we left on friday night and got to a place close to campu lung rather late at night, which didn't stop us from putting up the tents.
when we got up the next morning we found ourselves up in a rather impressive location
and after a lengthy breakfast, we were on our way split in 4 teams of 4 cars, each team assisted by a technical car
the mid october sun brought out the fall reds
once in a while we'd stop and gather to make sure we were on the right track
because at times it didn't even look like we were on any kind of track
it looked more like a narrow dried up creek
although at times it wasn't dry at all
there were moments when it looked like some would loose their grip
but we pressed on through the deep forest
and got to lake raushoar (which is kind of funny as it means small river)
looking at the road book, we knew we weren't even half way through our journey, and our assistance car kept pushing us to move on in spite of the beautiful places. apparently we were in a race, competing with the other 3 teams, but we'd kind of decided we didn't want to win, but rather to enjoy the beautiful day and locations. however, we had to leave and there were more forest roads
which gave the photographers the opportunity for some beauty pajero shots
once we were out of the forest, we got into no man's land
it looked like a giant landslide had happend the day before
we had to crawl through it holding our breath for fear we may trigger a second one
once we were out, it got pretty steep, but we could see the top
which turned out to be at an altitude of about 2k
offering wide views of the snowy fagarash
the sunnier iezer and papusha
the raushor (small river) lake
or a small lake on the top
we wondered how the snowy part would have been in foggy condition
and continued our day almost numbed and speechless from the beautiful surroundings
but after a few more kilometers on the top of the mountain range we realized the road book was taking us back down
but we never expected quite such a tight and steep curve which made even shorter cars lift their back wheel
not to mention longer ones
which sometimes needed a little nudge
but, with a little help, we all went round the corner
although some of us got a little dent
or a torn side fender
at the end of the day we all got back to the camp for a traditional romanian feast which started while the sun was up
but went on until late at night
people seemed to enjoy the whole thing
even the following morning they'd still have fun
but then it was time to go do the trial track which seemed more dangerous than it actually turned out to be, as none of the cars rolled over
it was back to camp for more bbq
and the final results of the contest, combining the speed and accuracy of both days.
in spite of our really slow first day, our team managed to get on the third place due to a rather flawless second day at the trial
in the end we all enjoyed it a lot
so thank you georgiana and gigi
i really look forward to next year's mitsubishi adventure ride. can't wait to see what you guys are going to prepare for us. you've set a really high standard, but i'm sure you won't dissapoint us
