Obârșia Ialomiței Waterfall (Cascada Obârșia Ialomiței)

Obârșia Ialomiței Waterfall (Cascada Obârșia Ialomiței; on maps also Cascada Obârșiei) lies in the Bucegi Mountains, at the head of the Obârșia valley, at about 2,000 m. The valley is of glacial origin and consists of two cirques — a lower and an upper one — separated by a rock step; the waterfall formed on that step.

The Munții Noștri guide calls it the highest waterfall of the Southern Carpathians and the second in Romania by height of fall — more than 100 m; the water comes down not as one column but as a series of threads over rock ledges. The Ialomița river rises here.

What to see

On the left the waterfall is flanked by the Obârșia mountains, on the right by the Doamnele ridge. Above the step the valley is dominated by Mecetul Turcesc, a huge limestone rock with white, almost vertical walls. In the cold season the threads freeze: Wikimedia Commons has a photograph of a solid wall of ice.

There is most water during the snow melt and after rain; at the end of a dry summer the threads grow thin.

How to get there

The waterfall is reached on the «blue band» route (01MN02 in the Munții Noștri guide), which runs from Sinaia across the Bucegi plateau to the Omu hut. The relevant section starts at Hotel Peștera in the upper Ialomița valley: the trail follows the Obârșia valley past the waterfall, climbs the glacial step and comes out in the upper cirque.

It then climbs steeply in zigzags below the Mecetul Turcesc rock to a saddle and to the Omu hut (2,507 m). Hotel Peștera is also reached by descending from the plateau at the Babele hut.

Season and safety

Munții Noștri notes that in winter the section from Hotel Peștera to the Omu hut is impassable. This is high-mountain terrain: the weather changes fast, and on the step the trail crosses rock and scree — you need mountain boots, warm clothes and time in hand. Keep to the waymarks and stay away from the edge of the step.

Bears live in the Romanian Carpathians: stay on the marked path, talk as you walk and leave no food or litter; near sheepfolds do not run from the shepherd dogs — stop and calmly walk around the flock. Mountain rescue (Salvamont): national dispatch 0SALVAMONT — 0725 826 668 or 112; the service's advice for hikers is at salvamontromania.ro.

Photos: Nicu Buculei, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; xulescu_g, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.