Bikerafting in Lapos river (Transylvania)

You take the bike there on the canoe, unfortunately the other way around

At first it seemed completely crazy, but I tried it at home, can I ride a boat on my back (approx. 20 kg from a rower, a pump, a little more in water). It was successful, although the take-off had to be practiced for at least 10 minutes, even on flat ground. It went down faster.

The goal was the Lápos valley in Maros county, where I had already been with a bicaj, but I only reached the river in one or two places, it winds quite deep down in the valley. There is no other way to travel this nearly 60 km, only by boat. You can find plenty of exits and rest areas, but you can only approach from a few directions from a walkable path. That was what was interesting about it. Sometimes the river flows between rock walls, like wild water, and sometimes it slows down completely and lives up to its name, the marshy area is inhabited by many waterfowl. I selected the boarding point at Macskamező, which is slightly south of Magyarlápos. Here I set up camp on the river bank, prepared the boat, dismantled the bike. Here it was revealed that Garibaldi went into battle without a sword. The valves were not included in the hoses. That way you can't inflate it. In my first anger, I took a two-hour bike ride up the mountain to clear my head a little. By the time I got back, I had the solution: I made non-return valves from the spare cooling pipe in the car, wire and rubber sheets. By plugging these in, the boat could be inflated and it wouldn't let the air back out - in the first round.

At dawn the next day, I paddled the canoe, there was still mist on the surface of the water, I didn't know what to expect, and I didn't know the roars either. Later it turned out that he is quite relaxed, there is no need to be afraid of him. At least at such a low water level. Obviously, it is rougher in the spring, when it melts. Even so, since the canoe was not overloaded, the bottom often came down, even though I didn't even put the svert in it. The river was beautiful in the morning light, the silence was only occasionally broken by a few birds or an approaching roar. I didn't even see a trace of human intervention all day, it really felt like I was boating at the end of the world. The landscape is also very diverse, huge stones, rock walls, shady, wooded parts alternate with shallower river sections dotted with islands that are also home to birds. We can't expect much excitement, the roars are easy to overcome, and there was never a danger of tipping over.

This day is approx. It was enough for 15-18 km. I figured I'd get off at Salnita and roll back to the car with the canoe on my back. Since there aren't many places along the river where you can reach a road, it doesn't hurt to plan this well in advance, and to stick to this plan, that's how I prepared, and that was fine. What I didn't think about in advance is that it is impossible to wind up on the steep mountainside with a canoe on your back. It ended up being quite a push, there were very short sections that could only be rolled. The steepness is not a requirement, but it was difficult because of the bulkiness and dimensions of the bag. It was slowly getting dark, I didn't spend that much time on the way back, so after 8-10 km I hid the pack in the forest. Without things, I reached the camp quite quickly, and since I already knew the way, I collected the boat with a car.

Of course, we don't necessarily have to plan the tour for one day, the second time we spent the night on the river, so of course we had to take more food, sleeping bags, warm clothes and a change of clothes with us. It is worth going on a summer tour with a light canoe with a small draft and not really loaded.