summit: YO/EC-542 "Alunisul" - http://www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-542 Our Route: Easy to moderate trail and gradient. Short, about 2.4 km from bottom to top. Trail starts at the top of the Puzdra pass, on a dirt road. It gets steeper in the midsection. We spotted bear tracks. GPS recorded track here: http://www.wandermap.net/en/route/3508205-alunisul-yoec-542-gps/ . Summit conditions: Forested, but there's a glade very near, in the SOTA activity radius. Activity reportWe've left the town quite late, at around 10:30 local time. In lower areas it was raining. Gloomy all around. As we got closer to the summit the rain turned to light snow, which was better. Once on foot, we took a tourist path from the Puzdra pass. The trail is marked by a red band, which we followed for some time before "losing" it and then we had to climb directly on a steep, icy incline. We've found some bear tracks in the snow, with the claw marks clearly visible. Snow conditions were widely variable. In some areas the snow was waist deep, but with a crust that held our weight, while in other areas (shaded), the crust was not present. Because of the "heat waves", snow melted completely in some areas, but then the water turned to ice, which was hidden well by a layer of vegetation. On the summit things went pretty well. First we made a few contacts in 2m and in 70cm, then we switched to 17m and later to 20m. Our hiking buddies made a nice fire and we had a quick snack and some tea (made from snow). This day, despite mediocre propagation and some massive QRM, was the most prolific QSO-wise. We've made more than 100 contacts between us in an activation that spanned almost 2 hours (with some breaks for changing the antennas, ops and stuff). On the way back we chose another route which was slightly better than the one we took on the ascent (the GPS track shows this return trail). A big thanks to all chasers and to our tea-making buddies! Essential summit info for activatorsTarget summit: YO/EC-572 "Chicera Neagră" - www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-572 Our Route: Easy to moderate trail and gradient. Short, about 2.4 km from bottom to top. We chose to climb right through the middle of the creek, which was frozen solid. On the upper half we continued on a logging dirt road which was very steep, but dry and without snow. This trail is probably very muddy in other seasons. The GPS recorded track can be seen and downloaded here: www.wandermap.net/en/route/3507560-chicera-neagra-yoec-572-gps/ . Summit conditions: Open, but the treeline is very close, at some 20 meters. Many fences, but with the gates open (actually there were no gates at all, just wide spaces left without any barrier). Expect dogs, cows, sheep in the summer. Activity reportFor today's summit we were undecided. Yesterday the temperature was around -7 degrees Celsius at noon. The weather reports for Sunday seemed decent, so Saturday evening we thought to give it a go. We looked at two other summits before settling on Chicera Neagra (Black Peak). It was cloudy and gloomy as we left home around 9:30 AM. Nearing the mountains the mist got thinner and later it finally gave way to a very sunny day. It was cold, though, and most of the climb was in shade. The trail we initially chose was a few tens of meters to the left of where we ended up walking, the middle of the creek. It was frozen solid and, despite being very slippery, it provided the best route to the top. Probably during warmer months it wouldn't be wise to walk through there, but today was pretty OK. About halfway up we lost the creek and instead went ahead on a very steep dirt road. The final stretch, no more than 200 meters, we climbed on very deep snow, but with a crust that gave way only a couple of times. At the top we chose a spot near a barn. It was sunny and quite pleasant when the wind didn't blow. After setting up we started calling in 2m and 70cm. We logged only a few QSOs, so we swtiched to 17m and spent half an hour there. Then we rewired the antenna for 20m and spent another 40 mins at the station before turning it off and calling it a day. We managed to make about 76 contacts between us and one S2S with a ham in Norway. A big thanks to all our chasers! 73! Essential summit infoTarget summit: YO/EC-476 "Batca" (also Bâtca or Bîtca) - http://www.sota.org.uk/Summit/YO/EC-476 Our Route: Moderate gradient with some short steep bits, 3.7km long (7.5km round trip), 450 meters altitude difference from bottom to top, trail goes through wooded and exposed areas. The trail starts near a stream which has to be crossed as is (there was no bridge of any kind). Probably the stream is very small in summer months and winters, but can considerably gain in size after storms or when snow melts. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but once on the pasture there are many sheepfolds and therefore lots of dogs. Plus fences all around. We had to avoid all the sheepfolds and fences through the left, near the treeline. Check the map and download the GPS track here: http://www.wandermap.net/en/route/3506792-batca-sota-yoec-476/ . Summit conditions: Open, but very close to the treeline (you can set up and activate from the woods if you prefer). It has a large bench and a fireplace which are very convenient for the activation (check the pics below). Activity reportToday the temperature was well above zero and all the snow was melting away. It was foggy and raining when we left home, but the weather improved as we neared the summit. At the bottom of the trail the weather was good, sunny, but the slush, mud and overflowing streams chipped away at our optimism. As we climbed up the snow disappeared almost completely. Found bear droppings in two places on the track (which is on a dirt road). Once out of the forest, a bunch of dogs approached us, barking. Two of them, quite large, "said" nothing and approached us more and more... until touching their large, wet noses to our hands, backpacks and clothes. I was pretty much at a loss. There were about 4 large dogs barking and 2 large dogs sniffing us at point blank range. :) We worried that the barking dogs might incite the other two. If they would bite, we had to act super-quick to limit the damage. After a while the two dogs lost interest and gained some distance. Then again they got very close, but seemed friendly. The others barked relentlessly. Walking in dog land we sidetracked a bit and realized we have to turn back to avoid some fences. As we turned back, the barking dogs followed us once again and wouldn't cease until we got well away from their territory. At the top we found a table, benches and a fireplace... and two young lads. They were shepherds, but from another pasture. We installed the equipment and started CQing, while Marian, a friend who came with us, made the fire. After we activated in 70cm, 2m, 20m and 17m bands, the rain started and we had to pack up. We pulled the potatoes from the fire and had a great snack before climbing down - again through dog land - and reaching the car. Check the pics below. The video will be available in a few days. Thanks for reading / watching / chasing! 73! |
AuthorHi, we're a team of hams from Romania. We're into SOTA and other activities. Thanks for stopping by! Archives
August 2020
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