Zalău - Poieniță and Perișor - Vârful Colnicului

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Zalău - Poieniță

   Poieniță is a small poiană, which is the Romanian word for a clearing in the forest, and a clearing is a good place to begin talking about mushrooms. Around Zalău, from late summer to the first frosts, the woods are full of people with baskets and plastic bags, wandering slowly between the beech trunks with their eyes on the ground. The Poieniță point lies a few kilometres outside the town, on the wooded edge of the Meseș foothills, and it belongs to a tradition of foraging that has not died out with the arrival of supermarkets.

   Read the complete Zalău - Poieniță write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Zalău - Poieniță 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 77 km into the recorded legs. Next is Perișor - Vârful Colnicului.

3. 3. Perișor - Vârful Colnicului

   The upper valley of the Zagra stream, in the hills of Bistrița-Năsăud county in northern Transylvania, is the sort of place that has produced poets. The village of Hordou, now named Coșbuc, birthplace of the poet George Coșbuc, lies not far away, near Năsăud, and Liviu Rebreanu, one of Romania's great novelists, was born in Târlișua, a little to the west. The hills around Perișor and Zagra, with the summit called Vârful Colnicului, are a landscape of meadows, beech woods and scattered farms that seems to have stepped out of their books.

   Read the complete Perișor - Vârful Colnicului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 150 km into the recorded legs you reach Perișor - Vârful Colnicului. 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 Zalău - Poieniță.

5. 5. Zalău - Poieniță

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Zalău - Poieniță write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Zalău - Poieniță. That is the ride.