Şaua Podragului-Şaua Caprei
Duration: 5 - 5 1/2 h
Length: km
Height difference: +588/-580 m
Note: Dangerous in the winter
Leaving Podragu saddle behind we head towards Balea soon reaching Podul Giurgiului lake (2226 m.) We climb on the foot of Mircii to the ridge inbetween Mircii (2278m) and Arpaşul Mare (2467m) peaks, and then we descend to Şaua Vârtopului. We cross La Parul cu fier peak and reach Nerlinger memorial (2287 m.) Lake Buda is in the nearby as well. In order to go round Arpaşul Mic peak we descend through a cauldron. Then we climb to the ridge again and reach the most spectacular section of the trip. The place is called La trei paşi de moarte and if someone is reluctant to cross it he\she can go round it by following the red dor trail. The next place is Portiţa Arpaşului aka Strunga Mică, 2175 m, this is where Fereastra Zmeilor is located. We could not continue our climbing without special equipment, so we descend on a grassy slope and cross a section interspearsed with masses of fallen rock and spot of snow even in the summer. We reach a saddle from where a trail travels to
We continue on our way to Lacul Capra (2330 m.) Here a memorial stands for the four mountaineers who were killed by an avalanche. A small ascent and we reach Capra saddle.
