Stâna - La Balize and Groșii Țibleșului - Izvorul Șurii

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Stâna - La Balize

   Zalau is the sort of Romanian city that few foreigners visit, a county capital of some sixty thousand people at the foot of the Mes mountains, with communist-era apartment blocks, a pleasant old centre and a surprisingly rich past. The point called Stana La Balize lies in the hills about five kilometres away, on the edge of the town. Stana means a sheepfold, a summer shepherd's camp, and the word tells you what these slopes were used for: pasture. As part of the group of sites on the Roman frontier of Dacia Porolissensis, it likely marks a watchtower or a related feature on the ridge above Zalau.

   Read the complete Stâna - La Balize write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Stâna - La Balize is where the day begins. Next is Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei.

2. 2. Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei

   Strâmtură means a narrowing, and the name fits. Just outside Gâlgău, a small Sălaj village on the Someș, the valley pinches between wooded slopes, and the Roman frontier made use of exactly such pinch points to control movement along the river. The site listed as Valea Strâmturei belongs to that northern Dacian line, and like most of its neighbours it is earthwork and setting rather than standing masonry. You come for the geography and the sense of a border that ran through these quiet hills nearly two thousand years ago.

   Read the complete Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei comes up 64 km in. Next is Groșii Țibleșului - Izvorul Șurii.

3. 3. Groșii Țibleșului - Izvorul Șurii

   The Țibleș mountains rise like a dark wall between the Lăpuș country and the valleys of Maramureș, a volcanic range of dense spruce and beech forest topping out at nearly two thousand metres. On their slopes, near the source known as Izvorul Șurii above the village of Groșii Țibleșului, the forest feels almost untouched: springs bubbling out of mossy banks, fallen trunks covered in fungi, and a silence broken only by woodpeckers and the wind. This is bear country, and wolves and lynx roam these woods too. The area lies on the edge of the Maramureș region, famous for its wooden churches, carved gates and deeply traditional village life.

   Read the complete Groșii Țibleșului - Izvorul Șurii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   128 km in you reach Groșii Țibleșului - Izvorul Șurii. Next is back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei.

4. 4. back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei, late in the day. Next is Stâna - La Balize.

5. 5. Stâna - La Balize

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Stâna - La Balize write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Stâna - La Balize. That is the ride.