Hiking in the Romanian mountains

It was a while back since I updated the blog, not really been out photographing. Although, now I have bought a smaller and easier camera and I feel motivated again to get out.
Now I also have two new interests - MTB which is really fun and the other is making knives. Besides that, I have been out fishing more and everything else too :) Well, never enough time for all the fun!

Anyhow, back to this post which is about Romania hike we did couple a weeks back.
12 good friends and two guides, one Swedish and one local. It was the first time we had guides and it was really nice as they would tell us about the area and its history. We would probably have managed without guides too - we have great map readers in the group - but Romania is a bit special as there are plenty of bears, wolfs and lynx in the area, and even angry protective sheepdogs so it's safe to have guides (they would sacrifice themselves?? )
The walks were quite demanding with up to 1200m up and then same down, ending up at peaks of 2200m. The weather was really on our side - sun every day, temperatures between 25 and 30C which of course was tough too. Loads of water is needed but there are water sources up on the mountains and it tasted good.

The first two days were hardest, with long walks of just below 20km and at high altitudes. We would be up at 8 in the morning for awesome breakfasts consisting of local vegetables, sausages/meats, fruits and loads of eggs. Coming back late in the evening with sore legs to a prepared dinner was super! The families we stayed at would make us local food - best!!
Final night we slept on the other side of the valley with only a shorter walk for 2 hours before heading back home (14h trip!! Not great)
Must be honest - I had sore legs after those three days.

Not a single trace of any predators that we so feared, which was a bit of a disappointment but on the other hand we saw the sheepdogs who were right near us at several occasions sniffing around and looking angry :) Will need to get back.

Go hiking in Romania! Lovely old forests and once up on the mountains - what views!!

                                                               

Sheep dog

Draculas castle

Hiking in the Dolomites

At my wife´s work once a year they organize a long-weekend hiking trip somewhere where its possible to get in 'couple' of hours (first year we moved over to UK they came over and we hiked in Peak District). Well, Why do I mention this? I get to tag along :))

This time it was 15 of us in the group ready to hike for 4 days the awesome Dolomites.

It was the second week in September and it still pretty warm considering that most of our time was spent between 2000 - 3200 m. The nights were cold with temperature just below zero, and at higher grounds even some snow. It didn't actually effect us as we were staying at the cabins.
Day One started with an 6 o'clock flight from Stockholm to Innsbruck. Finally in St.Ulrich a cable lift took us up to the mountain range and what a breathtaking views were waiting for us up there.
Unknowingly we had a 6-7 hour of hiking in front of us and at this altitude everything get a bit tougher, although the weather and the amazing scenery kept the spirits up (might have been the sweets and the energy bars too :) ).
Once we arrived, starving and a bit chilled, the amazing Italian dinner was served with a side of crisp beer. It didn't take many minutes before most of us crawled to the bed in order to rest the sore legs and recharge for the days to come.
The following days the hike just got tougher with steep climbs and sections of Via Ferrata, and on top of that the even higher altitudes. Even if this could easily broken anybodies spirit, the company and the weather kept us going with amazing attitudes and lots of encouragement to each-other.
The food and drinks, a mix of Italian, German and Austrian, just added to the energy needed for the rigours awaiting :))
What an amazing Adventure!
                                                                                               

                                                                                           

Long weekend in Brecon Beacon National Park

I know, I know, it has not been that many posts lately. I'm finding it extremely difficult to motivate myself and photograph right now.
Anyhow, last weekend we were off to South Wales and a National Park named Brecon Beacons.
It has southern England's highest peak, Pen y Fan which is at 886m. Maybe doesn't sound that high, but it is rather impressive so close to the sea and as far south. We managed with two hikes, one called The Horseshoe and it passes 3-4 highest peaks in the area of course including Pen y Fan. The walk is easy with some steeper inclines that felt in the thighs :) Still about 15km long.
The first day's was the so called Waterfall Trail. A really nice path through the forest and it felt a bit like walking through a rainforest with all the water, all the green and moss everywhere. This hike would also be at about 14-15km but we had a bad map and a poor reader (me) ;) so that ended up being about 20km instead.
This weekend, we were meant to go to the Cairngorms NP in Scotland. Unfortunately it seems the weather is going to be bad, so we lets see if south England offers something instead again.

                                                                        

                                                                           

Finnmarksvidda Big Grayling Adventure

So, finally back after a trip to Sweden and Norway.
I was up to the Kalix (northen Sweden, actually on the boarder to Finland) to stay with my brother and his family. As usual, it has been a lot of fun to spend some time with them.
But there's one more reason why I was there, and it was due to our 'annual' fishing week (this is the second :) ). As last year, we went to Finnmark in northen Norway to fish for big grayling. As this is a big place, we of course didn't end up at the same.
My brother and a friend of mine went by helicopter to a place we just pointed out on a map, 22km from the nearest road, while I hiked on my own.
The reason was that the helicopter could only take a load of 300kg and as you can imagine three adults (guys!) and their packing pass that limit easily :)
The hike to the lake took 8.5 hours, and due to some silly delays (thunderstorm, helicopter driver with amnesia etc) I started at about 19.00 instead of 14.00. 
First 10km was pretty easy even though it went steadily up towards Finnmark plateau. After that I needed to follow a map, no paths or tracks of any kind. Not that easy to walk among small birch shrubs, and of course it was rather wet after thunderstorm. The shoes got soaked rather fast, which meant that I got blisters, even though I was proactive and had bandage on. Gladly I didn't notice them until I arrived at the tent.
After all I still feel it was worth it. Just the feeling of walking in the middle of the night and the sun is up still high up, amazing.
Just as a note, the hike back took only 6 hours :) as it was dry and I didn't spend that much time taking pics.

The fishing then.
While hiking I got a text from my brother saying that they so far had only catched small fish, which was a bit discouraging but I didn't have that much of a choice than continue :)
The luck changed the very next day, when we in another lake found the bigger fish of just below a kg. It would get even bigger, but this definitely helped to improve the mood.
During the first couple of days I tend to exploring the area, walk a lot to the lakes and streams, as you never know where the big fish is hiding. For example, my brother found his lifes best fishing spot in a stream between two lakes.
We hit our PB-records over and over again during those couple of days. There was so much fish that each time you would put a fly in, you would had a fish on, and it would probably be a 'the dream' grayling between 1-1.5kg.

The week was spent exploring the lakes and the streams, a lot of walking and each time we would move we found a better place. The weather was pretty good also throughout the week, with exception of some rain in the night and the following morning during one of the days. Still it was warm, and even through the area is known for its mosquitoes we were luck and had almost none!
Animal and bird life was pretty good too, with golden plover, skua, reindeer, golden eagle, buzzard, and some shorebirds. Unfortunately I neither saw nor heard arctic fox, maybe as the past three years has been poor vole years.

To sum it all up, we got around 120 graylings between 1 - 1.8kg (only kept 7 as dinner). This is probably once in a life time experience. The biggest fish was caught by my friend and was a grayling of 1.8kg, while myself and my brother got a grayling at 1.52kg which is still our personal best (might have been the same fish :) ).
In a month, it is time for a long trip again, but now to the United States, los angeles and then drive around to the various national parks like Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion NP, Grand Teton and Yellowstone NP and more. I'm really looking forward for that trip :)