Giumalău Peak

Giumalău Peak, at 1,857 m, is the highest point of the Giumalău Mountains, which form the western part of the Rarău-Giumalău massif in the Eastern Carpathians. It lies within Pojorâta commune, Suceava county. To the east, the Colbu river separates Giumalău from the Rarău Mountains. The Rarău-Giumalău massif covers about 375 km² and rises between the Câmpulung Moldovenesc and Vatra Dornei depressions. The Giumalău Mountains are older than Rarău and are made entirely of crystalline schists. Their relief consists of a central ridge running from north-west to south-east, above 1,400 m. From the summit, secondary ridges run north-west and south, with flat surfaces at 1,000-1,200 m and 1,350-1,450 m, ending in steep slopes above the Bistrița and Putna valleys. A large cross stands on the summit. The view takes in the Bukovina Obcinas, Rarău, the Bogolin-Pietrosu Bistriței ridge, the Bistrița and Stânișoara Mountains, Ceahlău, the Călimani, the Suhard massif, and the Rodna and Maramureș Mountains. On the north-western slope of the range lies the Codrul secular Giumalău nature reserve (309.50 ha), part of the Rarău-Giumalău Natura 2000 site (ROSCI0212). The main ridge trail of the Giumalău-Rarău-Tarnița mountains, marked with a red stripe, crosses the summit: it starts at the Mestecăniș Pass and continues over Rarău towards the Stânișoara Mountains, a total of 58 kilometres. The peak can also be climbed from the rest area beside the Zugreni hut in the Bistrița gorge, on the trail marked with a blue dot, which then descends to Valea Putnei railway station (18.2 km, 7-9 hours).