Valea Leșului - Țiclău and Guga - Vârful Țâglii

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Valea Leșului - Țiclău

   The Someș river does most of the work here. Flowing west and then north out of Transylvania, it has carved a valley through the hills of Sălaj county, and near the villages of Lozna and Letca the slopes close in, wooded and steep, with small clearings and hay meadows. On the ridges above, the Romans built watchtowers to guard the northern edge of Dacia, and the remains near Valea Leșului and Țiclău are among the sites included in the UNESCO frontier listing. Today they are little more than grassy hollows and stone scatters, visited by archaeologists and the occasional curious walker.

   Read the complete Valea Leșului - Țiclău write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Valea Leșului - Țiclău is where the day begins. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.

2. 2. Glod - Toaca Glodului 2

   East of Jibou the Someș river squeezes through a narrower valley, and around Ileanda the hills close in, wooded and steep, with villages tucked wherever there is room for a few houses and gardens. Glod is a tiny settlement in these hills, and Toaca Glodului is the local name of a height above it; toaca, by the way, is the wooden board struck to call monks to prayer, and hills with that name often have a commanding view. Like many points with this naming pattern in Sălaj, it is listed with the Roman frontier of Dacia, where watchtowers and small forts guarded the approaches to the province. On the ground you should expect little more than traces in a field or woodland, so come for the setting.

   Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Guga - Vârful Țâglii.

3. 3. Guga - Vârful Țâglii

   Rugășești, Vad and Poiana Blenchii are the kind of villages most people drive past on the way to somewhere else, and that is precisely the charm of the hills that rise between them. The point marked as Guga, Vârful Țâglii, lies on this rolling country north of the Someș, roughly a dozen kilometres from Dej, in the band of land where Rome drew the northern edge of Dacia. A summit called Țâglii is the sort of place where a watchtower would have looked out across the Someș corridor toward the free tribes beyond, and the archaeological lists record a frontier site here.

   Read the complete Guga - Vârful Țâglii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Guga - Vârful Țâglii. Next is back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.

4. 4. back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2, late in the day. Next is Valea Leșului - Țiclău.

5. 5. Valea Leșului - Țiclău

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Valea Leșului - Țiclău write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Valea Leșului - Țiclău. That is the ride.