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| Bucura   | 
| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Transylvania, Romania, Europe Lat/Lon: 45.36600°N / 22.86200°E County: Hunedoara Activities: Hiking, Mountaineering, Trad Climbing, Skiing Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter Elevation: 7982 ft / 2433 m | Page By: peterbud Created/Edited: Nov 4, 2007 / Jun 22, 2008 Object ID: 353178 Hits: 1064 Loading... Page Score: 90.51% - 26 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Overview
Vârful Bucura (ro) - Bukura-csúcs (hu)
The "twin peaks" of Vf. Bucura viewn from Custura Bucurei |
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Bucura is only the sixth highest mountain of Retezat Mountains, but it offers good climbing possibilities. It has two summits: Bucura I (2433 m) and Bucura II (2378 m), both are part of the northern main ridge of Retezat Mountains. The northeast face of Bucura II and the west face of Bucura I are the steepest (the former is entirely walls), but the remaining ones have pretty steep slopes as well.
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| Alike to other peaks of Retezat Mountains, Bucura is surrounded by a handful of tarns: including the highest and largest of the range (Tău Porţii and Lake Bucura, respectively). Some of them, like Lake Ştirbu, are located in the strictly protected Gemenele Reserve. More on these - and other - tarns can be found on the Retezat Mountains parent page.
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| Despite the fact that water departs in three different direction from this peak, eventually it gets driven into river Strei /Sztrígy/: from the south slopes via Bucura creek (tributary of Lăpuşnicu Mare /Nagy-Lepusnyik/), from the west slopes via Ştirbu creek (tributary of Râu Mare /Sebesvíz/), and from the north slopes via Nucşoara /Nucsóra/ creek.
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| From the top, there is a nice view on Peleaga peak and Bucura Lake, Retezat peak, and the Poarta Bucurei ridge:
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Southeast view from Bucura I: Bucura Lake and Vf. Peleaga |
Southwest view from Bucura I: Poarta Bucurei ridge and Vf. Judele |
North view from Bucura I: Vf. Retezat |
Getting There
As Bucura peak is located in the northern region of Retezat, I would suggest approching it from Nucşoara village, through Pietrele valley. Getting to Nucşoara is described in detail on the Retezat Mountains parent page (follow instructions for North Retezat).
Alternatively, you might get a taxi to Poiana Pelegii campsite from Haţeg town, and stay there or hike up to Bucura Lake campsite. However, this site has been reported to be inaccessible by car since the end of October 2007, because of trees knocked down by a strong windstorm. The road was drivable only until Rotunda hut at that time. For up-to-date information contact Salvamont.
Approach from Pietrele valley |
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Viewn from Bucura Lake |
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On the main crest (red stripe) |
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Routes
Hiking
Hiking routes in Romania are marked by red, yellow and blue colors, and use three shapes: stripe, dot and triangle. From this point, I will use abbreviations for these (for example: YT=yellow triangle, RD=red dot, BS=blue stripe, and so on...)
Three marked trails lead to the main summit of Bucura:
- YS: coming from Vf. Retezat (2482 m) via Şaua Retezatului (saddle, 2251 m) and Şaua de iarnă (saddle, 2297 m), continuing towards Bucura Lake (2041 m) via Tău Porţii tarn (2230 m) - the peak is accessible by doing a short detour marked by RS
- RS: coming from Curmătura Bucurei (saddle, 2206 m), passing by - but not going up to - Vf. Bucura II
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RD: coming from Bucura Lake (2041 m) via Viorica, Florica and Tău Porţii tarns - the sign bifurcates after Florica tarn: the main path goes SW towards Şaua Judele and Zănoaga Lake, the other path goes N up to Tău Porţii, where it merges into YS (take this latter to Vf. Bucura)
Connections to huts and campsites:
- From Vf. Retezat YS leads to Pietrele hut (also campsite).
- From Şaua Retezatului BT leads to Pietrele hut.
- From Tău Porţii RD and YS both go to Bucura Lake campsite.
- From Curmătura Bucurei, BS leads to Genţiana and Pietrele huts (north direction) or Bucura Lake (south direction).
Connections to neighbour peaks:
Vf. Retezat - YS |
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Vf. Judele - RD |
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Circle trips:
Bucura peak can be combined with other prominent peaks in a dayhike, either from Pietrele/Genţiana huts, or Bucura Lake campsite:
- small circle
|a total of ~1250 m up, and the same down|
Pietrele hut (1480) - YS - Şaua Ciurila (1780) - YS - Vf. Lolaia Nord (2180) - YS - Vf. Lolaia Sud (2270) - YS - Şaua Lolaia (2215) - YS - Vf. Retezat (2482) - YS - Şaua Retezatuliui (2251) - YS - Şaua de iarnă (2297) - YS/RS - Vf. Bucura I (2433) - RS - Curmătura Bucurei (2206) - BS - Pietrele Lake (1990) - BS - Genţiana hut (1670) - BS - Pietrele hut
- large circle
|a total of ~1660 m up, and the same down|
Pietrele hut (1480) - YS - Şaua Ciurila (1780) - YS - Vf. Lolaia Nord (2180) - YS - Vf. Lolaia Sud (2270) - YS - Şaua Lolaia (2215) - YS - Vf. Retezat (2482) - YS - Şaua Retezatuliui (2251) - YS - Şaua de iarnă (2297) - YS/RS - Vf. Bucura I (2433) - RS - Curmătura Bucurei (2206) - RS - Custura Bucurei (2370) - RS - Peleaga (2509) - RS/YC - Şaua Pelegii (2285) - RS - Lakes of Valea rea - YT - Pietrele hut /before getting there, RC departs for Genţiana hut/
- around Bucura Lake
|a total of ~700 m up, and the same down|
Bucura Lake (2041) - YC - Peleaga (2509) - RS - Custura Bucurei (2370) - RS - Curmătura Bucurei (2206) - RS - Bucura peak (2433) - YS - Tău Porţii (2230) - RD - Florica Lake - RD - Viorica Lake - RD - Ana Lake - RD - Bucura Lake
Climbing
Climbers will prefer the north-northeast wall of the lower summit, Bucura II.
The list of climbing routes on the right is adopted from this external source (you can also find hand-drawn sketches here). Difficulty ratings are according to the Russian grading system, which is used in Romania.
| Easier routes | Difficulty
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| Creasta Părăsită | 2B |
| Ţancul Marginal | 2B |
| Creasta Vînătorilor | 2A |
| Hornul Mare | 2A |
| Vîlcelul cu Fereastră | 2A |
| Vîlcelul cu Serpentine | 1B |
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| Harder routes | Difficulty
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| Traversarea peretelui | 5B |
| Fisura Întreruptă | 4A |
| Traseul Frontal | 4A |
| Creasta „25 Octombrie" | 3B |
| Furcile | 3B |
| Corvinul | 3B |
| Creasta Vîntului | 3A |
| Traseul Central | 3A |
| Traseul Puştilor | 3A |
| Creasta Vulturilor | 3A |
| Creasta Întreruptă | 3A |
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The north face of Bucura II |
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The north face of Bucura II
in winter (photo: csaki) |
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The northeast face of Bucura II |
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Red Tape
Vf. Bucura is inside the territory of Retezat National Park (further information about the park itself can be found on the Retezat Mountains parent page). It is forbidden to leave trails, camp outside of designated sites, or put up a fire. Swimming is prohibited in Bucura Lake (and the others as well, I suppose). If you plan to climb, it might be advisable to contact the National Park administration (see External Links section below) and/or Salvamont (Mountain Rescue, see Retezat Mountains parent page) in advance.
As for the admission fee to the National Park, the situation is not clear. Some people report they were asked to pay entrance fee, some (like us, even though we tried to) not. Perhaps this is also dependent on where you enter and how friendly you are. Anyway, the admission fee should not be expensive. The main NP visitor center is by the road at Nucşoara - you may ask there (if you find it open).
You should bring all your trash back down with you when leaving (just like elsewhere)! Please do a favour for the mountains by fetching garbage that others have left behind (furtunately this does not happen very often, but if you look, you'll find).
Huts and Camping
The closest huts are Cabana Genţiana (1670 m) and Cabana Pietrele (1480 m). The latter consists only of scattered bungalows and a designated campsite now, since the old hut burned down in February, 2007. From these huts Vf. Bucura is accessible via the Lolaia ridge (YS, through Vf. Retezat), by Stânişoara valley (BT to Şaua Retezatului, then turn left - south - on YS) and by Pietrele valley (BS until Curmătura Bucurei saddle, and then turn right - west - on RS).
The nearest campsite is at Bucura Lake (2041 m), offering three easy alternatives to reach Vf. Bucura: RS, YS, and RD-YS (each of these can be accessed by walking more or less on BS towards Curmătura Bucurei). Zănoaga Lake (2000 m) and Poiana Pelegii (1600 m) campsites are not too far, either. From Zănoaga Lake RD leads to Şaua Judele (there's a tempting side-track towards Vf. Judele) and further to Lacul Agătat tarn (after that, take the bifurcation of the trail up north towards Tău Porţii, which is just below Vf. Bucura). From Poiana Pelegii you'll have to take the BS/RC combo to get to Bucura Lake first, then continue as described above.
More information about these campsites and huts can be found on the Retezat Mountains parent page.
When to Climb
 Winter climb ( photo: dikla) |
The most welcoming weather can be anticipated around late summer - early fall, when precipitation is relatively little, but temperatures are still warm.
Though it is possible to ascend the peak in the winter, you have to be an experienced mountaineer to do it safely, since there is limited mountain rescue service in this time of the year (see Retezat Mountains parent page) and the chances of avalanches is generally high in the area. It is safer to go if you have already been there in the summer, and know the terrain.
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 Winter summit view ( photo: dikla) |
Weather
For general weather information please refer to the Retezat Mountains parent page.
Online weather information for Nucşoara (idea borrowed from Nanuls):
Please note that these are data for a village at the feet of the mountains, they're good to get a general feeling of what's around. In the high regions the situation may be quite different.
Maps
The paper maps that I've met two so far:
- Munţii Retezat/Retyezát-hegység/Retezat Mountains (1:50,000) by DIMAP, with guiding text on the backside in English, Romanian and Hungarian. Can be ordered online from DIMAP here or from Map-info here (online shop > maps > mountain maps).
- Munţii Retezat/The Retezat Mountains/Das Retezat Gebirge (1:50,000) by Bel Alpin, with text in English, German and Romanian. Saw it at Cabana Cârnic (in Aug, 2007) for 20 RON and online here for 10 RON.
Further discussion of these can be found on the Retezat Mountains parent page.
Navigable online maps are also available at alpinet.org (Romanian mountain site - see External Links section below) to help getting better acquainted with the area.
Miscellaneous
Currency
The new Romanian leu (RON) was created in 2005 from the old leu (ROL) by chopping off the last 4 zeros (so that 10,000 old lei - plural of leu - is 1 new leu). While nowadays the banknotes in use are the new ones, sometimes it happens that people tell you prices in old lei, but doing it in units of thousands, which can be quite confusing. An example: "80" can easily mean 80,000 old lei, which is actually 8 new lei... What really helps is to convert the amount to a currency that is familiar to you (exchange rates can be found on xe.com) and compare it with "Western European" prices for the same thing. The Romanian price should generally be less (or about the same but never higher).
Time zone
Romania is in the Eastern European time zone (GMT+2)
External Links
Retezat National Park official homepage
Retezat on PAN Parks page: short introduction
Retezat page on alpinet.org: only in Romanian, but has up-to-date news section, maps (SRTM map, topo map) and huts info
Images
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