Asociația Turistică pentru Natură Oxigen în colaborare cu Michelin au demarat împreună un proiect amplu de remarcare a Munților Baiului în patru sesiuni care a fost derulat în perioada 23 iunie-23 Iulie 2017 după cum urmează:
Asociația Turistică pentru Natură Oxigen în colaborare cu Michelin demarează împreună un proiect amplu de remarcare a Munților Baiului care se va derula până la finalul lunii Iulie al acestui an, în patru etape.
Pornind de la vorba “Ce a fost în Polonia, va fi povestit tuturor”, ne-am decis sa împărtășim și celorlalți tot ceea ce am învățat de-a lungul unei săptămâni pline de cursuri antrenante și de jocuri palpitante.
Proiectul a reunit 7 tari în Poronin, un mic sat din Polonia, pentru a ne învăța cum să punem pe picioare o afacere în mediul rural și mai ales cum să petrecem în stil polonez . Organizați până în cele mai mici detalii, programul a fost unul care ne-a solicitat creativitatea, puterea de negociere, imaginația și reacțiile în condiții de stres.
Noiembrie 2016. Voluntarii de la Oxigen se aliază pentru prima dată cu cei de la Omniasig Vienna Insurance Group și iau cu asalt Valea lui Bogdan. Obiectivul este bine definit: plantăm puieți de brad.
Este frig. Vremea e capricioasă. Ne îngrijorează puțin norii apăsători însă nu avem nevoie de temperaturi și de soare de iulie pentru a ne face treaba. Mai mult, vremea ține cu noi și, obligat-forțat, soarele se arată într-un final. Nu ne încălzește, dar măcar luminează plapuma plumburie de pe cer. Peisajul e mohorât, dar îl inundăm cu veselia și entuziasmul nostru. Suntem contagioși și o spunem fără modestie.
În jurul orei zece apar „întăririle”. 80 de voluntari de la Omniasig se alătură grupului în verde de la Oxigen. Mai este necesar să pomenin de entuziamsul și pofta lor de muncă? Bineînțeles că nu.
Ne apucăm de treabă. Cei 1 600 de brăduți așteaptă să-și răsfețe rădăcinile cu mineralele din solul proaspăt. Pentru că avem spor, terminăm treaba, după care trecem o fugă pe la pepinieră și mai luam alți 900 de puieți. Dacă s-ar îndrepta un străin către Valea lui Bogdan și ne-ar lua în raza vizuală, ar vedea următorul scenariu: zeci de omuleți veseli, glumeți și neobosiți și 2 500 de arbori tineri ce și-au găsit, într-un final, un lăcaș stabil.
Următoarea acțiune este una iubită și dorită de toți voluntarii: masa, binevenită și multrâvnită. După tot efortul depus, ne răsfățăm mușchii cu o pauză și stomacul lihnit cu gulaș și murături, ca mai apoi să trecem la desert. Setea o astâmpărăm cu ceai, cafea sau apă.
La întoarcere, Bucureștiul întâmpină două Autocare ale Bucuriei. Suntem obosiți, Moș Ene ne ademenește din ce în ce mai mult, încât ajungem să confundăm umărul colegului cu perna moale și pufoasă de pe patul de acasă. Dar ne trezesc claxoanele și traficul cu care ne-am obișnuit deja. Și când te gândești ce liniște și pace am lăsat în urma noastră. Mai că suntem geloși pe puieții proaspăt plantați.
We love nature and the untamed mountain. And as much as we enjoy to plunge into history and expand the horizons of our culture, our soul belongs to the mountain, and no trip is complete without it! So now, let us tell you about our ascension towards the Retezat Peak, which took place in a warm, stormy weekend in the month of June.
In the second day of our outing, we wake up full of energy in the early morning, and we embark in the Coach of Joy. We are headed towards Râușor, a place that is becoming the main point of access in the Retezat Mountains (at least for us). And so we start our adventure towards the Retezat Peak, standing tall at a height of 2.485 metres.
We follow the red band trail up to Șaua Lolaia, and then we proceed on the yellow band (it seems much easier in writing).
What’s surprising about this slice of Heaven is that every half hour, the landscape changes, as though through a metamorphosis: the forest is studded with fuzzy moss, really comfortable when you want to take a break; the moss plays joyfully with the sunrays, and it offers us natural spectacles of colour. As we continue, we reach some small waterfalls, where the water flows gently and refreshingly over the moss, and it almost seems to cool our hard-working bodies.
We keep walking and we come out into the forest, continuing on our path on the left side of the Ștevia river, for about an hour and a half. As the sweet waters ripple flowing downstream, we smile at the thought of the journey still ahead of us. Walking and walking by the river’s edge, we arrive at an opening where we find ourselves in the great arms of the tall mountains surrounding us, which seem enormous. And the question arises: ‘That is where we’re supposed to climb?!’
We leave the forest behind us and we keep ascending by the river, embraced by a sublime view – many flowers, scents, the mountain peony.
We reach a limestone relief and we exercise our climbing technique: we climb on harsh rocks, leaving the Ștevia river somewhere below us. We ascend on Șaua Lolaia, suspended at an altitude of 2.225 metres. The view changes yet again, and we gain an amazing 3600 view over the surroundings in Retezat. Here is our regrouping point, where we are divided into two teams: one with a faster pace, and the other with a more relaxed stride, but both sharing the same target: Retezat Peak.
We start our ascension on the yellow band, among the rocks, avoiding the snow. Here, the climbing grows in difficulty, but it is a helpful occasion. Our confidence, courage, communion, support and optimism are being trained, and we form a well-oiled machine.
At 15:00 we summit, greeted by a wind that makes it hard to stand on your two feet. We take our famous group photo, we scream OXYGEN as loud as our lungs let us, and we let ourselves be enchanted. Here we are, on the top of Retezat!
The weather forecasts turned out to be exact, because at 17:00 the storm started. But it didn’t bring down our spirits; instead, it added value to our trip, water to our boots and it tested our waterproof layers until our skin was wet. Next, we have a descent through the thick rain, guided by a collective wish to arrive at the coach on a warm weather. And so we return through the same surroundings, but this time, we see everything with new eyes – isn’t it curious how nature has a thousand different faces?
Some drenched, some ’drenched-er’, all of us happier, we find the coach exactly where we left it. We all shelter in the warmth, change our clothes and enjoy the full day we’ve been lucky to live. We feel richer than we were before.
This is the story of our mini-holiday in the arms of the Retezat Mountains. And, to finish off on the same optimistic note, we leave you with a quote we find very inspiring:
”Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.”
Our trip to the Retezat Mountains was more than just a simple mountain outing: it was a time for exploration, for the discovery of the beautiful places Romania shelters among her high peaks. So come join us on an imaginary journey, and we will tell you of the joys we found when we made our way to Retezat, in the first and the last day of our outing! Because an entire article will be dedicated to the mountain itself. It deserves it.
First day
Day one is meant for relaxation: we spend the first half of the day by the pool, basking in the sun and splashing around in the water, enthusiastic about what is to come. Later, we visit the Citadel of Samizegetusa. With this occasion, we immerse ourselves in history, seeing and feeling what the romans built here a long time ago, in the 3rd and 2nd centuries A.D. Here, the ruins still speak – the life, the culture and the spirituality of their founders are less clear today than they were centuries ago, but our sense of history demands that we preserve them.
Continuing to enjoy our pleasant afternoon, we have our first encounter with Retezat National Park. After a relaxing hike we arrive at the Râușor waterfall, 10 metres tall, which has a special charm: it is picturesque and wild. Here we find the most delightful moment of our first day, with the sweet water tingling our senses.
After a day full of beauty, we spend the evening resting at the hotel, hoping for excellent weather the next day, when ascension towards the Retezat Peak begins.
Last day
On the last day of our tour, we are drunk with exaltation from the day before, having climbed the mountain. We end the trip with another adventure into the arms of culture and history, as we take a walk in the beautiful city of Alba Iulia.
Later, we visit the medieval fort of Sibiu, which for centuries was an important spot on the map of the European continent. We take a meal full of Romanian flavours, while we rejoice in the rustic atmosphere around and admire the imprints of the past left in the architecture surrounding us. How could we not enjoy this wonder of a city, breathing still in the heart of Romania?
With a pleasant tiredness in our bodies, with fresh oxygen in our lungs and feeling ‘reborn’ after our reconnection with nature, we return home, in greek-like rhythms.
For us, this is Romania – rich in mountains and natural beauty, but also in opportunities for exploration and relaxation. And this is why, in our outings, we fully experience the beautiful places we visit, and we invite you to taste the beauty of these lands, too!
We began our trip towards the small town Balan, on Saturday the 14th, early morning. A small group this time -27 people, as our volunteers are involved in different projects; many new people and eager to start the adventure 🙂
We have reached the starting point around 13 when it started raining. We have divided the extra equipment and we’ve started on blue line towards Piatra Singuratica Chalet, reaching there around 15. On the trail, we had short showers of rain, but after we’ve reached our accommodation at 1500 m the thunderstorm started. We’ve waited a bit, and when it stop shortly, we’ve decided to go for Hasmasul Mare peak.
We have trekked for 1 hour when the fog descended, teaching us about how to take good decisions. We reached the chalet by nightfall, happy for our new trail that we’ve called Hasmasul Ascutit, as we have reached half way of the 2 trails towards the peaks.
In the evening we have enjoyed a vegetable soup and a traditional dish as you rarely find even in the most luxurious restaurants. After some more stories and laughter, we’ve gone to bed.
In the morning, we’ve woken up 
at 5, 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00 si 8:00 when the rest of the group woke up for breakfast. The fog and the rain were there until 10 am when we decided to descend. We are happy that on the way back it did not rained and that we have enjoyed the landscape on the red triangle trail.
In the afternoon we have stopped at Saint Ana Lake, enjoying the legends of this place and then continuing our way home.
Hasmas Mountains challenge us to come back here again and we accept this challenge!
We invite you to join Oxigen team in admiring the landscapes, the legends and the beauties of Hasmas Mountains, in a nice atmosphere at a real mountain chalet, on the 14-15 of May.
Saturday, 14 of May, we will leave early morning 6 am (meeting at 5:45 am) from Unirii Square (subway exit near Horoscop Hotel) on the route Bucharest – Ploiesti – Brasov- Sfantu Gheorghe – Tusnad – Miercurea Ciuc – Balan. We will stop on the way for lunch. We will climb 1.5 hours on blue line from Balan town towards Piatra Singuratica Chalet where we will leave our backpacks. In the afternoon, for the ones that want, we will trek towards Hasmasul Mare Peak (1792m) on red line – 3 hours going and coming back. In the evening we will enjoy the starred sky and we will sleep tight in the rooms with so many beds… 🙂 We can find there only 1 dish, tea and wine. Fresh water from the spring is 5 minutes away.
Sunday morning we will serve breakfast from our backpacks and we will head towards Ecem (Ascutit) 1,5 hours going and coming back on the red line. Then we will take our backpack from the Chalet and head towards Balan town on the red triangle. We will back home and we will stop on the way for lunch. In order for us to enjoy this beautiful area, we will also visit Saint Ana Lake, the only volcanic lake from Romania, from Ciomatu Mountains. Estimated return: 10 pm.
The expenses of the expedition reach 245 lei/person and include: accommodation, transportation and guidance.
You can subscribe by paying 50% of the expenses. The payment can be online payment: Donation for Hasmas for x people. For online payment, please send an email with a copy of the PO at florina@asociatiaoxigen.ro.
*The expedition will take place for a minimum of 30 people.
For more details, use the number + 4 0726.315.734 – Florina.
Be part of Oxigen story!
Necessary equipment:
Backpack
Boots
Moutains clothes
Rain jacket
Flash light
Foods
Trekking sticks
Sleeping bag for a higher comfort
Pentru că iubim natura, ne-am gândit să-i facem loc în viața noastră. Acesta este motivul pentru care Asociația Oxigen este o organizație unică, non-profit destinată promovării spiritului ecologic și sensibilizării tinerilor în problemele de mediu.