High Tatras: Winter At The Chalet At Green Lake

A good start of the year! :) The first week of January is in the administrative break, so I decided to spend a few days in High Tatras, it must be some snow there even if there's none in the lower regions. However I had to realise that even at 2000 meters there's not too much snow. My last destination was the Chalet at Green Lake. The situation was better there, as it was snowing a little during the previous days. Towards the end of the valley the landscape was getting nice:

In the evening the full moon appeared giving some lights to the mountains:

 

Banat: Visiting Waterfalls

I planned to visit some beautiful waterfalls in Banat, Romania this autumn: La Văioaga, Beusniţa, Bigăr and Moceriş waterfalls. At the gorges of the Nera river I was told that Beusniţa waterfall didn't have water because of draught but the La Văioaga was "working". One afternoon I witnessed it:

Unfortunately the Moceriş waterfall didn't have enough water either and the Bigăr waterfall isn't so amazing as it was before a wall of it collapsed last year:

High Tatras: Late Autumn At The Lake Poprad

I wanted to get here two weeks earlier but I didn't manage... I spent three days at the Lake Poprad, which looked like this on the first evening:

Next day I started at dawn in total darkness to the Koprovsky peak. The sky was quite overcast but I managed to catch the morning sun on the saddle peeping from the peaks:

One of the paths leading to the Lake Poprad:

Morning scene taken from the saddle pod Ostrvou:

The lights of the setting sun illuminating the mountains:

 

Retezat Mountains: End Of September At The Bucura Lake

It's been cold this week, the first snow has fallen in the mountains. This has raised my interest and I thought a few days hiking in the Retezat mountains would be a good idea. Bucura Lake is a good place to pitch a tent at, as the weather was getting warm. I started Saturday morning and arrived at the lake with my rucksack till evening.

I was able to enjoy the snowy scene next day:

The Ana Lake:

At the Porții Lake (Tăul Porții):

The rain has started, so the snow was melting rapidly:

It rained many times so on the third day there wasn't much snow left:

Făgăraș Mountains: Alpine Accentor

This morning I started my way to the Făgăraș mountains and I was planning to spend 3 days at Bâlea lake. I arrived in the afternoon having got tired, but I climbed up to the Paltinu peak with pleasure. On my way back I waited the sunset up there:

The next day I climbed up almost at the same place enjoying the scenic sunset again:

On the third day I enjoyed the view to the lake from the Iezerul Caprei peak:

On the next morning I gave a try recording the birds nearby, I managed to capture some shots of redstarts ...:

Young Redstart

Young Redstart

Young Redstart

... and alpine accentors as they came as close as 3-4 meters:

Alpine Accentor

Young Alpine Accentor

On my way home I stopped at midway having a look at the Pișoaia waterfall in the Apuseni mountains. Although there was little water coming down from the top, I liked it:

 

Rodna Mountains: Rhododendrons

About a week ago I read that in the Rodna mountains the rhododendrons had started to bloom and after the 15th of June they would be in full bloom. So, I decided to have a look at it. This time I had a companion and we planned to spend two nights at the Lala Mic lake at an altitude of 1900 m where tenting is permitted. We had to stop the car around 7 kilometers from the spot and it had darkened by the time we got there. Being weekend there were several other tents near the lake.

I wanted to wake up before sunrise to capture some good shots. In the first morning the sky was quite overcast but after some time the sun rays appeared:

There were really lots of rhododendrons around the lake. In the background You can see the Ineu peak with snowspots:

Besides the rhododendrons there were many other colourful flowers too:

Next morning the sky was absolutely clear:

It was really worth coming up for this scenery, however the surroundings of the lower Lala Mare lake is also beautiful, so I decided to photograph there too next time.